Deck 17: Workers and Farmers in the Age of Organization

Question 1

The high rate of child labor at the turn of the twentieth century was a consequence of

A) a lack of access to public schooling.
B) the inadequate salaries of adult workers.
C) parental neglect of poor children.
D) poor children's desire for spending money.

Answer 1

the inadequate salaries of adult workers.

Question 2

The majority of unskilled factory workers during this period were

A) displaced farmers.
B) immigrants.
C) children.
D) single women.

Answer 2

immigrants.

Question 3

One of the first strikes by women workers was conducted by

A) immigrant textile workers in Massachusetts.
B) black laundresses in Georgia.
C) white mill workers in North Carolina.
D) immigrant silk workers in New Jersey.

Answer 3

black laundresses in Georgia.

Question 4

Which of the following sites of popular entertainment appealed primarily to members of the working class rather than the middle class?

A) Dance halls
B) Amusement parks
C) Museums
D) Live theater

Question 5

Which of the following characterizes the events of May 4, 1886, in Chicago's Haymarket Square?

A) A terrorist attack organized by anarchists
B) A violent overreaction by police officers to a peaceful pro-labor demonstration
C) Evidence of the fear and hostility government authorities felt for political radicals
D) A tragic chain of events for which no one would be held criminally liable

Question 6

Which of the following union leaders disapproved of the strike as a vehicle for advancing workers' interests?

A) Samuel Gompers
B) Eugene V. Debs
C) Terence Powderly
D) Ed Boyce

Question 7

Married women frequently did "piecework" in their homes because

A) it paid more than working in a factory.
B) it enabled them to earn income without neglecting family responsibilities.
C) their husbands did not want them to work outside the home.
D) children were not allowed on the factory floor.

Question 8

Who was the founder of the Socialist Party of America?

A) Terence Powderly
B) August Spies
C) Samuel Gompers
D) Eugene V. Debs

Question 9

How did the salaries of women factory workers compare to those of men doing similar jobs?

A) Men and women had salaries that were equal.
B) Women made 75 percent of what men did.
C) Women made half of what men did.
D) Women made 25 percent of what men did.

Question 10

Which of the following developments was a reaction to the Haymarket Square incident?

A) The Knights of Labor lost half of its membership.
B) The American Federation of Labor grew in numbers and prominence.
C) Alexander Berkman shot Henry Clay Frick.
D) The Industrial Workers of the World was formed.

Question 11

William H. Vanderbilt's opposition to labor unions rested on the belief that unions

A) violated anti-monopoly regulations.
B) would make workers less productive.
C) were unnecessary because employers and workers shared the same interests.
D) were unnecessary because workers were free to leave jobs they found unsatisfactory.

Question 12

The fact that only one in four industrial workers during this period belonged to a union reflected workers'

A) satisfaction with income and working conditions as they were.
B) gratitude for the philanthropy of business tycoons.
C) fear of retaliation from employers.
D) faith in government's ability to protect workers and regulate industry.

Question 13

The formation of the Industrial Workers of the World was largely inspired by the

A) Homestead strike.
B) Haymarket affair.
C) miners' strike in Idaho.
D) great railroad strike of 1877.

Question 14

By 1900, approximately how many businesses employed more than 500 workers?

A) 500
B) 1,000
C) 1,500
D) 2,000

Question 15

When North Carolina textile worker J. W. Mehaffry complained that the mill owners "were slave drivers," she made the point that

A) owners used the whip on the shop floor.
B) owners stood out as the only whites in the factory.
C) workers were bound to the factory in a modern system of peonage.
D) workers enjoyed no rights or protections against exploitation and injury.

Question 16

The growth of industrial manufacturing affected skilled tradesmen by

A) giving them better wages for fewer hours of work.
B) forcing them to perform the same tasks as unskilled laborers.
C) removing control of their labor and their sense of independence.
D) allowing them to open their own factories and enter the upper class.

Question 17

To what can we attribute the marked increase in the number of female wage earners between 1870 and 1900?

A) Women wanted to achieve financial independence from men.
B) "Women's work" began to offer high pay and professional advancement.
C) Men had difficulty adapting to the new industrial economy.
D) Working-class men needed help from their wives to support their families.

