Chapter 4

Question 1

What was economic growth like during the 1880s

Answer 1

Grew at a rate of 3.8%

Question 2

What happened to the gdp of the us during the 1880s

Answer 2

It doubled

Question 3

What is gdp

Answer 3

Gross domestic product- monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders within a specific time period

Question 4

What impact did the civil war have on manufactured goods

Answer 4

-guns, clothing as well as transport was being produced
- mass production and methods of transport had to be developed

Question 5

What impact did the civil war have on Wall Street

Answer 5

The goverment had to raise money to pay for the war
Leading to a capital raising bases system being created in New York

Question 6

How did the civil war impact paper currency

Answer 6

Caused the goverment to introduce paper currency which was known as the United States note this meant a banking system had to be set up

Question 7

What impact did the civil war have on banking

Answer 7

Banks were created to deal the new amount of money in circulation as well as the goverments need to finance the war

Question 8

What impact did the civil war have on tarrifs

Answer 8

Government introduced tariffs to create income for the government, ensured the necessary protection of us manafactured goods and reduced competition from already industrialised regions such as Britain

Question 9

How did the availability of land and natural resources impact the westward settlement a

Answer 9

The availability of land alowed the us to expand westward this stimulated economic growth as it created a market for manufactured goods

Question 10

How did the availability of land and natural resources impact the 1862 homestead act

Answer 10

The availability of land allowed the goverment to release land in 160 acre plots for free if they promised to farm for 5 years, this allowed for greater production.

Question 11

How did the availability of land cause greater mechanisation

Answer 11

As people expanded their became a greater market for mechanisation due to a rapidly expanding export market

Question 12

How did availability of land increase oil production

Answer 12

Greater expansion caused oil to go from 3 million barrels in 1865 to 58 million in 1890, there was also a 1,833% rise of kerosene lamps coming form better techniques of extraction.

Question 13

What increase in steel production was there

Answer 13

In 1870 America was able to mine 1.7 million tones iron ore and in 1890 were able to produce 9.5 million tonnes. In 1875 steel production 360,000 tonnes by 1900 America is producing around 60,000,000 tonnes of steel

Question 14

How did availability of land increase silver production and the economy

Answer 14

America had significant silver deposits the silver could be used as a form of currency.

Question 15

What was the increase in tobacco production

Answer 15

1865 180 million pounds
1890 487 million pounds

Question 16

What was the increase in cotton

Answer 16

In 1865 cotton was roughly 2.3 million bails by 1890 it was around 7.5 million

Question 17

What happened to population growth between 1860-1880

Answer 17

The population of USA was 31.5 million in 1860 but this had increased to 50 million by 1880

Question 18

How did population growth impact labour forces

Answer 18

Rapid growth of population provided an ample source for cheap labour

Question 19

What were the reasons for increased population

Answer 19

Increased incomes
Better food and housing
Progress in public health and medical knowledge
Lower death rates

Question 20

What happened to death rates

Answer 20

They lowered as a result of better medical knowledge in public health

Question 21

What happened to immigration between 1870 and 1890

Answer 21

In 1870 immigration was at 2.8million
People moved from all over Asia and Europe migrating to the big city’s this provided a cheap labour force
1880-1890 5.2 million immigrants

Question 22

How did population growth stimulate demand

Answer 22

Immigration caused greater demand for coal clothes and food

Question 23

How did the railroads impact efficiency of travel

Answer 23

You could now travel fro New York to San Francisco in 6 days instead of 6 months

Question 24

What was the impact of the transcontinental railroads

Answer 24

Opened up the west for mining and ranching

Question 25

What was the extent of railroad track increase

Answer 25

Railroad track mileage tripled between 1860 and 1880. Between 1868 and 1873 58,000 km of railroad was laid down.

Question 26

How did the railroads impact employment

Answer 26

They employed thousands of workers 1 million by 1900 all of whom were consumers

Question 27

How did railroads encourage demand

Answer 27

They encouraged demand as railroads required a lot of steel and coal. Manafacturers were also encouraged to build engines.

Question 28

How did transport cause encouraged competition

Answer 28

This encouraged competition and pushed down prices and led to technological improvements and improved quality.

Question 29

How did the railroads cause road building

Answer 29

The rail centres needed rail roads in order to be able to distribute goods to outlying areas therefore stimulating further growth.

Question 30

How did the availability of capital encourage entrepreneurs

Answer 30

Entrepreneurs often needed to borrow money to develop their buisness

Question 31

How did the civil war impact the availability of capital

Answer 31

The huge profits generated by the civil war encouraged the emergence of a highly developed stock market

Question 32

What happened to the stock market between 1865 and 1890

Answer 32

By 1865 the annual turnover by the New York stock exchange was over 6 billion b6 1890 it had become the second largest in the world

Question 33

What was the constitutional role of government in the economy

Answer 33

The constitution gave the federal goverment no role in running the economy

Question 34

What was the result of limited government intervention in the economy

Answer 34

Buisness man had substantial freedom in running their enterprises. There were no laws restricting hours of labour, no taxes on profits and no rules

Question 36

What was the domination of Buisness interests polliticaly

Answer 36

Congress and state goverments were dominated by business interests, very little national or state legislation that interfered with buisness

Question 37

How did the introduction of tarrifs help expansion

Answer 37

Congress imposed a protection tarrifs to ensure that foreign manufactured goods were more expensive, duties could be as high as 50%

Question 38

What impact did trade unions have

Answer 38

Trade unions were largely powerless so businesses did not have to deal with them and were generally free to manage their workforce the way they wanted.

Question 39

How were industrial disputes dealt with

Answer 39

In the event of industrial disputes, employers were often supported by states and federal authorities.

Question 40

What immigration control was there

Answer 40

Very little Chinese exclusion act

Question 41

What was the impact of corporations

Answer 41

Economic growth was also encouraged by the new Buisness methods as corporations and trusts each of which emerged due to reduced intervention.

Question 42

How did trusts emerge

Answer 42

These emerged because in some states there were laws that stopped people from buying shares in more than one state or company, Henry Flagler found a way of avoiding these laws he appointed himself the trustee for the stocks that the company was not allowed to own.

Question 43

What theories justified robber barrons

Answer 43

Rugged individualism Social Darwinism

Question 44

What was the Bessemer converter

Answer 44

Converting iron ore into steel effectively, carneighe bought the process to us steel

Question 45

Which individual was depicted as the indicator for technological improvements

Answer 45

Thomas Edison

Question 46

What did Thomas Edison do

Answer 46

1876. Gramophone 1877 incandescent light bulb 1888 electromagnetic process for separating iron ore

Question 47

Reasons for the depression of 1873

Answer 47

-rapid economic expansion outstripped system of finance and banking -agriculture and industry dependent on investment and loans in order to expand and innovate -banks were mostly small and did not have reserves so often went broke - there was little to no regulation and a lot of financial speculation

Question 48

What was the impact of the 1873 depression

Answer 48

-stock exchange was closed for ten days and credit dried up -factories closed their doors and thousands were laid off, -1 in 4 labourers were out of work in the winter of 1873 - 1874 a million were unemployed -railroad expansion declined massively from 7,500 in 1872 to 1,600 1874

Question 49

How did increased population affect housing

Answer 49

Rapid influx or workers often led to rubbish houses being constructed quickly, overcrowded and polluted

Question 50

What corruption was there in city’s

Answer 50

Ran by a boss(local mayor)

Question 51

What did the city boss do

Answer 51

He would sell the rights to build housing and transport to the highest bidder He would provide jobs for immigrants and African Americans and in return they would vote for him