Building Factories, Building Cities (1877-1920)

Flashcards covering technology, industrialization, labor movements, urban growth, political machines, and cultural developments in the U.S. between 1877 and 1920.

How many U.S. patents were granted between 1860 and 1930 compared to between 1790 and 1860?

1.5 million patents were granted between 1860 and 1930, compared to just 36,000 between 1790 and 1860.

Where did Thomas Edison open his "invention factory" in 1876, and what was his most notable invention?

He opened it in Menlo Park, New Jersey, and his most notable invention was the incandescent lightbulb.

What contribution did George Westinghouse make to the delivery of electric power?

He showed how alternating current could deliver electricity over long distances.

Which African American engineer patented 35 devices vital to electronics and communications?

Granville T. Woods.

How many cars per year was the Ford Motor Company producing by 1914?

248,000 cars per year.

What process did Andrew Carnegie employ in the 1870s to produce steel near Pittsburgh?

The Bessemer process, which was invented in Europe.

What percentage of the U.S. steel business did Carnegie Steel control by 1900?

60 percent.

Which global tobacco business was created by James B. Duke in North Carolina by 1900?

American Tobacco Company.

What legal precedent regarding corporations was established by the Supreme Court?

Corporations, like ordinary individuals, are protected by laws preventing the government from depriving them of property rights without due process.

How did trusts function to allow large corporations to dominate industries?

They lured or forced stockholders of smaller companies to yield control of their stock "in trust" to the larger company's board of trustees.

What main theory defined Social Darwinism as adopted by late 19th-century business leaders?

It grafted Charles Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest onto laissez-faire economics, reasoning that wealth in a free market naturally flows to those most capable of creating it.

What was the purpose of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, and why was it ineffective?

It forbade contracts and combinations "in restraint of trade," but corporate lawyers exploited its loopholes, and it was frequently turned against labor unions instead.

What business practice involves a manufacturing company acquiring raw materials, transporting them, and marketing/selling finished products?

Vertical Integration.

What system of labor efficiency was advocated by Frederick W. Taylor?

"Scientific management," which designed specialized tools and prescribed specific worker motions to generate more output with fewer workers.

Which labor union welcomed skilled and semi-skilled workers, including women and African Americans, but excluded Chinese Americans?

The Knights of Labor.

How many casualties resulted from the 1886 bomb explosion at Haymarket Square in Chicago?

Seven people were killed and 67 were injured.

Who led the 1894 strike at the Pullman Palace Car Company, and what action caused his arrest?

Eugene Debs, president of the American Railway Union, led the strike and was arrested for defying a court injunction.

What role did the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) play after its founding in 1903?

It represented women by seeking shorter hours, better working conditions, strike support, educational activities, and campaigning for women's suffrage.

By how much did the urban population of the U.S. grow between 1870 and 1920?

It grew from 10 million to more than 54 million residents.

How did political machines such as New York's Tammany Hall assist urban immigrants?

They functioned as de facto social welfare agencies by providing jobs, housing, food, clothing, and city contracts in immigrant neighborhoods in exchange for votes.

Which middle-class social reformers investigated and proposed solutions to urban problems during this era?

Jane Addams and Florence Kelley.

What single factor was the most important enticement drawing European migrants to the U.S. in the late 19th century?

Plentiful jobs.

Why were the rules of college football altered by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)?

To make the game less violent due to large numbers of deaths and injuries.

When was basketball invented, and among which group did it become the most popular intercollegiate sport?

Basketball was invented in 1891 and became the most popular intercollegiate sport among women.

What 1915 epic film by D.W. Griffith fanned racial prejudice by depicting the Ku Klux Klan as heroic?

The Birth of a Nation.

Which publisher introduced colored comic supplements, leading to the term "yellow journalism"?

Joseph Pulitzer.