Industrialization & Labor
What term describes an economy in which the government generally avoids interfering with private businesses?
Laissez-faire
Which group primarily formed the base of the Populist Movement?
Farmers / rural Americans
What is a push factor?
A condition that causes someone to leave their home or country.
What law offered settlers 160 acres of western land if they lived on and improved it?
Homestead Act
What law was designed to regulate railroad rates?
Interstate Commerce Act
What labor organization, founded by Samuel Gompers, emphasized collective bargaining for workers?
American Federation of Labor (AFL)
Why were many farmers angry with railroad companies during the Gilded Age?
Railroads charged high shipping rates that hurt farmers financially.
Give one major pull factor that attracted immigrants to American cities during industrialization.
Jobs / higher wages / economic opportunities.
What was the primary goal of the Dawes Act?
To assimilate Native Americans into white American society by dividing tribal lands into individual farms.
What law attempted to limit the power of monopolies and trusts?
Sherman Antitrust Act
What is the difference between vertical integration and horizontal integration?
Vertical integration controls multiple stages of production, while horizontal integration controls or combines competing businesses in the same industry.
What was the purpose of muckraking journalism?
To expose corruption, unsafe conditions, and other social or economic problems to encourage reform.
Why did many immigrants settle in rapidly growing cities such as Chicago and Pittsburgh?
Industrialization created large numbers of factory and industrial jobs.
What happened to Native American control of land as western settlement increased?
Native Americans lost increasing amounts of land and were forced onto reservations or individual allotments.
What did the Pure Food and Drug Act demonstrate about the changing role of the federal government?
The federal government was becoming more willing to regulate businesses to protect consumers.
During the Pullman Strike, railroad traffic was disrupted and President Cleveland sent federal troops to restore order. What does this demonstrate about the government's relationship with business and labor during the Gilded Age?
The federal government often protected business and commerce during labor disputes rather than siding with striking workers.
Farmers demanded government regulation of railroad shipping rates. Congress later passed the Interstate Commerce Act. What cause-and-effect relationship does this demonstrate?
Concerns about railroad monopolies and unfair rates helped create pressure for increased federal regulation of business.
An Eastern European family leaves because of famine and unemployment. American employers are actively recruiting workers for industrial jobs. Identify the push and pull factors.
Push: Poverty, famine, and lack of employment.
Pull: Industrial jobs and wages in American cities.
The Indian Removal Act moved Native Americans west of the Mississippi. Decades later, the Dawes Act divided tribal lands into individual farms. What was the major change in federal policy?
Federal policy shifted from physically removing Native Americans to attempting to assimilate them into white American society.
Why was the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 a departure from traditional laissez-faire ideas?
It created a centralized banking system and increased federal responsibility for managing and stabilizing the economy.
During the Gilded Age, industrialists increasingly used horizontal and vertical integration, while workers responded by forming unions, using collective bargaining, and organizing strikes. What does this contrast BEST demonstrate about industrialization?
As businesses became larger and more powerful, workers increasingly organized collectively to gain greater influence over wages and working conditions.
Consider these conditions:
What broader development did these conditions help produce, and why?
The Progressive Movement, because reformers believed stronger government action was necessary to address problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and political corruption.
The Chinese Exclusion Act restricted Chinese immigration, while the Homestead Act encouraged settlers to move west. What broader conclusion can be made about the federal government's influence on American demographics?
The federal government actively shaped population patterns by encouraging western settlement while restricting immigration from certain groups.
Although the Indian Removal Act and Dawes Act used different methods, what important continuity existed between them?
Both reduced Native American control over their land and threatened Native culture and tribal independence.
Consider these developments:
What overall change in the role of the federal government do they demonstrate?
The federal government moved away from a largely laissez-faire approach and became increasingly involved in regulating businesses, protecting workers and consumers, and stabilizing the economy.