Module 2
Study Aid for Quiz on Industrialization
What pushed immigrants to leave their homeland and move to NY (and other
places in the U.S.)? Europeans especially were draw to NY to make a lot of
money, but other people were fleeing poverty, ethnic and religious persecution.
What attracted them to come? People were moving to NY because there
were a lot of new jobs factories and workshops were everywhere in 1845.
What did they find when they arrived? Most of them were forced to live in the slums an area
with no central heating, no running water and no sewers with rent prices increasing.
What was Kipling’s impression of Chicago? When British author Rudyard Kipling visited
Chicago in 1889, he described a city captivated by technology and blinded by greed. He
described a rushed and crowded city, a “huge wilderness” with “scores of miles of these
terrible streets” and their “hundred thousand of these terrible people.” “The show
impressed me with a great horror,” he wrote. “There was no color in the street and no
beauty—only a maze of wire ropes overhead and dirty stone flagging under foot.”
Did Kipling believe those who claimed that industrialization was “proof of progress”?
Kipling said American newspapers report “that the snarling together of
telegraph-wires, the heaving up of houses, and the making of money is progress.” He
thought it was progress, but he did not like the way they were creating progress.
When did a majority of people live in towns and cities rather than rural areas? People were
able to be much closer to work and there are many job opportunities in cities versus rural
areas. “The Great Chicago Fire leveled 3.5 square miles and left a third of its residents
homeless in 1871, but the city quickly recovered and resumed its spectacular growth. By the
turn of the twentieth century, the city was home to 1.7 million people.”
Where did most immigrants come from before 1890? Germany, British Isles, and
Scandinavia. Where did most come from after 1890 through the early 1900s? Poles,
Italians, Czechs, Hungarians, Lithuanians, and others from southern and eastern Europe.
How common was immigration into American cities like NY and Chicago? It
was very common for people to move from all over world because they wanted
a better chance at life.
What characterized the second phase of industrialization? The dramatic
economic growth, the transition to building with steel, the invention of electricity,
and the use of oil defined the late-nineteenth century Industrial Revolution in the
United States, along with Western Europe and Germany.
Why did people unionize? They were tired of being treated like garbage and
stood up for themselves.
What was the Homestead Strike? It was a union of steel workers who went on strike
to protest wages being cut. When was it? June 30, 1892. Who was involved? The
Homestead steel workers, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Frick, and the Pinkertons. Why
did workers want to join together in a union? The workers joined together because
they did not accept the new pay scale, the poor working conditions, and long hours.
There have been many deaths among the workers, and nothing was being changed.
Module 2
Study Aid for Quiz on Industrialization
What happened in the Homestead Strike? The Homestead Strike was a violent
labor dispute between the Carnegie Steel Company and many of its workers that
occurred in 1892 in Homestead, Pennsylvania. There were shots fired and 9
workers were killed, and countess others were severely injured.
What led to Labor Day as a national holiday? Many men and children were
forced to work in terrible conditions for long hours, so they all went on strike.
September 1882 was the first Labor Day.
According to the video on Labor Day, what has been the contribution of unions? The
unions usually ended in violence and causalities but because of the labor movement
we have paid holidays, 8-hour workdays, paid vacations and healthcare.
What was populism in the late 19th century? Against the backdrop of falling
commodity prices, angry farmers pointed to middlemen whom the believe had
monopolized access to transportation, land, credit, and necessary supplies.
How did farmers become integrated into national and international markets?
Through the transportation revolution during the 1870s – 1890s.
Why did Midwest farmers become populists? Most farmers invested in machines
to speed the process of producing crops, but they became in debt when prices
for crops dropped and they could not afford to pay off machines.
Why did some Populists think that industrial workers might unite with them? Because of
a series of strikes on the summer of 1892 prompted some to exam the direction of the
populist party, which is why some populists thought it might be possible to unite indebted
farmers and angry industrial workers against the capitalist order.
What contributed to the weakness of the Populist Party? (Was it able to get support
of industrial workers?) The regional influence weakened the Populist party
What did farmers want inflation? Farmers wanted inflation because they were in
debt and this would reverse their situation because by adding silver to the
current currency it would increase the amount if currency in circulation.
What policy would promote inflation? Bryans policy
What prevented Populists and unions in the South? Populists hesitated to
support the democratic party because it was the dominate party of the south.
The white southern support from the democratic party and its continuing racism
is what prevented the unions in the south and populists.
How does Watson show us how politics influenced his position on race? Watson started
off his career by promoting interracial political cooperation, but Watson would have
needed the support from black farmers to win against the democrats. Watson gave in to
racism and proclaimed that the Negro has no comprehension of virtue, honesty, truth,
gratitude, and principle. He won political power but used antisemitic and anti-Catholic
Roderic which allowed him to become a Georgia senator in 1921 but his shift towards
racism, hate and exclusion prevented him from reaching his initial populist goals.
What did end up contributing to inflation, and thus economic recovery? In part, the
failure of European harvests, which created a strong market for American crops
and the US balance of trade turned from a deficit to a surplus, and gold flowing in.
Also, the recovery was fueled by a 41.7% increase in the stock of money.
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