Question 18

During the second half of the nineteenth century, the ideas of Karl Marx achieved significant popularity among

A) African Americans.
B) immigrants.
C) business leaders.
D) members of labor unions.

Question 19

Outbreaks of pellagra among southern textile workers can be attributed to

A) their poor diet.
B) inhalation of lint.
C) the twelve-hour workdays.
D) their exposure to processed cotton.

Question 20

While the workers he employed were paid approximately $360 per year, John D. Rockefeller made twice that much in dividends every

A) hour.
B) day.
C) week.
D) month.

Question 21

To end the Depression of 1893, "Coxey's Army" would have supported

A) increasing tariffs on imported goods.
B) repealing the Sherman Silver Act.
C) introducing a progressive income tax.
D) seeking advice from James J. Hill and J. P. Morgan.

Question 22

What motivated leaders of the farmers' alliances to invite the Knights of Labor to join them in forming the National Farmers Alliance and Industrial Union?

A) The belief that laborers and farmers were both being hurt by industrialization
B) Concern that their political influence would be limited without an urban base
C) A need to counterbalance the white supremacist views of southern members
D) The knowledge that their ability to increase crop prices depended on the approval of urban consumers

Question 23

What share of Americans was unemployed following the stock market crash of 1893?

A) 5 percent
B) 7 percent
C) 12 percent
D) 25 percent

Question 24

The Grangers' involvement in electoral politics resulted in

A) the election of supportive congressmen.
B) increased regulation of the banking industry.
C) increased regulation of the railroads.
D) the founding of the Greenback Party.

Question 25

Which of the following could be interpreted as a victory for the Grangers?

A) The Munn v. Illinois decision
B) The Wabash v. Illinois decision
C) The election of William McKinley to the presidency
D) The bankruptcy of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad

Question 26

Who ran the campaign of Republican presidential candidate William McKinley?

A) John Sherman
B) Mark Hanna
C) William Jennings Bryan
D) Tom Watson

Question 27

Higher corn prices during the 1880s inspired the Grangers to

A) start their own political party.
B) buy their own warehouses and grain elevators.
C) begin organizing in the South as well as the Midwest.
D) withdraw from electoral politics and return to organizing social and cultural activities.

Question 28

Yiddish theater differed from conventional live theater in that it

A) barred African Americans from its audiences.
B) catered to the wealthy elite only.
C) catered predominantly to the urban working class.
D) did not allow for the mixing of music and drama.

Question 29

Which of the following groups was unlikely to support the Populist platform in 1892?

A) Black farmers
B) White farmers
C) Women suffragists
D) Recent immigrants

Question 30

One consequence of the Populist Party's appeal to southern voters in 1892 was

A) that it gave up trying to win the support of northern immigrants and industrial workers.
B) its decision to back William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic presidential candidate, in 1896.
C) the Republican Party's decision to spend $16 million on the 1896 presidential campaign.
D) the Democrats' effort to disenfranchise the South's African Americans and poor white voters.

Question 31

The Grangers organized a variety of activities, including

A) lectures and agricultural fairs.
B) protest rallies.
C) baseball games.
D) musical performances.

Question 32

The first efforts to organize farmers were meant to help them

A) fight foreclosures.
B) increase productivity.
C) overcome loneliness and isolation.
D) convince their children not to move to the city.

Question 33

"Coxey's Army" consisted of some 500

A) farmers.
B) factory workers.
C) miners.
D) unemployed workers.

Question 34

If implemented, the Southern Alliance's proposed "Subtreasury System" would have eased the farm debt crisis by

A) decreasing production of certain crops to raise prices.
B) relying on federal loans rather than bank loans.
C) lowering interest rates on bank loans.
D) nationalizing the Granger's collective marketing model.

Question 35

Which of the following functions was a responsibility of the federal government, according to President Grover Cleveland?

A) Secure the welfare of citizens.
B) Provide a nationwide postal service.
C) Implement policies to maximize economic growth.
D) Prevent declining living standards for Americans.

Question 36

Which of the following describes the impact the combine harvester had on the economics of American farming in the late nineteenth century?

