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The Gilded Age

The Gilded Age. The Rise of Big Business. The Gilded Age and Progressive Era ( 1865 – 1917). Modern America really begins to emerge in this period This is the age of “bigness” Big business Big labor Big cities Big government Internationalist foreign policy Rapid technological progress

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The Gilded Age

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  1. The Gilded Age The Rise of Big Business

  2. The Gilded Age and Progressive Era(1865 – 1917) Modern America really begins to emerge in this period • This is the age of “bigness” • Big business • Big labor • Big cities • Big government • Internationalist foreign policy • Rapid technological progress • Activist social movements

  3. The Second Industrial Revolution Last half of nineteenth century • Associated w/ several new technologies • Electrification • Steam ships & railways • Bessemer furnace • Machine tools • Assembly line • Rotary printing press • Two nations most affected • United States • Germany

  4. Causes of Business Growth • Labor Shortage • Technological Innovation • Mechanization • Agricultural Productivity • Railroad & Communication Networks • New, Inexpensive Power Sources • Government Support • New Methods of Organization

  5. Casualties - WBTS Dead Wounded Total __________________________________________________________ Federal 364,511 281,881 646,392 Confederate* 260,000 194,000 454,000 TOTAL 624,511 475,881 1,100,392 _________________________________________________________ * Due to lost records, Confederate casualties figures are estimates based on best evidence available

  6. Rotary Printing Press

  7. The Factory System • Centralized production • Continuous production • Division/ specialization of labor • Assembly line • Replaced centuries old systems of hand labor and cottage industries

  8. Henry Ford’s Assembly Line

  9. Promontory Point, UtahMay 10, 1869

  10. An 1881 Edison Dynamo

  11. New methods of business organization Vertical integration = control of every step in production process by one company • Swift Meat Company • American Tobacco Company • United Fruit Company • Ford Motor Company Horizontal integration = control of the market for a single product by a single company • Standard Oil (by 1880 controlled 90% of nation’s refineries)

  12. Trusts and Holding Companies Both of these were new forms of business ownership that facilitated the growth of mammoth industries by allowing centralized control of seemingly independent companies. TRUST – A legal arrangement that allows one or more people to manage property that belongs to others. (Proved vulnerable to prosecution under state laws that prohibited monopolies or restraint of trade.) HOLDING COMPANY – A company that controls other companies by holding all (or at least a majority) of their stock. (Less vulnerable under state laws, but potential liability under Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890.)

  13. Functions of Railroads • Socio-political • Tied sprawling nation together • A communication network • Opened the country • Commercial • Created and serviced a national (and eventually an international) market • Brought raw materials to manufacturers • Took finished goods to consumers • Were huge consumers themselves • Pioneered new management techniques

  14. Crédit-Mobilier Fraud(1872) • Pointed out potential for corruption in railroad construction • Construction company hired by Union Pacific RR to build transcontinental track • Was owned by senior managers of UP • Gave stock to congressmen in return for support of funding • Huge profits for owners of Crédit Mobilier • Virtually bankrupted Union Pacific

  15. John D. Rockefeller(1839 – 1937) • Made his fortune in the oil industry • Driven by a search for order and efficiency • Concentrated on refining and transportation • Developed the Trust • Instrumental in the evolution of the Holding Company

  16. Andrew Carnegie(1835 - 1919) • Self-made millionaire • Founded Carnegie Steel Co. • Noted philanthropist • Gave away most of his fortune

  17. The “Gospel of Wealth” • Promulgated by Andrew Carnegie in 1889 • Developed a justification for big business • Employed themes from Social Darwinism • Distance between rich & poor was a measure of civilization’s progress • Wealthy were public benefactors • Rich had a moral responsibility to reinvest wealth into the larger society

  18. J. P. Morgan(1837 – 1913) • Financier • Created General Electric in 1891 • Consolidated the steel industry in 1901 (United States Steel) • Controlled over 100 corporations

  19. Montgomery Ward & Co. Chicago c. 1870The first department store

  20. An Early Sears Catalogue

  21. Cornelius Vanderbilt

  22. Thomas Alva Edison

  23. Bessemer Furnace

  24. Typical Factory Setting

  25. Chinese laborers building railroads

  26. Natural Resource Areas

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