Social Studies Chapter 5: The Age of Big Business
Study Guide
Section 1: Railroads Lead the Way
Consolidation
The practice of combining separate companies in an industry
Standard gauge rail
Led to faster and lower cost shipment of goods because it was
not necessary to load and unload products when moving between
various railroad lines
Cornelius Vanderbilt Controlled the railroad industry
Gustavus Swift
Developed the railroad refrigerator cars for the meat industry
George Pullman
Manufactured the sleeping car for the railroad industry
George Westinghouse Inventor of air brakes for railroads and transformers for
electricity transmission
Eli Janney
Inventor of the coupler to attach railroad cars
Rebate
Secret discounts paid to large companies by railroads
Section 2: Inventions
Henry Ford
Elijah McCoy
Cyrus Field
Alexander Graham Bell
George Eastman
Thomas Edison
Perfected the assembly line for creating the Model T Ford
which was designed for anyone to be able to purchase. It was
also easy to fix and drive.
Assembly line- production process by which the product
moves through a factory and workers perform a specific task to
make products quickly and efficiently. This allowed for mass
production of products.
Mass Production- creation of products in large quantities in
order to lower their cost and increase their affordability to the
general public.
African American that invented a mechanical oiling system. “It
is the real McCoy!”
Laid a transatlantic telegraph cable connecting Europe and the
US
Inventor of the telephone
Invented the small box camera
Wizard of Menlo Park invented the phonograph, light bulb,
and moving picture projector.
Section 3: An Age of Big Business
Andrew Carnegie
Controlled the steel industry; Carnegie Steel
Vertical integration- process by which a business grows by
taking over or purchasing other businesses that contributes to
that business.
Bessemer process- allowed for production of high quality steel
at affordable prices; helped grow the steel industry
John D. Rockefeller
Controlled Standard Oil of Ohio
Revised: 9/2015
Created by: J. Redding
JP Morgan
Trust
Shareholders
Monopoly
Sherman Antitrust Act
Mail order catalogue
Philanthropy
Rebates
Horizontal integration- process by which a business purchases
or takes over industries that perform the same type of business
Prominent New York banker
A group of companies controlled by a single board of directors,
usually gained through the swapping of stock between
competing companies
Partial owners of a company through the purchase of stock
Dividends- money paid to shareholders from the profits of the
business.
Complete control of an industry by a single company or a few
closely linked companies
Monopolies are formed by trusts: the practice of a company
purchasing stocks from other competing companies and gaining
controlling interest in a given industry.
Passed by Congress in 1890 to prohibit trusts and monopolies
New technique used by companies to help get their products in
the hands of consumers
Sharing of a person’s wealth by giving money to organizations
that help benefit many in society.
When a company gives money back to larger customers, thus
creating an unfair advantage for them over smaller customers
Essay Question
Explain why the late 1800’s and early 1900’s became known as the Age of Big Business?
Include the following topics when answering this question:
• Railroads and their impact
• Inventions, inventors and their impact
• Businesses and their growth, business strategies, and various business owners
Revised: 9/2015
Created by: J. Redding