Deck 17: Business and Labor in the Industrial Era, 1860-1900

Question 1

Interconnected transportation and communications networks were essential to the origins of the Second Industrial Revolution in the United States because:

A) there would have been no immigration to the United States without them
B) they allowed Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell to travel abroad to study
C) they facilitated the emergence of a national and even international markets for American goods and services
D) the South would have won the Civil War without them
E) they provided Andrew Carnegie the opportunity to earn his fortune

Answer 1

they facilitated the emergence of a national and even international markets for American goods and services

Question 2

By the 1880s, most states had outlawed child labor.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Cornelius Vanderbilt made most of his money in railroads.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Most Americans experienced a rising standard of living in the late nineteenth century.

Question 5

From the end of the Civil War to the turn of the century:

A) the value of manufactures increased six-fold
B) farm production declined
C) average wages and earnings declined
D) fewer women and children worked
E) innovation in business remained stagnant

Question 6

The Sand-Lot Incident in San Francisco in 1877 led to attacks against Chinese immigrants.

Question 7

Andrew Carnegie invented the process that enabled a dramatic increase in steel production.

Question 8

The first transcontinental railroad was completed at Promontory Summit, Utah.

Question 9

The term "robber baron" was used to describe railroad executives known for their shady financial practices.

Question 10

Anarchists oppose all forms of government.

Question 11

Andrew Carnegie was an outspoken opponent of the idea of the "Gospel of Wealth."

Question 12

The Haymarket Riot was a peaceful protest against the use of child labor.

Question 13

Like the AFL, the Knights of Labor admitted only skilled workers.

Question 14

Westinghouse's system of transmitting electricity over long distances lost the "battle of the currents."

Question 15

Mother Jones was especially determined to end the exploitation of children in the workplace.

Question 16

The first transcontinental railroad:

A) was completed in 1844
B) was built by the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroads
C) followed a southern route through Texas and the Arizona and New Mexico territories
D) led to the bankruptcy of "Commodore" Vanderbilt
E) was John D. Rockefeller's first business initiative

Question 17

The number of inventions registered at the U.S. Patent Office remained fairly constant through the nineteenth century.

Question 18

The Foran Act made it illegal for federal or state government workers to join labor unions.

Question 19

A transcontinental railroad was not built before the Civil War because:

A) the Appalachian Mountains presented great engineering problems
B) Congress refused to consider federal subsidies for a private railroad
C) the technologies for building long tunnels through the Rockies did not exist
D) many southern states used the states' rights argument to reject federal aid for railroads
E) North-South sectional differences prevented Congress from selecting a route

Question 20

All of the following factors helped accelerate economic growth after the Civil War EXCEPT:

A) the abundance of natural resources in the United States
B) the development of labor-saving machinery
C) federal and state policies aimed at limiting foreign competition
D) the use of prison labor by railroad companies
E) innovative, bold leadership from energetic entrepreneurs

Question 21

Sears, Roebuck and Company was a pioneer in:

A) selling goods by mail
B) retail, opening a chain of grocery stores across the United States
C) manufacturing cheap, practical clothing
D) providing electric power for New York City
E) retail, opening a chain of tool stores across the United States

Question 22

During the Gilded Age, the rich were getting richer and:

A) the poor were getting poorer
B) everyone was getting rich
C) many other people were at least better off
D) there were no disparities in the distribution of wealth
E) rags-to-riches stories abounded

Question 23

Thomas Alva Edison invented the:

A) first lightbulb
B) air brake for trains
C) (heavier-than-air) airplane
D) telephone
E) mechanized cotton textile weaver

Question 24

Which of the following best accounts for the success of Standard Oil?

A) Its scientists found new technical processes for refining oil more efficiently.
B) It bought out the Erie Railroad in order to keep transportation charges low.
C) It was one of the first companies to invest heavily in advertising.
D) Rockefeller was lucky to find the highest-quality oil on his Ohio farm.
E) Its corporate structure-known as vertical integration-allowed the company to grow tremendously.

Question 25

The work of Cornelius Vanderbilt helps emphasize that:

A) the robber barons helped build the South's great universities
B) Jay Gould might actually be seen as a good guy
C) the Commodore's prowess as a naval officer in the Civil War opened doors to the business world following the conflict
D) business consolidation put the control of railroads in few hands
E) the connections between railroads and early canals built fortunes

Question 26

The Pennsylvania oil rush:

A) outweighed, in economic importance, the California gold rush of a decade before
B) gave J. Pierpont Morgan his start in business
C) ended the monopoly in petroleum production that Oklahoma had enjoyed for a quarter of a century
D) began in 1889
E) illustrated to many Americans that a dependence on oil might prove problematic in the future

Question 27

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877:

