History CH18

Twine binder

bound grain into bundles and deposited it in stacks

McCormick Company

began production of the twine binder in 1881

Crop rotation

planting a different crop each year to avoid depleting the soil of minerals

contour plowing

plowing furrows to follow the curves of a hill; helped eliminate soil errosion

Luther Burbank

agricultural experimenter who did much to aid American farmers; produced many new and better varieties of fruits, vegetables, and flowers; thornless cactus; Burbank potato

Mark Carleton

found a variety of wheat in Russia that would grow with very little rainfall

George Washington Carver

over 300 uses for the peanut

Department of Agriculture

Established by Congress in 1862; for operating experimental farms, conducting research on plant and animal diseases,and developing new varieties of crops suitable for specific kinds of soil

Morill Act

1862 - provided land to states for the establishment of colleges for agricultural and mechanical sciences

Hatch Act

1887 - provided funds for state agricultural colleges

Smith-Lever Act

1914 - provided training for young people in rural areas; provided a county agent located in each agricultural county to give advice and on-the-spot training for enhancing farms and productivity

Alexander Graham Bell

1876 - patented his first telephone

Bell Telephone Company

1877 - Founded by Alexander Graham Bell

Thomas Edison

Wizard of Menlo Park (New Jersey); patented 1,093 inventions; incandescent electric lamp

Nikola Tesla

Discovered Alternating current (AC) - safer, cheaper, more reliable; tesla coil

Capitalism / Free enterprise

economic system in which individuals are free to follow their economic pursuits

Contributors to America’s prosperity

1. American character

2. Free Enterprise

3. New inventions and discoveries

4. Abundant natural resources

5. Large Labor force

6. Surplus capital

7. Stimulating Civil War

8. Cheap transportation

William Kelly and Henry Bessemer

each discovered the Bessemer process

Bessemer process

a blast of hot air could be used to remove impurities from molten iron; blast furnace perfected

Open-hearth method

slower, more precise technique of steel production

Andrew Carnegie

young entrepreneur who invested in the Bessemer process and joined forces with other steel companies; Carnegie Steel Company - became the leading producer of iron and steel

J. P. Morgan

Organized Carnegie Steel and other smaller steel companies and related businesses into the U.S. Steel Corporation - controlled over half of the steel production

Edwin Drake

drilled the first oil well

John D. Rockefeller

saw the potential of the oil business; Standard Oil Company

Pittsburgh

Iron and steel center

Chicago and Kansas City

meatpacking centers

Minneapolis and St. Paul

flour mills

Milwaukee and St. Louis

Breweries

New South

many changes took place in the South after the Civil War

Birmingham

center of the southern iron and steel; Pittsburgh of the South

Corporation

when a group of businessmen receive a charter of incorporation from a state government

1. Generate large amounts of capital

2. Stockholder risks only the amount of money invested

3. Stocks can easily change hands, easier to sell

Capital

money used to make more money

Stock

Certificates of ownership

Stockholder

one who purchases the stock

Dividends

profits

Board of directors

manages the corporation

Proprietorship

business owned by one individual

Partnership

business owned by two or more individuals

Pools

informal agreement among competing business to fix prices, share profits, or divide the country so that each business could have the exclusive right to market its product in a given area

Trust

combination of a number of similar corporations; stockholders turned their stock over to a board of trustees

Trust certificate

entitled stockholders to share proportionately in the profits of the trust

Board of trustees

eliminated competition between participating companies; legal agreement

Standard Oil Trust

John D. Rockefeller; controlled 90% of the nation’s oil-refining business

Monopolies

large business organizations that could provide the public with important commodities

Patrons of Husbandry or “The Grange”

national association of farmers founded by Oliver Hudson Kelley; founded for social and cultural activities; discuss common problems'; appealed to their state legislatures

Cooperatives or co-ops

a business operated to save its members money, not to make a profit; but any profits accrued are shared; discontinued

Inflation

value of the dollar declines, and prices go up

cheap money

money that has declined in value

Greenbacks

paper money not backed by gold or any other valuable metal but by the government’s credit

Greenback Labor Party

advocated for the federal government to increase the greenbacks in circulation

Rutherford B. Hayes

supported backing the greenbacks by gold instead of putting more of the bills into circulation

Free Silver Movement

silver miners called for the free coinage of silver; wanted government to bring up price of silver by purchasing more

Bland-Allison Act

provided for the government to purchase and coin at least a limited amount of silver each month

James A. Garfield

believed the government should focus on agricultural interests and saw manufacturers as a new avenues for wealth and prosperity.

Chester A. Arthur

thought the country needed lower tariff rates

Interstate Commerce Act

1887 - forbade railroads to grant rebates, to charge more for short hauls than for long hauls, or to engage in certain other competitive practices

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

five member board appointed by he president and confirmed by the Senate; supervise the activities of railroads and enforce the provisions of the law

Farmer’s Alliances

politically active regional groups

Populist Party

1. call for the free coinage of silver

2. increase paper money in circulation

3. progressive income tax - higher income, higher tax percentage

4. government ownership and control of transportation and communication facilities

5. direct election of senators by the voters

6. adoption of initiative, referendum, and the secret ballot

7. immigration restrictions

8. fewer working hours for laborers

James B. Weaver

Populist presidential candidate

Sherman Antitrust Act

1890 - declared any trust or similar arrangements that restrained interstate or international trade illegal

Coxey’s Army

Jacob Coxey led a group of about five hundred unemployed men in a march on Washington to demand relief

Pullman Strike

1894 - Pullman Palace Car Company; American Railway Union cooperated with strikers; violence and destruction of property

Injunction

court order forbidding the performance of a particular act

Eugene V. Debs

union member went to jail for refusing to obey the injunction

McKinley Tariff

President McKinley; higher degree of protection to the American industry; protected American farmers by imposing duties upon foreign farm products

Reciprocity clause

reciprocal trade agreement to foreign nations and allowed certain raw materials to be shipped duty-free

Salvation Army

General William Booth founded in Great Britain in 1878; US in 1879

Moody Bible Institute

Dwight L. Moody

Sam Jones

“Moody of the South”

B. H. Carroll

wrote “An Interpretation of the English Bible”

Ira D. Sankey

song writer

Sheldon Jackson

best-known home mis

American Red Cross

founded by Clara Barton

Mount Hermon

“Mount Hermon Hundred”'; encouragement for foreign mission work

Student Volunteer Movement

two thousand students responded to the call for foreign missions