SSUSH11 The student will describe the growth of big

business and technological innovations after Reconstruction.

Bell Ringer

• Based on the following pictures:– What are

some negative effects of the Industrial Revolution?

– What are some positive effects?

Essential Questions 1 & 2

1. What impact did the railroad industry have on other industries such as: steel, and the organization of big business?

2. What impact did railroads have on the development of the Western U.S.? Also, what was the transcontinental railroad and how was Chinese labor utilized?

• Use the Worksheets provided to take notes on the following Notes

Railroads

Railroads• Railroads increased the amount of steel being used in two

ways-

1st: The railroads used steel for their rails

2nd: Railroads made it much easier to transport large quantities of the natural resources needed to produce steel (iron, coal), which increased the demand for those products

Railroads• Railroads also reshaped the steel industry (and many others)

by developing vertical integration

• Railroad owners bought iron mills, coal mines, and factories which produced railroad cars

• Railroads helped to spur the “Gilded Age”

Railroads• In 1862 Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act which helped

create the transcontinental railroad

• The railroad connected the east coast to the west coast, opening up settlement in the west

• Much of the western portions of the railroad was built by Chinese laborers, specifically brought to the US to work on the railroad

Transcontinental Railroad

• Transcontinental railroad helped spur growth by:

– increasing the number of markets (places to sell products)

– requiring enormous amount raw and finished materials to build and supply the railroad

– providing land for settlement

John D. Rockefeller• Founded Standard Oil Company in

1870

• To remove competition, Standard Oil bought up oil refineries, so that by 1880 they owned 90% of the refineries in the US, forming a monopoly

• To avoid violating state laws against horizontal integration, Standard Oil formed a trust, a way of merging and controlling other companies

John D. Rockefeller• Horizontal Integration is when

many competing companies are bought up and turned into one large company

• Standard Oil was broken up by the government in 1911 for being a monopoly

• Rockefeller was also a philanthropist, supporting colleges such as Spelman

Thomas Edison

• Invented the phonograph, light bulb, and the motion picture all in the late 1800s

• Created a research lab to develop and perfect his inventions

How would these inventions have an impact on society?