Big business in the Gilded Age: steel, oil, railroads and inventors

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   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.

2. 1.

   By 1872 Standard Oil had bought nearly all the refining firms in Cleveland. Which kind of growth is that, Ren asks?

   • 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
   • Horizontal, but just because the trust of 1882 made the earlier purchases possible
   • Horizontal, because it joined rivals that did the same work of refining oil
3. 2.

   What did the Standard Oil Trust of 1882 do that buying a rival's firm does not, Tala asks?

   • It sold shares to the public, which is how it raised the $70 million in capital
   • It merged the companies into a single firm that ended their separate existence under the law
   • Owners handed their shares to trustees, who ran the companies as one
   • It bought the companies from their owners for cash, which the 42 certificate holders received

4. Raw steel produced in the United States

   Year	Raw steel (1,000 short tons)
   1860	13
   1870	77
   1880	1,397
   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)

5. 3.

   Raw steel grew about 18 times from 1870 to 1880 and about 3.4 times from 1880 to 1890. Which statement is fair, Zee asks?

   • The two factors cannot be compared, because the decades started from very different amounts of steel in tons of output
   • 1870 to 1880 added more tons and also grew by the larger factor, since 18 is bigger than 3.4
   • 1870 to 1880 grew by the larger factor, 1880 to 1890 added more tons, because the 1870 base was small
   • 1880 to 1890 grew faster, since it added more tons of steel than the decade before

6. Use this

   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).

7. 4.

   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?

   • No: the Edgar Thomson Works began after 1880, so it cannot explain the rise in the table
   • 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: output rose from 77 to 1,397 thousand tons, which fits a link, but the table names no cause

8. Use this

   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.

9. 5.

   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?

   • 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
   • Capital grew by 69 times, since $70 million minus $1 million is $69 million
   • The Trust's capital was 70 times the 1870 figure, but the numbers count different bodies
10. 6.

    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 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
    • Standard Oil dominated refining in one city by 1872, though the card gives no national share
    • Standard Oil bought the Cleveland refiners to prepare for forming the trust ten years later in 1882

11. Use this

    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.

12. 7.

    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
    • An American group went after both patents in 1861, which shows that American inventors made the process
    • 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

13. Use this

    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.

14. 8.

    Bell's application and Elisha Gray's caveat both reached the Patent Office on February 14, 1876. What can Luz conclude?

    • Bell copied Gray's caveat, since both documents reached the Patent Office on the same day
    • 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
    • Gray's caveat gave him a patent, since a caveat is a kind of patent that lasts a year
15. 9.

    Bell's patent was granted on March 7, 1876, and clear speech went over the wire on March 10. What does that order show, Milo asks?

    • The patent came three days before the test, so a patent does not prove a working device
    • The three days show Bell was racing to demonstrate the device before Gray could
    • The patent shows Bell's device worked, since the Patent Office granted it before the speech test
    • Bell was granted the patent after Gray filed his caveat, which shows Gray was first

16. Use this

    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.

17. 10.

    A steelmaker buys the railroad that carries its steel and also a rival steel mill. What kinds of growth are these, Noah asks?

    • The railroad is vertical, a step after making steel, and the rival mill is horizontal
    • Both are vertical, since both add to the steelmaker's control over the steel business
    • Both are a trust, since the steelmaker now owns shares in two other companies
    • The railroad is horizontal and the rival mill is vertical, since each is a firm in a different business