Deck 18: The Machine Age, 1877-1920

Question 1

Before Ford Motor Company employees could receive the benefits of the Five-Dollar-Day plan, they had to

A) meet the company's behavior code.
B) join the company-sponsored union.
C) live in company-owned housing.
D) meet quality control standards in their daily work.

Answer 1

meet the company's behavior code.

Question 2

The 1894 Pullman strike was touched off by George Pullman's decision to

A) cut wages.
B) lay off one-third of his work force.
C) close his company town.
D) withhold stock dividends.

Answer 2

cut wages.

Question 3

Which of the following is true of the Knights of Labor under the leadership of Terence Powderly?

A) It sought to establish a cooperative society in which workers owned the means of production.
B) It changed its name to the American Federation of Labor in 1886.
C) It instigated the Haymarket riot.
D) It refused membership to blacks and women.

Answer 3

It sought to establish a cooperative society in which workers owned the means of production.

Question 4

Many employers cut wage costs in the late nineteenth century by

A) eliminating pension plans.
B) hiring skilled workers.
C) eliminating health insurance plans.
D) hiring women and children.

Question 5

In Muller v. Oregon the Supreme Court

A) upheld a law limiting working hours for women.
B) reaffirmed its earlier Lochner decision.
C) affirmed that states could regulate working hours for both men and women.
D) upheld the right of states to regulate child labor.

Question 6

Under Frederick W. Taylor's theory of scientific management,

A) workers' skills came to be valued more highly.
B) workers increasingly controlled the pace and scale of production.
C) workers were encouraged to shift frequently from one task to another.
D) workers became another kind of interchangeable part.

Question 7

As a result of the Haymarket bombing,

A) President Cleveland sent federal troops to Chicago to protect working-class demonstrators.
B) many people associated labor unions with foreign-born radicals.
C) the Illinois state legislature banned labor unions.
D) many major corporations gave in to workers' demands for an eight-hour day.

Question 8

The economic advantages available to large factories are known as

A) the Peter principle.
B) the economics of abundance.
C) supply-side economics.
D) economies of scale.

Question 9

In Holden v. Hardy the Supreme Court

A) struck down a law limiting the working hours of miners.
B) upheld a law limiting the working hours of miners.
C) decided that miners were in violation of the Sherman Act.
D) ruled that mine owners had no responsibility for the safety of their employees.

Question 10

Thomas Edison's contribution to the search for cheap and efficient indoor lighting was the

A) fluorescent lamp.
B) arc light.
C) incandescent bulb.
D) gaseous-discharge bulb.

Question 11

Which of the following was arrested for the 1905 assassination of the ex-governor of Idaho but was later acquitted?

A) Clarence Darrow
B) Gurley Flynn
C) "Big Jim" Folsom
D) William "Big Bill" Haywood

Question 12

One of the effects of the work of Frederick W. Taylor was that

A) automation was reduced because of its harmful impact on workers.
B) time, as much as quality, became the measure of acceptable work.
C) respect for the traditional craftsperson increased.
D) costs of production increased.

Question 13

Why did the proportion of women working as sales clerks increase in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

A) Sales jobs were attractive to women because that offered better working conditions than factory jobs.
B) Managers in department stores considered female cashiers to be much more trustworthy that male cashiers.
C) Sales jobs demanded many different skills that women usually possessed.
D) Sales jobs usually led to the managerial positions that most working women desired.

Question 14

Which of the following conclusions may be drawn from the facts surrounding the general railway strike of 1877?

A) If all else failed, the federal government could be counted on to put down labor unrest.
B) The success of a strike depended on the level of violence among the strikers.
C) Employers could cut working hours and lay off workers without fear of repercussions.
D) Laborers in one area had little sympathy for laborers in other areas.

Question 15

President Grover Cleveland responded to the 1894 Pullman strike by

A) offering to serve as a mediator.
B) remaining uninvolved and doing nothing.
C) intervening on the side of labor.
D) intervening on the side of management.

Question 16

The development of the southern textile industry was aided by which of the following?

