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IB History of the Americas: Quiz 2.2 Study Guide

Terms in this set (25)

Company towns
§ A place where practically all stores and housing are owned by one company that is also the main employer
§ By resorting from the outset to domination over municipal functions, such as maintenance of streets, parks, fire department, sewerage, and sanitary inspection, and by virtue of its wealth, influence, and ownership of the entire town, the company, through George Pullman, conducted the experiment without interference
Union representation
§ In desperation many toilers looked to unions as the only hope of escaping the terrors of poverty
o Craft unions multiplied, and in the National Labor Union and subsequently the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor the workers attempted to present a united front
§ Against labor unions Pullman fought uncompromisingly, and prior to 1894 unionism was of slight importance in the model town
Causes of Pullman Strike
§ The absence of democracy within the town
§ Rigid paternalistic control of the workers by the company
§ Exorbitant rentals
§ Excessive water and gas rates
§ Refusal by the company to allow workers to buy and own houses
§ The despotic policy of George Pullman toward labor
§ The principal cause of the strike: the radical reduction of wages fostered by a depression in business conditions
Effects of Pullman Strike
§ President Cleveland sent in federal troops to handle strikers, which led to violence
§ Railway companies started to hire nonunion workers to restart business
§ By the time the strike ended, it had cost the railroads millions of dollars in lost revenue and in looted and damaged property. Striking workers had lost more than $1 million in wages
§ President Cleveland and Congress did make one conciliatory gesture toward the labor movement during the strike, however. The strike prompted Cleveland to propose a bill to make Labor Day a national holiday. Cleveland signed the bill into law on June 28, 1894
Cornelius Vanderbilt
§ Started in the steamboat industry at age 16 after receiving a $100 dollar loan from his parents
§ Donated his largest and fastest steamship, the Vanderbilt, to the Union Navy
§ Infamously involved in the Erie Railroad War of 1868 as he battled Jim Fisk and Jay Gould
§ Established the New York Central Railroad Company
§ Funded Vanderbilt University
Andrew Carnegie
§ An American industrialist who amassed a fortune in the steel industry
§ Carnegie worked in a Pittsburgh cotton factory as a boy before rising to the position of division superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1859
§ In 1901, he sold Carnegie Steel Company to banker John Pierpont Morgan for $480 million
§ His reputation was marred by the violent Homestead Strike in 1892
§ Gave approximately $350 million dollars to his philanthropic activities
o Funded the establishment of more than 2,500 public libraries around the globe
o Donated more than 7,600 organs to churches worldwide
o Endowed organizations dedicated to research in science, education, world peace, and other causes
o Provided $1.1 million dollars for the construction costs of Carnegie Hall
o The Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Foundation were all founded thanks to his financial gifts
John Rockefeller
§ The founder of the Standard Oil Company (the largest oil refinery in Cleveland) and oil magnate
§ At the time, kerosene, derived from petroleum and used in lamps, was becoming an economic staple — assisted in Rockefeller's economic expansion
§ In 1890, the U.S. Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act, the first federal legislation prohibiting trusts and combinations that restrained trade
o Due to Standard Oil Company's enormous fortunes and lack of competition from other companies
§ Inspired by Andrew Carnegie, Rockefeller donated more than half a billion dollars to various education, religious, and scientific causes through the Rockefeller Foundation
§ Funded the establishment of the University of Chicago and the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now Rockefeller University)
Terrence Powderly (Knights of Labor)
§ Lead advocate for better working conditions for American workers
§ Became the Grand Master Workman for the Knights of Labor in 1879 and boycotted/peacefully negotiated to attain an eight-hour work day, better wages, and improved working conditions (opposed strikes)
§ The Knights of Labor were open to a range of workers from different industries joining
o Women were accepted as members and had equal rights in the organization as men did
§ In 1886, the Knights of Labor declined as an effective organization and Powderly resigned as Grand Master Workman in 1893
Samuel Gompers (American Federation of Labor)
§ The longest-serving president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL)
§ Gompers advocated craft or trades unionism, which restricted union membership to wage earners and grouped workers in locals based on their trade or craft identification (contrasted the Knights of Labor ideology)
§ Gompers believed in a pure-and-simple unionism that focused primarily on economic rather than political reform as the best way of securing workers' rights and welfare
§ Gompers developed the principles of "voluntarism," which called for unions to exert coercion by economic actions—that is, through strikes and boycotts
§ Gompers is noted for having shifted the primary goal of American unionism away from social issues and toward the "bread and butter" issues of wages, benefits, hours, and working conditions, all of which could be negotiated through collective bargaining
Washington's views
§ Washington proposed that black individuals should forgive the South of any transgressions, relinquish any attempts at political power and instead fight for positions in agriculture, domestic service, and industry, because it is through industry and accumulation of wealth that black people could gain the rights suffrage and equality
o Black individuals needed to gain the trust of Southern white individuals and stand by them in civic, religious, and economic life so that both races could prosper
§ Believed that all privileges would only come with acquiescence instead of protest
§ Washington urged black people to create their own institutors, businesses, services, and goods to cater to black individuals while using racial segregation to separate both economies
o Believed in a form of self-help through business success to persuade white people to extend civic and voting rights to black individuals
§ Sough to ease the tension at the time by relinquishing the pursuit of voting and equality and hope to that the South would give their right willingly given enough time
DuBois's approach
§ Focused on integrating African-Americans into the modern affairs of America and allow for them to forge lives and gain inclusion into American society
o Believed that the two greatest obstacles in achieving these goals were racial prejudice of white people and the cultural backwardness of black people
o The goals could be achieved through the politics of self-assertion
§ Insisted constantly for the right and dispelling the misconception of black faces
Washington's accomplishments
§ Washington's Atlanta speech demonstrated to white individuals that black people made incremental progress in America
§ Washington spoke at rallies and gave speeches advocating for voting and civil rights for African Americans
§ Invited to the White house to provide Theodore Roosevelt with advice concerning black people and had influence with appointing black people to office
DuBois's accomplishments
§ Utilized his views to form the NAACP (prevalent organization in the civil rights movement)
Largest cities in the U.S.
§ By 1890, New York and Chicago past the million mark in population
"New Immigrants"
§ Came from southern and eastern Europe
§ Among them were Italians, Jews, Croats, Slovaks, Greeks, and Poles
§ Came from countries with little history of democratic government
o These new people totaled 19% of immigrants (1880s)
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