Question 1

What business strategy did John D. Rockefeller use to dominate the oil industry by absorbing competing refineries under one controlling organization?

Accepted Answer

Rockefeller used the horizontal integration trust model, consolidating competing oil refineries under Standard Oil to control approximately 90% of U.S. oil refining by the 1880s.

Question 2

What term, coined by Mark Twain, describes the post-Civil War era of rapid industrialization that masked deep social inequality and political corruption beneath a surface of prosperity?

Accepted Answer

The Gilded Age (roughly 1870–1900), suggesting that the era's glittering wealth was merely a thin gold veneer concealing serious social and political problems underneath.

Question 3

What production strategy did Andrew Carnegie employ to control every phase of steel manufacturing from raw materials to finished product?

Accepted Answer

Carnegie used vertical integration, owning iron ore mines, coal fields, railroads, and steel mills so he could control costs and undercut competitors at every stage of production.

Question 4

What was Social Darwinism as applied to American industrial capitalism in the late 19th century?

Accepted Answer

Social Darwinism applied Darwin's evolutionary concepts to society, arguing that wealthy individuals and corporations succeeded through natural superiority and that government intervention to help the poor violated natural law.

Question 5

What was the significance of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890?

Accepted Answer

The Sherman Antitrust Act was the first federal law attempting to limit monopolistic business practices, declaring illegal any combination or conspiracy in restraint of trade, though it was weakly enforced until the Progressive Era.

Industrialization & Reform | AP US History

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