Industrialization

1. Industrialization 1865-1901

2. What led to industrialization? • Cheap labor • New inventions and technology • Plenty of raw materials • Railroads

3. The United States Industrializes • After the Civil War, industry rapidly expanded and millions of Americans left farms to work in mines and factories. • Gross National Product - the total value of all goods and services produced by a country. • By 1914 our GNP was eight times greater than it had been when the Civil War ended.

4. Natural Resources • Water, timber, coal, iron, and copper were available in the United States. • American companies could obtain them cheaply and did not have to import them. • Many of these resources were located in the mountains of the American West. • Railroads brought settlers and miners to the region and carried the resources back to factories in the East. • New resources like petroleum were developed.

5. A Large Workforce • Between 1860 and 1910, the population of the United States almost tripled. • This population increase provided industry with large workforce and created a greater demand for consumer goods. • Population growth was the result of larger families and a flood of immigrants coming to the United States.

6. Free Enterprise • Laissez-faire - let people do as they choose. • Laissez-faire relies on supply and demand rather than the government to regulate prices and wages. • Laissez-faire supports low taxes and keeping the governments debts low. • Competition between companies is good.

7. Inventions • Alexander Graham Bell - telephone • Thomas Alva Edison - phonograph, light bulb, electric generator, battery, mimeograph, and the motion picture • Gustavus Swift - refrigerated train car

8. Railroads • Pacific Railway Act (1862) - provided for the construction of a transcontinental railroad. • Union Pacific pushed westward from Omaha, Nebraska. • The Central Pacific pushed eastward from California. • Railroads increased the size of markets for many products

9. Land Grants • Land grants were given to many railroad companies to encourage railroad construction. • Railroad companies would then sell the land to settlers, real estate companies, and other businesses to raise money to build the railroad.

10. Corporations • A corporation is an organization owned by many people but treated by law as though it were a single person. • The people who own the corporation are stockholders.

11. Economies of Scale • With the money a corporation made for the sale of stock, they could invest in new technologies, hire a large work force, and purchase many machines. • Corporations make goods more cheaply because they produce so much so quickly using large manufacturing facilities.

12. Fixed Costs • Costs the company has to pay whether or not it is operation • For example: loans, mortgages, and taxes

13. Operating Costs • Costs that occur when running a company. • For example: paying wages, shipping charges, buying raw materials and other supplies.

14. Pools • Many corporate leaders did not like intense competition. • To stop prices from falling, many companies organized pools to maintain prices at a certain level.

15. Andrew Carnegie • Born to a poor family in Scotland. • He came to America as a young boy. • As a young man, he bought shares in iron mills and factories. • In 1875 he opened a steel company in Pittsburgh.

16. Vertical and Horizontal Integration Page 321 • Vertical Integration - a company owns all of the different businesses on which it depends for its operation • Horizontal Integration - combining many firms engaged in the same type of business into one corporation.

17. Big Business • A monopoly is when a single company controls an entire market. • A trust is a legal concept that allows one person to manage another person’s property. • A holding company does not produce anything itself. Instead it owns stocks in a company that does produce goods.

18. Unions • Trade unions are limited to people with a specific skill. • Industrial unions united all craft workers and common laborers in a particular industry. • If workers formed a union, companies often used a lockout to break it. Owners would lock the workers out and refuse to pay them. • If the Union called a strike, employers would hire strikebreakers.

19. Great Railroad Strike of 1877 • In 1873 a severe recession struck forcing many companies to cut wages • In July 1877, several railroads announced more wage cuts. • This triggered the first nationwide labor protest. • Railroad workers across the country walked off of the job. There were 80,000 workers in 11 states involved.

20. Great Railroad Strike • Angry strikers smashed equipment, tore up tracks, and blocked rail service. • The governors of several states called in the militia to stop the violence. • By the time the strike ended, 100 people were dead and millions of dollars of property were destroyed.

21. Knights of Labor • The Knights of Labor - first nationwide industrial union. • Wanted an 8 hour workday, supported equal pay for women, the abolition of child labor, and the creation of worker-owned factories.

22. Haymarket Riot • In 1886 organizers called for a nationwide strike on May 1 to s • how support for an 8 hour work day. • On May 3, strikers and police clashed. One striker was killed. • The next night an anarchist group met in Haymarket Square to protest the killing. • 3000 people gathered.

23. Haymarket Riot • As police entered the square, someone threw a bomb. • The police opened fire and workers fired back. • Seven police officers and four workers were killed. • Police arrested 8 people for the bombing. • Seven of the men arrested were German immigrants and anarchists • All 8 men were convicted, 4 were executed.

24. The Pullman Strike • In 1893 railroad workers created the American Railway Union. • Eugene Debs was the leader. • Pullman Palace Car Company of Illinois belonged to the ARU. • Workers went on strike because of an issue over wages.

25. Pullman Strike • In support, the ARU stopped handling all Pullman cars. • The railroad managers arranged for U.S. mail cars to be attached to the Pullman cars. • If strikers refused to handle the cars they would be interfering with the mail - a violation of federal law. • President Cleveland sent in troops.

26. American Federation of Labor • Delegates from over 20 trade unions organized the AFL. • Samuel Gompers was the leader. • AFL should fight for higher wages and better working conditions. • He was willing to strike but preferred negotiations.

27. American Federation of Labor • Goal 1 - tried to get companies to recognize unions and agree to collective bargaining. • Goal 2 - pushed for closed shops meaning that companies would hire only union members • Goal 3 - pushed for an 8 hour workday.

28. Women’s Trade Union League • Dedicated to promoting women’s labor issues. • Pushed for an 8 hour work day, creation of minimum wage, and end to evening work for women, and the aboliton of child labor.