LOCKPORT CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
PROGRESS MONITORING
SOCIAL STUDIES
GRADE 8.
The Lockport City School District’s eighth grade curriculum includes a study of United States history from
Reconstruction to the present, with an emphasis on the social history and development of contemporary
America.
STUDY GUIDE 2
Students will understand how the growth of the country through westward expansion and immigration
brought on an industrial age and a new series of problems which tested the Constitution.
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND GROWTH OF ORGANIZED
LABOR
Second Industrial Revolution – Advancements in technology that lead to the rise of big business.
 Andrew Carnegie
o Steel
 John D. Rockefeller
o Oil Refineries
 Cornelius Vanderbilt
o Railroad
 Henry Ford
o Automobile
o Interchangeable Parts
Inventions – laid the groundwork for a company to grow like never before possible.
 Telephone – Alexander Graham Bell
 Electricity – Thomas Edison
 Transportation
o Airplane – Orville and Wilbur Wright - Brothers
o Automobile - Henry Ford
 Assembly Line – interchangeable parts
 Bessemer Process – Henry Bessemer - Turning Raw Materials to High Quality Steel
Big Business
 Different ways of integrating businesses
o Vertical
 One company owns all the companies that produce the products needed to make
another product. (MacDonald’s owns, the farms that grow wheat for the bread, and the
beef processors that raise the cattle and the stores that sell the hamburgers)
o Horizontal
 One parent company owns several companies that compete in a market (GAP, Banana
Republic, Old Navy all owned by GAP Inc.)
 Monopolies – A company that has no competitors. Carnegie, Rockefeller and others used business
integration to control the market by establishing monopolies.
o Problem with monopolies is the company then controls the market, sets the price for goods, the
working conditions, and the public is at the mercy of the big business. It is no longer legal to
operate a monopoly in the United States of America.
Study Guide – 8 Social-Q2-V12008
Robber Barons – Robbed or stole the competitors companies and the livelihood of the workers
who were not needed. Some saw the big businessmen (Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc. as Robber
Barons)
o Captains of Industry – Philanthropic, visionaries, leaders of the nation. Some saw the big
businessmen (Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc. as Captains of Industry)
Unions – were established to protect the workers, the working conditions, and the people who were
taken advantage by big business.
o Knights of Labor –Terrance Powderly– the first Union (non-discriminating – but not very strong)
o American Federation of Labor - Samuel Gompers – Very strong union that still exist today
o Collective Bargaining – All members bargain for a common goal – this is what gives the Union
its power.
o

Practice Questions:
Correct responses are marked with an asterisk (*)
1. Introduced interchangeable parts and the assembly line to build an automotive monopoly:
a. Rockefeller
b. Vanderbilt
c. Ford*
d. Carnegie
2. Controlled the Standard Oil monopoly:
a. Rockefeller*
b. Vanderbilt
c. Ford
d. Carnegie
3. Controlled the Railroad monopoly:
a. Rockefeller
b. Vanderbilt*
c. Ford
d. Carnegie
4. Developed a steel monopoly utilizing the Bessemer Process:
a. Rockefeller
b. Vanderbilt
c. Ford
d. Carnegie*
5. This invention enabled factories to operate through the night using a third shift:
a. Phonograph
b. Electricity*
c. Bessemer Process
d. Telephone
6. This invention improved the strength and lowered the price of steel:
a. Steel Conversion Process
b. Electricity
c. Bessemer Process*
d. Robber Barron
Study Guide – 8 Social-Q2-V12008
7. Companies used Vertical or Horizontal integration to establish:
a. Monopolies*
b. Unions
c. Steel
d. Corporations
8. A Unions greatest strength comes from:
a. The Assembly Line
b. Forming Monopolies
c. Vertical Integration
d. Collective Bargaining*
Study Guide – 8 Social-Q2-V12008
THE PROGRESSIVE ERA
The Progressive Era – Times of change and reform leading to America as a world power.
 Changes
o In the work Place
 8 hour day
 Lunch and Coffee breaks
 Better working conditions
o With Women
 More of a Voice - Pushed for prohibition
 Women’s suffrage – right to vote (1920 Constitutional Amendment passed)
o With The Presidency
 Teddy Roosevelt
 Broke up the trusts/monopolies
 Regulated Railroad Rates and Food and Drugs
 Negotiated peace treaties
 General Reforms
o Politics
 Political Machines - Same party controls a city or local government (usually corrupt)
 Tammany Hall – Democratic example in NYC from 1790-1960’s mostly funded by
big business
o Housing
 “How the Other Half Live” (photo book by Jacob Riis) – opened the eyes of the Nation
 Tenement House Act – Improved/Regulated living conditions with housing codes and
regulations.
o Labor
 8 hour day
 Lunch and Coffee breaks
 Better working conditions
o Voting
 African American Males allowed to vote
 Women allowed to vote
 17th Amendment – Direct election of Senators for the State.
o Prohibition
 Banned the production, transportation, consumption of Alcohol (18th Amendment). Lasted
from 1917-1933).
o Food and Drug Administration
 “The Jungle” (book by Upton Sinclair) – opened the Nations eyes related to Food
processing and practices.
