Industrialization, Economics, and the American Labor Movement

Vocabulary flashcards covering industrial innovation, business practices, economic systems, and labor movements from Module 3 notes.

Edwin L. Drake

One of the first people to drill for oil using a steam engine drill at his home in Pennsylvania.

Elijah McCoy

Inventor who created a lubricating cup that automatically fed oil to the moving parts of a machine.

Bessemer Process

A technique developed for processing steel that allowed it to be produced much faster and cheaper.

Thomas Alva Edison

Inventor who perfected the incandescent lightbulb and built a full system for producing and distributing direct current (DC) electricity.

Patent

A set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or assignee for a fixed period of time to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention.

Alternating Current (AC)

Type of electrical current developed by George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla that allowed long-distance transmission of electricity.

Direct Current (DC)

Type of electricity utilized by Thomas Edison that lost too much energy over power lines to be transmitted over long distances.

Christopher Sholes

Inventor of the typewriter, which revolutionized written communications by enabling easily legible documents.

Credit Mobilier

A construction company corporation formed by directors of the Union Pacific Railroad to scam money by overcharging for railroad construction and bribing government officials.

Granger Laws

State-level laws passed due to political action by organized farmers to protect agricultural interests against railroad abuses and rate fixing.

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

A federal body established to supervise railroad activities and ensure rail companies complied with federal law.

Munn v. Illinois

A Supreme Court case in which the court upheld state Granger laws by a 7-2 vote, establishing that states could set maximum passenger and freight rates.

J.P. Morgan

A prominent financier and banker who made a massive fortune by taking over and merging competing businesses.

Horatio Alger

An author who inspired 19th-century Americans by writing popular 'Rags-to-Riches' novels about individuals rising from poverty to wealth.

Laissez-faire Capitalism

An economic policy advocating for zero government intervention or regulation in business and the market.

Social Darwinism

A theory advanced by Herbert Spencer using evolutionary concepts to argue that market competition naturally governs business success and failure without need for regulation.

Andrew Carnegie

Scottish immigrant who built a massive steel empire by utilizing vertical integration and bulk production techniques.

Alexander Graham Bell

Inventor who patented the telephone, allowing rapid vocal communication across distances.

Jan Earnst Matzeliger

Inventor of a lasting machine that attached the upper part of a shoe to its sole, automating shoe production.

Promontory, Utah

The location where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad lines met on May 10, 1869, completing the first transcontinental railroad in the U.S.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

A major industrialist and key figure in the regional consolidation and expansion of American railroads.

George Westinghouse

Inventor of the compressed-air brake, which allowed all train cars to stop simultaneously, improving speed and safety.

Standard Gauge

A uniform distance width between railway tracks that eliminated the need to transfer freight and passengers between different train lines.

Trunk Lines

Major direct railroad routes connecting primary urban and industrial hubs.

George Pullman

Industrialist who built luxury railroad passenger cars and constructed a company town to house and control his workforce.

Monopoly

A market condition in which a single seller controls the entire supply of a product, good, or service.

Pool

An informal agreement between competing companies in the same industry to divide market territory and suppress price competition.

Holding Company

A corporation formed solely to buy up stock and control other independent companies rather than produce goods directly.

Gospel of Wealth

Andrew Carnegie's philosophy asserting that wealthy individuals have a moral obligation to distribute their fortunes for the benefit of society.

John D. Rockefeller

Founder of Standard Oil who amassed total control over up to 90% of the U.S. oil refining industry using trusts and horizontal integration.

Trust

A business consolidation structure where shareholders turn control of their stock over to a central board of trustees to eliminate market competition.

Vertical Integration

A business strategy involving the purchase and ownership of companies at every step of production and transportation for a given product.

Horizontal Integration

A business strategy of purchasing competing companies that manufacture the exact same product to build market control.

Robber Barons

A derogatory term used by critics to describe 19th-century industrialists accused of using predatory or unethical practices to amass wealth.

Nouveau Riche

A French term meaning 'newly rich,' describing self-made industrialists who acquired wealth in burgeoning modern sectors and engaged in conspicuous consumption.

Sherman Antitrust Act

A federal statute designed to curb monopolies by declaring trusts and anti-competitive business combinations illegal.

