Imperialism's Bitter Fruit

1. What made the Filipino insurrection "far different than any conflict in which Americans had previously fought"?
In the Philippines, the American soldiers were facing a completely different challenge than any other war. There were generally rules followed by both sides on a battle field to keep things remotely civilized during war. During the insurrection, these rules were completely ignored, as we were not facing on unified organized army. It was many different guerilla attack forces that would move quickly in and out, killing as many as possible. This was really American troops’ first encounter with these kinds of tactics, so they had to adjust their tactics as well. Both sides became brutal to the enemy, using torture and execution methods that were unheard of before.

2. Why were African-Americans among the strongest critics of the war against the Filipino nationalists?
Many African-Americans were critics against the war due to the racial attitudes behind America’s occupation. We thought of Filipino as lesser people, as we did blacks, hence they needed our help. This was made evident by most of the whites in the army referring to Filipinos as “niggers”. The war also reminded the black troops of the discrimination they experienced in America, the very discrimination that were trying to curb by joining the military, as there were restaurants and public services only for whites all over the Philippines. The Filipinos reminded them of this racism as well, distributing posters addressed to the “Colored American Soldier”, which encouraged the backlash against the war even further, in some cases even encouraging desertion.

3. Why did the United States lose its appetite for imperialism in the early 1900s?
Even after the insurrection was quashed in the Philippines, the Filipinos continued fighting for their independence in different ways. After it was ruled that they were not granted protection under U.S. law as a colony of America, many Filipinos were especially unhappy. The tensions were far too high for America to maintain full rule over the nation, so high that even champions of imperialism like Theodore Roosevelt admitted that the cost of an empire was too high. The realization of the true cost of an empire as well as increasing apathy towards the situation led America to a rather quick decline in its appetite for imperialism.

4. How did the United States contribute to the development of Cuba and Puerto Rico?
The United States made Puerto Rico a U.S. territory, hence granting all Puerto Ricans citizenship. Being a territory, however, they were still able to establish their own government, ultimately being controlled by America. Cuba remained under military occupation until they were granted independence under certain restrictions in 1901. While America had control of these territories, we helped to improve infrastructure and bring new technology into the region. If it was only to help American businesses in the region, it ended up also helping to improve the region’s overall way of life.

5. Why did many Cubans come to resent the U.S. presence on their island?
In order for the U.S. to give Cuba its independence, McKinley gave a set of rules that the Cubans must follow. These were outlined in the Platt Amendment to the independence treaty proposed, and chief among them were U.S. control over the Cuban economy and U.S. veto power for Cuban foreign policy. When Cuba reluctantly agreed to these provisions, American businessman took control over the Cuban sugar industry and began making huge profits. They set up deals with Cuban plantation owners that were simply terrible for the owner. Cubans were having trouble finding work in the economy controlled by America as well as Spanish immigrants, which led to a slow buildup of tension against the United States that would last for years until a revolt broke out.

 

6. Do you believe the United States was imperialist? Why or why not?
Yes and no. I believe the United States began on its journey for more territory overseas with imperialist intentions, but ended up being sort of an economic imperialist. Rather than capturing nations and taking complete control, which they would have done if it didn’t cost so many lives and cause so much tension, the U.S. took control over the central economy of many nations around the world. A purely imperialist country would take nations for the sake of being a powerful nation with territory. The U.S.A., on the other hand, created an economic empire for itself, an empire that maximized profit, not power.

The Spanish-American War

1. How was the United States connected to Cuba in the 1890s?
          The main reason the United States was interested in Cuba was economics. Cuba had large sugar plantations, and the U.S. was the largest purchaser of this sugar in the world. American investors spent millions of dollars in the Sugar industry. This helped to boost the Cuban economy as they had a great place to export their product, as well as making lots of money for the American investors involved. America and Cuba traded over $100,000,000 annually, meaning they relied on each other quite a bit, Cuba for the boosted economy, America for the sugar.

