Compare and contrast the methods used by late-nineteenth-century corporations to control competition—especially the pool, trust, interlocking directorate, and vertical integration.
Describe the provisions of the Interstate Commerce Act and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Explain the motives behind their enactment and evaluate the success of each.
Compare and contrast the National Labor Union, Knights of Labor, and American Federation of Labor as to origins, goals, and leadership. Account for the failure of the first two and for the success of the AFL.
Why did labor unions find it difficult to organize industrial workers in the late nineteenth century?
Write a definition of the gospel of wealth. Do you agree with its assumptions? Why or why not?
Make a list of the combination of factors that produced the growth and industrialization of the American economy in the late nineteenth century. Then pick two factors you think were especially important and tell why you chose those two.
Business leaders of the late nineteenth century have been characterized as greedy and unscrupulous "robber barons" and as great "captains of industry" whose entrepreneurial skill and tactics produced economic growth. Which view do you find more persuasive? Why?
In what ways does the railroad industry in the late nineteenth century illustrate the limitations of the myth of individual free enterprise in American history? What did government hope to attain by its promotion of railroad construction? What, in fact, did it attain?
Present an argument that "the Constitution and the courts were on the side of the corporations" in the late nineteenth century. Cite specific passages from the Constitution and specific court actions to illustrate your argument.
What do you think were the three most significant consequences of the industrialization of the American economy after the Civil War? Explain why you chose these three.
The text’s authors contend that "more than any other single factor, the railroad network spurred the amazing industrialization of the post-Civil War years." Do you agree? Why or why not?
The authors state that "competition was the bogeyman of most business leaders" during the late nineteenth century. What do they mean by this? How did these business leaders respond to the "bogeyman" of competition?