Industrial Growth
What process changed the United States from mainly farming to machine-based manufacturing?
Industrialization.
What invention made long-distance communication much faster?
The telegraph.
What transportation system connected farms, mines, factories, and cities?
Railroads
Who built a powerful steel company?
Andrew Carnegie.
What term means one company controls all or nearly all of a market?
Monopoly.
Name one natural resource that supported American industrial growth.
Coal, iron, oil, or timber.
What invention allowed people to communicate using their voices over long distances?
The Telephone
Name one way railroads helped farmers.
Railroads transported crops to distant markets or brought farmers needed supplies.
Who built Standard Oil?
John D. Rockefeller.
What term describes competing companies placing control under one central group?
Trust.
How did factories change how goods were produced?
Factories used machines and workers to produce goods faster and in larger amounts.
What material became important for railroads, bridges, buildings, and machines?
Steel
What is a tariff?
A tax placed on imported goods.
A company owns its raw materials, factories, and transportation. What business strategy is this?
Vertical integration.
What is an entrepreneur?
A person who starts a business and takes financial risks.
Why were growing cities important to industrialization?
Cities provided workers, factories, transportation, and customers.
What does automation mean?
Using machines to perform work previously completed by people.
What federal law created rules for railroad businesses?
The Interstate Commerce Act.
A company buys competing businesses that perform the same kind of work. What strategy is this?
Horizontal integration.
What economic system allows private individuals to own businesses and compete for profit?
Free enterprise.
Give one benefit and one problem caused by industrialization.
Benefit: more goods, jobs, or lower prices. Problem: unsafe work, pollution, or poor working conditions.
How did new technology help businesses become larger?
Technology allowed businesses to produce and transport more goods faster and at lower costs.
How could a railroad change an isolated town?
It could bring businesses, workers, customers, goods, population growth, and connections to other places.
Why could big businesses be viewed as both helpful and harmful?
They created jobs and produced goods efficiently, but they could reduce competition and gain too much power.
What law attempted to stop trusts and protect competition?
The Sherman Antitrust Act.