2. What were the main reasons the United States intervened in Cuba? (i.e. went to war) Which reason do you believe was most important? Explain your answer.
           There were many reasons Americans supported intervention in Cuba, some for humanitarian reasons of protecting the innocents dying, some saying American property in Cuba was at risk. American merchants and African-Americans particularly supported war with Spain as an intervention. Businessmen generally supported peaceful negotiations as they were scared of their investments being at risk. This changed when the Maine was blown up. Many businessmen decided that America would actually be at a better economic position overall if they defeated Spain in war, as they would be able to gain other strategic ports around the world. I think gaining economic advantages in trade routes around the world was the most important reason for going to war.

3. Why were many African-Americans eager to serve in the Spanish-American War?
             During this time, America was still rife with prejudice and racism against blacks. Many people believed them to be lesser people still, and them not having as much money or social status contributed to this. One of the only possible ways a black American could raise their social status was through joining the military. The blacks who volunteered for the Spanish-American War were hoping to raise the overall position of blacks in America, and they ended up being elite squads of troops.

4. How did racial attitudes at the turn of the century shape American perceptions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines?
         Many Americans at this time subscribed to the belief that African-Americans were lesser people. The United States said they would let the Cubans negotiate with the Spaniards, but as they perceived most of them to be black, they decided they needed America’s help in their affairs. A similar situation occurred in the Philippines, as most Americans were not even aware of the place or that it was in rebellion. Mainly only African-American communities sympathized with the Filipino, but as they were not powerful in America, the white men who had only scene the African depictions of Filipino were doing all the negotiating, and took advantage of that. Basically, if someone was darker than an Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Saxons believed they “needed help” in their affairs, which they used as an excuse to make a deal that worked out best for America.

5. Why did Emilio Aguinaldo feel that the United States supported his campaign for Filipino independence?
              Emilio Aguinaldo, the nationalist leader of the Philippines, was convinced that the chief reason the Americans joined his fight was because they wanted Filipino independence. He believed that the Americans felt empathy for the Filipino rebels, as only a hundred or so years ago, they too were fighting for independence from a strong European power. He thought that Dewey’s intervention against Spanish ships was a sign of a world power fighting for the cause of freedom throughout the globe. He didn’t realize that most Americans didn’t even know where the Philippines were, and the ones who did just wanted it as a strategic port.

6. Why do you think the Spanish-American War was called "a splendid little war" by an American diplomat at the time? Do you think we could have a "splendid little war" today? Explain your answer.
            The Spanish-American War was called a “splendid little war” because it was very swift and a definitive victory that worked out well for the United States. I do not believe that we could have such a “splendid little war” today. The underlying goal of the Spanish-American war, although it was not exactly stated outright, was quite obviously to keep the industry of sugar trade with Cuba alive and well in the United States. Nowadays America can’t seem to find a real goal for going to war, as instead of fighting for a nation, or at least supposedly for one as we did for Cuba, we fight against a concept; this fight continues to lower the image of America even further, and gains us nothing like the Spanish-American war gained us ports to control trade around the world. Not to mention, we are terrible at deciding when to leave, which makes our wars longer and longer. 

Origins of America's Global Power

1. Identify five important changes that transformed America in the nineteenth century. 


A. During 1800s the U.S. expanded far west into once hostile, European territory. This led America to be a recognized powerful nation that could stand up for itself, and fostered a pride to be American that had never been seen before.


B. Immigration brought people from all over the world to the promise of a better life in America. This brought in new cultural ideas and expanded the population of America greatly, which influenced some of the following changes.


C. The majority of the huge spur of population was moving to big cities around the country. Immigrants were able to find work easily, as were Americans who decided to move from agriculture to manufacturing. This led to the introduction of commuter rail lines and many new suburbs around cities.


D. Economic shift caused a lot of change in America. As more people moved to cities from the country, many left behind farming jobs that had been replaced with machines to work in factories. By the 20^th century, manufacturing had far surpassed agriculture as the main industry in America.


E. With the shift to manufacturing came a shift in how America traded with the rest of the world. Beforehand, we had imported most of our goods from Europe and other places. Now that we were such a manufacturing giant, exports surpassed imports by far, and the rest of the world began to rely on us. This was a new responsibility that America had never really had before.


