Big business in the Gilded Age: steel, oil, railroads and inventors
Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence
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Growing big in the Gilded Age (cards A to F and a table). Card A, ways to grow big (Summary in our words, not a quotation): A company grows horizontally when it joins or buys rivals that do the same work, as one refiner might buy other refiners. It grows vertically when it takes over steps before or after its own work, as a steelmaker might own the coke works that supply it. A trust is an arrangement in which the owners of several companies hand their shares to one set of trustees, who run the companies as one. Card C, Andrew Carnegie (Summary in our words, not a quotation, from the National Park Service): Andrew Carnegie was the first Pittsburgh iron maker to move into steel. He put most of the company's profits back into the business, joining firms and taking over suppliers. He bought most of the stock of the H. C. Frick coke works, then leased iron ore mines in the Mesabi Range. In 1901 he sold his share of Carnegie Steel to J. P. Morgan.
Card C says Carnegie joined firms and also leased iron ore mines to supply his steel works. Which kind of growth is the leasing of mines, Pia asks?
- Horizontal, because Carnegie was joining other firms in the iron business to gain more output
- Neither kind, because leasing is not buying, so it gave Carnegie no control over the supply of ore
- A trust, because leasing the mines let Carnegie run them together with his steel works under one control
- Vertical, because the mines supplied a step before steelmaking, unlike joining firms doing the same work
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Growing big in the Gilded Age (cards A to F and a table). Card A, ways to grow big (Summary in our words, not a quotation): A company grows horizontally when it joins or buys rivals that do the same work, as one refiner might buy other refiners. It grows vertically when it takes over steps before or after its own work, as a steelmaker might own the coke works that supply it. A trust is an arrangement in which the owners of several companies hand their shares to one set of trustees, who run the companies as one. Card B, Standard Oil (Summary in our words, not a quotation): John D. Rockefeller organized the Standard Oil Company in Ohio in 1870, with $1 million in capital. By 1872 it had bought nearly all the refining firms in Cleveland. On January 2, 1882, its properties were placed in the hands of trustees as the Standard Oil Trust, which began with $70 million in capital and 42 certificate holders.
By 1872 Standard Oil had bought nearly all the refining firms in Cleveland. Which kind of growth is that, Ren asks?
- Horizontal, because it joined rivals that did the same work of refining oil
- Horizontal, but just because the trust of 1882 made the earlier purchases possible
- Vertical, because refiners sit between crude oil and customers, so buying them moved Standard Oil along the chain
- A trust, because the card says Standard Oil placed its properties in the hands of trustees
What did the Standard Oil Trust of 1882 do that buying a rival's firm does not, Tala asks?
- It bought the companies from their owners for cash, which the 42 certificate holders received
- It sold shares to the public, which is how it raised the $70 million in capital
- Owners handed their shares to trustees, who ran the companies as one
- It merged the companies into a single firm that ended their separate existence under the law
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Growing big in the Gilded Age (cards A to F and a table). Card D, the Bessemer process (Summary in our words, not a quotation): Making steel in large amounts became easier with a process that blows air through melted iron to burn out extra carbon. Henry Bessemer patented an air-blowing process in England in 1855. William Kelly, an American, patented a similar idea in 1857. In 1861 an American group went after both patents. Andrew Carnegie built the Edgar Thomson Works at Braddock, Pennsylvania, to make steel rails by this method, and its production began in 1875. Table "Raw steel produced in the United States", columns Year | Raw steel (1,000 short tons). Row 1: 1860 | 13. Row 2: 1870 | 77. Row 3: 1880 | 1,397. Row 4: 1890 | 4,779. A short ton is 2,000 pounds. Data: US Census Bureau, Historical Statistics of the United States (1975 edition), series P 265, pp. 693-694 (figures of the American Iron and Steel Institute).
Card D says Carnegie's Edgar Thomson Works began making steel rails in 1875. Do the table's numbers show the Bessemer process caused the rise by 1880, Ari asks?
- Yes: the Edgar Thomson Works alone made the 1,397 thousand tons recorded for 1880
- Yes: output rose about 18 times right after 1875, so the Bessemer process caused the rise by 1880
- No: the Edgar Thomson Works began after 1880, so it cannot explain the rise in the table
- No: output rose from 77 to 1,397 thousand tons, which fits a link, but the table names no cause
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Growing big in the Gilded Age (cards A to F and a table). Card B, Standard Oil (Summary in our words, not a quotation): John D. Rockefeller organized the Standard Oil Company in Ohio in 1870, with $1 million in capital. By 1872 it had bought nearly all the refining firms in Cleveland. On January 2, 1882, its properties were placed in the hands of trustees as the Standard Oil Trust, which began with $70 million in capital and 42 certificate holders.
