WARMUP #1

1. WARMUP #1 John D. Rockefeller was an American industrialist who made a fortune in the late 19th Century. He once made the following comments: “I say that you ought to get rich, and it is your duty to get rich…Ninety- eight out of one hundred of the rich men of America are honest. That is why they are rich. That is why they are trusted with money. That is why they carry on great enterprises and find plenty of people to work with them…I sympathize with the poor, but the number of poor who are to be sympathized with is very small…let us remember there is not a poor person in the United States who was not made poor by his own shortcomings.” What does Rockefeller seem to think about people who have money? What does he think of people who do not have money? Explain in one or two sentences. How do you think a manual laborer, factory worker or office clerk might react to these statements? Respond to the thoughts expressed in each sentence of the quotation. Write your answer in a clear paragraph.

2. American Industrialization 12-year old spinner, 1910(photographed by Lewis Hine)

3. I. The Machine Age (1865-1900) • Primary characteristics of American industrialization (Norton, People and a Nation, 1982) 1. production by machine rather than by hand 2. involvement of an increasing proportion of the work force in manufacturing 3. production concentrated in large, intricately organized factories 4. accelerated technological innovation, emphasizing new inventions & applied science 5. expanded markets, no longer local and regional in scope 6. growth of a nationwide transportation network based on the railroad, along with a communications network based on the telegraph & telephone 7. increased capital accumulation for investment in expansion of production 8. growth of large enterprises &specialization in all forms of economic activity 9. steady increase in the size &predominance of cities

5. “Robber Barons” OR“Captains of Industry” ??? horizontal consolidation: complete control of an industry, creating no competition (…& higher prices) • monopoly• vertical consolidation: complete control of production & distribution, thus eliminating any middlemen • trust • Positives: improve overall economy & provide jobs • “captains of industry” • Negatives: control prices, hurting consumers • “robber barons” • ---”steal from the poor…give to themselves”---

7. Who are these “Robber Barons”? • John D. Rockefeller: Standard OilCompany •  $663.4 billion in 2007 dollars • Andrew Carnegie: U.S. Steel • $298.3 billion in 2007 dollars • Cornelius Vanderbilt: railroads • $178.4 billion in 2007 dollars • J.P. Morgan: banking • $44 billion in 2007 dollars Rockefeller: “And to think, he wasn't even a rich man.“ Social Darwinism: “survival of the fittest” in society

9. B. Iron &steel: central to development of American industry Bessemer process: iron ore → steel • Andrew Carnegie: Scottish immigrant who built the steel industry with a mill that integrated all stages of refinement process (from iron ore to finished rails) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: “Steel City U.S.A.” • railroad growth fueled industrial development. Over 100,000 miles of track were laid between 1877 &1893, doubling the U.S. network • standardization of gauge (width of tracks set at 4 feet, 8 1/2 inches) encouraged development • time zone adoption allowed coordination of systems (U.S. divided into four zones) • adoption of steel rails, bearing heavier loads • massive grants of American land (131 million acres from federal government, 49 million acres from states)

11. C. Oil & John D. Rockefeller • first oil derrick drilled in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859 • Rockefellerorganized Standard Oil Co. &bought out smaller refiners • organized trusts to combine companies, reduce competition& increase profits

13. What about the Workers? Work in the industrial factories was very difficult! • Workers struggled with: • low wages • long hours • dangerous working conditions • unsanitary conditions • lack of respect from management

14. II. Organization of American Labor • legalized by Commonwealth v. Hunt in 1842, labor unions tended to be small &limited to skilled trades labor unions = organizations of workers, created to meet their needs vs. management B. labor strife arose in the 1870s with frequent strikes 1. Haymarket Square Massacre, Chicago, 1886 occurred when a bomb killed 7 &wounded 70 ---anarchists’ bombing led to many deaths & union worries! 2. Homestead Strike in Pennsylvania, 1892resulted in 7 deaths 3. Pullman Strike, 1894 in Chicago temporarily stopped railroad traffic &required federal intervention

16. C. Labor organizations • Knights of Labor (1869): sought to create “one big union” of all workers, skilled &unskilled. Opposed to strikes (Terrence Powderly) ----effectively ends in 1886 after Haymarket Square Massacre…replaced by the American Federation of Labor! 2. American Federation of Labor (AFL 1886): organized by Samuel Gompers. Focused on higher wages, shorter hours& safer working conditions (“skilled workers ONLY”) 3. Eugene Debs &American Railway Union (1892): Socialist approach that viewed government &owners as enemies of workers 4. International Workers of the World (IWW 1905): Socialist labor union, modeled after Marxian ideas

18. Methods of the Labor Unions • strikes • mediation: conversations of negotiation • arbitration: binding 3rd party steps into negotiation • collective bargaining: predetermined agreement • Sherman Antitrust Act: government regulation of monopolies & trusts…however ineffective, as too vague & possessed loopholes!