 Muckrakers – Journalists who exposed corruption
Practice Questions:
Correct responses are marked with an asterisk (*)
1. Jacob Riis' photographs and the Settlement House movement led by Jane Addams drew attention to the
needs of the
a. freedmen immediately after the Civil War
b. farmers in the 1880s and 1890s
c. urban poor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries*
d. Japanese and Chinese laborers in the late 1800s
Study Guide – 8 Social-Q2-V12008
2. In the early 20th century, a major goal of Robert M. La Follette and other Progressives was to
a. start a civil rights movement for African Americans
b. increase opportunities for citizen participation in government*
c. build support for imperialistic ventures in Latin America
d. bring recognition to American artists and authors
3. A primary goal of the Progressive Movement in the United States in the early 20th century was to
a. correct political and economic injustices resulting from industrialization*
b. maintain the traditional laissez-faire attitude toward business
c. encourage big business to become more efficient through mergers and monopolies
d. solve the racial tensions that existed in northern industrial cities
4. Suffrage can best be defined as
a. the right to vote*
b. freedom of speech
c. freedom of religion
d. economic equality
5. Trust-busting, the suffragettes, and the Pure Food and Drug Act are associated with the
a. New Deal
b. Progressive Era*
c. return to "normalcy"
d. Great Society
6. Cartoons by Thomas Nast were to urban political machines as The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was to
a. railroad monopolies
b. the meatpacking industry*
c. lumber and logging companies
d. public utilities
7. What literary work exposed the filth of the meat packing industry?
a. Common Sense
b. The Jungle*
c. The Grapes of Wrath
d. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
8. During The Progressive Era (1900-1920) muckrakers were best known for
a. forming new political parties
b. organizing protest rallies and marches
c. serving in congress and state legislatures
d. exposing harmful practices of business and government*
Study Guide – 8 Social-Q2-V12008
IMPERIALISM
Gaining Overseas Territory
 Isolationism – Remain uninvolved with other Nations Affairs (Not Expanding)
 Imperialism – Involvement in other Nations Affairs and the practice of occupying and acquiring territory
for purposes of strength and domination.
 Alaska
o Bought by Seward for $7.2 million (2 cents an acre)
 Seward’s Folly – useless at first, turned out to be a good buy. Became a State 1959
 Hawaii – Annexed (taken over) in 1898 – Became a State in 1959
 Open Door Policy (with China) – established an American sphere of influence in China and Matthew
Perry (Commodore of the US Navy) established trade relations with China
Spanish American War
 Yellow Journalism – Inaccurate journalism to influence public opinion and advocate for war (became
tabloid journalism)
 Remember the Maine – Explosion on the ship “the Maine” that leads to yellow journalism and
unanimous support for the war.
 Rough Riders – Teddy Roosevelt’s soldiers who had great success in battle.
 US liberates Cuba from Spain and gains control of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippians making them
an Imperial Power
The US in Latin America
 Panama Canal
o US support the Panamanian Revolution
o Introduces the idea of building the canal
 Reduces travel time
 Increases trade
o The Roosevelt Corollary – the US can protect their interests around the Panama Canal
 Mexican Revolution – US got involved when Poncho Villa attacked a New Mexico Village
o Poncho Villa – Mexican Bandit and Revolutionary Leader.
Practice Questions:
Correct responses are marked with an asterisk (*)
1. The cartoon, refers to which reflects the period from 1898 to
1900, suggests the United States was primarily interested in
a. increasing its empire*
b. improving living standards
c. establishing democracies in other countries
d. forming a world peace organization
2. The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine refers to what area of the world?
a. Latin America*
b. Japan
c. China
d. Hawaii
Study Guide – 8 Social-Q2-V12008
3. In a United States history textbook, one chapter discusses the Maine, yellow journalism, Admiral Dewey,
and Cuba. This chapter most likely concerns
a. Manifest Destiny
b. the Spanish-American War*
c. World War I
d. the Good Neighbor policy
4. A major reason the United States began to seek colonies during the late 1890s was that the
a. Monore Doctrine required such action
b. expansion of American industry made acquiring new markets and additional resources desirable*
c. population pressures within the United States had become more severe
d. cold-war rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union had heightened
