Unit 4: Industrialism

Industrial Revolution

Rapid development of industry brought of machines

1. Labor farmers who can produce enough excess food so the industrial workers can buy food

2. Capital people with enough money to buy the land, facilities, and machines

3. Ideology laissez faire capitalism, which means there is little government oversight of business practices

Laissez Faire

The absence of government control over personal and economic life

Horizontal Integration

System of consolidating many firms in the same business

Vertical Integration

System of consolidating firms involved in all steps of a product’s manufacture

Corporation

Company recognized as a legal unit that has rights and liabilities separate from each of its members

Mass Production

Production of goods in large numbers through the use of machinery and assembly lines

Monopoly

Exclusive control by one company over an entire industry

John D. Rockefeller

(1839-1937) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. He began the Standard Oil Company and dominated the oil industry with innovative, aggressive business practices. He also contributed money to different causes through the Rockefeller Foundation.

Trust

Group of separate companies that are placed under the control of a single managing board in order to form a monopoly

Andrew Carnegie

(1835-1919) was an American industrialist and philanthropist who began Carnegie Steel, a corporation that dominated the American steel industry. He created charitable trust foundations and provided money for cultural and educational

Sherman Antitrust Act

1890 law banning any trust that restrained interstate trade or commerce

Sweatshop

Small factories where employees have to work long hours under poor conditions for little pay

Collective Bargaining

Process in which employers negotiate with labor unions about hours, wages, and other working conditions

Socialism

System or theory under which the means of production are publicly controlled and regulated rather than owned by individuals

Haymarket Riot

1886 labor-related protest in Chicago which ended in deadly violence

Homestead Strike

1892 strike against Carnegie’s steelworks in Homestead, Pennsylvania

Pullman Strike

Violent 1894 railway workers’ strike which began outside of Chicago and spread nationwide

Pattern of outcomes for labor union strikes

1. Labor unions become associated with radical ideas and violence

2. Workers lose

3. Business owners get support from the government

4. Unions survived