2. How did the economic depression that began in 1893 deepen the divisions in American society? Which groups suffered the most during the depression? 
         During the depression of 1893, millions of Americans lost their jobs due to instability in the markets. City-dwellers had to worry about losing their jobs and farmers had to worry about being further in the hole they had already begun to sink into. The depression led many workers to be angered by the people running the industry they worked in. They believed that they were making manufacturing workers vulnerable with their policies, so they began to strike, which deepened the divisions already beginning to arise in America between workers and management.


3. What were the values many Americans attached to the frontier? Why did many Americans fear that the closing of the frontier would harm America's national character? 
          Many, mostly white, Americans attached the feeling of prosperity and resourcefulness with the western frontier. They attributed the hardiness of Americans and America’s ability to endure to the settlers moving west into wild land and taming it for America. When the boundaries of America were set, many white Americans were frightened. They had lived their whole lives with the settling of the west as proof that America could get through anything, and they feared they had nothing to subscribe to anymore. They were also scared of social tensions arising and the growing population with nowhere to go.



4. Why did some Americans suggest greater involvement overseas? 
            With the continental United States completely settled, some Americans began to worry that The U.S. didn’t have a way of asserting itself over foreign nations. They worried that America might lose its status. Hence, they suggested a more aggressive approach, one that involved essentially invading overseas markets. Many set their eyes on China, where many European countries were going to, others on Central America. These expansionists believed we needed to catch up with the other world powers, most of whom already had established empires around the world. A final reason was purely strategic, arguing that the U.S. should take over islands along trade routes for refueling easily and islands that would allow for the navy to better protect the continental United States.



5. How did the theories of social Darwinism and scientific racism lend support to the cause of American imperialism? 
           The idea of social Darwinism suggests that in society as well as ecosystems, the community best fit to their environment survives. Supporters of imperialism suggested that the only way for America to assert itself as the fittest was to conquer other weaker nations in the world. The idea of scientific racism lent itself nicely to this theory as well. This concept stated that some races were biologically superior in intelligence and strength to others, based on pseudoscience involving brain size and skull development. These two ideas based around pseudoscience helped imperialists support their views.


6. Summarize why the United States became involved in Samoa, Hawaii, and several Latin American nations.

            Although President McKinley was initially against imperialism, eventually it began to become a necessity. After agreeing to protect Samoa in exchange for free use of the islands for refueling, the need to protect it actually arose. After many conflicts with Germany and Britain, the islands were split and one part was made a U.S. territory. In Hawaii, the threat of Japan after we drove out Japanese immigrants was too high for most Americans to be comfortable, hence we forcefully annexed Hawaii. The Monroe Doctrine was the driving force for entering Latin America, as most Americans were afraid Europe would try to “carve up” South America as they had Africa. America fulfilled its duties to police the Western hemisphere from invading Europeans and attempted to drive them out. 

Teddy Roosevelt's Square Deal

1. 1902 COAL STRIKE

a. What steps did Roosevelt take to solve the problem? 
Roosevelt brought the mine workers and the mine operators to the White House to settle their differences. He then had them submit their differences to an arbitration committee, a third unbiased expert party that was made to come up with a compromise. The committee created by Roosevelt settled the dispute.

b. Which legislation helped solve the problem?
none

2. TRUSTS

a. What steps did Roosevelt take to solve the problem? 
Roosevelt, who believed that not all trusts were harmful, merely focused on filing law suits directly under the Sherman Anti-trust Act. He broke up a number of trusts and won many of the 44 cases he brought to the Supreme Court.

b. Which legislation helped solve the problem?
The Sherman Anti-trust Act, but nothing that Roosevelt passed during his term.

