The making of America: impact of big businesses, cities and mass migration. Flashcards
(44 cards)
big businesses: how were these big businesses (co-operations) different than traditional businesses?
larger.
run by a board of shareholders rather than a single person or family.
big businesses: what were small scale farms replaced with and what were they?
bonanza farms.
owned by wealthy investors in the east.
big businesses: what event in 1886-7 led to big businesses being bale to buy up smaller struggling businesses?
harsh winter that killed off millions of cattle.
cotton & tobacco factories: in the south when did the number of cotton mills double?
1880 and 1900.
cotton & tobacco factories: how did the south become a major producer of cotton cloth in the USA?
now could support their cotton growing industry.
cotton & tobacco factories: tobacco and cigarette production increased drastically. by what date did the american tobacco company control 90% of cigarettes and what percentage of tobacco production?
1904.
75%
cotton & tobacco factories: what did the growth of southern cotton factories mean for plantations?
slow return of the demand for them.
cotton & tobacco factories: what was the economical effect of the increase in cotton production?
decrease in cotton prices.
most cotton pickers couldn’t make ends meet by 1900.
cotton & tobacco factories: what kind of jobs were the new job opportunity’s in cotton and tobacco factories like for white southerners?
generally low skilled and low paid.
fossil fuels & extractions: what lead to a huge demand for resources such as coal and iron?
growth of factories and railroads.
fossil fuels & extractions: what did the law passed in 1872 allow?
companies to set up mines for little cost and put a few restrictions on their activities.
fossil fuels & extractions: who was mining too costly for, so who took all the opportunities?
small companies.
huge mining operations.
fossil fuels & extractions: how much did coal production in the south increase from 1875 to 1890?
increase x10.
fossil fuels & extractions: discoveries of what brought companies such as? to west?
copper, tin, lead and silver.
anaconda.
fossil fuels & extractions: in Butte, Montana what is the cost of the copper and silver extracted every month?
a million dollars.
fossil fuels & extractions: why was the discovery of copper and silver recently important?
vital for use in cables as conductors. new electrical age.
fossil fuels & extractions: impact- what was the impact on the environment and why?
huge areas of forest cut down to create support for mine shafts. toxic chemicals leached into the water.
fossil fuels & extractions: impact- who did the environmental impacts impact as well?
indigenous peoples.
fossil fuels & extractions: impact- why was it dangerous for people- especially the people mining?
at 1000m underground, worked in temperatures above 35 degrees.
fossil fuels & extractions: impact- why were mine shaft dangerous?
poorly constructed and could collapse as well as others.
fossil fuels & extractions: impact- why did many miners die of lung disease?
no breathing equipment.
bonanza farms & cattle ranches: by when had small scale farming died out ont he plains?
1880’s.
bonanza farms & cattle ranches: how big was an average farm?
10,000 acres.
bonanza farms & cattle ranches: how many people worked on them and were they well paid?
250.
low paid.