21. Methods of Management • hiring of scabs: replacement workers for strikers ---usually immigrants, angering workers! ---nativism: hatred of foreigners & immigrants The establishment of quotas to limit U.S. immigration: Chinese Exclusion Act: limits the number of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. (…extreme prejudice towards Chinese, since the railroads) Gentlemen’s Agreement: limits the number of Japanese immigrants to the U.S. • injunctions: court orders to immediately stop strikes • yellow-dog contracts: workers sign contracts upon employment not to join a labor union or risk getting fired

23. IV. Utopian Economic Plans • Henry George’s Progress and Poverty(1879): inequality's source: rising land values. Single land tax proposed to end monopolies &bring social progress B. Edward Bellamy’sLooking Backward(1888): extremes of wealth &poverty need to be countered with socialist state free of vicious competition C. Henry Lloyd’s Wealth Against Commonwealth (1894): aggression of trusts, particularly Rockefeller's, would lead to economic slavery. Cooperation with the government owning &operating the means of production would produce equality

24. V. New Issues for Labor A. As machines &new procedures (including Henry Ford’s assembly line) reduced demand for labor, employers cut costs further by hiring large numbers of women &children 1. By 1900, 20% of all manufacturing workers were women (up from 11% in 1870) 2. By 1900, 13% of all textile workers were younger than 16 B. Working conditions resulted in 25,000 deaths in industrial accidents per year 1. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (NYC) in 1913 resulted in 146 deaths (lack of exits & safety regulations leads to incredible industrial tragedy) 2. 72,000 railroad workers killed between 1900 & 1917 C. Court cases 1. In Lochner v. New York (1905), Supreme Court ruled that 60-hour work week limit was unconstitutional 2. In Muller v. Oregon (1908), Court reversed Lochner& limited women's working hours to 10 per day

26. WARMUP #2 What do all of the following companies have in common? Standard Oil Company American Tobacco Company Northern Securities Corporation Bell Telephone Company Armour Company When were they started? How did they become strong? What was their effect on American businesses at the time? What did each business specialize in? (Some will be easy to identify!) Write your answer in one clear paragraph.

27. The Rise of the American Cityurbanization:the movement of people into the cities from rural areas, causing sizable growth "What shall we do with our great cities? What will our great cities do with us…? The question...does not concern the city alone. The whole country is affected...by the condition of its great cities.” (Lyman Abbott, 1891) "The greater part of our population must live in cities--cities much greater than the world has yet known. In due time we shall be a nation of cities.“ (Josiah Strong, 1898) New York City's first skyscraper: the Tower Building (1889)

28. I. Sources of Urbanization • as steam replaced water power for mills, industries concentrated geographically (iron makers in Pittsburgh, meat-packing in Chicago, shoes in Haverhill, Massachusetts etc.) • large-scale production instantly created small cities of workers: company towns dominated by one industry • people lived near where they worked…so densely populated around the factories → cities • gateways for immigrants (New York City, Boston & San Francisco) provided abundant cheap labor • Ellis Island= immigrant entry point on East Coast • Statue of Liberty= symbol of hope for immigrants…especially these “new immigrants” from Eastern & Southern Europe • Angel Island= immigrant entry point on West Coast

34. II. Problems of the City • Mass transit • until 1890, the horsecar (using railroad tracks) accounted for 70% of city traffic. Limitations: • slow • limited pulling power • left piles of manure • cable cars (first used in San Francisco in 1873) & electric trolley cars(Richmond, 1887) with overhead power lines replaced horses in many cities Issues within the City Solutions to the Issues overcrowding skyscrapers, tenements (decrepit housing areas), ghettoes (concentrated areas of immigrants) fires fire hydrants, firefighters crime organized police forces sanitation sewer systems, organized trash collection transportation cable cars, trolleys, subways (NYC)

36. III. Corruption in the City“The Gilded Age” • police forces (separate from the military & controlled by local officials ) established to maintain law & order • poorly defined duties • ineffective in controlling theft, prostitution & gambling • symbiotic relationships developed between police & institutions, such as saloons, they were supposed to oversee • reform came slowly, as independent police commissions were established to control bribery & graft