Card B gives $1 million in capital for Standard Oil in 1870 and $70 million for the Trust in 1882. Which claim is fair, Bo asks?
- The Trust's capital was 70 times the 1870 figure, but the numbers count different bodies
- Capital grew by 69 times, since $70 million minus $1 million is $69 million
- Standard Oil Company grew 70-fold in twelve years, since its capital rose from $1 million to $70 million
- The rise in capital shows that the company was earning rising profits from 1870 to 1882
Card B says that by 1872 Standard Oil had bought nearly all of Cleveland's refiners. Which claim does it support, Esme asks?
- Standard Oil bought the Cleveland refiners to prepare for forming the trust ten years later in 1882
- Standard Oil dominated refining in one city by 1872, though the card gives no national share
- Standard Oil controlled the nation's oil business by 1872, since it had bought rivals in one city
- Standard Oil had bought each refiner in Ohio by 1872, since it was organized in the state of Ohio
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Growing big in the Gilded Age (cards A to F and a table). Card D, the Bessemer process (Summary in our words, not a quotation): Making steel in large amounts became easier with a process that blows air through melted iron to burn out extra carbon. Henry Bessemer patented an air-blowing process in England in 1855. William Kelly, an American, patented a similar idea in 1857. In 1861 an American group went after both patents. Andrew Carnegie built the Edgar Thomson Works at Braddock, Pennsylvania, to make steel rails by this method, and its production began in 1875.
Why can't Jun say from card D that the Bessemer process was an American invention?
- Carnegie built the Edgar Thomson Works in 1875, which shows the process belonged to American steelmakers
- Bessemer patented an air-blowing process in England in 1855, two years before Kelly's American patent
- Kelly's 1857 American patent shows the idea was American, since a patent records the first inventor
- An American group went after both patents in 1861, which shows that American inventors made the process
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Growing big in the Gilded Age (cards A to F and a table). Card E, the electric light (Summary in our words, not a quotation): For at least fifty years before Thomas Edison, inventors tried to light the world with electricity. In 1879 Edison and his team made a bulb that lasted long enough for real use, and they built the whole system that brings electricity into a home. In December 1879 the Menlo Park laboratory was lit by electricity in a public demonstration.
A note says 'Edison invented the first light bulb.' Which edit does card E support best, Kira asks?
- Edison made the first bulb that glowed, though earlier inventors just wrote about the idea
- Edison was the first to light a building with electricity, when Menlo Park was lit in December 1879
- Edison's team made a bulb that lasted long enough for real use and built the system around it
- Edison improved a finished system that others had built, and added just the Menlo Park demonstration
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Growing big in the Gilded Age (cards A to F and a table). Card F, the telephone patent (Summary in our words, not a quotation): On February 14, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell's application for a telephone patent reached the Patent Office. The same day, Elisha Gray filed a caveat, which is a notice that an inventor plans to apply for a patent. Bell's patent was granted on March 7, 1876. On March 10 Bell sent clear speech over a wire to his assistant Thomas Watson.
Bell's application and Elisha Gray's caveat both reached the Patent Office on February 14, 1876. What can Luz conclude?
- Gray's caveat gave him a patent, since a caveat is a kind of patent that lasts a year
- Others were working on the telephone when Bell was, so he was not the only inventor trying
- Gray invented the telephone first, since his notice reached the Patent Office the same day as Bell's
- Bell copied Gray's caveat, since both documents reached the Patent Office on the same day
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Growing big in the Gilded Age (cards A to F and a table). Card A, ways to grow big (Summary in our words, not a quotation): A company grows horizontally when it joins or buys rivals that do the same work, as one refiner might buy other refiners. It grows vertically when it takes over steps before or after its own work, as a steelmaker might own the coke works that supply it. A trust is an arrangement in which the owners of several companies hand their shares to one set of trustees, who run the companies as one.
A steelmaker buys the railroad that carries its steel and also a rival steel mill. What kinds of growth are these, Noah asks?
- Both are vertical, since both add to the steelmaker's control over the steel business
- The railroad is horizontal and the rival mill is vertical, since each is a firm in a different business
- The railroad is vertical, a step after making steel, and the rival mill is horizontal
- Both are a trust, since the steelmaker now owns shares in two other companies