Key Concepts and Figures of the Gilded Age

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Laissez-faire policy

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Policy that the government should leave the economy alone and companies should operate without government interference. French term for leave alone. Known as The Gilded Age (1877-1898).

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Monopoly

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A business that has complete control of an industry. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company monopolized the oil industry.

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Bessemer process

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Sir Henry Bessemer invented a new process for making high quality steel efficiently and cheaply. Andrew Carnegie dominated the steel business by using this process.

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Electricity

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Thomas Alva Edison invented the phonograph, the light bulb, the electric generator, the battery, and the motion picture. J.P. Morgan backed Edison's company called General Electric (GE).

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Telephone

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Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson invented the telephone in 1876. Bell organized the Bell telephone company, later known as AT&T.

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Expansion of railroads

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The railroad boom began with the Pacific Railway Act in 1862. The transcontinental railroad was completed, stimulating the economy.

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Mass production

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Large-scale product manufacturing usually done by machinery created more supply and reduced consumer costs. Reshaped the American economy.

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Assembly line

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First adopted by Henry Ford, it divided operations into simple tasks that unskilled workers could do, cutting costs and making cars affordable.

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Corporations

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An organization owned by many people but treated by law as a single person. Made big business possible. Shares of ownership are called stocks.

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Horizontal integration

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Combining many firms engaged in the same type of business into one large corporation. John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil bought out rival oil companies.