Unit II Notes: The Gilded Age and Industrialization 1877-1909

1. Unit II Notes: The Gilded Age and Industrialization 1877-1909

2. What do we mean by the term “Gilded Age”? • Time period from 1877-1909 • Characterized by rapid industrialization • Entrepreneurial expansion • Efficiencies in production = lower prices and more affordable goods • Rise of corporations • Huge profits made owners “instant” millionaires • Industrialists amassed enormous wealth and created a lavish lifestyle for themselves

9. Factors from the Civil War that Lead to Economic Growth in America • Steam Power • Replaced human and animal power in agriculture and factories • Needed coal or wood to create steam • Used in transportation • Trains • Steamboats

10. The Bessemer Process (steel) • Made production of steel more economical • Could now make 5 tons of steel in 15 minutes instead of 12 hours

11. Coal • Main source of fuel in America • Production increased from 14 million tons in 1860 to 100 million tons in 1884

12. Refining Petroleum • First oil well drilled 1859 PA • Used to make kerosene for lighting • Used for machine lubrication • Will later be refined into gasoline for cars and planes

13. Internal Combustion Engine • Fuel is burned to turn propellers or turbines

14. Commercial Use of Electricity • First used to relay messages along telegraph wires

15. Inventors • Alexander Graham Bell • Created the telephone in 1876 • Increased the speed of communication

16. Thomas A. Edison • Patented the light bulb in 1880 • Increased factory hours and efficiency • First filaments were bamboo; replaced with tungsten

20. Elisha Otis • Created the passenger elevator in 1852 • Allowed for the construction of sky scrappers • Safety device that prevented elevator accidents

21. Elias Howe • Invented the sewing machine in 1846 • Shortened time for clothing production • Improved quality of clothing • Clothing became cheaper

22. Christopher Sholes • Created QWERTY typewriter in 1867 • Improved and sped up communication • Sold patent to Remington Arms; mass production began in 1881

23. The Wright Brothers • Wilber and Orville were bicycle shop owners • Tried to make bike into flying machine * created first successful plane • Dec. 17, 1903 flew for 12 seconds; traveled 120 feet in Kitty Hawk, NC

24. Cyrus McCormick • Invented mechanical reaper • Improved speed of harvesting grains (wheat, corn, oats) • Increased farm production • Decreased price of bread, cereal, etc…

25. Free Enterprise System • Economic system in which people have the freedom to: • Produce what they wish • Sell what they wish at the price of their choice • Buy whatever they can afford

27. Free Enterprise/Capitalism • Right to private property • Profit Motive • Economic Freedom

28. Entrepreneur • A person who starts a business is the hope of making a profit • One who invests capital hoping to make a profit

29. “Captains of Industry” • Entrepreneurs of the Gilded Age • Forged the modern industrial economy of the US • Created enormous wealth for themselves • Lived lavish lifestyles

30. Andrew Carnegie • Came to US from Scotland 1848 at age of 13 • Worked in Pittsburg cotton mill as a boy • Telegraph operator for Penn. RR • Promoted to RR Superintendent at 30 • Invested in oil and iron • 1870’s went into steel business • Founded Carnegie Steel in 1892

31. Andrew Carnegie • Under cut his competitors prices to drive them out of business • Bought his own coal mines, iron ore fields, and shipping lines to control production prices and supply • Paid workers low wages and forced them to work 12 hour shifts • Crushed attempts to unionize

32. Carnegie • Sold Carnegie Steel to JP Morgan in 1901 for $480 million • Spent the rest of his life in philanthropy • Built libraries, museums, and universities • Gave away $350 million

37. John D. Rockefeller • Born in New York to working class family • Studies book keeping in school • Went into business selling fruits and vegetables • Invested his money in an oil refinery in Cleveland • Made kerosene and lubricants • In 1870 formed Standard Oil of Ohio • By 1879, he controlled 90% of the refining in the US

38. Rockefeller • Standard Oil became a monopoly or trust • He forced competitors out • Forced railroads to give him better rates • In 1892, the government split up his company into 20 • He remained the major shareholder of all 20 • He gave away millions to education and science • He founded the University of Chicago and Rockefeller Foundation

44. Henry Ford • Born in Dearborn, Michigan • Lived on farm until 16 • Apprenticed as a machinist in Detroit • Hired as engineer @ Edison Electric • In 1896 created his first plans for a car; called the Ford Quadricycle (electric powered) • In 1903 he formed Ford Motors Co.

45. Ford • 1908 introduced the Model T • 1914 introduced the assembly line • Introduced the $5/day wage (equivalent to $110 today) • By 1918, 50% of all cars in the US were Model T’s • His revolutionary vision was to create a cheap, reliable, car build by skilled, loyal workers • Introduced profit-sharing to employees who stayed at least 6 months

46. Ford Radical Ideas: • Required that his employees maintain a “proper” lifestyle. • Pacifist; opposed WWI • Anti-Semite

47. Assembly Line

49. Henry Form Museum