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THE INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

THE INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY. Industrial Development. Late 19 th cent. U.S. offers ideal conditions for rapid industrial growth: 1.Abundance of cheap natural resources 2.Large pools of labor 3.Largest domestic market in the world 4.Capital, government support without regulation

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THE INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

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  1. THE INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

  2. Industrial Development • Late 19th cent. U.S. offers ideal conditions for rapid industrial growth: 1.Abundance of cheap natural resources 2.Large pools of labor 3.Largest domestic market in the world 4.Capital, government support without regulation 5.Rapid growth 1865-1914

  3. An Empire on Rails • U.S. industrial economy based on expansion of the railroads • Steamships made Atlantic crossings twice as fast • The telegraph and telephone transformed communications

  4. The RRs … • transform American life • end rural isolation • make mass production, consumption possible • lead to organization of modern corporation

  5. Building the Empire • 1865-1916--U.S. lays over 200,000 miles of track costing billions of dollars • Expenses met by government at all levels • Federal railroad grants prompt corruption

  6. Federal Land Grants to Railroads as of 1871

  7. Railroad Construction, 1830-1920

  8. Linking the Nation via Trunk Lines • No integrated rail system before Civil War • After 1860 construction and consolidation of trunk lines proceeds rapidly • Rail transportation becomes safe, fast, reliable

  9. An Industrial Empire • Bessemer process (first inexpensive industrial process for mass-production of steel from molten iron) of refining steel permits mass production • Use of steel changes agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, architecture

  10. The Business of Invention • Late 19th-century: an Age of Invention • telegraph, camera, processed foods, telephone, phonograph, incandescent lamp

  11. The Sellers • Advertising becomes common • New ways of selling include chain store, department store, brand name, mail-order • Americans become a community of consumers

  12. The Wage Earners • The labor of millions of men and women built the new industrial society (?) • 1875-1900 real wages rose, working conditions improved, and workers’ national influence increased • Health and educational services expanded benefiting workers

  13. Working Men, Working Women, Working Children (1/4) • Chronically low wages • average wages $400-500 per year • salary required for decent living $600 per year

  14. Working Men, Working Women, Working Children (2/4) • Composition of the labor force by 1900 • 20% women • 10% of girls employed, 20% of boys • Working children • “child labor” means under 14 • all children poorly paid • girls receive much lower wage than boys

  15. Working Men, Working Women, Working Children (3/4) • Working women’s characteristics • most young and single • 25% of married African American women work in 1900 • Working women’s jobs • many move into clerical positions • a few occupy professional positions • Working women’s earnings unequal to men’s

  16. Working Men, Working Women, Working Children (4/4) • Discriminatory wage structure • adults earn more than children • men earn nearly twice as much as women • whites earn more than blacks or Asians • Protestants earn more than Catholics or Jews • black workers earn less at every level and skill • Chinese suffer periodic discrimination • 1879—California constitution forbids corporations to hire Chinese • 1882—Federal Chinese Exclusion Act prohibits Chinese immigration for 10 years

  17. Culture of Work • Factory work habits demand adjustments for immigrants, rural folk • Many adjust well enough to advance • Many more see children advance to better jobs

  18. Labor Unions • Early labor unions like fraternal orders • 1886--Samuel Gompers founds American Federation of Labor (A.F.L.) • A.F.L. seeks practical improvements for wages, working conditions • focus on skilled workers • ignores women, African Americans

  19. Labor Unrest • Crossed purposes • employees seek to humanize the factory • employers try to apply strict laws • An era of strikes • 1877--rail strikes nearly shut down system • 1880-1900--23,000 strikes • 1886--Chicago Haymarket incident prompts fears of anarchist uprising

  20. The Haymarket Incident The Haymarket affair was a demonstration that took place on May 4, 1886, in Chicago. It began as a rally in support of striking workers. An unknown person threw a bomb at the police. Gunfire followed, resulting in the deaths of eight police officers and an unknown number of civilians.

  21. Industrialization’s Benefits and Costs • Benefits of rapid industrialization • rise in national power and wealth • improving standard of living • Human cost of industrialization • exploitation • social unrest • growing disparity between rich and poor • increasing power of giant corporations

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