Terms

rebates

This was a railroad abuse in which big companies would receive rebates, thus giving them an unfair advantage.

pooling

This was when the railroad companies worked together and agreed on high fares so that they all made a great deal of money at the customers' expense.

long haul vs. short haul

Long hauls were less expensive while shorth hauls were more expensive; more companies competed in between heavily trafficked short haul areas.

Alexander Graham Bell

He was the inventor of the telephone.

Thomas Edison

He was the inventor of the lightbulb and several other landmark inventions.

John D. Rockefeller

He was an oil industry giant. He was the richest man in the world at the time.

Andrew Carnegie

He was a steel industry giant. He wrote The Gospel of Wealth, which encouraged philanthropy.

J.P. Morgan

He was an investment banker. He bought Carnegie Steel.

James J. Hill

He was a railroad tycoon.

Horizontal and Vertical Integration

Horizontal integration was controlling all of one industry. Vertical integration was controlling from raw materials to manufacturing.

Social Darwinism

This philosophy stressed the idea that only the strong survived and flourished; it idolized the industrial giants.

Herbert Spencer

He was the creator of Social Darwinism.

William Graham Sumner

He was a preacher of Social Darwinism in the U.S.

Horatio Alger

He wrote the popular "rags to riches" stories.

Sherman Antitrust Act

Anything in restraint of trade was declared illegal. This was actually against labor unions instead of helping them.

Interstate Commerce Act

This act formed the Interstate Commerce Commission (I.C.C.) which regulated interstate commerce.

Jay Gould and Jim Fisk; Fisk-Gould Scandals

These two men were railroad barons who were very corrupt.

Granger Laws

These were laws made to help the common farmer.

Munn v. Illinois

This 1877 court case upheld the principle of rate regulation.

Wabash Case

The Supreme Court ruled that states could not regulate interstate railroad rates.

"Robber Barons"; Daniel Drew

This was the term people used to descibe the industrialists of this period. Daniel Drew was just one of these corrupt industrialists.

U.S. v. E.C. Knight Company

This case ruled that monopoly manufacturing was not in restraint of trade and therefore did not violate the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Erie War

This was just one of the many Gould-Fisk scandals. Vanderbilt tried to buy stock to gain control, but Gould, Drew, and Fisk printed excess stock to prevent Vanderbilt from ever gaining control.

Credit Mobilier Scandal

This was another Gould-Fisk scandal. Gould and Fisk had their own men set up a fake construction company, Credit Mobilier. This "company" built a railroad valued at $50 million, but charged $70 million. Gould and his accomplices pocketed the difference.

Whiskey Ring

This was a scandal involving government officials, bribery, and illegal exemption from tax on liquor.