Opportunity Cost

The value of the next best alternative given up when making an economic choice.

Scarcity

The basic economic problem resulting from unlimited human wants combined with limited resources.

Economic Interdependence

A condition in which specialized entities or regions rely upon one another to supply required goods and services.

Traditional Economic System

An economic structure where choices regarding production and distribution are governed strictly by custom, religion, and historical habits.

Command Economic System

An economy in which a centralized government authority determines all decisions regarding production, investment, and prices.

Market Economic System

An economic system where production and pricing decisions are guided by free-market interactions between buyers and sellers.

Market Anarchism

An economic belief system calling for a pure free market accompanied by the complete abolition of state institutions, including taxes and military.

Mixed Economy

An economic system combining elements of private enterprise and market forces with government regulation and public ownership.

Profit Motive

The financial incentive that drives business enterprise, competition, product innovation, and price reduction.

The Communist Manifesto

A pamphlet authored by Karl Marx outlining the theoretical foundation for socialism and the transition to a classless communist society.

Initial Public Offering (IPO)

The first official sale of a private company's stock to the general public.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

A stock market benchmark based on the calculated average value of 30 major public industrial stocks.

Bear Market

A period characterized by falling stock prices, investor pessimism, and overall economic decline.

Bull Market

A period characterized by rising stock prices, strong market growth, and positive investor confidence.

National Labor Union (NLU)

The first major national labor union coalition in the United States, which fought for an eight-hour workday but barred Black workers.

Knights of Labor

An influential national labor union led by Terence V. Powderly that admitted skilled, unskilled, female, and African American workers.

Collective Bargaining

Negotiations between union leaders representing employees and management to agree upon wages, working hours, and workplace conditions.

Closed Shop

A workplace agreement where an employer agrees to exclusively hire individuals who are union members.

Craft Union

A union organization limited strictly to skilled workers sharing a common trade or craft.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

An alliance of craft unions founded and led by Samuel Gompers that utilized collective bargaining and strikes to achieve gains for skilled workers.

Industrial Union

A union structure that organizes all workers—both skilled and unskilled—within a single overarching industry.

American Railway Union (ARU)

An industrial labor union established by Eugene V. Debs that included all railroad workers regardless of craft.

Eugene V. Debs

Labor activist who organized the American Railway Union and was jailed following the failure of the nationwide Pullman Strike.

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

A radical labor organization formed in 1905, nicknamed the Wobblies, that united unskilled workers, socialists, and radical unionists.

William "Big Bill" Haywood

Labor leader who served as the chief organizer and head of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

Scabs

A derogatory term for replacement workers hired by companies to keep operations running during a labor union strike.

Great Upheaval

The year 1886, which was marked by widespread worker strikes and violent labor unrest across the United States.

Great Strike of 1877

A major strike initiated by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) employees over wage cuts that was ultimately broken when President Hayes sent federal troops.

Haymarket Riot

An 1886 violent labor confrontation in Chicago where a bomb thrown at police severely tarnished the public reputation of labor unions and anarchists.

Anarchists

Radicals who reject and oppose all organized forms of governmental authority.

Homestead Strike

An 1892 labor conflict at Carnegie's Pennsylvania steel mill that turned deadly when strikers clashed with private armed guards.

Pullman Company Strike

An 1894 strike sparked by slashed wages and high company housing rents that paralyzed national rail traffic until federal troops intervened.

International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU)

A union founded in 1909 by Pauline Newman that represented garment workers, primarily young Jewish and Italian immigrant women.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

A tragic 1911 industrial fire in New York City that claimed 146 garment workers' lives, spurring factory safety and labor laws.

Paterson Silk Strike of 1913

A five-month strike by silk workers in Paterson, New Jersey, demanding improved working conditions and shorter hours, which ended unsuccessfully.

Mary Harris "Mother" Jones

A prominent labor organizer who championed workers' rights and organized strikes for coal miners and child laborers.

Blacklists

Shared lists of union sympathizers and activists distributed among employers to prevent those individuals from obtaining jobs.

Yellow-dog Contracts

Mandatory employment agreements forcing applicants to pledge that they would not join or support a labor union.