Section 1- The Rise of Industry

Main Idea: American industry grew rapidly after

the Civil War, bringing revolutionary changes to

American society.

After the Civil War, millions of Americans left

farms to work in mines & factories.

* By 1914, the nation’s gross national

product, or GNP, (value of all goods

& services produced by a country)

was eight times greater than when

the Civil War ended.

Why was American industrialization so

successful?

1. Abundance of natural resources.

* Water, timber, coal, copper, & petroleum

-- Settlement of the West created a large

market for manufactured goods.

-- RRs carried settlers west and

carried raw materials back east

for industry.

-- 1859 - Edwin Drake drilled

first oil well near Titusville, Pa.Edwin Drake

2. Large workforce

* 1860-1910,

population

more than

tripled.

Why?

-- Large families.

-- Immigration (over 20 million)

* Due to conditions in Europe & Asia;

they were looking for a better life.

* More demand for industrial products.

3. Free enterprise system

* Laissez-faire policy by U.S. gov’t.

-- Did not interfere w/ business.

-- Supply & demand regulated markets.

* Profit motive attracted many

entrepreneurs (people willing

to risk their $$, or capital, by

investing it in industry)

* European investors could

make big $$ by investing in

American industry.

4. Government helped, not hindered, business.

* Morrill Tariff - tariff on foreign imports;

made American goods cheaper, more

attractive to buyers.

* Land grants to railroad companies &

businesses; this

further spurred

settlement of

the west and

boosted the

economy.

New inventions also helped American industry.

* Telephone - Alexander Graham Bell - 1876

Bell and his Telephone

“'Mr. Watson -- come here

-- I want to see you.” :

Bell to his assistant.

*Thomas Alva Edison - phonograph, better light

bulb, electric generator, battery, motion picture,

power company for cities, etc…….

Thomas Edison

was the most

prolific inventor

in American

history…….

* Thaddeus Lowe - ice machine (the basis

for refrigeration).

* Gustavus Swift - refrigerated railroad car.

* George Pullman -

sleeping railroad car

* Northrup automatic

loom.

* Clothing industry -

standard sizes,

power sewing

machine.

• Christopher Sholes

Bessemer process

BESSEMER

CONVERTOR

customers for steel

skyscrapers

BROOKLYN BRIDGE

SPANS 1595 FEET IN NYC

Nothing…..NOTHING….contributed to the settling

of the West and the realization of “Manifest Destiny”

more than the RAILROAD!!!

Section 2 - The Railroads

Main Idea: After the Civil War, the rapid

construction of railroads accelerated the nation’s

industrialization and linked the country together.

Pacific Railway Act -1862; provided for construction

of a transcontinental railroad.

* Would connect country from

east to west.

* Mostly built w/ immigrant

labor (Irish & Asian)

The

Transcontinental

Railroad

Meeting point….

Promontory Point,

Utah

Cornelius Vanderbilt - One of the most famous &

successful RR magnates. He built NY City’s

famous Grand Central Station.

Cornelius

Vanderbilt

Dowd proposed dividing the earth into 24 time zones

PROFESSOR DOWD EXPLAINS

HIS TIME ZONES

Time zones were created to make RR travel safer

and more reliable.

Much of the financing

of RRs depended on

federal gov’t land

grants to RR

companies.

Companies would

then sell the land to

raise $$$ for

construction of the

RR.

• The spread of the railroads led to the growth

•1869: George Westinghouse patented air brakes

for trains

•1887: Granville Woods patented a telegraph

system for trains

•Gustavus Swift developed refrigerated cars for

transporting food

•By 1883, 3 transcontinental railroad lines existed

in the U.S.

today’s major cities

grew up thanks to the railroad

“MY KIND OF TOWN”

Some big-name RR magnates were called

“Robber Barons” for their practice of swindling

investors & bribing government officials.

Example of someone who

has been labeled a “Robber

Baron” - Jay Gould, who

manipulated stock values by

practicing “insider trading.”He used information he

received as a railroad owner

to manipulate stock prices to

his benefit.

“Robber Barons”

J.P

MORGAN

IN PHOTO

AND

CARTOON

“Philanthropy”

libraries,

schools

ROCKEFELLER CHAPEL –

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

Credit Mobilier Scandal - RR construction

company - greatly inflated construction costs &

pocketed ridiculous profits! Cheated the

stockholders of the

RR company. BUT…

Not all RR entrepreneurs were

“Robber Barons”!

Ex: James J. Hill - took no

federal land grants, etc. He

was honest and smart in the

the way he ran his company.

