SOL REVIEW
Economic
History
What was the major
reason for the settlement
of Virginia and the other
Southern colonies?
• Economic
Opportunity
What became the cash
crop of the Virginia
colony?
•Tobacco
Name four characteristics of
the economy of the New
England colonies?
•
•
•
•
Shipbuilding
Fishing
Lumbering
Subsistence Farming
Name three characteristics of
the economy of the Middle
Colonies?
• Shipbuilding
• Small farms
• Trading
What was the economic
basis of the Southern
colonies?
• Cash crops raised on
large Plantations
What were the three cash
crops of the Southern
colonies?
• Tobacco
• Rice
• Indigo
What were the two cash
crops in South Carolina?
• Rice
• Indigo
Which English colonies
believed in private property
and free enterprise (profit)?
•ALL
What is a tariff?
•A tax on imports
What is another
name for a tariff?
•Customs Duty
What is revenue?
•Tax Money
What is a monopoly?
• Complete Control
• Absence of
Competition
• No Competition
What does interstate
commerce mean?
• Trade between states
What were two trends in
American life during the first
half of the 19th century?
• Westward Movement
• Economic
Development
What two transportation
improvements encourage
westward movement and
economic development?
•Canals
•Railroads
Who invented the
cotton gin?
•Eli Whitney
What did the cotton gin
cause to spread throughout
the Deep South?
• The “Cotton Kingdom”
based on African-American
slavery
Did the cotton gin
increase or decrease the
demand for slaves?
•Increased
Between 1800 and 1850, what
region developed an industrial
economy based on
manufacturing?
•The North
Between 1800 and 1850, what
region developed an industrial
economy based on
manufacturing?
•The North
Which region favored
high protective tariffs?
•The North
Define protective
tariffs.
• Taxes on imports which are
so high that Americans
cannot afford to buy foreign
goods
What was the basis of the
South’s economy?
• Agriculture (Farming)
• Plantations that used
slave labor
Did the South support
or oppose high tariffs?
•Opposed
Why did the South
oppose high tariffs?
•Made manufactured
goods more
expensive
What were economic
and social results of
Reconstruction?
• South was devastated and
bitter.
• North and Midwest had
strong industrial economies.
What transportation
improvement was
completed in 1869?
• 1st Transcontinental
Railroad
What did the
transcontinental
railroad do?
• Linked the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans by Rail
What was the 1862
Homestead Act?
• Law that gave free public land to
settlers in the western territories
• Settlers promised to live on and
farm this land for five years
What 2 new technologies
in the late 19th century
opened new Western
lands?
• Railroads
• Mechanical Reaper:
harvested wheat
What did Chinese
immigrants help
build?
•Transcontinental
railroad
• What are two advantages
of a corporation?
• 1) Raise capital; 2)
Limited Liability
• What 18th century Scottish
philosopher developed the
laissez faire economic
theory?
• Adam Smith
• Who wrote Wealth of
Nations?
• Adam Smith
• What does laissez faire mean?
• An economic philosophy that says
government should leave business
alone; let business do what it
wants. Government should neither
help nor hinder business.
• What does anti-trust
mean?
• Anti-monopoly
• What was the major
weakness in the Sherman
Anti-Trust Act?
• The wording was too vague.
• What is a labor union?
• An organization of
workers
• In what major strike in the
1890s was the American
Railway Union involved?
• The Pullman Strike
• Who won the Pullman
Strike? The Pullman
Company or the
American Railway Union
• the Pullman Company
• What labor union was
involved in the 1892
Homestead Steel Strike?
• The AF of L (American
Federation of Labor)
• What union was blamed
for the 1886 Haymarket
Riot in Chicago?
• The Knights of Labor
• What did the term “trust”
mean during the late 19th
and early 20th centuries?
• A business monopoly
• What does the term
monopoly mean?
• Absence of
Competition
• What industry was made
more efficient by the
development of the
Bessemer process?
• Steel
• Which side did government
take in both the Haymarket
Riot and the Pullman Strike?
Big Business or Labor?
• Big Business
Define imperialism.
• One country gaining
political or economic
control over another
country
What was the Open
Door Policy?
• All nations would
have equal trading
rights in China
What president was
known for Dollar
Diplomacy?
•William Howard
Taft
What was Dollar
Diplomacy?
• U.S. business would invest in
Latin America
• If necessary, U.S. would
intervene militarily in Latin
America
Name 3 examples of
American economic
imperialism.
• Open Door Policy
• Dollar Diplomacy
• Panama Canal
• Who were the Muckrakers?
• Progressive writers who
wrote about social and
political evils in late 19th and
early 20th century America.
• What did the Clayton Anti-Trust
Act?
• 1) Outlawed price fixing;
Exempted unions from the
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
• Which 19th century American
labor union has survived until
the present day?
• The A F of L. Today it is
known as the AFL-CIO.
What is
inflation?
• When prices increase
and the dollar buys less
What functions as
the central bank of
the United States?
•The Federal Reserve
System
What controls the
nation’s money
supply?
•The Federal
Reserve
What does the
Federal Reserve do
to stop inflation?
•Raise interest
rates
What does the Federal
Reserve do if it believes
the economy is
overheating and causing
inflation?
•Raises interest rates
What does the Federal
Reserve do if it
believes the economy is
slowing down?
•Lowers interest
rates
What is the largest
stock market in the
United States?
• The New York Stock
Exchange
What is
speculation?
–Buying something at a
low price in the hope of
selling it later at a profit
What does it mean
to buy stock on
margin?
•Buy stock on
credit
What event
triggered the Great
Depression?
•The Stock Market
Crash
What is a
protective tariff?
• A tax on imports that is
so high that Americans
cannot afford to buy
foreign goods
What was the HawleySmoot Tariff?
• Protective Tariff
• the Highest Tariff Rates
in History
What were 3 causes of
the Great Depression?
• Overspeculation in stocks
• Collapse of the banking
system
• Hawley-Smoot Tariff
What were 4 effects of
the Great Depression?
• Unemployment and
homelessness increased
• Bank Closings -- the collapse of
the nation’s financial system
• Political Unrest
• Farm Foreclosures
What was the purpose of
the New Deal Relief
programs?
•Ease the Suffering
of the Unemployed
What was the purpose of
New Deal Recovery
programs?
•Help Business
Recover
Identify FDIC.
• Today insures bank
deposits up to
$100,000
For what does FDIC
stand?
• Federal Deposit
Insurance
Corporation
For what did the Social
Security Act provide?
• Unemployment
Insurance
• Old-Age Pensions
What 3 rights did
Organized Labor gain
during the New Deal?
• Right to form a Union
• Right to Strike
• Minimum Wage
Since the New Deal, who
do Americans hold
responsible for bringing
prosperity to the U.S.
economy?
• The federal gov’t.,
especially the President
Identify the 1964
Civil Rights Act?
• Outlawed racial, religious, and
sex discrimination in public
places and by employers; No Job
discrimination
• Gave the federal government
more power to enforce all civil
rights laws