Gilded Age - Hons. History

Knights of Labor

Founded in 1869 as a secret order of tailors in Philadelphia, PA by Ulrich Stephens. It was by far the most important of the early labor unions in America because it was the 1st known labor union in the USA and it was open to all workers except lawyers, bankers, gamblers and liquor dealers. Also, 10% of its members were African American
- Made up of skilled and unskilled workers

Andrew Carnegie

- believed in the "pursuit of property"
- known Robber Baron of the steel industry

Monopoly

- eliminates all competition
- controls the market prices
- One business knocks out all others
- consumers only buy from one company/corporation

bourgeoisie

- middle class
- the haves (richer than the proletariat but poorer than the robber barons)

corporation

a business owned by many investors
- many people despised the trusts made under these businesses

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers as a national organization of trade unions. It sought to compete with the Knights of Labor. The main goals in the AFL were:
- organized skilled workers across the USA
- using boycotts as a means of peaceful protest
- using strikes to improve wages and hours
- use boycotts and strikes to FORCE management into "collective bargaining"

thomas malthus

(1766-1834) A strong supporter of laissez-faire economics in England. As an economist in 1798, he published as essay in the "Principle of Population," where he stated that the human population grew faster than the food production.Thus, ONLY forces such as disease and famine kept the population from outdistancing the food supplies. He believed that interfering with the process would make conditions worse

Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890

passed by congress and signed into law by President B. Harrison, it was written to eliminate monopolies and trusts in America

proletariat

- working class
- have not's (poor/ under the bourgeoisie)

"survival of the fittest"

- phrase coined by Herbert Spencer
- also known as Social Darwinism
- the theory that progress occurred through competition in which the weak fell and the strong went ahead

5 Robber Barons and their Industries

- Andrew Carnegie: Steel
- John D. Rockefeller: Oil
- J.P. Morgan: Banking
- Cornelius Vanderbilt: Railroad
- Henry Ford: Automobile

5 Inventors and their Invention

- Henry Ford: the assembly line
- Thomas Edison: the light bulb
- Nicholas Tesla: one way current
- Alexander Graham Bell: the telephone
- Samuel Morse: the telegraph/morse code

3 important point that explain why Americans despised corporations/trusts and the power they gave

- there was no analogy of the past
- corporation was an artificial creation
- corporation threatened competition

3 main themes of the late 19th-century thought to provide American businessmen with a set of terms and ideologies to justify their actions as Robber Barons

- Social Darwinism
- self-adjusting economy
- profit incentives as human motive

List and explain 3 new ways in which businesses opposed the efforts of working people to organize labor unions

- planting spies among employees to eavesdrop on their plans
- intimidating employees by Blacklisting them, thus labeling them as "troublemakers", therefore making it difficult for them to find another job in town, if they joined a union or went on strike
- The Yellow Dog Contract- new workers were forced to sign this agreement. In it they swore that they were NOT members of any union, and pledged to NEVER join a union either

Who wrote the "Iron Law of Wages" and what was the main concept/theme

- written by David Ricardo
- population and wages go through cycles

Identify the at least 3 main goals of the American Federation of Labor (AFL)

1) organized skilled workers across the USA
2) using boycotts as a means of peaceful protest
3) using strikes to improve wages and hours
4) use boycotts and strikes to FORCE management into "collective bargaining"

What was the landmark US Supreme Court decision in 1896? What was established in America (especially South) after the historic decision by the justices?

- Plessy v Ferguson
- This decison decided that racial racial segregation laws were not against the constitution as long as facilities for each race were equal
- "Separate but equal"

What was the final vote outcome of the above case of 1896? Who wrote the lone Dissenting Opinion for the US Supreme Court?

- the outcome was 7-1
- John Marshall Harlan wrote the dissenting opinion

What labor union was Jimmy Hoffa president of

Teamsters Union

3 different types of business consolidation that took place

pools, trusts, mergers and holding companies

Why was Carnegie so wealthy?

Carnegie controlled the steel market by having a monopoly.
- US Steel Corporation

What did Carnegie donate a lot of his fortune/wealth to?

the funding of public libraries
- believed that people should be able to learn at any age

Which famous African American leader excepted Jim Crow laws, what was this called?

- Booker T. Washington
- Racial Accommodation

What was the name of Adam Smith's book, what was its philosophy?

The Wealth of Nations
- it supported laissez-faire economics

What was Henry Ford's major contribution to the making of automobiles?

Invented the assembly line

Outcome of Brown V. Board of Education

- Brown won
- Schools were integrated

What happened the summer of 1881, who is responsible?

President James A. Garfield is assassinated by Charles Guiteau

What famous African American co-founded the NAACP

Dr. W.E.B. DuBois

People that supported Laissez-Faire believed that...

Government should not interfere with business
- means "hands off"

Who led the group of wall street investors that bought Carnegie Steel, what was the price?

J.P. Morgan for $480 million
- first business to make $1 billion in a year

similarities and differences between washington and dubois?

- Washington was born a slave, believed that balks had to have a will to earn their rights, created Tuskegee Institute to teach blacks trades/skills so they could get jobs, believed in racial accommodation, famous among whites, hated by blacks
- DuBois didn't agree/like Washington and his ideas, didn't believe blacks had to earn their rights, believed in classical education, first black man to graduate with a PhD from Harvard