What nickname does Cornelius Vanderbilt acquire and how does he acquire it?

-Commodore
-he makes such a large shipping company, he is a very strong business man

What risk does Vanderbilt take at the height of his shipping career just before the Civil War?

-he sells his shipping company because he knows that the railroad system is about to become big
-worth over $60,000,000 which is &75,000,000,000 today

What big project does Vanderbilt create in New York City?

-Grand Central Depot
-biggest train station in America, the Grand Central was the biggest building in New York City

What do Jay Gould and Jim Fisk do to thwart Vanderbilt's plan to buy the Erie Rail Line?

-"Watering down stock"
-this is not illegal and Vanderbilt was unaware so he continued to buy stock

What does Vanderbilt decide that he needs to do to finally control a majority of the railroads in America?

-transport new cargo

Who does Vanderbilt decide to meet with in order to keep his trains full of cargo?

-Rockefeller

What event changes the outlook of the man from Cleveland?

-while at Church he hears the men outside drilling for oil and e realized he could make a lot of money from oil

Why did Rockefeller have to learn to work so hard?

-he had to support his mother and siblings and he never gave up

What promise does Rockefeller make Vanderbilt that he may not be able to keep?

he promised 60 barrels but could only produce 50% of that

Why do Americans fear kerosene and how does Rockefeller calm those fears?

He made a product of refined oil that created a standard oil which was very sought after

What events transpire between Rockefeller and the railroads/Vanderbilt?

Rockefeller has left over oil and Tom Scott knows that and he tries/does make a deal with Rockefeller to become the king of the railroads

What is Andrew Carnegie's background?

his mentor was Tom Scott, he worked for him at age 12, he was his assistant

What does scott want Carnegie to do to launch Scott's railroad?

Build a bridge over the Mississippi river which seems impossible

What obstacle does Carnegie run into and what substance does Carnegie use to solve this problem?

The bridge Hass to be stronger so he uses steel

What is the problem with this new substance?

it takes a long time to make and is unproven

What does Henry Bessemer provide to solve Carnegie's problem with the new substance?

A new machine that takes 15 minutes to prepare one rod

After the bridge is built, what does Carnegie do to convince the public that the bridge is safe?

he uses an elephant walk across the bridge to prove to the people that it is stable

What does Carnegie billed after he build the bridge?

He builds a steel plant

When the railroads no longer build new lines, where does Carnegie turn to to sell steel

He sells his field to build skyscrapers and he becomes one of the wealthiest man in America at the time

What allows cities to stop expanding outward and to start expanding upward?

The stopping of building railroads

What is Carnegie's plan to be the most profitable?

He hires Henry Frick who is mean

Describe Carnegie's business practices

In two years his profits have doubled and he uses profits to buy out other companies tower he controls all of the steel plants

Who is JP Morgan? Describe his relationship with his father? What are some things he learned from his father?

He has a banker that buys out companies, dominate banking, good relationship with father but by age 40 he wants away from him because his father was very controlling over everything he did and he was younger in order to make him a good businessman

Who does JP Morgan turn to for help to build his own business empire? What invention does this man provide that morgan will take advantage of?

invest other peoples money and profit he also talks with Thomas Edison who invented the lightbulb

Where is the laboratory of this inventor?

New York

"Wave the bloody shirt"

this is saying "I am the hero"

Grant scandals

1869-77; Grant, although personally honest, made bad choices for his administration, and other outside scandals were linked to his presidency; the key ones were: Jay Gould's attempt to corner the gold market, the Whiskey Ring, and the Credit Mobilier debacle.

Panic of 1873

Four year economic depression caused by overspeculation on railroads and western lands, and worsened by Grant's poor fiscal response (refusing to coin silver

Gold standard

A monetary system in which paper money and coins are equal to the value of a certain amount of gold

redemption Act

Made people think silver was cheaper than it really was and the government wanted to not sell silver anymore

Thomas Nast

A famous caricaturist and editorial cartoonist in the 19th century and is considered to be the father of American political cartooning. His artwork was primarily based on political corruption. He helped people realize the corruption of some politicians

Boss Tweed

William Tweed, head of Tammany Hall, NYC's powerful democratic political machine in 1868. Between 1868 and 1869 he led the Tweed Reign, a group of corrupt politicians in defrauding the city. Example: Responsible for the construction of the NY court house; actual construction cost $3million. Project cost tax payers $13million.

Tammany Hall

a political organization within the Democratic Party in New York city (late 1800's and early 1900's) seeking political control by corruption and bossism

Election of 1876

Ended reconstruction because neither canidate had an electorial majority. Hayes was elected, and then ended reconstruction as he secretly promised

Rutherford B. Hayes

19th president of the united states, was famous for being part of the Hayes-Tilden election in which electoral votes were contested in 4 states, most corrupt election in US history

Compromise of 1877

Ended Reconstruction. Republicans promise 1) Remove military from South, 2) Appoint Democrat to cabinet (David Key postmaster general), 3) Federal money for railroad construction and levees on Mississippi river

Patronage

(politics) granting favors or giving contracts or making appointments to office in return for political support
Stall warts and half breed

Assassination of Garfield

Garfield angered the Stalwarts by giving reformers most of his patronage jobs once he was elected. On July 2, 1881, he walked through Washington D.C. Train Station and was shot 2 times by a mentally unbalanced lawyer named Charles Guiteau, whom Garfield turned down for a job. He finally died from his wounds on September 19th.

Pendleton act of 1883

Bill that outlawed compulsory campaign contributions from federal employees and established the Civil Service Commission.

Plessy versus Ferguson

Court case where Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal" facilities were legal for blacks

Trans-Continental Railroad

Completed in 1869 at Promontory, Utah, it linked the eastern railroad system with California's railroad system, revolutionizing transportation in the west

Chinese exclusion act of 1882

law that suspended Chinese immigration into America. The ban was supposed to last 10 years, but it was expanded several times and was essentially in effect until WWII. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant law that restricted immigration into the United States of an ethnic working group. Extreme example of nativism of period

Benjamin Harrison

23rd President; Republican, poor leader, introduced the McKinley Tariff and increased federal spending to a billion dollars

Billion dollar congress

Republican congress of 1890. passed record # of significant laws that helped shape later policies and asserted authority of federal govt., gave pensions to Civil War veterans, increased government silver purchases, and passed McKinley Tariff Act of 1890

McKinley tariff

1890 tariff that raised protective tariff levels by nearly 50%, making them the highest tariffs on imports in the United States history

Panic of 1893

Serious economic depression beginning in 1893. Began due to rail road companies over-extending themselves, causing bank failures. Was the worst economic collapse in the history of the country until that point, and, some say, as bad as the Great Depression of the 1930s.

General amnesty act

Give them back their restricting rules of voting and they could hold office with exemption