An Industrial Society
The Rise of Big Business
1. How did businesses change in the late 1800s?
In the late 1800s,
businesses changed
by going from being
owned by one person
to a business owned
by a few partners.
Owners sold parts of
their business by
selling shares of
stock. This made
their business a
corporation.
2. What advantages do corporations have
that smaller businesses do not have?
Advantages that corporations have over
small businesses are they can raise a lot
of money by selling stock, corporations
have a special legal status and continues
to exist when the owner dies, and they
limit the risk to the investors, who do
not have to pay off the corporations
debt.
3. What method did Rockefeller use to gain
control of the oil industry?
To gain control of the oil industry,
Rockefeller decided to put his
competitors out of business. He
made secret deals with railroads
and bought his own pipelines to
carry oil. He also set up a trust , a
legal body, to hold stock in many
oil companies. By doing this he
could control the industry and
have a monopoly in the oil
industry.
4. How did Carnegie’s methods of gaining
control of the steel industry differ from
Rockefeller’s?
Carnegie’s method of
controlling the steel
industry were different
from Rockefeller’s because
he decided to control all
the processes related to
making steel. This allowed
him to make steel cheaper
than any other company.
5. Where was Andrew Carnegie’s first job?
Andrew
Carnegies first
job was in a
cotton mill.
Monopoly Man designed after J P Morgan (who
had a monopoly in steel industry)
6. What were some of the characteristics of the
“Gilded Age”?
Some of the
characteristics of the
Gilded Age are that it
was a time of fabulous
wealth in which those
who made millions had
not been raised from
poverty.
7. Why is the name – Gilded Age - appropriate
for its era?
The name Gilded Age is
appropriate because to gild an
object means to coat an
undesirable object with gold
leaf, gold that has been
pounded out into thin sheets.
The wealth of a few people hid
the problems of society,
including corrupt politics and
widespread poverty.
8. Who came up the name Gilded Age?
Mark Twain and
Charles Warner
came up with the
name Gilded Age.
9. Why did the economy of the South grow
slowly?
The economy of the
South grew slowly
because the Civil
War had left South
and ruins and the
much of the land
was used for
sharecropping.
10. How did the sharecropping system affect
workers?
Sharecropping affected
the workers by forcing
them to remain as
workers on the land. The
only way they could leave
is if they were debt free.
The price of cotton was
very low which made it
nearly impossible for
sharecroppers to leave
the farms.