A) The use of electric looms
B) An abundance of water to power the drive shafts for machines
C) Cheap immigrant labor
D) The use of profit sharing to encourage worker productivity

Question 17

In practice the "freedom of contract" principle meant that

A) employers increased workers' wages as the cost of living increased.
B) employers could set pay as low as workers would accept.
C) wages automatically increased as profits increased.
D) employers recognized the right of workers to bargain collectively.

Question 18

The American Federation of Labor

A) demanded the end of capitalism and the establishment of socialism.
B) greatly expanded its membership by permitting all workers, skilled and unskilled alike, to join.
C) wanted to create a utopian system based on the writings of Henry George.
D) was a craft union with practical objectives such as higher wages and shorter hours.

Question 19

The Supreme Court's decision in Muller v. Oregon resulted in women being

A) barred from some occupations.
B) paid substantially more than before.
C) hired for the first time in many occupations.
D) hired in preference to men for many occupations.

Question 20

American workers traditionally considered themselves producers, but during the late nineteenth century they became employees. Which of the following statements best expresses the difference between the two?

A) Producers are paid on the basis of the quantity produced; employees are paid on the basis of the quality of what they produce.
B) Producers are paid on the basis of the time they spend on the job; employees are paid on the basis of efficiency.
C) Producers are paid on the basis of the quality of what they produce; employees are paid on the basis of the time they spend on the job.
D) Producers are paid on the basis of how quickly they can perform a given task; employees are paid on the basis of the time they spend on the job.

Question 21

Which of the following is true of the growth of the American labor force between 1890 and 1920?

A) There was an increase in paid employment but not necessarily an increase in the proportion of Americans who were working.
B) There was a great increase in the proportion of Americans who were working.
C) Women and children worked for the first time.
D) There was a substantial increase in the number of agricultural workers.

Question 22

Advertising is necessary in a society in which

A) the population is broadly distributed and most practice subsistence living.
B) supply is greater than demand.
C) there is little industrialization and even less urbanization.
D) there are few goods and a great deal of money.

Question 23

For which of the following reasons was the early twentieth century a transitional point with regard to women's fashions?

A) The abandonment of the corset caused women to become less concerned with waist size.
B) American women began to show their preference for more restrictive Victorian styles.
C) High-boned collars became standard on almost all dresses.
D) Designers began to use less fabric and place more emphasis on comfort.

Question 24

Which of the following statements is most consistent with the beliefs of the Industrial Workers of the World?

A) Workers should take over and run the nation's industries.
B) Workers should not resort to strikes or violence.
C) Workers should align themselves with the Democratic party.
D) Workers should organize themselves into craft unions.

Question 25

One of the inconsistencies of those who believed in Social Darwinism was their

A) opposition to unions and to government attempts to regulate working conditions.
B) desire for government assistance to business, which flew in the face of "survival of the fittest."
C) belief in government aid and assistance to agriculture.
D) unwillingness to apply to society the principles of scientific management that they used in their factories.

Question 26

The assumption of leadership positions within the Women's Trade Union League by Agnes Nestor, Rose Schneiderman, and Mary Anderson was an indication that control of the union had shifted to

A) anarchists who advocated a violent war against the capitalist system.
B) nonmilitant middle-class women.
C) forceful working-class women.
D) recently arrived immigrants.

Question 27

The rate at which Americans consumed oranges in 1921 as compared to their 1899 consumption rate indicates that in the early twentieth century

A) America was becoming a more affluent society.
B) the average age of Americans was declining.
C) European food imports increased dramatically.
D) the American diet was becoming less nutritious.

Question 28

Which of the following is true of holding companies?

A) They had no existence in the eyes of the law.
B) They held capital for pending investments.
C) They owned partial or complete interest in other companies.
D) They controlled the assets of bankrupt companies.

Question 29

Which of the following is true of the diet of American workers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

A) Lack of variety caused severe malnutrition among most workers.
B) Meat was readily available to most working-class families.
C) Food cost the average worker about one-half of his or her income.
D) Few workers could afford fresh fruits or dairy products.

Question 30

Advocates of Social Darwinism believed that

A) the government should use its power to tax to bring about a more equitable distribution of wealth.
B) the government should protect the weak in society by regulating industry.
C) wealth is a mark of well-deserved power and responsibility.
D) wealth carries no responsibilities except to get more of it.