A) was led by Samuel Gompers
B) won higher wages for railroad workers
C) did not have the support of the public at first, but as the strike (and its violence) spread, so did public sympathy for the strikers
D) ended when the workers, who lacked organized bargaining power, returned to work
E) began when Irish workers refused to work alongside Chinese

Question 28

Holding companies:

A) are firms that control the stock of other companies
B) were outlawed in New Jersey in 1888
C) allowed J. Pierpont Morgan to build a monopoly in the oil-shipping business
D) were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1868
E) were firms where union membership was required

Question 29

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was provoked by:

A) wage cuts that followed a depression
B) the railroad's refusal to hire blacks and women
C) concerns over workplace safety
D) worker demands for paid vacations
E) the deaths of four children in an explosion at Pullman's factory

Question 30

When it came to steel, Andrew Carnegie did all the following EXCEPT:

A) promote it
B) have technical expertise in it
C) sell it
D) know how to organize a steel company
E) hire men of expert ability to help him run his business

Question 31

Why was the development of the alternating-current electric system significant?

A) It was essential for Edison to invent the lightbulb.
B) It powered the transcontinental railroad.
C) It enabled electricity to be transmitted across long distances.
D) It was safer than direct-current electrical transmission.
E) It was J. Pierpont Morgan's first successful investment.

Question 32

The golden spike used to connect the final rails symbolized:

A) the uniting of North and South
B) the uniting of East and North
C) the uniting of North and West
D) the uniting of East and South
E) the uniting of East and West

Question 33

For industrial workers in Gilded Age America:

A) real wages fell because of rising prices
B) a forty-hour work week was the standard
C) government regulations provided a safe work environment
D) working and living conditions remained precarious
E) forging a work permit for children was seen as taboo

Question 34

What was one main reason electric motors were significant to the industrialization of the late nineteenth century?

A) They were used in the first automobiles.
B) They powered the first lightbulbs.
C) They freed factories to locate wherever they wished, not just by waterfalls and coal deposits.
D) They forced railroads to abandon the use of steam power.
E) They eliminated the need for oil during the Industrial Revolution.

Question 35

All of the following statements are reasons why child labor was problematic EXCEPT:

A) child laborers took well-paying jobs from legal immigrants
B) child laborers often received no education
C) children suffered three times as many accidents as adults
D) a child working in a textile mill was only half as likely to reach the age of twenty as a child outside a mill
E) child laborers often worked dangerous jobs

Question 36

Trusts, like Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust, were vulnerable because they:

A) were often too large to earn a profit
B) were forced to spend too much of their money on philanthropic endeavors
C) were appealing targets for prosecution on the grounds of monopoly or restraint of trade
D) controlled companies that had nothing to do with one another
E) paid their various subsidiaries enormous and unjustified profits

Question 37

The Molly Maguires:

A) were named for the daughter of George Maguire, the owner of a Pennsylvania coal field
B) accomplished their goals of better wages and working conditions for miners through peaceful arbitration
C) offered the first large-scale strike of domestic workers (cooks and maids) in New York City
D) were the first major labor organization for western miners
E) aimed to right the perceived wrongs against Irish coal workers

Question 38

Who developed the first alternating current electric system?

A) George Westinghouse
B) John D. Rockefeller
C) Andrew Carnegie
D) Thomas Edison
E) Alexander Graham Bell

Question 39

J. Pierpont Morgan is distinguished from business leaders Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller because he:

A) had a rags-to-riches story
B) was foreign-born
C) came from an elite, privileged background
D) made millions with his investments
E) supported unions

Question 40

The invention of electric motors did all of the following EXCEPT:

A) make it possible for factories to locate wherever they wished
B) lead to the development of streetcars
C) lead to the bankruptcy of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company
D) lead to the development of elevators
E) contribute to the development of suburbs

Question 41

The National Labor Union:

A) opposed the eight-hour day for employees of the federal government
B) opposed reforms such as cooperatives and equal rights for women and blacks in favor of simply bargaining with employers to get the best working conditions and wages possible
C) was led by Alfred Chandler
D) was influential in getting Congress to enact an eight-hour workday for federal employees
E) was less concerned with political and social problems than in bargaining with employers

Question 42

The greatest growth of the Knights of Labor took place:

A) in 1875, when the federal government outlawed the use of violence against union members
B) in the mid-1880s, when the union had several strikes against the railroads
C) under the leadership of Uriah S. Stephens
D) as a result of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877
E) after the Wobblies spit the NLU

Question 43

Violence erupted at Homestead Steel in 1892 when:

A) Andrew Carnegie announced the plant's sale to J. P. Morgan
B) Henry Frick tried to break a strike by bringing in Pinkertons
C) police attempted to break up a protest meeting
D) Andrew Carnegie tried to replace one union with another one
E) Andrew Carnegie fired Frick

Question 44

Which of the following statements about the Pinkertons is true?

