Quiz Study Guide: Industrialization & Gilded Age

Corporation

An organization owned by many people but treated by law as though it were a single person.

Industry

economic activity concerned with the processing of raw materials and manufacture of goods in factories.

Laissez-faire

Belief that the government should not interfere in the economy.

Entrepreneurs

Individuals who start and run businesses, often taking financial risks in hopes of profit.

Alexander Graham Bell

An inventor credited with inventing the first practical telephone and founding the Bell Telephone Company.

Thomas Edison

An American inventor who developed many devices, including the light bulb, the phonograph and, the electric generator.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

One of the wealthiest and most powerful businessmen during the industrialization period. He was a key figure in the expansion of the American railroad system and also made significant contributions to the shipping industry.

John D. Rockefeller

One of the wealthiest and most powerful businessmen during the industrialization period. He founded the Standard Oil Company, contributed to the rise of monopolies in the United States.

Robber Baron

American industrialists who became wealthy by unethical means, such as questionable stock market operations and exploitation of labor.

Captain of Industry

self-made men who had helped build the nation and in the process created many jobs for American workers.

Fixed Costs

costs a company has to pay, whether or not it is operating like a mortgage or taxes.

Operating Costs

costs that occur when running a company, like paying wages, shipping charges, buying raw materials.

Vertical Integration

Purchase of companies at all levels of production.This strategy allows a business to control its supply chain and reduce costs.

Horizontal Integration

Purchase of competing companies in the same industry.

Monopoly

total control of an industry by one person or company.

Union

An organization of workers formed to protect workers' rights and improve their working conditions.

Great Railroad Strike

The Great Railroad Strike was a nationwide violent labor protest against wage cuts and poor working conditions in the railroad industry. This was the first nationwide labor protest in American history.

Pullman Strike

A nationwide railroad strike that started at the Pullman Company in Chicago, protesting wage cuts and high rents in company-owned housing.

Ellis Island

processing center where immigrants underwent medical examinations and legal checks to determine their eligibility for entry into the US

Skyscrapers

tall steel frame buildings that led to urbanization and the rise of cities

Tenements

multi-family apartments in cities that were typically overcrowded and typically had poor living conditions.

How the Other Half Lives

a book by Jacob Riis that exposed the harsh living conditions of the urban poor in New York City, particularly in the tenements.

Gilded Age

a period in US history from the 1870s to 1900. The term 'Gilded Age' refers to a time marked by significant industrial growth, technological advancement, and the emergence of a wealthy elite amid widespread poverty and corruption in American society.

gilded

Something is gilded if it is covered with gold on the outside but made of cheaper material inside.