Question 31

Breakfast food was revolutionized in the late nineteenth century by the invention of

A) Corn Flakes
B) oatmeal.
C) concentrated juices.
D) condensed milk.

Question 32

Which of the following factors explains why upward mobility was more accessible to people in the early 1900s than it had been in 1880?

A) The strength of organized labor
B) The spread of public education
C) The decline of lower-paying jobs in service industries
D) The increase in jobs requiring skilled workers

Question 33

In the search for economic order and stability, many corporation managers of the late nineteenth century

A) urged Congress to pass wage and price controls.
B) argued in favor of a regulatory commission for all industry.
C) sought new and larger forms of economic concentration.
D) sought lower tariffs.

Question 34

Between 1890 and 1910 the annual income of most American industrial workers

A) was consistently lower than that of farm laborers.
B) was consistently higher than that of college professors.
C) steadily declined, causing many to fall into poverty.
D) increased, but it did not keep pace with increases in the cost of living.

Question 35

In the early 1900s, such established national unions as the AFL

A) welcomed women.
B) excluded women.
C) supported the goals of women workers.
D) organized special chapters for women.

Question 36

Which of the following was most important in making preserved, canned goods more available to consumers, even those who were remote from markets?

A) An increase in agricultural production
B) A rise in the price of agricultural goods
C) The invention of machines that could mass-produce tin cans
D) The movement of population to the countryside

Question 37

The widespread use of the flush toilet is an example of the

A) effectiveness of modern advertising.
B) effectiveness of state health regulations.
C) traditional modesty of Americans.
D) democratization of convenience.

Question 38

Corporations received broad judicial protection in the 1880s and 1890s when the Supreme Court ruled that

A) stockholders were not liable for a corporation's debts.
B) corporations, like individuals, were protected under the Fourteenth Amendment.
C) the Bill of Rights prevented the government from interfering with corporate activity.
D) general incorporation laws were constitutional.

Question 39

Which of the following is true of the Telephone Operators' Department of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers?

A) Out of the belief that they were detrimental to the cause of all workers, its leaders stood against strikes.
B) Its leaders were socialists who wanted the federal government to nationalize the Bell system.
C) It urged the Bell system to adopt the theories of Frederick Taylor.
D) It was dominated by women.

Question 40

The main problem with pools was that

A) too often members sued each other for violation of the agreement creating the pool.
B) they did not increase profits.
C) the Interstate Commerce Act made them illegal precisely when they were most important.
D) there was no legal way to enforce the "gentlemen's agreement" that created the pool.

Question 41

Which of the following statements is most consistent with the beliefs of writers who criticized the trusts?

A) Trusts keep prices artificially low.
B) Trusts disrupt the natural economic order by encouraging government regulation.
C) Trusts are unnatural because they originated from greed.
D) Trusts create disorder in the marketplace by increasing competition.

Question 42

Which of the following is true of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act?

A) It posed as much of a threat to small businessmen as to large corporations.
B) It did not clearly define what constituted a "restraint of trade."
C) It brutally destroyed American agriculture by defining any farm of more than 500 acres as a monopoly.
D) It was enforceable at the discretion of business bureaus in state governments.

Question 43

During the late nineteenth century, states that passed laws against trusts and monopolies

A) found that such laws caused economic depression because businesses fled to other states.
B) were so successful that most people believed national legislation to be unnecessary.
C) were mostly in the agricultural South and West.
D) enacted such laws in the face of great popular opposition to them.

Question 44

Unlike Henry George and Lester Ward, Edward Bellamy

A) strongly criticized Social Darwinism.
B) favored government ownership and management of the means of production.
C) criticized government as a negative force in society.
D) did not believe that humans could shape the course of nature.

Question 45

Henry George, the author of Progress and Poverty (1879), claimed that

A) tariffs benefited labor as much as business.
B) the only way to achieve social justice was by abolishing private property.
C) a single property tax, based on the rise in property values caused by increased market demand, would prevent profiteering by land speculators.
D) only a rigidly enforced income tax on the wealthy could provide the revenue necessary to end poverty.

Question 46

Tariffs in the late nineteenth century

A) were bitterly criticized by Social Darwinists.
B) did little to aid American businessmen.
C) almost destroyed the American manufacturing system.
D) kept prices for many products at artificially high levels.