3. UNREGULATED BIG BUSINESS

a. What steps did Roosevelt take to solve the problem? 
The main business that Roosevelt worked on regulating was the railroad industry. He passed legislation that gave more power to the Interstate Commerce Commission and worked to halt bribery and other forms of corruption in the railroad industry.

b. Which legislation helped solve the problem?
  Elkins Act- 1903, and Hepburn Act-1906

4. DANGEROUS FOODS AND MEDICINES

 a. What steps did Roosevelt take to solve the problem? 
Roosevelt created a committee after reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair to inspect the meatpacking industry. The committee released a detailed report about the incredibly insanitary conditions and practices and industry. Roosevelt also listened to Dr. Harvey Washington’s criticism of the drug industry’s wild claims and contaminated products. He passed legislation to give cleanliness requirements to the meatpacking industry as well as establishing inspections. The biggest part of the legislation for drug safety was that it called for honest labeling, which allowed consumers to really see what they were buying.

b. Which legislation helped solve the problem?
Meat Inspection Act- 1906 and Pure Food and Drug Act- 1906


5. SHRINKING WILDERNESS AND NATURAL RESOURCES

a. What steps did Roosevelt take to solve the problem? 
As Americans expanded west, they left a trail of destruction and waste in their path, hurting the environment. Teddy Roosevelt, a conservationist, set aside millions and millions of acres for forest reserves, water-power sites, and for the USGS to search for natural resources, as well as many national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. He also appointed an expert conservationist, Gifford Pinchot, as the head of the U.S. Forest Service. As part of his solution he passed legislation that used money the government gained from the sale of lands in the west went towards irrigating the west. 

b. Which legislation helped solve the problem?
National Reclamation Act- 1902

6. RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

a. What steps did Roosevelt take to solve the problem? 
Roosevelt overall did not do much to solve racial problems. However, he did appoint some African-Americans to government jobs throughout the country, much to the chagrin of his party members. He also invited Booker T. Washington, a well-respected man in black and some white communities, to the white house as a symbolic gesture. 

b. Which legislation helped solve the problem?
none

Explain the importance of each of the following:

7. Square Deal:                 
The square deal was the Progressive idea behind many of Roosevelt’s reforms. He believed if workers and Americans were getting cheated, he would give them  a square deal, through reform.

8. The Jungle:
The Jungle  was a novel that revealed many of the horrifying practices of the meat packing industry. This book led to an uproar that eventually resulted in the Meat Inspection Act and safer foods for Americans.                            

9. Upton Sinclair:           
Upton Sinclair was the author of The Jungle and was seen as a big muckraker in the early 1900s. However, his intentions in writing about the meatpacking industry were to be reveal the exploitation of the workers, but his vivid descriptions ended up inspiring Progressives into reform.

10. NAACP: 
The NAACP’s goal was simply equality for all races. The existence of this organization showed that the Progressive Movement’s true goals were only concerning middle class white Americans.

11. Meat Inspection Act:                          
The Meat Inspection Act created specific cleanliness requirements and created the process of federal meat inspection. This act brought cleaner and higher quality meat to Americans.

12. Pure Food & Drug Act: 
The Pure Food and Drug Act called for the halting of the selling of contaminated foods and drugs and, most importantly, for truth and labeling. This allowed Americans to know what they were really buying.

13. Significance of the 1902 Coal Miners’ Strike: 
During the 1902 Coal Miners’ Strike, Teddy Roosevelt set several very important precedents. He brought the federal government into a strike that threatened the welfare of the public. This had not been previously done, but after 1902 it was expected.

The Jungle - Exposing the Meatpacking Industry

1. In your opinion, which specific details in this excerpt most convincingly highlight problems in the meatpacking industry in the early 1900s? Why? Use specific passages and quote. Analyze at least five details. 

A.    The loose regulation of the meatpacking industry is highlighted in this document. When Sinclair mentions the government inspector inspecting the meat he says that, “while he was talking with you you could hardly be so ungrateful as to notice that a dozen carcasses were passing him untouched.” This implies the loose regulation of the industry, as the inspector doesn’t care enough to stop talking and inspect the dozen pigs that have passed him.

B.    When a pig was old and their skin became droopy the meatpackers would cut it off and have it “cooked and chopped fine and labeled ‘head cheese!’”. This is an example of the meatpacking industry maximizing profits by selling unsanitary products, just one of many.

