Industrialization 1865-1900Chapter 25: Industry Comes of Age Railroads P. 536-545

DVDs

•Modern Marvels▫Railroads That Tamed the West

•The Presidents▫Disc 2

Garfield to Harrison

Forgettable Presidents 1881-1897

• James A. Garfield (R)1881

•Chester A. Arthur (R) 1881-1885

•Grover Cleveland (D) 1885-1889 1893-1897

•Benjamin Harrison (R)1889-1893

Election of 1880•James Garfield (R)

▫Dark horse candidate from electorally powerful Ohio

▫Civil War major general▫Protective tariff▫Reform civil service

•Winfield Hancock (D)▫Civil War general▫Tariff for revenue only▫Reform civil service

James A. Garfield 1881

•Republican from Ohio•Served in House of Representatives•Called for civil service reform

▫Merit as basis for promotion•Took on

▫Senator Roscoe Conkling and the ▫New York political machine

•Appointed a rival to head up the New York Customs House

•Assassinated in 1881

Assassination of Garfield 1881

•Shot by Charles Guiteau▫Deranged office seeker

•Died September 19, 1881•Succeeded by vice-president▫Chester Arthur

Chester A. Arthur1881-1885•Republican from New York•Competent •Renovated the Executive Mansion

▫Tiffany•Reformer•Pendleton Act 1883

▫First civil service reform legislation•Upgraded and modernized the U.S. Navy

Grover Cleveland1885-18891893-1897

• Democrat from New York• Honest politician• Bachelor when elected; married in office• Used veto more than anyone till FD Roosevelt

▫Twice as much as all predecessors combined▫Vetoed pensions for Civil War vets; cost him reelection

• 1892 campaigned on lowering the tariff• Panic 1893 worst in history• Tens of thousands out of work• Did not think it was government’s responsibility to

create and/or encourage jobs or provide help of any kind

• Couldn’t deal with the changes in society

Benjamin Harrison1889-1893• Republican from Indiana• Centennial president• Grandson of William Henry Harrison• Very formal, glacial personality• Alienated Republican leaders• Signed the first pension legislation in history• First billion dollar Congress• Put electricity in the White House• 1890 McKinley Tariff meant

▫Highest in history▫American industry gained monopoly over business▫Consumer prices skyrocketed/no foreign competition

Gilded Age 1869-1889•Mark Twain’s name for post Civil

War period•Great industrial and financial

growth

•Railroads•Steel•Oil •Banking •Trust movement

Railroads

•1865—35,000 miles▫Most east of Mississippi

•1900—192,556 miles▫Much west of Mississippi▫Greater than all of Europe combined

•Trans-continental railroad building▫Risky and Costly▫Military and postal needs persuade

Congress to extend loans“Wedding of the rails”

May 10, 1869Ogden, Utah

Pacific Railroad Act 1862

•First trans-continental railroad •Began in 1865•For each mile of track built

▫Railroad was granted 20 square miles of land

▫Alternating in 640 acre lots on either side of the track

•Federal loans to railroads▫$16,000/mile on prairie▫$48,000/mile in mountainous country

Promoting Union Pacific Railroad 1869

Federal Land Grants to Railroads 1871

• East from Sacramento through Sierra Nevada

• Built by 10,000 Chinese

• 689 miles

First Trans-continental RailroadA Race 1865-1869 Union Pacific Railroad

• West from Omaha, Nebraska to California

• Built by Irish immigrants

• 1,086 miles

Central Pacific Railroad

Promontory Point, Utah May 10,1869

• Ogden, Utah Golden spike driven in by Leland Stanford• Magnificent engineering feat Welded West coast to the Union• Encouraged trade with Asia Paved the way for growth of the Great West

Central Pacific: Sierra Nevada Mountains 1869

Railroads Bind the Country

•Northern Pacific 1883▫Lake Superior to Puget Sound

•Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe 1884▫Southwest deserts to California

•Southern Pacific 1884▫New Orleans to San Francisco

•Great Northern 1893▫Duluth, MN to Seattle▫James J. Hill

Greatest railroad builder of all

1883

1884

1884

1893

Eastern Railroads

•New York Central Railroad 1853•Pennsylvania Railroad 1854▫The Pennsy

•Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 1827▫B&O

New York Central 1853

•Cornelius Vanderbilt▫Made millions in steamboats▫Incorporated New York Central 1853▫Offered superior service at lower rates▫Popularized steel rails

Safer and able to bear heavier loads▫Amassed a $100 million fortune▫Founded Vanderbilt University

Cornelius Vanderbilt(1794-1877)

Grand Central Depot 1894Remodeled between 1898 and 1900Grand Central Station

1853

Pennsylvania Railroad 1854

• 1846 Chartered by Pennsylvania • Connected Philadelphia with Pittsburgh• Completed eight years later • Followed the Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers

▫ Through southern Pennsylvania• Reached Pittsburgh via Harrisburg and Altoona• Reached Chicago 1869• Entered New York 1873• By 1900 a 10,000 mile system• Served Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville,

