What are corporations?

1. What are corporations?

2. A corporation is a business owned by investors. The investors by stock, or partial ownership in the company. If the business does well then the stockholders (owners) get a share of the profits called dividends.

3. What was the North’s strategy during the Civil War?

4. Chain – Saw – Seize. They wanted to blockade the southern coast so the Confederacy could not receive supplies (chain). They wanted to cut the South in half by controlling the Mississippi River (saw). They wanted to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond (seize).

5. What was meant by the term Manifest Destiny?

6. Manifest Destiny was when James Polk was President in the 1840’s. The United States believed it was their right, even their destiny to stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. gained the Mexican Cession, Oregon and Texas at this time.

7. What was nativism?

8. Nativism was the dislike of foreigners. It was due to xenophobia or the fear of foreigners. It was most evident in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s. Chinese immigration was reduced with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The Quota Act limited immigration and each country had a certain amount (quota) of immigrants based upon the number of people from that country currently in the United States. One of the fears was that the immigrants were taking people’s jobs in factories.

9. What do we know about child labor?

10. Child labor was important early on in the Industrial Revolution. Children were small and nimble and could work in places larger people couldn’t. They were often paid much less than adults which made them popular with employers. The photography of reformer Lewis Hine reduced child labor in the early 1900’s.

11. Who are muckrakers?

12. Muckrakers were journalists who exposed the corruption found in the cities during the Progressive Era. Thomas Nast made political cartoons of William “Boss” Tweed showing his corrupt practices. Ida Tarbell was a muckraker who targeted big businesses. Lincoln Steffens reported on the corruption in city governments.

13. What was the cotton gin?

14. The cotton gin made the growing of cotton profitable.

15. What was the strategy of the Confederacy during the Civil War?

16. Keep fighting until the North got tired and gave up.

17. What was the difference between the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments?

18. All 3 amendments were part of the period of Reconstruction. The 13th Amendment freed the slaves. The 14th Amendment made the former slaves citizens. The 15th Amendment said you couldn’t keep somebody from voting due to their race. You can remember the amendments in order by the phrase free(13) citizens(14) vote(15).

19. How were poor people helped in cities in the early 1900’s?

20. Settlement houses provided food and shelter. The most famous settlement house was Hull House by Jane Addams. The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) held dances and sporting events. The Salvation Army was formed at this time.

21. How were people in cities entertained in the early 1900’s.

22. They went to baseball, football and basketball (invented by James Naismith) games. Variety shows called Vaudeville were popular. People enjoyed the lively music known as ragtime.

23. What was the Great Plains like for farmers?

24. Farmers were able to get cheap land because of the Homestead Act which gave 160 acres to farmers if they farmed the land for 5 years. These farmers were known as sodbusters because they had to break through the thick sod to farm. They eventually used barbed wire around their farms which closed the open range and stopped cattle drives.

25. What happened to Native Americans as more settlers moved west?

26. Settlers moved west to get land and to go to the gold rushes in California (1849) and the Black Hills (1870’s). Native Americans tried to keep their land but often got into fights such as Little Big Horn where General Custer was killed and Wounded Knee. Buffalo were killed for meat and sport until they almost disappeared destroying the Native Americans culture. Most Native Americans were sent to reservations. The Dawes Act tried to get the Indians to be farmers, unsuccessfully.

27. How were the rights of blacks limited during and after Reconstruction?

28. Black Codes limited the rights of African Americans after Reconstruction. States required a poll tax to vote. Poor blacks could not afford this. A literacy test was sometimes required. Blacks had been forbidden to read as slaves so most couldn’t pass the test. White people who couldn’t read were able to vote thanks to the grandfather clauses which said if your father or grandfather voted then so could you.

29. Were the laws the same for whites and blacks after Reconstruction?

30. The case of Plessy vs. Ferguson established that separate but equal facilities was legal. This led to many Jim Crow Laws that separated black and white people in restaurants, buses and other places.

31. What do we know about the steel industry in the late 1800’s?

32. The steel industry was dominated by Andrew Carnegie. He used the Bessemer process to create cheap, strong steel. This steel was later used as supports in skyscrapers.

33. What was going on with slavery before the Civil War?

34. Abolitionists were trying to get slavery in the South stopped. Harriet Beecher Stowe, an abolitionist, wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin which aroused anger against slavery in the North. It was a major cause of the Civil War.

35. What is sectionalism?

36. Sectionalism is loyalty to your section of the country. The South was an agricultural area with slaves. They had little manufacturing or railroads. The North was much more populated than the South. It had a lot of industry and railroads.

37. How did businesses eliminate competition?

38. Some railroads offered rebates. These were secret discounts to people who shipped a lot of goods to get their business. Rebates raised the prices for small farmers. They would also get involved in price wars.

39. What were the characteristics of the Industrial Revolution?

40. The Industrial Revolution had many characteristics. There was a shift to new sources of power such as electricity. Cities grew as people came to the cities work in factories. The assembly line was used in factories as goods became more machine made. The first automated assembly line was in Henry Ford’s car plant.

41. How did some businesses become giant?

42. A goal of businesses was to become a monopoly. A monopoly was when a business controlled most of a certain industry. Sometimes they would form trusts which is when 1 board of directors ruled over several corporations. John D. Rockefeller’sStandard Oil Trust was one of the largest. Reformers used the Sherman Antitrust Act to try to break up trusts although judges used it to weaken labor unions that were striking.

43. What groups of people became prominent in the South during Reconstruction?

44. During Reconstruction the Freedmen’s Bureau was set up to help and educate freed slaves. Radical Republicans in Congress were very concerned with protecting the rights of freedmen. Carpetbaggers, people from the North and southern Republicans called scalawags (favored Radical Republicans) tried to benefit themselves during this time period. The Ku Klux Klan was a group who tried to intimidate the freedmen so they wouldn’t vote.

45. What do we know about labor unions?

46. Labor unions were groups of people who tried to get better conditions for workers during the Industrial Revolution. Terence Powderly founded the Knights of Labor which was too idealistic. Samuel Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor which set more realistic goals. Early judges usually sided with business owners when unions tried work stoppage called strikes to get better conditions. The Sherman Antitrust Act was used against unions at first.

47. What do we need to know about African American rights around 1900?

48. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was established to push for more rights for blacks. Booker T. Washington pushed for equality but said unfair treatment was o.k. until blacks were educated and rich enough to be equals. He founded Tuskegee Institute, a college for black people. W.E.B. Du Bois wanted equality quicker and criticized Booker T. Washington. George Washington Carver was a great scientist who made many discoveries such as peanut butter.

49. Who were the military leaders during the Civil War?

50. Robert E. Lee from Virginia was the Confederate leader for much of the war. The North had many leaders until Ulysses S. Grant became a very successful leader.