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Industrial Age and Unions

Industrial Age and Unions. Unit 6.3. 40 years – 1880 to 1920 – many changes. What changed from 1880 to 1920?. Cities grew out and up. Transportation Lighting Entertainment. Late 1800s / Early 1900s #1 Industry. Railroads Basis for trade

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Industrial Age and Unions

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  1. Industrial Age and Unions Unit 6.3

  2. 40 years – 1880 to 1920 – many changes • What changed from 1880 to 1920? • Cities grew out and up. • Transportation • Lighting • Entertainment

  3. Late 1800s / Early 1900s #1 Industry • Railroads • Basis for trade • Connecting sections of country together - interdependency • Sub industries of steel, coal, etc. related • Financial crisis related to Railroad bubble – Panic of 1873 • #1 later in 1900s, Automobile Industry. What would it be now?

  4. What changed America? • Steel • Bessemer Process – injects air to remove impurities • Makes steel stronger and lighter • Brought over from Britain (and perfected by American William Kelly) • Andrew Carnegie – invested in process

  5. Why did Pittsburg become the Steel City? • 3 Major Items needed • Iron ore – from Mesabi Range (Minn) • Coal – from Ohio River Valley • Limestone – from upstate NY • What you do think they needed the most?

  6. Changes • Cities grow up and out. • Skyscrapers • Elevators (Elisha Otis invented safety elevator in 1850s) • Subways, rail lines expand out • U.S. Steel Corporation • Using vertical integration, Carnegie had over 20,000 workers and a bigger operation than Britain’s complete industry. • Sold to J.P. Morgan and others in 1900 as the world’s first billion dollar corporation.

  7. Oil • In the early 1800s, one of the most important industries in America was whaling for it’s oil. • By the 1840s, Kerosene was being used in lamps. • 1859 – Edwin Drake drills 1st well in PA. Begins boom. • John D. Rockefeller used horizontal consolidation to control over 90% of U.S. refineries with Standard Oil. • One by-product not used – gasoline.

  8. Electricity • Thomas Edison • Over 1000 patents – phonograph, motion picture camera, and?? • Menlo Park (NJ) lab • Ft. Myers (FL) winter home • Who were his neighbors in Ft. Myers? • George Westinghouse • Transformer for high-voltage current (much safer!)

  9. Other Inventions of the late 1800s • Typewriter – 1867 – Christopher Sholes (Why the qwerty board?) • Telephone – 1876 – Alexander G. Bell • Kodak Camera – 1888 – George Eastman • Safety Razor – 1895 – King Gillette • Hundreds of Thousands of patents issued • R&D – Research and Development divisions in corporations

  10. Robber Barons • By 1900, 4000+ millionaires • Many claimed to be “self-made men” like Carnegie, but truth was most born into wealth. • Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan • Cornelius Vanderbilt - RRs • Gustavus Swift – Meat packing • Isaac Singer – Sewing machines • Gospel of Wealth • By Andrew Carnegie • “use wealth for good of community” • Gave back over $325 million

  11. Corporations • Multiple people will own business, but business is legally and “individual.” • 14th Amendment was used to defend actions of corporations as you can not make laws to discriminate against individuals. • Idea of limited liability helped in laissez-faire economics and the caveat emptor attitude.

  12. American Dream? • Horatio Alger books • Dime Novels • “Puck and Pluck” series • Inspirational rags to riches stories • Social Darwinism with businesses • Strong survive, but what if they Robber Barons used bribes, unsafe practices? • Laissez-Faire (“hands-off”) economics

  13. Monopolies • As Robber Barons became richer, gov’ts starting cracking down on Monopolies. • Business tried to get around laws by calling them different things: pool arrangements, trusts, Holding Companies. • Sherman Anti-trust Act (1890) • Supposed to stop monopolies, but had little effect at that time. • It did not have enforcement provisions • Actually used against labor unions

  14. Boom and Bust • After the Civil War, the economy of the U.S. fluctuated wildly. • This caused some major economic downturns. • Panic of 1873 – over expansion of RR, Banks failed • Panic of 1893 – Banks crisis, extreme unemployment • Great divide between rich and poor. • 1899 average salary in factories – men $498, women $269 • Carnegie made $23 that year (and incomes/stocks/bonds not taxed) • Taxing policies still based on Tariffs and Excise taxes. • How would fit into the Populist ideas?

  15. Union Growth in late 1800s • Early labor unions with women in Lowell system • National Labor Union (William Sylvus) died out in 1873 • Against women workers (drove down wages) • Molly Maguires – not a true union, but used violence against coal mine superiors

  16. Knights of Labor • Led by Terrance Powderly • Welcomed skilled and unskilled labor • Downfall came in 1886 Haymaker Square Riots • Bomb by anarchists killed 7 and injured over 60 • Union died out in 1890

  17. AFL – American Federation of Labor (when in doubt on AP exam and labor question, choose AFL) • Led by Samuel Gompers in late 1800s • Focused on “bread and butter” philosophy • Excluded unskilled workers and had only skilled workers • Why did help it to be more successful?

  18. Union Info to know • Collective Bargaining – power of workers in union to negotiate together. • Strikes – main weapon • Scabs – replacements when on strike • Unions were usually associated with socialists, communists, and anarchists. • Also many immigrants involved.

  19. Other Union Info • IWW – International Workers of the World • Led by “Big Bill” Heywood • Early Marxists • Gained strength at turn of century, but loses it quickly with Red Scare after WWI. • Why did Unions grow in the late 1800s/early 1900s? • Hours • Safety / Working Conditions • Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire • Company towns • Child labor • Mother Jones

  20. Strikes to Know • In most strikes, the gov’t usually always sided with factory owners. • Homestead Steel Mill Strike – owned by Carnegie, hired Pinkerton Agents to guard scabs. Broke union with national guard. 1892 • Pullman (Sleepers) Strike (1894) – workers lived in company town. Wages cut, but rent and prices in store not. • Led by Eugene Debs who would later run for President as Socialist.

  21. Reflection Questions • How did the advancements of steel, oil, and electricity change America? • How were the Sherman Anti-trust Act and 14th amendment actually used against the people? • Why did the AFL succeed as a union when the Knights had failed? • How was the expansion of industry good for the American poor even if they did not profit nearly as much as the very rich?

  22. Links • http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/rise-industrial-america-1877-1900 - Industrial Timeline • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P17JrdZJcFY&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLB40AC55D5CB1BC06 – union beginnings (why have them in 1800s) good info. • http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/industrial-age-america-robber-barons-and-captains-industry - robber barons lesson • http://mises.org/daily/2317 - robber barons article • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6MggpmJk1E&feature=relmfu – trusts review video

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