What factors influenced American growth and expansion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth...
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Transcript of What factors influenced American growth and expansion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth...
What factors influenced American
growth and expansion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century?
Natural ResourcesNatural Resources
• America had tons of natural resources
– Coal, Iron, Oil, Farmland
• Natural resources were used to generate huge profits by new American businesses
Laissez – Faire CapitalismLaissez – Faire Capitalism
• Gov’t should not interfere with private businesses
• Businesses took advantage of people and abused workers’ rights
• Businesses did “anything to turn a larger profit”
Special Business Special Business ConsiderationsConsiderations
• Gov’t granted special privileges to business owners
• Gave free land to railroad owners by stealing it from rightful owners
ImmigrationImmigration
• Immigrants increased the labor supply
• Businesses paid immigrants as little as possible in order to generate huge profits
New InventionsTechnology led to new industrial
growth
Transportation
• Airplane – Wright Brothers
• Allowed businesses to transport products to new markets overseas
Business Production• Bessemer
Process – Henry Bessemer
• Made steel cheap and affordable to increase construction of cities
Communication• Telephone –
Alexander Graham Bell
• Allowed businesses to expand to different markets
Communication
• Telegraph – Samuel Morse
• Allowed businesses to expand to different markets
Business Production
• Electricity – Thomas Edison
• Increased production by allowing work at night
Business Production• Mechanical Reaper
– Cyrus McCormick
• Increased farm production and helped clear landscape in west for settlers
Business Production• Alternating Current
– George Westinghouse
• Increased production by allowing electricity to spread across the country
Business Production
• Assembly Line – Henry Ford
• Used by all factories to increase production
New Business New Business PracticesPractices
MonopolyMonopoly• One business
owner controls the market of a product
• Drives other competitors out of business by lowering and raising prices
TrustsTrusts
• One company controls the making of a product
• Allows company to control the price of the product
CorporationCorporation• Large companies
made up of smaller businesses
• Limited Liability
– Allowed people to invest money with little risk by investing in profitable parts of corporation
Modern Corporations
Robber barons or Robber barons or Captains of Industry?Captains of Industry?
Robber barronsRobber barrons
• Wealthy business owners who lied, cheated, and stole fortunes from average Americans
Captains of IndustryCaptains of Industry
• Smart businessmen who earned their money through legal business practices
• Gave millions of dollars to charity
Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie• Scottish
Immigrant• Created US Steel
–first corporation worth $1 billion dollars
Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie
• Believed in Social Darwinism
–people can do whatever they want to make money
Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie
• Gave 80% of his money back to the public
• Workers protested working conditions in his factories
J. P. MorganJ. P. Morgan
• Banking tycoon who made millions off of investments and investment companies
John D RockefellerJohn D Rockefeller• Created the
Standard Oil Company in 1870 (trust)
• Able to control the price of oil in America by owning all aspects of oil production
John D RockefellerJohn D Rockefeller• Gave $500
million dollars to various charities
Cornelius VanderbiltCornelius Vanderbilt
• Made a fortune in the railroad business
• Introduced the use of steel rails and a standard gauge (distance between rails).