INDUSTRIALIZATION

WHAT WAS REVOLUTIONARY ABOUT THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION?

GLOBAL CONTEXT:1. Began in England – textiles – a power loom –and steam engine (James Watt)

2. Rapid development in the U.S. – land withraw materials, labor, capital, machines, etc.

3. Critical importance of Capital - a capitalistsociety is one in which $ goods are privately owned and managed by competing businesses.

4. Aided by corporate forms of business, investment in transportation, and patent lawsthat encouraged invention.

2.Growth of American Industry after the Civil War1. Railroads - transcontinental railroad

2. Other railroads - between 1865 and 1900mileage increased from 35,000 to 260,000 miles of track.

3. New Industries:a. Steel – Bessemer processb. Oil discovered in Titusville, Pa.

c. Consumer goods:1. light bulb, photograph, motionpicture camera - Thomas Edison2. department stores – many differ-ent products in the same store - 1862 – NYC – A.T. Stewart

d. Mail-order catalogs – opened rural areasas a market place.

1. introduced by Montgomery Wardand Sears Roebuck.

e. Electricity and the Revolution in communications.

1. Morse – 1844 - telegraph - Western Union

2. Bell - 1884 - telephone -A T & T. 1900 - 1.5 million phones.

F. “Captains of Industry” or “Robber Barons” - helped people or took advan-tage of them.

1. Andrew Carnegie (1867) – steel2. John D. Rockefeller (1865) – oil3. Critics and defenders:they put others out of business and at the same time gave money to society

3. Theories about the capitalist system:a. Laissez-faire (Adam Smith)b. Social darwinism (Herbert Spenser)c. Work ethic (Horatio Alger –writer –rags to

riches)

4. Vertical and Horizontal Integration:

Business combinations:

1.Single proprietorship

2.Partnership:

3.Corporation:

Advantages: Disadvantages:

1.

2.

3.

5. New ways of doing business:a. Corporation:

b. Monopoly:

c. Pool:

d. Trust

e. Holding Company

f. Conglomerate:

6. The Beginnings of Federal Regulation of Business

a. Interstate Commerce Act - 1887prohibited railroads from:

a. Poolingb. Unjust ratesc. Charging more for short haul

than along hauld. Rebates to favored customers

b. Sherman Antitrust Act - 1890 any combination in restraint of trade is illegal

Both were difficult at the time to enforce.

7. Organization of Labor Unions:

a. How the Industrial Revolution changed working conditions:

1. worked in factories2. made products by machines3. worked long hours – 12 hrs. a day – 6

daysa week4. women and children paid about half of what men received5. unhealthy conditions6. no job security7. no compensation for injuries8. easily replaced

8. The Knights of Labor (1869) headed by TerencePowderly

a. Membership open to all – both skilled andunskilledb. Goals:

1. 8 hr. day2. end child labor3. equal opportunities and wages for women

c. Were opposed to strikes

d. Haymarket Square Riot – 1886Union rallied for striker workers (McCormick Harvester Company) in Chicago. A group of anarchist set off a pipe bomb killing seven policemen.Police responded by killing four demon-strators.Eight anarchist were found guilty of inciting a riot and murder.Four were hung and one committed suicide. Three pardoned.

Membership in the Union dropped drastically because it was equated with violence.

Membership declined: 1. skilled workers did not want to bein a union with unskilled workers.2. union is equated with violence3. did not accomplish goals4. whites did not want to work withblacks.

e. American Federation of Labor – 1881founded by Samuel Gompers

1. membership limited to skilled workers arranged according to crafts2. discriminated against women andblacks3. Goals:

a. Higher wagesb. Shorter hoursc. Better conditions

4. Methods: strikes were used when allelse failed.5. By 1900 – more than 500,000

f. International Ladies Garment Workers Union19001. women in clothing industry2. protest:

a. Low wagesb. Long hoursc. Unsafe working conditions

1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

9. Radicals in the Labor Movement:

a. Anarchists: wanted to use violent means tooverthrow capitalist system.

b. Socialist: Wanted the government to controland own factories and railroads.International Workers of the World (IWW)

1905 – led by Eugene Debs

10. Violent clashes between business and labor:

a. Great Railway Strike: 1877 - Baltimore andOhio Railroad.President Hayes sent federal troops to break strike

b. Homestead Strike: 1892 – Carnegie Steel-wanted to decrease wages with stepped

up demands.-300 Pinkerton guards hired to break

strike –met by 10,000 workers – violence erupted-troops sent in to stop strikestrike lasted 5 months – was a failure.

c. Pullman Strike – 1894 - led by Debs-25 % reduction in wages-workers go out on strike-across the nation men working on trains with Pullman cars refused to work in support of Pullman workers.-Pres. Cleveland sends in troops to put down strike.-Debs jailed for role he played in strike

11. Railroad will be equated with violence and with being unsuccessful.

Agrarian Protest: Farmers against railroads

1.Farmers’ dependent upon:a. Railroads - transportationb. Merchants – goodsc. Banks – credit and loans

2.Granger Movement: also known asPatrons of Husbandry – 1867 – Oliver

Kelley

a. Grievances:1. rebates were only given to certain people2. farmers paid more for a short haulthan a long haul

3. Merchants charged high rates forstorage 4. banks were charging higher rates of interest

3.Solutions:a. Cooperatives were formed – owned and\Operated by the farmers who set grain Elevatorsb. Western state passed laws were

arranged for freight rates of RR comp.c. Storage rates were determinedd. Many of these laws were ruled

unconstitutional because states can’t regulate interstate trade.

4. Supreme Court Decisions against and for regulation

a. 1877 - Munn v Illinois – ruled states could set maximum rates for grain storageb. 1886 – Court reverses Munn v Illinois.Only Congress can regulate interstate trade.c. 1890 Congress passes Interstate Commerce Act.

5. Populist Party (People’s Party)a. Party developed out of various farmer’sorganizations.b. Founded in 1890

c. Party Platform:1. a graduated income tax2. 8 hour day3. government owned railroads4. direct election of Senators5. initiative, referendum, and recall6. coin silver as well as gold

d. Populists’ idea for inflated money:1. coin 16 silver $ for every $ gold2. would create inflation 3. prices would go for crops but so would expenses4. William Jennings Bryan’s famous “cross of gold” speech

6.Election of 1896 a. Populist nominate Bryanb. Republicans nominate Mckinleyc. Winner McKinley – Bryan received

9%of the vote

7. Contributions of Populist Partya. Graduated income tax – 16th Amendmentb. Direct election of Senators - 17th

Amendment