Industrialization of America Assessment Questions

U.S. History II

  1. Supporters of laissez-faire generally oppose subsidies and favor ______.
  2. Who invented the telephone, which revolutionized both business and personal communication?
  3. What were equally as important as natural resources in the nation’s rapid industrialization?
  4. The first oil well was drilled near Titusville, Pennsylvania, by ______.
  5. Which transcontinental railroad operated without government subsidies or land grants, became the most successful, and was the only one not forced into bankruptcy?
  6. The railroad boom began in 1862 when President Abraham Lincoln signed the
  7. What is an organization owned by many people but treated by law as though it were a single person?
  8. Loans, mortgages, and taxes are examples of a company’s ______.
  9. Combining many firms engaged in the same type of business into one corporation is called ______.
  10. What did several railroads announce in July of 1877 that triggered the first nationwide labor protest?
  11. The first leader of the American Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers, believed that unions should stay out of ______.
  12. Workers who tried to organize a union or strike were often fired and placed on a list of “troublemakers” called the ______.
  13. Who claimed that after a workers’ revolution, the government would seize all private property and create a socialist society where wealth was evenly divided?
  14. What incident occurred in 1886 that badly hurt the Knights of Labor’s reputation?
  15. Because of a shortage of labor in California, the Central Pacific Railroad hired about 10,000 workers from ______.
  16. The Crédit Mobilier scandal provided sensational newspaper headlines and created the impression that all railroad entrepreneurs were ______(people who loot an industry and give nothing back).
  17. In 1893 railroad workers created the American Railway Union under the leadership of ______.
  18. The United States had an advantage in industrializing due to its resources and large workforce. What resources did the nation have? Why was its workforce large?
  19. How did inventions contribute to economic growth in the United States in the late 1800s?
  20. How did the federal government encourage railroad companies to construct railroads?
  21. What new methods of selling products were developed in the late 1800s?
  22. Why did workers try to organize labor unions in the United States in the late 1800s?
  23. What were the two basic types of workers in American industry during this time?
  24. What political contribution did Mary Harris “Mother” Jones make to American society?
  25. How did railroad expansion in the United States lead to industrial growth?