Indianapolis, and St. Louis• Most extensive electric operations of any private

carrier in the country• The Pennsy

Pennsylvania Station New York City

Baltimore and Ohio 1827

•First common-carrier▫Chartered specifically for public

use•Helped build and grow the economy

•Connected the East to the Ohio Valley

•Underdog in the eastern market dominated by the PRR and NYC

Reasons for Boost in Railroad Building• Steel rails

▫Tougher metal▫Safer

• Standard gauge tracks▫Eliminated expense and inconvenience of changes from one line to another

• Westinghouse air brake 1870s▫Efficient and safe

• Pullman palace cars 1880s▫Sleeping cars▫Gorgeous traveling hotels

Results of Railroad Building•Unified the nation•Largest integrated national market in the world

•Foreign and domestic investment

•Post Civil War industrialization▫Especially the steel industry

•Mining and agriculture•Boon for cities•Immigration stimulated

•Land impact▫ Settlers followed the railroad▫ Tallgrass prairies—Iowa, Illinois, Kansas,

Nebraska Plowed up and planted cornfields

▫ Shortgrass prairies of the high plains Dakotas and Montana Range-fed cattle displaced buffalo

▫ White pine forests—Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota Disappeared

•Standard Time and Zones▫ 1880s every town had its own time based

on sun’s position▫ November 18, 1883

Railroads declared four continental time zones

•Millionaires made▫ Vanderbilt, Hill, Stanford

Results of Railroad Building

Time Zones 1883

TIME ZONES 1883

Agricultural Regions, 1889-1900In the Pacific Northwest and east of the 28-inch-rainfall line, farmers could grow a greater variety of crops. Territory west of the line was either too mountainous or too arid to support agriculture without irrigation. The grasslands that once fed buffalo herds now could feed beef cattle.

Expansion of Agriculture, 1860-1900The amount of improved farmland more than doubled during these forty years. This map shows how agricultural expansion came in two ways--first, western lands were brought under cultivation; second, in other areas, especially the Midwest, land was cultivated much more intensely than before.

Mining and Cattle Frontiers, 1860-1890The western mining and ranching bonanzas lured thousands of Americans hoping to get rich quick.

Wrongdoing in Railroads

•Stock watering▫Selling stock far in excess of its real value

•Bribed judges and legislatures•Pools

▫Earliest form of combination▫Agreement to divide business in a given

area and share the profits•Free passes to journalists and politicians•Rebates or kickbacks to shippers in return

for steady business

Government regulation•States attempted to regulate the railroad monopoly, however

•1886 Wabash Case▫ Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway Company v.

Illinois

▫Supreme Court decisionStates have no power to regulate interstate commerce

•Therefore Congress passed▫Interstate Commerce Act 1887

Interstate Commerce Act 1887

•Prohibited rebates and pools•Required railroads to publish rates openly•Forbade unfair discrimination against shippers

•Outlawed charging more for a short haul than a long one

•Created the Interstate Commerce Commission▫Administers and enforces the law

Interstate Commerce Act 1887Results•First large scale attempt by Washington to regulate business in the interest of society

•Beginning of government commitment to monitoring and directing the economy

•Government would protect the public interest

•Weakened by frequent federal court decisions overturning ICC requirements

Trust Movement

•1860 U.S. ▫Ranked fourth among manufacturing nations

•1890 U.S.▫Ranked first among manufacturing nations

Dearborn Street

Chicago Loop1909

Factors Contributing to Industrialization

•Railroads•Civil War production•Wealth of natural resources

▫Coal▫Iron ore▫Oil

•Massive immigration•Urbanization

• American ingenuity• Mass production techniques

▫Pioneered by Eli Whitney• Machines

▫1860-1890 440,000 patents 1876 Telephone—Alexander Graham

Bell 1879 Electric light—Thomas Edison Cash register Stock ticker Typewriter Refrigerator cars Electric railroads

Factors Contributing to Industrialization

Assembly lineWestinghouse FoundryPittsburgh 1890

Edison with phonograph labThomas Edison, the most prolific inventor of the post-Civil War era, and his invention "factories" patented hundreds of creations, including the PhonographLight bulbMotion pictureHe had enormous appeal for Americans, not only because he gave them incredible new devices, but because he proved that the power of individual genius still had significance in the age of the corporation.

Thomas EdisonThis photograph from 1893 shows Thomas A. Edison in his laboratory, the world's leading research facility when it opened in 1876. By creating research teams, the Edison laboratories could pursue several projects at once. They developed a dazzling stream of new products, most based on electrical power.

“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Thomas Alva Edison

Thomas Alva Edison• Most versatile inventor

▫ 1,093 patents in his name• Genius of Menlo Park

▫ Now—Edison, New Jersey• “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine

percent perspiration.”• 1879 Electric light bulb

▫ By 1885 250,000 light bulbs in use▫ By 1900 15 million in use

• Invented, perfected or did work on▫ Phonograph▫ Mimeograph▫ Dictaphone▫ Moving picture