American Industrialization and Labor Unions Study Guide

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering major industrialists, business concepts, inventions, and labor union history during American Industrialization.

Urbanization

The movement of people into cities, which created a growing population and an increased demand for beef and farmed foods.

Laissez faire

A federal government philosophy toward business meaning "hands off" or "to leave alone," allowing businesses to operate with little or no government interference or intervention.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Industrialist who dominated the railroad industry by consolidating smaller companies and standardizing rail widths across the country.

Consolidating

The business practice of bringing several individual companies together into a single enterprise.

Standardizing

The practice of making railroad tracks a consistent, uniform width everywhere throughout the country.

Andrew Carnegie

Industrialist who dominated the steel industry after perfecting the Bessemer process and authored The Gospel of Wealth.

The Gospel of Wealth

A book written by Andrew Carnegie encouraging wealthy individuals to use their riches to improve society by being charitable toward the poor.

Philanthropy

The concept of wealthy individuals using their fortunes to improve society through charitable support for the poor.

John D. Rockefeller

Industrialist who dominated the oil industry by controlling $90\%$ of refineries through Standard Oil, creating one of America's most dominant monopolies and becoming the wealthiest American ever.

J.P. Morgan

Financial leader who dominated banking and finance, bought Carnegie Steel, and organized U.S. Steel.

U.S. Steel

The world's first billion-dollar company, created by J.P. Morgan after purchasing Carnegie Steel.

Henry Ford

Industrialist who revolutionized manufacturing by mass-producing automobiles on an assembly line.

Assembly Line

A mass-production technique introduced by Henry Ford that forever transformed manufacturing across virtually all modern industries.

Thomas Edison

Inventor who developed the first commercially practical incandescent light bulb and helped establish the electrical grid necessary to power city lighting.

Alexander Graham Bell

Inventor of the telephone, who revolutionized the field of communication across the United States.

Vertical Integration

A business strategy in which a corporation buys up companies along the supply line of its product (such as an automaker buying steel, rubber, leather, and glass suppliers).

Horizontal Integration

A business strategy in which a corporation buys up competing companies that produce similar products within the same industry.

Sherman Anti-Trust Act

Federal legislation established to break up monopolies and trusts that grew excessively dominant in their industries.

Social Darwinism

A philosophy applying "survival of the fittest" to business and society, used by industrialists like Andrew Carnegie to explain why some businesses succeed and others fail.

Knights of Labor

An early labor union built on the concept of "one big union" that accepted nearly all workers, including unskilled laborers.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

A major labor union that excluded unskilled laborers, organizing only skilled workers into specific craft and trade unions.

Haymarket Square Riot

A violent incident that caused public backlash and directly caused the end and demise of the Knights of Labor.

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

A radical, revolutionary labor union also known as the "Wobblies" that advocated violence and sought the overthrow of the U.S. capitalist system.

Eugene V. Debs

The most important socialist leader in U.S. political history, who also helped establish the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

Samuel Gompers

The most prominent early leader of American labor unions, who helped found the AFL and served as its president for $37$ years.

Terence V. Powderly

Labor leader who advocated for equal pay for women, the temperance movement, and the complete abolition of child labor.