History 371H

Devine

Summers, “Industrialism Unleashed”

1. Between 1860 and 1900, the nation’s Gross National Product tripled. What made this incredible economic expansion possible?

2. How did economies of scale, division of labor, and continuous flow contribute to economic expansion? How did they change the worker’s experience on the job?

3. How did businesses create a national market for their products?

4. Why did bigger markets produce more competition among businesses?

5. How did horizontal integration differ from vertical integration? How did both processes help businesses cut costs?

6. What checks were there on Rockefeller’s power in the oil industry? How does the story of the oil industry demonstrate that true “monopolies” were more a myth than a reality?

7. How did average Americans – men and women – benefit from the “new economy” that emerged during the late 19^th Century? What improvements did they see in their daily lives?

8. How did the new era of mass production change the lives of workers? How did it change the way Americans interacted with each other?

9. Why did Americans have “mixed feelings” about the “spanking new world” that emerged from industrialization?