A) It increased productivity, which made farming more profitable.
B) It increased productivity, which drove down agricultural prices.
C) It made cooperative approaches to selling crops and buying finished goods unnecessary.
D) It motivated farmers to think of themselves as industrial workers and join unions.

Question 37

During the Depression of the 1890s, President Cleveland's policies suggested his top priority was helping

A) business owners and investors.
B) the unemployed.
C) striking workers.
D) farmers.

Question 38

Farm cooperatives were established with two main goals: to increase crop prices and to

A) lower interest rates on bank loans.
B) purchase consumer goods wholesale.
C) establish a new political party to represent farmers.
D) introduce industrial management styles to farming.

Question 39

Wealthy Americans opposed Cleveland's efforts to

A) sell bonds to keep the government solvent.
B) end the Pullman strike.
C) introduce a federal income tax.
D) end the use of silver as a backing for currency.

Question 40

Jazz music was a product of the diverse musical traditions found in

A) Memphis.
B) Atlanta.
C) the Mississippi Delta.
D) New Orleans.

Question 41

The economy rebounded in 1897 due to the

A) economic policies of President McKinley.
B) withdrawal of the Populists from national politics.
C) discovery of gold in Alaska.
D) decline of the general price index.

Question 42

Which of the following activities of the Granger Movement from 1876 did the lithograph "I Feed You All" include?

A) Nursing
B) Teaching
C) Cooking
D) Brokering

Question 43

The reliance of southern Democrats on racially divisive politics at the end of the nineteenth century was meant to

A) keep poor whites from joining the Populists.
B) increase the power and influence of wealthy whites.
C) encourage blacks to move to the North.
D) signal the party's acceptance of new immigrant groups.

Question 44

Tom Watson's efforts in support of the Populist agenda over the course of his career could be characterized as

A) politically pragmatic.
B) racially divisive.
C) ideologically consistent.
D) self-interested.

Question 45

Based on Figure 17.1, Union Membership, 1870-1900, labor unions saw the steepest decline in their membership in the years

A) 1870-1880
B) 1886-1890
C) 1880-1886
D) 1890-1900

Question 46

The coalition built by the Republican Party to win the 1896 presidential election was evidence that

A) farmers and industrial workers had significant interests in common.
B) the majority of Americans did not favor the gold standard.
C) anxiety about the imminence of class warfare was unwarranted.
D) northern cities were controlled by the Democratic Party.

Question 47

The Populist Party's lack of success on the national level can be attributed to its failure to

A) raise adequate campaign funds.
B) build strong coalitions across regional and racial lines.
C) propose solutions to the economic downturn.
D) win the support of activist farmers.

Question 48

Which of the following characterizes the Supreme Court's position on income tax in the Pollack v. Farmers Loan and Trust decision?

A) It was unfair to the poor.
B) It was unfair to the rich.
C) It was too limited in scope.
D) It was too broad in scope.

Question 49

The bankruptcy of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad was responsible for the

A) Pullman strike.
B) collapse of the stock market.
C) election of Grover Cleveland.
D) economic downturn in England.

Question 50

Grover Cleveland's ineffective handling of the 1893 Depression was responsible for

A) the Democratic Party's decline in popularity.
B) electoral politics becoming a proxy for class warfare.
C) the urban and rural poor uniting around economic policy issues.
D) reinforcing the belief that government should not intervene in economic matters.

Question 51

Use the excerpt from John Morrison's Testimony on the Impact of Mechanization, 1883, to answer the question.

A) Mechanization reduced the connection between workers and their product.
B) Mechanization increased the skills of a more specialized labor force.
C) Mechanization required a more complex knowledge and set of skills from workers.
D) Mechanization eliminated the need for foremen.

Question 52

The political realignment that occurred in 1896 was the result of

A) the Republican Party's appeal to both ordinary workers and the corporate elite.
B) the positions taken by the various parties on the issue of women's suffrage.
C) William Jennings Bryan's ability to unite rural farmers and urban industrial workers.
D) the Populist Party's success in getting blacks and whites to unite around its platform.

Question 53

A key contributor to Republican victory in the 1896 election was the

A) support of industrial workers and immigrants.
B) support of farmers.
C) endorsement of the Populists.
D) barnstorming campaign style of William McKinley.