A) They were a detective agency.
B) They relied on Chinese labor to fill their ranks.
C) They were funded by the government.
D) They were hired to end the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.
E) They worked against and infiltrated the Mafia.

Question 45

The American Federation of Labor:

A) was primarily concerned with securing concrete economic gains
B) was formed in 1869 but experienced most of its growth in the early years of the twentieth century
C) was a federation of industrial unions; craft unions could not join until 1948
D) could claim as members almost half of all industrial workers in 1900
E) believed that unions with large numbers of immigrants hurt labor's cause

Question 46

The Workingmen's Party of California:

A) was the political wing of the National Labor Union
B) was based on anti-Chinese sentiment
C) campaigned (unsuccessfully) for restrictions on Mexican immigration
D) ended when the 1877 railroad strike ushered in better working conditions
E) folded when Grant sent the military to occupy the mines

Question 47

The head of the National Labor Union was:

A) William Sylvis
B) Terence Powderly
C) W. E. B. Du Bois
D) Samuel Gompers
E) Eugene Debs

Question 48

Mail cars connected to Pullman cars during the Pullman strike:

A) allowed the strikers to create as big a disruption as possible
B) stopped President Grover Cleveland from expressing his support for the union
C) justified a federal intervention, ending the strike by allowing railroad executives to claim that it interfered with the mail
D) allowed union leaders throughout the country to exchange correspondence during the strike
E) prevented anarchists from communicating with the strikers

Question 49

The Haymarket Riot:

A) was started by the Knights of Labor
B) led to the passage of the Foran Act of 1885
C) marked the beginning of the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions
D) was blamed on seven anarchist leaders despite a lack of evidence
E) took place in San Francisco

Question 50

The Knights of Labor allowed all occupations to join EXCEPT:

A) lawyers
B) doctors
C) bankers
D) policeman
E) those who sold liquor

Question 51

The Sand-Lot Incident refers to:

A) Chinese workers refusing to work on the railroads
B) white workers refusing to work on the railroads
C) white men attacking Chinatown
D) the original baseball fields
E) Chinese workers protesting poor working conditions

Question 52

Mary "Mother" Jones promoted all of the following causes EXCEPT:

A) higher wages
B) shorter hours
C) restrictions on child labor
D) temperance
E) safer workplaces

Question 53

Which of the following was Mother Jones a member of ?

A) the Socialist party
B) the Republican party
C) the Tea party
D) the Democratic party
E) the Whig party

Question 54

The Knights of Labor:

A) formed a successful political party
B) admitted only skilled workers, like printers or cigar makers
C) called for men and women to have equal pay for equal work
D) advocated the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism
E) allowed doctors, lawyers, and bankers to join their ranks

Question 55

Why was there a growth of craft unions during the Civil War?

A) The end of slavery flooded the labor market with workers.
B) The war sparked an increased demand for skilled labor.
C) Unskilled laborers were constitutionally prohibited from unionizing.
D) Craft unions would not have to admit the freedmen.
E) The American education system expanded dramatically during that period.

Question 56

The Knights of Labor declined for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:

A) popular fears that the organization was too radical
B) its leader Terence Powderly died
C) the Haymarket affair discredited the union
D) its leadership was devoted more to reform than to the nuts and bolts of organization
E) it was associated with violence by the press

Question 57

The Homestead strike:

A) involved workers at the Homestead Tobacco Company
B) was waged against a Carnegie company
C) was a victory for the union
D) took place in Montana, but involved other farmers on the Great Plains
E) reflected Henry Clay Frick's compassion

Question 58

Membership in the American Federation of Labor at first:

A) reflected the growing membership of agricultural workers
B) grew rapidly
C) was primarily African American
D) reflected the growing membership of the unskilled worker
E) grew slowly

Question 59

President Grover Cleveland's response to the Pullman strike was to:

A) declare his sympathy for the strikers
B) order George Pullman to restore his workers' wages
C) appoint Eugene Debs to his cabinet
D) send federal troops to keep the trains running
E) socialize the industry by allowing the government to manage the company

Question 60

How did the AFL differ from the Knights of Labor?

A) The AFL was socialist while the Knights were capitalists.
B) The AFL was a federation of national organizations, each of which retained a large degree of its autonomy, while the Knights organization was more centralized.
C) The AFL was controlled by anarchists, while the Knights were statists.
D) The AFL had no national leader, while the Knights looked to Terence Powderly.
E) The AFL was affiliated with Republicans, while the Knights supported Democrats.

Question 61

Write an essay that explains the significance of railroad expansion in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Discuss how these railroads were financed, who the people were behind the expansion, and how they affected the economic development of the country in the late nineteenth century.

