Chapter 18 Study Questions

1. At the end of the 19th century how did the U.S. economy compare with that of Britain and Germany?
2. What factors contributed the most to the growing U.S. economy in the latter half of 19th century?
3. What new consumer products were being mass-produced in the late 19th century?
4. How many miles of railroad track were laid out by 1875?
5. What "fixed costs" did railroads have?
6. Who were Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, Thomas Scott and James Hill.
7. What was a "trunk" line? What was a branch line?
8. Which railroad controlled a vast rail line network in the South?
9. When was the present system of time zones introduced?
10. When was standard gauge introduced?
11. What were the results of the propaganda used by railroads to spur settlement of land?
12. What connection did George Westinghouse have with railroads?
13. What material helped to strengthen the rail lines for heavier locomotives and longer trains?
14. What connection did the telegraph have to the railroads?
15. Who invented the process for mass-producing steel?
16. What city became the "iron and steel" capital of the country?
17. What was the most important petroleum product in the 19th century?
18. Who invented the telephone?
19. What did Thomas Edison invent?
20. What helped cause the depression of 1893?
21. What phenomenon cut into railroad company profits and ultimately hurt the economy? How did railroads adjust?
22. Who was known as "The Great Forecloser?"
23. When competition hit the railroads, what type of practice did they engage in that hurt small business owners?
24. When railroads were reorganized, what group usually gained control of them?
25. What was "Morganizations."
26. Who became the leader of the steel industry? Who created U. S. Steel?
27. Which cities were centers of the oil refining industry?
28. When was the Standard Oil Company founded? By 1879, what percentage of the petroleum business did this company control?
29. What type of business organization did John D. Rockefeller switch to?
30. How did a trust differ from a corporation?
31. Who was known as the "Wizard?"
32. How was General Electric formed?
33. What did Henry D. Hyde invent?
34. What new business form was utilized by John Wanamaker and Marshal Field?
35. What did Americans think about big business?
36. Who was Pat Crowe?
37. What was Henry George in favor of? What was the "single tax?" What book did Henry George publish in 1879?
38. What was Looking Backwards, 2000-1887?
39. What did Henry Demarest Lloyd believe about the concept of Social Darwinism and laissez-faire?
40. When was the Marxist Socialist Labor Party founded?
41. Who was Daniel De Leon?
42. What was the importance of The Cooperative Commonwealth?
43. Who founded the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry? What was the purpose of this organization?
44. What were Granger laws?
45. What was the importance of the Munn v. Illinois case?
46. What was a result of the Wabash case in 1886?
47. What was the basic weakness of the Interstate Commerce Commission?
48. What was the Sherman Anti-Trust Act?
49. What was the importance of the United States v. E. C. Knight?
50. What type of workers were most likely to belong to a Union around the time of the Civil War?
51. When was the National Labor Union founded?
52. What did Uriah Stevens organize in Philadelphia?
53. What was unique about the Knights of Labor?
54. What demand did strikers seek in May of 1886? What happened in Haymarket Square? How did this event affect the Knights of Labor?
55. What did Adolph Strasser and Samuel Gompers found?
56. What was President Hayes' response to a nationwide railroad strike in 1877?
57. Which President suggested that Congress create a voluntary arbitration board?
58. What was the Homestead affair? Who was Henry Clay Frick? Who was Mr. Clay's boss?
59. What was the Pullman Palace Car Company?
60. Which president ended the Pullman strike? Who was Eugene V. Debs? What does Karl Marx's Capital and Looking Backwards have to do with Eugene V. Debs?
61. What was the "Money Trust?"