Review Questions

1. Which of these was not a successful invention of the era?
high-powered sewing machines
movies with sound
frozen foods
typewriters

2. What was the major advantage of Westinghouse’s “alternating current” power invention?
It was less prone to fire.
It cost less to produce.
It allowed machines to be farther from the power source.
It was not under Edison’s control.

3. How did the burst of new inventions during this era fuel the process of urbanization?

4. Which of the following “robber barons” was notable for the exploitative way he made his fortune in railroads?
Jay Gould
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Andrew Carnegie
J. Pierpont Morgan

5. Which of the following does not represent one of the management strategies that John D. Rockefeller used in building his empire?
horizontal integration
vertical integration
social Darwinism
the holding company model

6. Why was Rockefeller’s use of horizontal integration such an effective business tool at this time? Were his choices legal? Why or why not?

7. What differentiated a “robber baron” from other “captains of industry” in late nineteenth-century America?

8. What was one of the key goals for which striking workers fought in the late nineteenth century?
health insurance
disability pay
an eight-hour workday
women’s right to hold factory jobs

9. Which of the following was not a key goal of the Knights of Labor?
an end to convict labor
a graduated income tax on personal wealth
equal pay regardless of gender
the creation of cooperative business enterprises

10. What were the core differences in the methods and agendas of the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor?

11. Which of the following did not contribute to the growth of a consumer culture in the United States at the close of the nineteenth century?
personal credit
advertising
greater disposable income
mail-order catalogs

12. Briefly explain Roland Marchand’s argument in the Parable of the Democracy of Goods.