Question 62

Jane Addams is best associated with:

A) supporting Mother Jones
B) leading the Molly Maguires
C) Waters Street House
D) Hull House
E) Knights of Labor

Question 63

What were the major technological advancements of the post-Civil War era? How did these advancements contribute to the expansion of America's Industrial Revolution?

Question 64

Compare the aims and achievements of the Knights of Labor, the American Federation of Labor, and the Industrial Workers of the World. What common ground do they share? What factors help explain their differences?

Question 65

The Ladies' Home Journal included all the following sections EXCEPT:

A) sewing
B) cooking
C) travel
D) religion
E) fiction

Question 66

MATCHING
Match each description with the item below.
Reverend Josiah Strong

A)founded Standard Oil
B)was president of the Homestead Steel Works
C)led the Knights of Labor
D)wrote "The Gospel of Wealth"
E)was a presidential candidate of the Socialist Party of America
F)founded a mail-order business
G)coined the phrase "social dynamite"
H)organized the Workingmen's Party of California
I)was a labor organizer executed for murder
J)consolidated the steel industry into the United States Steel Corporation

Question 67

Write an essay that explains why labor unions developed as they did in the United States. What factors shaped the growth of labor unions during this period? What factors delayed or weakened their growth? What were their limitations and what achievements can they claim?

Question 68

The city of Chicago annexed the city of Pullman after:

A) Eugene Debs won his court case
B) a successful strike by the American Railway Union
C) anarchists took over the town
D) a city referendum
E) George Pullman died

Question 69

MATCHING
Match each description with the item below.
Andrew Carnegie

A)founded Standard Oil
B)was president of the Homestead Steel Works
C)led the Knights of Labor
D)wrote "The Gospel of Wealth"
E)was a presidential candidate of the Socialist Party of America
F)founded a mail-order business
G)coined the phrase "social dynamite"
H)organized the Workingmen's Party of California
I)was a labor organizer executed for murder
J)consolidated the steel industry into the United States Steel Corporation

Question 70

MATCHING
Match each description with the item below.
Eugene V. Debs

A)founded Standard Oil
B)was president of the Homestead Steel Works
C)led the Knights of Labor
D)wrote "The Gospel of Wealth"
E)was a presidential candidate of the Socialist Party of America
F)founded a mail-order business
G)coined the phrase "social dynamite"
H)organized the Workingmen's Party of California
I)was a labor organizer executed for murder
J)consolidated the steel industry into the United States Steel Corporation

Question 71

Compare and contrast the major industrial leaders of the late nineteenth century. How did each rise to power, and what did they do to ensure they would stay at the top of their respective industries? What do they have in common, and what differences distinguish them from each other? What makes each of them important to understanding the late nineteenth century?

Question 72

MATCHING
Match each description with the item below.
Joe Hill

A)founded Standard Oil
B)was president of the Homestead Steel Works
C)led the Knights of Labor
D)wrote "The Gospel of Wealth"
E)was a presidential candidate of the Socialist Party of America
F)founded a mail-order business
G)coined the phrase "social dynamite"
H)organized the Workingmen's Party of California
I)was a labor organizer executed for murder
J)consolidated the steel industry into the United States Steel Corporation

Question 73

Trace the development and completion of the first transcontinental railroad. Identify the factors that delayed its development, what obstacles had to be removed before it could proceed, and why its completion was significant to the United States.

Question 74

MATCHING
Match each description with the item below.
Henry Clay Frick

A)founded Standard Oil
B)was president of the Homestead Steel Works
C)led the Knights of Labor
D)wrote "The Gospel of Wealth"
E)was a presidential candidate of the Socialist Party of America
F)founded a mail-order business
G)coined the phrase "social dynamite"
H)organized the Workingmen's Party of California
I)was a labor organizer executed for murder
J)consolidated the steel industry into the United States Steel Corporation

Question 75

Industrialization transformed not only the economy and the workplace, but also the nation's:

A) social life
B) political life
C) status in the world
D) religious life
E) rural life

Question 76

Describe Andrew Carnegie's philosophy concerning big business growth and how this reflected the wisdom of some Americans. Why are the views of this single individual so significant to understanding late nineteenth-century American economic history?

Question 77

One method that executives used to fight unions was:

A) discrediting them
B) deporting their leaders
C) infiltrating them with spies
D) blacklisting
E) murdering their leaders

Question 78

What factors account for the dramatic growth in business after the Civil War? Write an essay that explains why each factor you identify was significant.

Question 79

Discuss the various major strikes that occurred after the Civil War. Include the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, the Homestead strike, and the Pullman strike. What were the similarities and differences with each?

Question 80

Describe the growth of radicalism in America's unions after the Civil War. What were the driving forces pulling the unions to the left, and how successful were they? What forces limited radicalism's success in the American political context?