SOL Quiz 20 Industrialization

1. Private ownership of businesses is a characteristic of a. socialism b. capitalism c. communism d. feudalism Capitalism is an economic system. It is characterized by private or corporate ownership of property; by investments that are determined by private decision rather than by government control; and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free (open to all) market.

2. Which captain of industry is most associated with the growth of America's steel industry during the 19th century? a. John D. Rockefeller b. Andrew Carnegie c. George Westinghouse d. Cornelius Vanderbilt Starting out in America as an immigrant working in a textile mill, Carnegie eventually built the world's largest steel-making business. In 1901, he sold his steel company to the newly formed United States Steel Corporation, owned by a group of investors headed by J. P. Morgan. U.S. Steel was the first billion-dollar corporation in the world.

3. Which of the following groups was the most important in satisfying the need for labor during the late 1800s? a. indentured servants b. labor unions c. child labor laws d. immigrants As American industry rapidly grew during the period, the number of jobs available surpassed the number of native-born workers available. Consequently, employers often turned to immigrants to fill these jobs. Some American employers even sent agents to Europe to recruit able-bodied people to work in American factories.

4. Who was NOT considered one of the captains of industry? a. Andrew Carnegie b. Henry Ford c. John D. Rockefeller d. Samuel Gompers You should know this.

5. Which term is most similar to the idea of free enterprise? a. laissez-faire b. socialism c. mercantilism d. command economy According to laissez-faire economic theory, in a competitive marketplace, natural forces (a so-called "invisible hand") ensure the proper level of prices, production, and demand. Accordingly, government should not interfere with the workings of the competitive marketplace: it should "let (people) do (as they choose)" with these natural forces.

6. Which of the following was most responsible for enabling the growth of big business in America during the 19th century? a. free and open elections b. the mercantile system c. federalism d. the government's laissez-faire approach to the economy The government's laissez-faire approach to the economy was most responsible for enabling the growth of big business in America during the 19th century. At that time, government at both the federal and state levels placed few regulations or restrictions on how business owners could run their businesses.

7. During the second half of the 19th century, inventors spurred industrial growth. America's giant electric power generating industry developed largely as a result of the inventions of a. Alexander Graham Bell b. Thomas Edison c. Samuel Morse d. George Westinghouse During his career, Edison patented more than 1,000 inventions. Many of these inventions such as the incandescent light bulb were electrical inventions. To provide electrical power for Edison's as well as other inventors' electrical devices, Edison, George Westinghouse, and other entrepreneurs built huge electrical power generating stations.

8. Which of the following was one of the major obstacles to the growth of unions during the late 1800s? a. Most workers were content with their working conditions. b. Unskilled workers were reluctant to go on strike. c. Unions received little government support. d. There were too few workers to create strong unions. One of the major obstacles to the growth of unions during the late 1800s was the fact that unions received little government support. In fact, government policy often made it difficult, if not impossible, for workers to strike or even organize themselves into unions.

9. Henry Bessemer contributed to the industrial revolution by a. inventing the cotton gin b. creating a process for vulcanizing rubber c. developing an easier and cheaper way of making steel d. instituting the assembly line His Bessemer process used a furnace, known as the Bessemer converter, that transformed pig iron into steel by burning out carbon and other impurities by means of a blast of air forced through molten metal. The Bessemer converter increased steel production in the United States by a multiplication factor of 10 between 1877 and 1892.

10. The first substantial effort by the Congress to regulate the affairs of business resulted in the a. Sherman Antitrust Act b. Interstate Commerce Act c. Pullman Strike d. "Munn v. Illinois" The first substantial effort by the Congress to regulate the affairs of business resulted in the Interstate Commerce Act. During the 1870s and 1880s, reformers increasingly called upon governments at both the state and federal level to assert control over the conduct of big business, especially the railroads.