C.    When talking about the making of sausage, Sinclair notices that “they made a practice of washing them in the water that was to be ladled into the sausage,” they being the workers whose hands got dirty from making the sausage. There were no other areas near their place of work where they could wash their hands, no other source of water. This shows an example of the problem of unsanitary working conditions.

D.    A ham’s gone bad in the pickling process? Not a problem for the meatpackers! They’ll just sell it at free lunch counters, or as Number Three Grade meat! Or use the “ingenious invention which will “extract the bone, about which the bad part generally lay, and insert in the hole a white-hot iron.” This, for the meatpackers, was enough to turn this Number Three Grade, spoiled meat, into Number One Grade fresh.

E.    The sausage-making process was incredibly unsanitary at the turn of the century. They would put whatever meat they had in the sausage, including “moldy white sausage” rejected from Europe, meat that had been “ tramped and spit uncounted billions of consumption germs”. They would also use the meat of rats that had been crawling all over the meat, as well as the rat-dung covered meat.

2. What is the overall tone of the story?

The overall tone of the story is revealing and accusative. The author was clearly out to make all the problems of the meatpacking industry public. He wanted it to be known that the industry was incredibly unsafe and that they were deceiving millions of Americans into eating spoiled meat by packaging it differently. I believe he also wanted to point out the weakness of the regulation, through the lax government inspector described at Durham’s.

3. Based on your reading of this excerpt, why do you think Sinclair titled his novel The Jungle?

Sinclair probably titled this novel The Jungle for a few reasons. For one, the jungle is known as a very dirty place, and while you’re there you probably don’t want to eat anything you find lying around, and the meatpacking industry was essentially forcing the public to eat whatever was in their factory. This title could also reference the “forest of freezing hogs” that Sinclair calls the chilling room as, implying that the meatpacking industry is as loose and wild as the jungle. 

Challenges of Urbanization

The People: why were the three groups below drawn to cities in the Northeast and Midwest? 

1. Immigrants
Cities were by far the cheapest places to live in the country. They also offered steady employment at mills and factories for unskilled workers, which most immigrants were. These factories were often located in the city, so living in the city made it very convenient as well.


2. Farmers
New inventions in the late 19^th century led to farming become much more efficient. These inventions meant that farmers could get make more of their crop, but with less people. The workers that used to run these farms migrated to cities to look for work.

3. African-Americans
Many of the farmers above were African-Americans. The African-Americans not only left for labor though, many were escaping racial violence as well.  As a result of this racism there was much political oppression as well, which they were also leaving the South in order to get away from.

The Problems: What was done in response to the following five problems? 

4. Lack of safe and efficient transportation
In response to a lack of safe and efficient transportation, cities began to develop mass transit systems. These were systems of transportation designed to move a very large number of people along a fixed route. Street cars in San Francisco were one of the first examples of mass transit, along with subways in Boston. Mass transit made it easier for people to get in, out of, and around the cities.


5. Unsafe drinking water
In rapidly growing cities, there was rarely enough water for people and when there was it was full of diseases and bacteria. In the 1870s, in order to counteract this, many major cities introduced filtration to the water systems. In 1908, they added chlorine as an additional precaution.


6. Lack of sanitation
As more people moved to the cities, they began producing more and more waste, garbage and other. There were no methods of picking up or removing this waste, so the cities became dangerously unsanitary. By 1900, major cities around the U.S. had created sewers and sanitation departments so that the cities could be cleaner and therefore safer.


7. Fire Hazards
As cities grew, many of the buildings were made out of cheap and reliable wood. But soon, this choice led to fires breaking out in almost every major city in the U.S.. There were fire departments, but they were mostly volunteer. Cincinnati was the first city to have a paid fire department, and by 1900 many other cities had followed suit. In addition to salaried fire departments, many cities moved from building with wood to building with stone and brick.  


8. Crime

With more people in a smaller area, it became easier for thieves to steal from them.  Cities all over the United States created full, salaried police forces by 1900 you counteract and apprehend these crime committers. 

