Industrialization Post Civil War

Gross National Product (GNP)

Is the total value of all the goods and services produced by a nation in a single year.

Economics

The study of how people use scare resources to satisfy unlimited human wants

Laissez-faire

Policy that government should interfere as little as possible in the nation's economy.

Capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, production is done for the profit motive in free/ competitive markets

Socialism

A system in which society, usually in the form of the government, owns and controls the means of production in some or all industries, and operates them for the benefit of society as a whole.

Money

anything that has social confidence to act as a a store of value and a medium of exchange.

Entrepreneur

A person who organizes, manages, and takes on the risks of a business.

Alexander Graham Bell

Invented the telephone

Thomas Edison

American inventor best known for inventing the electric light bulb, acoustic recording on wax cylinders, and motion pictures.

Morrill Tariff

This was an act passed by Congress in 1861 to significantly increased import duties to protect American industries and raise revenue for the war effort, marking a shift towards high protective tariffs that would last for decades.

Pacific Railway Act (1862)

A series of laws that promoted the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad authorizing the issuance of government bonds and the grants of land to railroad companies.

Union Pacific Railroad

A railroad that started in Omaha, and it connected with the Central Pacific Railroad in Promentary Point, UTAH

Central Pacific Railroad

A railroad that started in Sacramento , and connected with the Union Pacific Railroad in Promentary Point, UTAH

Leland Stanford

American financier of the Central Pacific Railroad (built 1863-1869) and founder of Stanford University (1885).

Cornelius Vanderbilt

A railroad owner who built a railway connecting Chicago and New York. He popularized the use of steel rails in his railroad, which made railroads safer and more economical.

Robber Barons/Captains of Industry

Refers to the industrialists or big business owners who gained huge profits by paying their employees extremely low wages. They also drove their competitors out of business by selling their products cheaper than it cost to produce it. Then when they controlled the market, they hiked prices high above original price.

Corporation

a company or group of people authorized to act as a single entity (legally a person) and recognized as such in law.

stockholders

people or entities that own stock in a corporation and therefore are its owners

stock

A share of ownership in a corporation.

economies of scale

a proportionate saving in costs gained by an increased level of production. Volume.

fixed costs

costs that do not vary with production or sales level

operating costs

costs that occur when running a company, such as paying wages, shipping charges, buying raw materials and other supplies

Pools

agreements between companies to maintain prices at a certain level

Andrew Canegie

A Scottish industrialist, businessman, philanthropist, and founder of Pittsburgh's Carnegie steel company, which later became U.S. steel.

Bessemer Process

A way to manufacture steel quickly and cheaply by blasting hot air through melted iron to quickly remove impurities.

Horizontal Integration

Type of monopoly where a company buys out all of its competition. Ex. Rockefeller

Vertical Integration

Practice where a single entity controls the entire process of a product, from the raw materials to distribution

John D. Rockefeller

Established the Standard Oil Company, the greatest, wisest, and meanest monopoly known in history

monopoly

Complete control of a product or business by one person or group

trust

A group of corporations run by a single board of directors

holding company

a company whose primary business is owning a controlling share of stock in other companies

Union

A worker association that bargains with employers over wages, benefits, and working conditions

Deflation

an ongoing decrease in prices and an increase in the value of money, usually during an economic recession when people have less money to spend (reduced demand).

Lockout

a company tool to fight union demands by refusing to allow employees to enter its facilities to work

Blacklist

A list of people or products viewed with suspicion or disapproval.

Strikebreakers (Scabs)

Non-union workers hired as replacements for striking employees in order to break a union.

Knights of Labor

labor union that sought to organize all workers and focused on broad social reforms

Arbitration

settling a dispute by agreeing to accept the decision of an impartial outsider

closed shops

an agreement in which a company agrees to hire union members only

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

1886

*Combination of national craft unions representing labor interests in wages, hours, and safety

*Individuals were members of their local unions, which in turn, were members of the AFL

*Rather than revolutionary changes, they sought a better working life; their philosophy was "pure and simple unionism"

*First president was Samuel Gompers

Marxism

Emerged as the most famous socialist belief system during the 19th century. Saw all of history as the story of class struggle of the owning class vs the laboring class. Sought a struggle that would end in the communal ownership of the means of production and the equal distribution of the products of production (wealth).

Pullman Strike

1894 - nonviolent strike (brought down the railway system in most of the West) at the Pullman Palace Car Co. over wages - Prez. Cleveland shut it down because it was interfering with mail delivery

Homestead Strike

1892 steelworker strike near Pittsburgh against the Carnegie Steel Company. Ten workers were killed in a riot when "scab" labor was brought in to force an end to the strike.