Module 5 Flashcards

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John D Rockefeller

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Founder of the Standard Oil Company, he later became a philanthropist and donated much of his personal fortune

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Andrew Carnegie

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Born in Scotland, he moved with his family to Pennsylvania where he later worked for the railroads. He founded a steel works company that later merged into US Steel, the first corporation to be valued over $1 billion. He later retired, founded a university, and donated much of his personal fortune.

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Henry Bessemer

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An English businessman and inventor who patented a better method of making steel in the 1850s

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Homestead Steel Works Strike of 1892

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A strike provoked by Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Carnegie that began when they refused to negotiate a new union contract and shut workers out of the factory. The state militia was summoned to bust the union. Steel remained nonunionized until the Great Depression.

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Henry Clay Frick

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Andrew Carnegie's deputy at US Steel, he was deeply anti-union and sought to bar union participation in the factories.

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US Steel

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The first corporation to be valued at more than $1 billion, it was a merger of all the major steel manufacturers into one company headed by Andrew Carnegie.

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The Great Railroad Strike of 1877

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A strike that began in Martinsburg, West Virginia when workers brought trains to a standstill after two successive pay cuts. Nonunion strikers were forced back to work, leading to distrust between workers and management.

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Haymarket Square Riot

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A riot that occurred in Chicago in 1886 as part of the fight for an eight-hour work day. Workers from McCormick Harvesting Machine Company held a peaceful rally that erupted in violence, killing seven policemen and four bystanders. Eight people were convicted on flimsy evidence and four people were executed.

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Eugene V Debs

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Leader of the American Railway Union, he participated in the Pullman Strike and was imprisoned for contempt. The strike later fell apart without his leadership. He was a Socialist and later ran for President.

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The Pullman Strike of 1894

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A strike against a pay cut for George Pullman's employees, many of whom lived in company houses whose rent was not adjusted. Pullman cars were sleeping cars attached to long-distance trains. The strikers persuaded the American Railway Union to join the strike, but it fell apart after leader Eugene V Debs was arrested.