Big Business and Labor Quiz

Social Darwinism was when the term "survival of the fittest" came in. Also, some people were upset because the theory was that people descended from apes and that instead of the world being 6,000 years old, as most people believed at that time, but instead millions of years old. People, and the government believed that the government couldn't interfere because it would upset the natural order of things. People, especially big business owners, believed strongly in this so the government wouldn't, and couldn't interfere with their market.

Laissez Faire was when the government let the government let the businesses do pretty much whatever they wanted. Big business owners believed that because the government didn't make the market, they did, so the government shouldn't be able to control the market, they should. This was very bad for the people in lower class because big business owners could now underpay and overwork their employee's as much as they wanted to without getting in trouble with the government. This was also bad news because small businesses couldn't compete with that and would quickly fail.

Labor Unions & Big Business

The Knights of Labor

a. Identification - Wanted better working conditions, only group to survive the depression, founded in 1860, Knights welcomed everyone, even women and African Americans and immigrants

b. Significance - Was a bright side to the world, wasn't racist or sexist, gave people better working conditions.


The Haymarket Riot

a. Identification - wanted an 8 hour workday, police killed two unionists, people protested police brutality. People bombed the police officers.

b. Significance - drew attention to the growing discontent and the horrible work conditions.


Samuel Gompers

a. Identification - led the American Federation of Labor

b. Significance - accepted industrialization unlike the Knights.


The Homestead Strike

a. Identification - people went on strike and refused to accept pay cuts

b. Significance - the strikers lost


The Pullman Strike

a. Identification - striked against policies at the work houses, Pullman did not negotiate with workers

b. Significance - Soldiers were sent in and strikers sent tojail or stopped.


Eugene V. Debbs

a. Identification - led the Pulman's strike

b. Significance - Voted to pull the Pullman carts


The Industrail Workers of the World

a. Identification - wanted to unify all laborers like the Knights, was small

b. Significance - failed when World War I put most of the leaders in jail.

Identifying Terms

Andrew Carnegie - Was one of the first industrial moguls to change from being dirt poor, to rich.

Social Darwinism - Grew out of the biological evolution by Charles Johnson. It went around "natural selection."

John D. Rockefeller - Established the corporation of the Standard Oil Company, and took a different approach to mergers.

Sherman Antitrust Act - made it illegal to form a trust that interfered with free trade between states or with other countries.

Samuel Gompers - let the Cigar's Makers' International Union to join with the craft unions in 1886.

American Federation of Labor (AFL) - focused on collective bargaining, or negotiation between representatives of labor and management, to write written agreement on wages, hours, and working conditions.

Eugene V. Debs - attempted to form an industrial union.

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) - a group of radical unionist and socialists.

Mary Harris Jones- Very involved in the Women's labor movement.

Railroad Development

The Federal Government gave land and made loans to the railroad companies. Why was the government so eager to promote the growth of railroads?

The Federal Government was extremely eager to promote the growth of railroads and to give out loans for them for several reasons. First, the railroads gave a lot more freedom to let settlers expand West. People gobbled up the fertile land for farming. With the railroads, it was much easier to trade goods from the farms to the more modern city in the North. Also, when immigrants began flooding into the states, mainly the Chinese, this gave jobs so the railroads could get built for little pay, helping the federal government with the cost of building it. With thousands of people flooding to the west, mainly using the railroads, it was only logical for the government to want to support the expanding railroads.

Expansion of Industry

What were the three major factors that contributed to the immense technological boom that took place in the United States after the Civil War? Explain how two of these factors helped to bring about this technological boom.

The three major factors that contributed to the immense technological boom that took place in the United States were the finding of oil out in the West, better steel and new uses for it, and the discovery of electricity. When Pattillo Higgens found oil in Texas, the Texas oil boom began. When Edwin L. Drake used a steam engine to drill for oil in Pennsylvania, people began to see drilling for oil as a more practical way to earn money. It soon spread to other states such as Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, and soon after, Texas. As the automobile became more popular, entrepreneurs began transforming the oil to kerosine, and in the refining, out came gasoline that was soon used to become fuel for the automobiles.

Along with oil being abundant in the West, so were coal and iron. When you remove all of the carbon out of iron, it becomes steel. To do this pioneers began using a process called the Bessemer process. This process involves injecting air into molten iron to get all the carbon out. By 1880, more than 90% of the world's steel was made using this process. (The Bessemer process was eventually replaced by the open hearth process.) The biggest use of steel was to make the rapidly growing railroad systems throughout the country. Also, barbed wire and Deere's farming materials were also made of steel. Steel also made new inventions and large structure possible, such as the Brooklyn Bridge and the World's First Skyscraper.