James J. Hill

Great Northern Railroad

Section 3 - Big Business

Main Idea: After the Civil War, big business

assumed a more prominent role in American

life.

Big business began

to dominate the

American economy!

Why?….

Big businesses boomed because……

Favorable business climate. Ex: Corporations

were easy to form:

* An organization owned by many people;

stockholders own shares of stock,

each representing a percentage of the

business.

* Selling stock allows a business to raise

huge amounts of capital ($$ to invest

in the business).

* It is run like it is owned by a single

person.

Economies of scale – the cost of manufacturing

is decreased by producing goods quickly in large

quantities.

Big corporations could squeeze out smaller

businesses and force them to close.

Many corporations began to consolidate (merge

their businesses w/ others like them).

* Pools - agreements among companies to

maintain prices at a certain level. Did this

practice interfere w/ the law of supply &

demand, and keep costs to consumers high?

The Men Who Built America: Rockefeller,

Edison, Carnegie, Morgan and Vanderbilt

Andrew Carnegie - “Captain of the Steel Industry”

* Used the Bessemer Process - a

cheap way of making steel.

* Vertical integration:

-- Company owns all of the different businesses

on which it depends for its operation.

-- Ex: w/ Carnegie: Coal mines, limestone

quarries, iron ore fields. (He didn’t have to

pay profits to “middle-men” who owned

those businesses.)

Horizontal integration - Company

buys out his competitors! Reduces

competition…does this hurt the

consumer? How?

Ex: John D. Rockefeller’s

Standard Oil had control of 90%

of the oil business in the US.

Monopoly - When a single company achieves

control of an entire market for a particular product

or service.

Trust - new way of merging businesses that did

not violate the monopoly laws. Allows one

person to manage another person’s property.

Tactic to avoid state laws which had been passed

to stop horizontal integration and monopolies.

Increased American business competition

advertising and chain stores.

Department stores became popular:

* Woolworth’s

* Mail order/catalog stores:

-- Montgomery Ward

-- Sears & Roebuck

Section 4 - Unions

Working conditions were:

1. Monotonous & repetitive.

2. Unhealthy & dangerous:

-- Dusty; toxic fumes

-- Heavy machinery w/ few safety devices.

3. Huge gap between rich & working poor.

-- Avg. wage - 22 cents/hour

4. Avg. work week - 59 hours

Early Unions:

1. Craft workers - machinists, stonecutters,

printers, carpenters, etc.

2. Common laborers - few skills, lower wages.

• Samuel Gompers

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

American Federation of Labor

(AFL) -

* Leader - Samuel Gompers

* Preferred to negotiate

rather than strike.

* Goals:

-- To convince companies to

recognize unions.

-- Closed shops - companies

could only hire union

members.

-- 8 hr. workday.

Trade Unions - workers w/ specific skills.

How did companies try to prevent unions from

forming?

1. Made workers take oaths not to join

unions.

2. Blacklists - list of “union troublemakers”-

those on lists couldn’t get jobs.

3. Lockouts - locked workers out & refused

to pay them.

4. Strikebreakers - hired replacement

workers for those on strike.

Public opposition to unions grew…..

1. Courts often ruled against unions’ right to

strike.

2. Public often viewed unions as dangerous to

America:

* Marxism - Communist theory of Karl

Marx…that workers would have a

worldwide revolution & overthrow

gov’ts. Many Americans feared

that unions were a first step!!!

* More immigrants come to US

more nativism increased

dislike of unions.

socialism

• The International Workers of the World (IWW) or Wobblies

PROMOTIONAL

POSTER FOR THE IWW

3. Police & army

used to break

up unions’violence &

bloodshed!

Great Railroad

Strike of 1877 -Workers for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad struck to protest wage cutsOther rail workers across the country struck in sympathy Federal troops were called in to end the strike – over 100 people died

Knights of Labor - First national union. Their

goals were:

* 8 hr. workday

* Equal pay for women

* End to child labor

* Arbitration - a third party

negotiates a deal.

Terence Powderly

May 4, 1886

• A bomb exploded near the police line

Andrew Carnegie

• Detectives and strikers clashed – 3 detectives and 9 strikers died

Pullman Company

strike 1894

•Eugene Debs

•Pullman hired scabs and fired the strikers

By 1900 - women were 18% of national

workforce.

*1/3 - domestic workers

*1/3 - teachers, nurses, sales clerks,

secretaries

*1/3 - industrial workers…BUT…

Women were paid

less than men for the

same jobs!

• Employers often forbade union meetings

sign “Yellow Dog Contracts,”

the AFL had over 2 million members by 1914