Captains of Industry & Robber Barons
This steel tycoon became one of the era’s greatest philanthropists.
Who is Andrew Carnegie?
This invention revolutionized communication and helped coordinate business.
What is the telegraph?
Workers often labored this many hours per week without overtime.
What are 60–70 hours?
The majority of Gilded Age immigrants worked these kinds of jobs.
What are factory jobs?
This term means “covered in gold on the outside but corrupt beneath.”
What is gilded?
Business leaders who used ruthless or unethical tactics were given this nickname.
What are Robber Barons?
The term for a company that completely controls an entire industry.
What is a monopoly (or trust)?
A group of workers who join together to demand better pay and conditions is called a ____.
What is a labor union?
Crowded apartment buildings are partitioned into tiny rooms for low-income families.
What are tenements?
The belief that the strongest businesses and individuals would survive, similar to natural selection.
What is Social Darwinism?
This entrepreneur controlled the oil industry and built Standard Oil.
Who is John D. Rockefeller?
Name one major factor that allowed the U.S. industry to grow rapidly during the Gilded Age.
What is abundant natural resources / immigration / inventions / entrepreneurs?
This 1911 tragedy killed 146 workers and led to major safety reforms.
What is the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire?
Rapid growth of cities during the Gilded Age is known as this process.
What is urbanization?
A wealthy individual who donates large amounts of money to charity.
What is a philanthropist?
Banker J.P. Morgan once loaned this large sum to the U.S. government during a crisis.
What is $65 million?
This economic approach meant the government took a “hands-off” role in business.
What is laissez-faire capitalism?
Name one reason workers were paid so little during this era.
What is workers were replaceable / no regulations?
Name one push factor that caused immigrants to leave their home countries.
What is famine / lack of jobs / war / discrimination?
Manual workers before industrialization were often happier because they were these types of skilled craft workers.
What are artisans?
Give one reason someone might view an industrial leader as a Captain of Industry.
What is philanthropy / job creation / economic growth? (any valid point)
Factories created new positions for these mid-level employees—between workers and owners.
Who are middle managers?
This labor protest in Chicago turned violent after a bomb was thrown at police in 1886.
What is the Haymarket Riot?
According to documents from the time, many garment workers were forced to work up to this many hours without overtime.
What is 70 hours? (or “long hours without overtime")
This concept explains how business leaders like Carnegie justified extreme inequality by arguing that the wealthy had a moral obligation to use their riches to improve society, but only on their own terms.
What is the Gospel of Wealth?