Immigration

1. What major areas or countries of the world were immigrants coming from?
Immigrants were mainly coming from Europe and Asia, mostly Europe. Until 1890, the majority was western and northern European, but after that many eastern and southern Europeans immigrated as well. The majority of Asian immigrants were from China, the other biggest portion being Japanese. There were also some from the West Indies and Caribbean, but not nearly as many.

2. What were the two major immigration processing stations in the United States?
The two major immigration processing stations in the United States were Ellis Island and Angel Island. Ellis Island processed most of the European immigrants and is in New York City. Angel Island processed most of the Asian immigrants and is in San Francisco Bay.

3. Define Melting Pot.
A melting pot is a mixture of people from different cultures and customs who come together by abandoning their previous culture and adopting a different, more common one. Many native-born Americans believed America to be a melting pot.

4. Define Nativism.
Nativism is a belief that native-born, Anglo-Saxon Americans are superior to all other races. It is essentially racism against all races besides Americans.

5. According to the Immigration Restriction League, list the desirable immigrants.
1. British

2. German

3. Scandinavian

6. According to the Immigration Restriction League, list the “wrong” immigrants.
1. Slavic

2. Latin

3. Asian

7. Why did nativists sometimes object to an immigrant’s religious background?
Most nativists were Protestants, and many of the immigrants were Catholic or Jewish. The nativists believed that these new religions would undermine the ideas on which the country was founded, the majority of which were based on Protestant ideals as our founders were themselves Protestant.

8. Why was the Chinese Exclusion Act passed?
Nativists in the west had created a foothold in the labor movement by protesting many Chinese workers in California. The Chinese would accept the same jobs for much less money. The nativists use this fact to gain support for the Chinese Exclusion Act, saying they took all the jobs that native-born Americans should get. 

Robber Baron Document Rankings

Power Rank 1:  Document Number: 7

Why do you believe it best represents the era you have been studying?
This document was written by a commission in the U.S. government, and is fully supportive of ideas presented by Rockefeller. This shows that in the late 19^th century, methods practiced by the Standard Oil Company and other monopolists were backed by the government.

Power Rank 2:  Document Number: 15

Why do you believe it best represents the era you have been studying?
Document 15 is a sarcastic “prayer” written from a worker to Andrew Carnegie, as if Carnegie is God and worker is just a low level human. This document shows some examples of the treatment that laborers went through at this time, and the satirical nature tells that they were unsatisfied by it.  

Power Rank 3:  Document Number: 14

Why do you believe it best represents the era you have been studying?
In document 14, Andrew Carnegie presents his view on giving aid to the poor. It shows that some “robber barons” were at times philanthropic, while at the same time presenting the idea of social Darwinism as justification for not giving TOO much to the poor.

Power Rank 4:  Document Number: 12

Why do you believe it best represents the era you have been studying?
Document 12 is a speech by Wendell Phillips in which he presents one of the more radical viewpoints of laborers, discussing such things as completely overthrowing “the whole profit-making system.” This document shows the extreme that laborers’ frustration could reach

Power Rank 5:  Document Number: 9

Why do you believe it best represents the era you have been studying?

Document 9 is an interview with the railway tycoon William H. Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt displays his total disdain for the idea that someone should work for someone else’s gain or give to anyone but themselves. He shows the quintessential view of a robber baron in this document. 

Age of Railroads

1. What problems did employees of the railroad companies face?
The railroads that spanned the continent were mostly built by immigrants and desperate Civil War veterans. These workers faced horrible working conditions, even by the standards of the 19^th century. They were working in extremely treacherous terrain; the Chinese building from the west had to cross the Rocky Mountains. The workers also had to worry about attacks from Indians, angry at the raping of their land. Not to mention, if any diseases were contracted while working on the railroad, there were no hospitals anywhere nearby. For the most part, when you got sick, you were dead. Constant accidents led to even more deaths and injuries as well. In 1888, there were an estimated 2,000 deaths and 20,000 injuries in the process of building the railroads.