Westward Expansion Questions

1. What are some of the main reasons that the federal government's policy of assimilation failed? Think About:

• Native Americans' way of life
  
• Cultural differences
  
• Attitude of whites toward Native Americans
  
• Government Promises

In my opinion, the very thought of assimilation for the Native Americans was doomed from the start. The Native Americans had lived the same way for thousands of years even before we Americans came along. The Indians must have thought, "We were here first. What right do you Americans have to come on our land, try to take it, and make us change our ways, our religion?" Even if some Native Americans were willing to try the American way of life, the Americans already looked down on Indians, what hope would they have of finding a good job? Would they become slave just like American negros? Even though he government promised to give them 160 acres for each head of the household and 80 to each unmarried adult, the Native Americans couldn't possibly have trusted this treaty because the American have broken many treaties before. The Native Americans also didn't want to give up the sacred land that they already owned, the land of their ancestors.

2. How successful were government efforts to promote settlement of the Great Plains? Give examples to support your answer.

Think about:

• The growth in population on the Great Plains
  
• The role of railroads in the economy
  
• The Homestead Act

The Government was extremely successful at promoting settlement to the Great Plains. Settlers took advantage of the cheap and fertile land. The new railroad tracks made transportating cattle and other money making things for farmers much easier and quicker, getting more money for farmers and hunters who lived of this new land. When the government passed the Homestead Act, which gave 160 acres free to any head of household, over 600,000 families rushed into the Great Plains. So many settlers wanted to get land that when the government opened up Oklahoma for land, settlers rushed in so fast that the government hadn't even declared some land open before it was already claimed.

Conflict in Iraq Q & A

August 9, 2009






PART I




Short Response



1. Where do most Kurds, Shi'a and Sunnis live in Iraq?

Kurds: The Kurds live in the mountainous region of Iraq.

Shi'a: Mostly in southern Iraq.

Sunnis: The Sunnis live in Bagdad and in the north.



2. Which ethnic group(s) hold(s) power over the majority of oil reserves in Iraq?

The Sha'i in the South own most of the oil reserves.



3. What is the main reason Britian become involved in Iraq?

The British wanted to gain control in Iraq's oil reserves as they have very little reserves.



4. What did Pan-Arabists advocate after World War II?

The Pan-Arabists sought independence for the middle-east and encouraged Iraq to stop ties with the British.



5. How was Saddam Hussein able to gain power and popularity in the 1970's?

Saddam Hussein held the possition of deputy under President Ahamad Hassan al-Bakr and devised a system to provide free education and universal health care.



6.Why did the United States become involved in the Iran-Iraq war?

The United States didn't want a victory by Iran's Islamist government.



7. Why did president George H.W. Bush (1989-93) bring the ground portion of the First Persian Gulf War to a halt? List Two reasons

a. Suddam Hussein controlled one quarter of the world's oil fields
b. The president wanted to rekindle Arab nationalism






Extended Response:



8. What are the different ethnic and religious groups in Iraq? Why is it important to understand these differences?



The main religion in Iraq is Muslim. Out of this religion, its is split into two major sub-religions, Sunni muslims, Sha'i Muslims, and the Kurds. It is important to understand these differences because often in human history, when you don't know or understand something, you are usually afraid of it, which leads to you wanting to destroy/ eliminate it. For example, when the americans started to settle into the U.S., the found native americans there, they didn't know them, and feared them, leading them to almost extinction and harmful thoughs towards them. It seems that the Shi'a and the Sunnis and the Kurds don't know each other and don't understand. Which leads to fear, that can quickly turn to violence.






PART II





Short Response



9. What dangers did President George W. Bush (2001-09) say Iraq posted to the region and the world? Name two.

a. The president said that Iraq had lots of WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction)
b. He thought that Suddam Hussein is a terrorist and was part of the bombing of the Twin towers when in fact he was not.




10.What were the U.S. government's declared goals in setting troops to Iraq?

a. The government said that they wanted to form democracy in Iraq.
b. They also wanted to make peace between the fighting religions.



11. List two reason violence continues in Iraq.

a. Violence continues because many Iraqis are angry at the U.S. presence still here
b. Also because they don't trust their new government




Extended Response:



12. Describe the different groups involved in the ongoing conflict in Iraq. What are their goals? (Reasons for fighting)

Sha'i: The Sha'i view the Sunni's as supporters of Suddam Hussein and don't want them in power again. They also don't want the country to be led be foreigners so they want the U.S. out of Iraq.
Sunni: The Sunnis fear that the United States is helping the Sha'i rise to power in the government. They fight because they fear that if the Sha'i control the government Iraq will become Sha'i Iran.
Kurd: The Kurds also don't wan't the Sunni's to rise to power again. They want recognization in the religion and in Kurdistan. Kurds are very nationalistic.
Al Quaeda: Al Quaeda aims to overthrow the Iraqi new government using voilence. Also they want to make a single Iraqi Islamic state covering many different states.