The only transcontinental railroad built without government aid was the
a. New York Central.
b. Northern Pacific.
c. Union Pacific.
d. Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe.
e. Great Northern.
e
The greatest economic consequence of the transcontinental railroad network was that it
a. spread the U.S. population across the whole continent.
b. enabled people from farms and small towns to visit the big cities.
c. united the nation into a single, integrated national market.
d. made it possible for some immigrants to settle in the West.
e. developed a skilled industrial workforce.
c
The greatest single factor helping to spur the amazing industrialization of the post-Civil War years was
a. agriculture.
b. mining.
c. the steel industry.
d. electric power.
e. the railroad network
e
The United States changed to standard time zones when
a. Congress passed a law establishing this system.
b. the major rail lines decreed common fixed times so that they could keep schedules and avoid wrecks.
c. factories demanded standard time schedules.
d. long-distance telephones required standard time coordination.
e. All of these
b
Which of the following was not among the technological improvements that made the modern transcontinental railroad network possible?
a. Steel rails
b. Air brakes
c. Standard gauge tracks
d. The block signal
e. The caboose
e
Agreements between railroad corporations to divide the business in a given area and share the profits were called
a. pools.
b. trusts.
c. rebates.
d. interlocking directorates.
e. holding companies.
a
Which of the following was not among the common forms of corruption practiced by the wealthy railroad barons?
a. Bribing judges and state legislatures
b. Forcing their employees to buy railroad company stock
c. Providing free railroad passes to journalists and politicians
d. Watering railroad stocks and bonds in order to sell them at inflated prices
e. Receiving kickbacks from powerful shippers
b
In the case of Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Railroad Company v. Illinois, the U.S. Supreme Court held that state legislatures could not regulate railroads because
a. the U.S. Constitution did not permit the government to regulate private industry.
b. the state legislatures were acting on behalf of a private interest, Illinois farmers.
c. the Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Railroad was incorporated in Missouri, not Illinois.
d. railroad executives had committed no illegal acts in their business.
e. railroads were interstate businesses and could not be regulated by any single state
e
The first federal regulatory agency designed to protect the public interest from business combinations was the
a. Federal Trade Commission.
b. Interstate Commerce Commission.
c. Consumer Affairs Commission.
d. Federal Anti-Trust Commission.
e. Federal Communications Commission.
b
Two technological innovations that greatly expanded the industrial employment of women in the late nineteenth century were the
a. typewriter and the telephone.
b. electric light and the phonograph.
c. Bessemer steel process and the internal combustion engine.
d. streetcar and the bicycle.
e. electric refrigerator and stove.
a
Which of the following was not among the technologies invented or improved by Thomas A. Edison?
a. The electric light bulb
b. The phonograph
c. The mimeograph
d. The electric dynamo
e. The motion picture
d
One of the methods by which post-Civil War business leaders increased their profits was
a. increased competition.
b. supporting a centrally planned economy.
c. funding research on new technologies.
d. elimination of the tactic of vertical integration.
e. elimination of as much competition as possible.
e
Andrew Carnegie's system of vertical integration
a. combined all facets of an industry, from raw material to final product, within a single company.
b. created an industrial association through which member companies could wield much power.
c. embraced the notion of buying up competitors and forming a monopoly interest.
d. required smaller competitors to agree to standardized rates set by larger firms.
e. None of these
a
John D. Rockefeller's organizational technique of horizontal integration involved
a. franchising Standard Oil gasoline stations to independent operators.
b. controlling all phases of the oil industry from drilling to commercial retailing.
c. creating standardized job assignments and fixed production and sales quotas for all employees.
d. forcing small competitors to assign stock to Standard oil or lose their business.
e. developing multiple uses for oil in transportation, lighting, and industry.
d
The steel industry owed much to the inventive genius of
a. Jay Gould.
b. Henry Bessemer.
c. John P. Altgeld.
d. Thomas Edison.
e. Alexander Graham Bell.
b
America's first billion-dollar corporation was
a. General Electric (GE).
b. Standard Oil.
c. American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T).
d. The Union Pacific Railroad.
e. United States Steel.
e
The "Gospel of Wealth" endorsed by Andrew Carnegie
a. based its theology on the teachings of Jesus.
b. held that the wealthy should display moral responsibility in the use of their God-given money.
c. stimulated efforts to help minorities.
d. was opposed by most late nineteenth century clergymen.
e. asserted that the more people prayed the better off they would become.
b
Believers in the doctrine of "survival of the fittest," like Herbert Spencer and William Graham Sumner, argued that
a. only a few large corporations were fit to survive in the industrial jungle.
b. society owed a basic standard of living to even its weakest members.
c. there should be eugenic biological breeding to produce a superior human race.
d. fitness to survive and thrive could be proven through physical competition.
e. the wealthy deserved their riches because they had demonstrated greater abilities than the poor.
e
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was at first primarily used to curb the power of
a. manufacturing corporations.
b. labor unions.
c. state legislatures.
d. railroad corporations.
e. banking syndicates
b
During the age of industrialization, the South
a. took full advantage of the new economic trends.
b. received preferential treatment from the railroads.
c. turned away from agriculture.
d. held to its Old South ideology.
e. remained overwhelmingly rural and agricultural.
e
Many southerners saw employment in the textile mills as
a. high-wage positions.
b. unacceptable.
c.
a poor alternative to farming.
d.
institutions that broke up families.
e.
the only steady jobs and wages available.
e
Despite generally rising wages in the late nineteenth century, industrial workers were extremely vulnerable to all of the following except
a. economic swings and depressions.
b. employers' whims.
c. new educational requirements for jobs.
d. sudden unemployment.
e. illness and accident.
c
Most women workers of the 1890s worked for
a. independence.
b. glamour.
c. economic necessity.
d. retirement savings.
e. personal spending money.
c
Which one of the following is least like the other four?
a. Closed shop
b. Lockout
c. Yellow dog contract
d. Blacklist
e. Company town
a
Generally, the Supreme Court in the late nineteenth century interpreted the Constitution in such a way as to favor
a. labor unions.
b. corporations.
c. state regulatory agencies.
d. individual entrepreneurs.
e. independent workers and craftsmen.
b
One group, barred from membership in the Knights of Labor, was
a. African Americans.
b. nonproducers.
c. women.
d. Irish.
e. social reformers.
b
The Knights of Labor believed that conflict between capital and labor would disappear when
a. the government owned the means of production.
b. labor controlled the government.
c. workers accepted the concept of craft unions.
d. business would understand the principles of social justice.
e. labor would own and operate businesses and industries.
e
The most effective and most enduring labor union of the post-Civil War period was the
a. National Labor Union.
b. Knights of Labor.
c. American Federation of Labor.
d. Knights of Columbus.
e. Congress of Industrial Organizations.
c
The people who found fault with the captains of industry mostly argued that these men
a. had no real business ability.
b. built their corporate wealth and power by exploiting workers.
c. tried to take the United States back to an earlier age of aristocracy.
d. were environmentally insensitive.
e. slowed technological advances.
b
All of the following were important factors in post-Civil War industrial expansion except
a. a large pool of unskilled labor.
b. an abundance of natural resources.
c. American ingenuity and inventiveness.
d. immigration restrictions.
e. a political climate favoring business.
d