2. What was it like to live as a Pullman employee in the town of Pullman?
At first, living in Pullman seemed luxurious to the employees of the Pullman Company. They had good housing, and all the necessities for life were provided for them. However, it came at a price. The town was very strictly controlled by the company. Pullman wanted to foster a productive work environment, so he allowed no alcohol or loitering in the town. There was a financial price as well. In the late 19^th century, Pullman cut all the employees pay without lowering the rent, which sparked a huge strike. This strike was likely the manifestation of years of frustration from and overly controlling company.

3. Who was involved in Crédit Mobilier, and what was the purpose of this company?
Stockholders in the Union Pacific Railroad created the company Crédit Mobilier. They then used this company to make incredibly huge profits by contracting railroads for two to three times the cost. This company was used to make money for the stockholders in Union Pacific Railroad, which included some members of congress. This corruption led to a federal investigation of the company, and found the stockholders to have about $23 million dollars of corrupt profit from the company.

4. In what ways did the railroad companies use their power to hurt farmers?
Railroad companies were giving huge land grants by the government in order to build the railroads, and the government had the intention that they’d sell the rest of the land to settlers in order to spur the agriculture in the west. The companies did not do this; they simply sold it to other companies for a higher profit. With the agricultural industry shrinking already, the railroad companies made it even more difficult for farmers to get out of debt when they created fixed prices. However, if a farmer needed to transport materials over a short distance and had only on railroad company that was close enough, this company would demand outrageously high prices, knowing they were the only option.

5. Why didn’t the decision in the Munn v. Illinois case succeed in checking the power of the railroads?
Munn v. Illinois was a court case regarding the Granger laws, which were a form of public outcry against the power of the railroad companies. The Supreme Court rules in favor of the Grangers, stating that the companies had to “establish maximum freight and passenger rates and prohibit discrimination.” This sounds like a win for the Grangers, but the slightly ambiguous wording led to another court decision saying that the government couldn’t set rates on interstate commerce. This went back on the precedent of government regulation that had been set in Munn v. Illinois.

6. Why didn’t the Interstate Commerce Act immediately limit the power of the railroads? 
The Interstate Commerce Act reinforced the precedent of regulation set by Munn v. Illinois. It gave the government power to regulate the railroad industry once again. However, it ended up being quite ineffectual. The legal process for bringing the companies to justice was incredibly long and arduous. Not to mention, in 1897, the Supreme Court ruled that the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) could not set maximum railroad rates. This ruling almost completely took away the little power that the ICC had. 

Big Business and Labor

1. Vertical integration

A. Vertical integration is buying out all the companies that control the various parts of whatever industry you’re in in order facilitate moneymaking in the industry.


B. In the case of Andrew Carnegie, he bought the producers of the raw supplies for steel and the trains that distributed it. This allowed Carnegie to produce and distribute steel much more efficiently and make more money from it.

2. Horizontal integration

A. Horizontal integration is the process of buying out other companies that produce the same or similar products in order to gain more control in the industry.


B. Andrew Carnegie bought most of the other companies that produced steel, reducing his competition. This allowed him to control the prices of steel and make much more money from the manufacturing.


3. Social Darwinism

A. Social Darwinism is a theory of the evolution of society and industry based on Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. This was used as justification for “laissez faire”, meaning we should just let the marketplace go unregulated, and the strongest companies will survive while weaker ones will fail.


B. This justification allowed Andrew Carnegie to do pretty much whatever he wanted in his industry without being interrupted by regulations stepping in. He was able to buy up weaker companies and continue to grow his strong ones, referencing survival of the fittest the whole time.


4. Monopoly

A. A monopoly is when one organization has complete control over an industry’s prices, wages, and, production.


B. When a company such as Carnegie Steel held a monopoly over its industry, they could control every aspect of the industry and make as much money possible. They were able to transport and distribute supplies in a cheaper way, and then sell them for higher prices as they had gotten rid of the competition. This meant more profit.


5. Holding company

A. A holding company was a corporation that only bought out the stock of other companies.


B. These companies allowed for business owners to gain a monopoly much more easily. Making the sole purpose of the company buying out other companies streamlined the process of gaining a monopoly. These holding companies used other company’s success to grow their monopoly.


