Chapter 24 questions

Be sure you answer these thoroughly and thoughtfully for your own benefit. Due Monday, December 13.

Questions Chapter 24

1. Let’s do a little math, in the spirit of NCLB: By what percentge did the amount of railroad track in the US increase between 1865 and 1900? What was the ratio of acres granted by the federal government to the miles of track laid? What conclusions can you draw from these two figures?
2. How did the railroads manage to hog more land than that to which they were actually entitled? What did the government get in return for this? Outline the debate over whether this was justified.
3. How did the Civil War influence railroad construction? What was the difference between the way that the transcontinental railroad was financed versus the previous explanation on pp. 530-531?
4. Read carefully and think: Why was the Union Pacific Railroad generally paid less per mile of construction than the Central Pacific? Who laid the most miles of track, and why? What was the difference in the laborers primarily used by the 2 companies?
5. By 1895, how many transcontinental railroads were there? Ordering them from north to south, name them and their date of completion. Why was investing in railroad construction a risky proposition?
6. What technological advances were derived from the railroads? What other industries benefitted from the growth of the railroads?
7. How did railroads both encourage urban growth and the settling of the Great Plains?
8. What corrupt practices did railroads engage in, and why couldn’t they be stopped?
9. Was the Gilded Age TRULY a time of “laissez-faire?” Explain.
10. Page 538 labels this period “the second American industrial revolution.” When was the first? What advances revolutionized American industry during this second phase?
11. Describe and contrast the two methods developed by Carnegie and Rockefeller to maximize profits and control.
12. What factors led to America becoming the dominant steel producer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries? What city was the center of steel production(and how did that eventually influence professional football)?
13. How was the United States Steel Corporation created?
14. How did trusts work? What industries were dominated by trusts?
15. How did some religious and business leaders justify the amassing of so much wealth by tycoons? What then was the logical implication for those who were poor?
16. How did the 14th Amendment help corporations based on the late 19th century interpretation of it?
17. What was the difference between “good” and “bad” trusts? What two laws attempted to weaken trusts, and why weren’t they effective?
18. Why didn’t the South benefit as much as the North from the industrial development of the late 19th century?
19. What factors worked against the growth of unions in the late 19th century? Be thorough in your answer.
20. How did Samuel Gompers design the AF of L to succeed in ways that previous unions had not?
21. In what ways was the economic and business situation described in this chapter similar to today’s economic climate?
22. Thomas Jefferson and others of our founders warned that those who worked for wages would be nothing but “wage slaves.” Evaluate the accuracy of this belief based on conditions in the late 19th century.