Factory Words
A business replaces goods made by hand at home with machine-powered factory production. Which vocabulary term describes this change?
Industrialization. Production shifts toward machines and factories.
People move into cities, and the cities become larger. Which vocabulary term describes this change?
Urbanization. It means the growth of cities as people move into them.
Name BOTH terms.
1. A worker receives money for doing a job.
2. A business keeps money from sales after paying all costs.
1. Wage.
2. Profit. Wages are one business cost. Profit is what remains after costs.
Name BOTH terms.
1. A job’s hours, safety, heat, and breaks.
2. Children doing dangerous or exhausting work that can interfere with school.
1. Working conditions.
2. Child labor.
Andrew Carnegie owned a steel business. Sadie Frowne worked in a garment factory.
Whose account would give a worker’s personal experience? Whose might emphasize business growth?
Frowne gives a worker’s personal experience. Carnegie may emphasize business growth. A person’s position can shape a perspective, but it does not automatically make every statement true or false.
Name BOTH terms.
1. Private owners compete to earn profit.
2. Investors own shares in a business.
1. Capitalism.
2. Corporation. A corporation describes ownership by shareholders.
Which row correctly connects resources to industrial uses?
A. Coal: energy and steelmaking; iron ore: steel; oil: fuel and lubrication.
B. Coal: steel raw material; iron ore: machine lubrication; oil: steelmaking energy.
C. Coal: lubrication; iron ore: factory fuel; oil: steel raw material.
Give the letter and explain ONE connection.
A. Coal supplied energy and helped make steel. Iron ore supplied material for steel. Oil fueled and lubricated machines. Accept any one accurate connection.
An owner buys a machine that lets workers make more products each hour. Which term describes the machine as a productive resource? Explain why the owner might buy it.
Capital. The equipment helps produce goods. Higher output can help the business grow or earn more, although a purchase does not guarantee profit.
Name BOTH terms.
1. Workers form an organization to seek better pay and conditions.
2. Representatives negotiate with the owner for workers as a group.
1. Labor union.
2. Collective bargaining. A union is the organization. Bargaining is group negotiation.
Source A: Carnegie argued that competition brought material progress, even though it could be hard on individuals. He said wealthy people should use surplus wealth to benefit the community.
What would you ask a steelworker to check what Carnegie’s view leaves out? Explain why your question matters.
Ask about wages, hours, injuries, safety, or treatment. Worker evidence helps check whether industrial progress also improved workers’ lives. Accept a specific relevant question and a reason.
One company buys competitors until it controls nearly an entire industry. Name the term. Why is owning a large factory alone not enough to show this?
Monopoly. The company must control nearly an entire industry. Factory size alone does not establish that control.
A company runs factories in several cities. What do railroads move? What do telegraphs move? Explain why expanding BOTH helps the company.
Railroads move goods and people. Telegraphs move information. Together they help transport supplies or products and coordinate orders across distances.
A factory sells $90 worth of goods. It pays $30 in wages and $25 for supplies. These are its only costs. What is its profit? Show the calculation.
Profit = sales minus costs. $90 - $30 - $25 = $35. Total costs are $55.
Workers stop working together to demand safer machines. Name their action. Explain how it can pressure the owner.
Strike. Stopped production can reduce the owner’s sales and earnings, giving the owner a reason to negotiate.
Source B: “The machines go like mad all day because the faster you work the more money you get. ... I bind the finger up ... and go on working. ... I have over $200 saved now.”
Frowne described a needle injury before wrapping her finger. Why might she keep working? Use a pay detail to explain her decision.
She says faster work brought more money. Stopping or slowing after an injury could reduce earnings, giving her a reason to continue. This is a supported inference about her decision.
Name BOTH terms.
1. A product moves along while each worker repeats one task.
2. The factory makes many identical products quickly.
How does the first help the second?
1. Assembly line.
2. Mass production. Repeating specialized tasks helps workers make many identical products faster.
Map evidence: Minnesota iron ore reaches Detroit through Great Lakes shipping. Detroit also has railroad connections.
Explain TWO ways these connections help a Detroit factory.
The routes bring distant raw materials to Detroit and carry finished products to wider markets. Use Great Lakes shipping and rail access in the explanation.
A factory has FOUR workers, $80 in sales, and $20 in supplies. Wages and supplies are its only costs.
Pay per worker falls from $10 to $5. Sales and supplies stay the same.
Find profit BEFORE and AFTER. How much does EACH worker lose?
Before: wages total $40, so profit is $80 - $20 - $40 = $20.
After: wages total $20, so profit is $80 - $20 - $20 = $40.
Each worker loses $5. Lower wage costs increase profit when sales and other costs stay fixed.
Source C: The Knights of Labor sought safer workplaces, union recognition, limits on child labor, equal pay for equal work, and an eight-hour workday.
Choose TWO demands. For each, identify the workplace problem it addressed.
Examples: safer workplaces address injuries or dangerous machines; an eight-hour day addresses long shifts; child-labor limits address harmful work by children; equal pay addresses unequal pay for the same work; union recognition supports workers’ organization and rights.
Source D: A young girl stands between rows of machines taller than she is. Scraps lie on the floor. Hine made the photograph for the National Child Labor Committee. The caption reports that an overseer said she was regularly employed.
Explain how ONE detail could draw public attention to child labor. Then name ONE important workplace fact this evidence does not establish.
A small girl beside tall machinery could raise concern about children’s safety. The evidence does not establish exact age, hours, wages, breaks, or an actual injury. The overseer’s report is caption information, not independent verification.
Label EACH example.
1. Coal and iron ore from the ground.
2. Railroads, ports, and canals.
3. The workers and work that produce goods.
1. Natural resources.
2. Infrastructure.
3. Labor. Each supports industrial production in a different way.
Immigration and migration bring more people to industrial cities. Explain how these movements help factories in TWO ways and contribute to city growth.
New residents supply labor and become customers who buy goods. Population growth contributes to urbanization.
Name BOTH terms.
1. The era of rapid industrial growth with visible wealth and widespread hardship.
2. Large differences in people’s money and resources.
Explain how the second helps explain the name of the first.
1. Gilded Age.
2. Economic inequality. Visible wealth could hide poverty and difficult work, like a thin gold covering over problems.
During a strike, what can the owner lose? What can workers lose? Explain why a better agreement is possible but not guaranteed.
Owners can lose production, sales, and earnings. Workers can lose wages. Group pressure may bring negotiation, but owners may refuse and both sides may fail to agree.
FINAL EVIDENCE PARAGRAPH
Source A: Carnegie argued that competition brought material progress, even though it could be hard on individuals. He said wealthy people should use surplus wealth to benefit the community.
Source B: “The machines go like mad all day because the faster you work the more money you get. ... I bind the finger up ... and go on working. ... I have over $200 saved now.”
Was industrialization mostly helpful, mostly harmful, or mixed? Write 4–5 sentences with a claim, a benefit, a hardship, evidence from BOTH sources, and an explanation.
Example: Industrialization brought both opportunity and hardship. Carnegie argued that competition produced material progress, showing one argument for its benefits. Frowne described a needle injury and continuing to work, showing hardship in factory labor. Her savings also show opportunity. These sources support a mixed judgment because progress and harmful conditions existed together. Accept any defensible judgment supported by both sources.