6. Trust

A. Trust agreements are when two companies put their stock into a board of trustees, who then control the two corporations as if they were one large one.


B. Trusts allowed corporations to make money off of their mergers simply by making an agreement. They also helped companies like Standard Oil to gain a monopoly, when John D. Rockefeller used a system of trusts to gain control of almost all the oil in America.  


7. The perception of tycoons as “robber barons”

C. How did it harm businesses such as Standard Oil and tycoons like John D. Rockefeller?
  As Rockefeller and other tycoons began to use questionable methods to gain more and more control over their industries,  they began to be accused of being robber barons. John D. Rockefeller and others began having to show the public that they were not money hungry villains. So, Rockefeller started the Rockefeller Foundation. He gave away over $500 million through this foundation for charity, as well as funding part of the University of Chicago. He created a very important medical institute as well. These contributions were good for society, but took away from Rockefeller’s personal fortune.

8. Sherman Antitrust Act

C. How did it harm businesses such as Standard Oil and tycoons like John D. Rockefeller?
   The Sherman Antitrust Act made it illegal to make a trust that limited free trade. This Act affected John D. Rockefeller because he had built his entire corporation and monopoly on trusts. Other companies as well, were forced to shift their organization and become one large corporation, but this cost money to do. The negative effects ended up being pretty limited, since the federal government had a very difficult time enforcing this law. 

Expansion of Industry

Factor 1: Abundant Natural Resources

A. Which resources played crucial roles in industrialization?

The two natural resources that played the biggest role in industrialization were coal, oil and steel. Oil was found below the earth’s surface, while steel was made by removing the carbon from iron ore. Coal was found underground and was mined as well.

B. How did Edwin L. Drake help industry to acquire larger quantities of oil?

In 1859, outside of Titusville, Pennsylvania, Edwin L. Drake successfully used a steam engine to drill oil from the earth’s surface. This was the first time this had ever been done and it made the process of drilling oil practical, hence making oil a more practical fuel. This led to an oil boom throughout the western United States.

C. How did the Bessemer process allow better use of iron ore?

Iron is very impractical metal to build with. It is soft and extremely prone to rusting and breaking. Around 1850, William Kelly and Henry Bessemer created a process for removing the carbon from iron ore, which turned it into the much stronger metal, steel. The Bessemer process, as it was called, was done by injecting air into iron while it was molten. This removed the carbon and other impurities at the same time.  

D. What new uses for steel were developed at this time?
  As steel became more practical to both use and manufacture, more uses began to arise for it. It was a very important material for building the railroads across the continent. Iron was too weak to handle the weight and speed of the trains, but steel could do it. At this time, cities were growing rapidly. A need began to appear for taller buildings, so you could have more offices in one area of land. Iron highly limited the size of the buildings, since if they were too tall they would collapse on themselves.   

Factor 2: Increasing number of Inventions

A. How did Thomas Alva Edison contribute to this development? 

Thomas Alva Edison was the first innovator to harness the power of electricity effectively with his invention of the incandescent light bulb. He created a method for producing electricity and distributing it to people all around America. This paved the way for other inventors to make inventions based off of electricity.

B. How did George Westinghouse contribute to it? 

George Westinghouse improved on Edison’s design, making electricity safer and less expensive. This allowed electricity to be a viable source of electricity for average Americans, not just those with money. This spurred the boom of invention that began with Edison even more. Now inventors were working on inventions that could help everyday Americans, such as household appliances. This new energy source also allowed manufacturers to move to places where they weren’t directly adjacent to a source of energy.

C. How did Christopher Sholes contribute? 

Christopher Sholes invented the typewriter in 1867. This revolutionized the world of office work. This invention created thousands of jobs for women in the office. From 1870-1910, only 40 years, the percentage of office work done by women grew from 5% to 40%.

D. How did Alexandar Graham Bell contribute? 

   Alexander Graham Bell revolutionized the world of communication with the invention of the telephone. This allowed people to communicate instantaneously across the country. The telephone also led to the previously mentioned increase in jobs for women. This invention allowed for the communication of ideas faster than ever before.