Chapter 16: Business and Labor in the Industrial Era (Part A)

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering major concepts, people, organizations, and policies from the notes on the Second Industrial Revolution, railroad expansion, big business, and political-economic relations in the era.

Second Industrial Revolution

A period of rapid industrial growth driven by modern transportation/communication, electricity, and improved industrial processes.

Bonanza Farms

Large-scale western farms that operated as industrial-size agricultural enterprises.

Agribusinesses

Large farming operations that hired thousands of migrant workers, used mechanized equipment, and owned extensive land.

Bell’s Telephone (1876)

Invention by Alexander Graham Bell that created the telephone and led to mass production and the formation of AT&T.

AT&T

American Telephone and Telegraph Company, founded in 1876; major national telephone company.

Edison’s Lightbulb (1879)

Thomas Edison’s development of the practical electric lightbulb, spurring electrification and economic change.

Transcontinental Railroad

Railroad network that connected the eastern and western United States, enabling nationwide commerce.

Pacific Railway Acts (1862, 1864)

Legislation authorizing construction of a north-central transcontinental route and promoting competition between Union Pacific and Central Pacific.

Union Pacific Railroad

Railroad company that built the eastern portion of the transcontinental line; hired Civil War veterans, ex-slaves, and various immigrants.

Central Pacific Railroad

Railroad company that built the western portion of the transcontinental line; hired Chinese immigrants.

Southern Pacific Company

Southwestern railroad that hired Mexicans and Native Americans.

Traqueros

Spanglish term for Mexican railroad workers.

Corporations

Large business entities that separate ownership from management; chartered by states and able to raise money by selling stock.

Robber Barons

Business magnates who used aggressive, competitive tactics to dominate industries.

John D. Rockefeller

Oil magnate who founded Standard Oil (1870) and pursued aggressive consolidation of the oil industry.

Standard Oil Company

Rockefeller’s oil trust that became the nation’s largest oil refiner.

Horizontal Integration

A strategy where a dominant company buys or eliminates most competitors to monopolize a market.

Andrew Carnegie

Scottish immigrant who rose to steel industry leadership; founded Carnegie Steel Company.

Bessemer Converter

Industrial process that turned iron into steel more efficiently, enabling Carnegie’s steel operations.

Carnegie Steel Company

Carnegie’s steel company founded in 1892; grew to become the world’s largest industrial firm.

J.P. Morgan

Influential banker who consolidated thousands of businesses through J.P. Morgan & Co.; bought and reorganized large stock holdings.

J. Pierpont Morgan and Company

Investment banking firm that financed and consolidated extensive industrial interests.

Homestead Act (1862)

Legislation granting 160 acres of western land to settlers who worked and improved it.

Laissez-Faire

French term meaning “let them do as they will”; the Gilded Age stance of limited government regulation of business.

Gilded Age

Era of rapid industrial growth and conspicuous wealth with minimal regulation and widespread corruption.

Alliance of Business and Politics

entente where Republicans allied with Big Business, often through tariffs and political contributions.

Tariffs (high tariff policy)

Tax on imports intended to protect domestic industries and limit foreign competition.