37. B. Political bosses emerged,controlling city machines (political machines) • ward captains turned out voters on Election Day • jobs handed out as political favors, as were tax breaks & licenses (…offered jobs to immigrants, in return for votes) • while some political machines provided welfare services, opportunities for corruption were great • Boss Tweed in New York’s Tammany Hall controlled 60,000 jobs. He was arrested, bribed his way out of jail, escaped, re-caught & finally died in jail (Thomas Nast: political cartoons) • Big Jim Pendergast held absolute power in Kansas City, controlling gambling & liquor licenses

39. IV. Battling the City’s Problems • reformers sought to counter poverty & other urban problems by focusing on moral uplift (Jacob Riis: How The Other Half Livesfocusing on the immigrant poor) • YMCAs & YWCAs formed to provide housing & recreation opportunities • Salvation Army effective in providing emergency aid, housing & street kitchens • Comstock laws sought to close down gambling, pornography, prostitution & Sunday liquor sales • Social Gospel sought to apply teachings of Jesus’ to the problems of urban society. Blame for problems did not rest with the poor, but with society(…opposite of Social Darwinism)

41. C. Settlement Houses Hull House (Chicago) founded by Jane Addamsto offer literacy classes, craft classes, job training & a sense of dignity to urban dwellers, particularly immigrants

42. WARMUP #3 Draw a line from each event from American labor history on the left to its date on the right: Homestead Steel strike, Pittsburgh (a) 1869 Pullman strike, Chicago (b) 1886 Founding of the Knights of Labor (c) 1877 Founding of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) (d) 1892 Founding of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) (e) 1894 Pittsburgh Rail strike (f) 1905

43. Gilded Age Politics (1869-1900) “the majestic man who was hurling defiance in the teeth of the money power“ (William Jennings Bryan)

44. I. Corruption of Grant Administration (1869-1877) A. Gould-Fisk gold scheme: Gould & Fisk, two government-friendly financiers, attempted to use government influence to corner the gold market. Convincing President Ulysses S. Grant to hold U.S. gold from the market, they then proceeded to buy all the gold available B. Credit-Mobilier Scandal: the builders of the Union Pacific Railroad used a construction company they owned to build the railline. Congress became involved when it was learned that several Congressmen were major stockholders in the company II. Civil Service Reform A. President James Garfield's assassination by a disappointed office-seeker in 1881 convinced Congress to reform the system of awarding government jobs (…NO more spoils system or patronage) B. Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883) created system of competitive examinations for some government positions, thus reducing the influence of the patronage system (merit examinations to qualify for government jobs) C. Democratic President Grover Cleveland added 12,000 jobs to the classified list, thus expanding the merit system

46. III. Growth of Populism • frustrated with the laissez faire attitude of the federal government and the cycle of falling prices, scarce money & debt, farmers in the west organized the Populist Party in 1892. Goals: • tariff reduction 2) graduated income tax → 16th Amendment 3) public ownership of railroads → Interstate Commerce Act 4) popular election of senators → 17th Amendment 5) currency reform*bimetallism = paper currency backed by gold & silver* a) since silver was removed as a currency in 1873, farmers had pushed for the unlimited coinage of silver in a 16:1 ratiob) Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890) allowed the government to purchase silver & thus increase the nation's money supplyc) Panic of 1893 severely reduced farmers' purchasing power

48. B. As the depression worsened in the 1890s, Populists gained strength. Coxey's Army (thousands of protestors) marched to Washington to demand government jobs paid for with paper currency C. In the Election of 1896, the Populists joined the Democrats in supporting William Jennings Bryan, a strong supporter of silver interests which he argued eloquently in his "Cross of Gold" speech D. Bryan was defeated by Republican William McKinley, a conservative supporter of business & high tariffs (Eastern factory workers feared inflation)

50. WARMUP #4 America is often called “the country of immigrants.” Some came to the United States for political & religious freedom. Others seeking “the American dream” of prosperity. Life in America could be confusing for new immigrants. This passage describes the experience of a young woman from Russia. “A committee of our friends…put their heads together and concocted American names for us all. Those of our real names that had no pleasing American equivalents they ruthlessly discarded…My mother, possessing a name that was not easily translatable, was punished with the undignified nickname of Annie. Fetchke, Joseph, and Deborah issued as Frieda, Joseph, and Dora, respectively.” ---Mary Antin, The Promised Land, 1912--- Officials at Ellis Island (New York City) changed the names of many immigrants. Why? Do you think this was appropriate? Explain your answer in one clear paragraph. Imagine that the government has officially changed your name. How would you feel? Write one or two paragraphs describing how this would affect you.