5. Which headline best reflects the idea of imperialism?
a. "Supreme Court Bans School Segregation"
b. "President Roosevelt Meets with Russian Leaders"
c. "The United States to Buy Japanese Cars"
d. "President McKinley Announces U.S. Occupation of the Philippines*
6. The "yellow journalism" of the Spanish-American War and television coverage of the Vietnam War both
illustrate that
a. government can limit freedom of the press in times of national crisis
b. the news media can be trusted to portray events accurately
c. the American people, on the basis of the information they receive, can influence government policy*
d. public opinion is rarely affected by the news media
7. One major result of the Spanish-American War was that the United States
a. established many foreign-aid programs
b. obtained overseas colonies*
c. abandoned the principles of the Monroe Doctrine
d. settled disputes by relying on international peace organizations
Study Guide – 8 Social-Q2-V12008
WORLD WAR I
Background
 Reasons for the War
o Central Powers – Germany, Austria, Hungary, Ottoman Empire
o Triple Alliance (Allied Powers) – France, Brittan, Russia
o Assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand – Austria declares war on Serbia (Serbia gets help from
Russia)
o Nationalism – pride in one’s country fueled the conflict
o 1917 US Enter War as Russia Exits (Russian Revolution)
 Trench Warfare – fighting from trenches lead to stale mate
 First Chemical Weapons (Mustard Gas)
 U Boats introduced to warfare
 Primitive dog fighting in the air
 Tanks and armored vehicles introduced
American’s Prepare for War
 US pledges neutrality (Woodrow Wilson)
 Lusitanian (passenger boat) was Sank by German U-boat in 1915 killing Americans
 1917 – US intercepts the Zimmerman Telegram asking Mexico to attack the US for Germany
America at War
 America declares war with Allied Powers on Central Powers in 1917
 Forces mobilize
 Enlistment increases/Draft (soldiers recruited by the government)
 Mass production of weapons of war in the US
 Job opportunities for women and African Americans because men went off to fight.
 Women had a limited role in the military
 America supported French and British troops and led attacks on the front.
 Soldiers fight in trenches weeks, even months at a time – different than what the Americans prepared
for
 African American’s fought in segregated units and were very influential in America’s success
 Battle of the Bulge (Battle of Ardennes) – On German/French Border caused German’s to retreat and
was the turning point of the war
 American’s provided fresh power that wore out the Central Forces
 War Ends 11/11/1918 (Start of Veteran’s Day)
Peace after the War
 Wilson’s 14 points for Peace
o League of Nations established to prevent this kind of conflict again.
o 14 points not very well accepted – American’s want more Isolationisms.
 Treaty of Versailles
o Germany accepts guilt clause
o Had to pay back war debts – leading to depression in Germany
o Had to give up weapons and their army
o Germany creates an independent democratic republic
o Czechoslovakia is formed
o US does not sign the Treaty – no participation by the US in the league of Nation and the failure
of this treaty lead to the rise of Hitler and WWII.
Study Guide – 8 Social-Q2-V12008
Practice Questions:
Correct responses are marked with an asterisk (*)
1. President Woodrow Wilson wanted to form the League of Nations to
a. prevent future wars*
b. create a world trade organization
c. develop military plans to win World War I
d. convince other nations to support the United States in World War I
2. The United States was drawn into World War I mainly because of
a. exaggerated stories by yellow journalists
b. the unrestricted use of submarine warfare*
c. a direct attack on an American military base
d. commitments made to the United Nations
3. Imperialism was a cause of World War I mainly because it
a. encouraged nations to establish trade relations
b. created conflicts between nations over colonies*
c. supported military dictators throughout Europe
d. discouraged participation in the League of Nations
4. Which event was a result of the other three?
a. World War II*
b. signing of the Treaty of Versailles
c. rise of dictatorship in Europe
d. failure of the League of Nations
5. President Woodrow Wilson, in his Fourteen Points, proposed the establishment of
a. a militia to protect western nations
b. a League of Nations*
c. a Triple Alliance
d. an army to occupy the defeated countries
6. A “return to normalcy” after World War I meant?
a. increased United States involvement in Europe
b. no longer selling liquor in the United States
c. going back to life as it had been before the war*
d. restoring a Democratic president to power
7. In
a.
b.
c.
d.
1914, fighting increased rapidly from a local conflict in Europe to a world war because
several nations had colonies in the region
southeastern Europe was a major oil producing area
powerful nations had opposing alliances*
the Leadue of Nations failed in its efforts to achieve a cease-fire
Study Guide – 8 Social-Q2-V12008
Study Guide – 8 Social-Q4-V12008