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Explore the transformative era of industrial growth in America, marked by innovation, government support, and the rise of industrial giants. Discover the impact on society, labor, and the environment during the Gilded Age.
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The Rise of Industrialism • The Rise of Industrialism • Industrialism, a change in Production from hand craftsmanship to machine manufacturing • By the turn of the century the U.S. ranked first in the world for Industrial goods. • Key Factors in Industrial Growth • Abundant supply of Natural Resources • Opening of Industrial markets • Population shifts from rural to urban • Expanded labor supply fueled by Immigration
Government Support for Industrialism The government: • Helped Industries with loans • Maintained laissez faire or a hands off policy • No taxes on personal incomes • No environmental controls
Invention and Innovation • Spirit of Innovation • 676,000 of patents between 1860 and 1900 • Urban Canters became magnets business entrepreneurs • Development of Steel production • Henry Bessemer perfected steel production • Electricity becomes widespread • Inventions fueled by electricity included the telegraph, telephone, escalators, elevators, and central heat. • Machines Increase Production • New machines included: sewing machine, bicycle, and automobiles.
Industrial Leaders • Industrial Giants • John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil Company which controlled 90 percent of oil industry. • Attempted to monopolize the oil industry • Andrew Carnegie founded Carnegie Steel. • Used the “Bessemer steel process.” • Other Industrial Leaders • Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt- railroads • Swift & Armour-Captains of the meatpacking industry • Guggemheim family controlled billions of dollars of copper
Other Industrial Leaders • The McCormicks founded International Harvest company and controlled the reaper business • The Duke family controlled tobacco • J.P. Morgan was the Financier of them all and one of the builders of Wall street • This period of time was known as the Gilded Age. • Social Darwinism: the theory that taught only the strong survived (in society and business)
Trusts and Government Corruption • Trusts influence Government Affairs • Monopoly: complete control of the entire supply of goods or of a service in a certain area or market; complete ownership or control of something. • Trusts: an arrangement in which someone's property or money is legally held or managed by someone else or by an organization (such as a bank) for usually a set period of time • Horizontal and Vertical Integration
Government Corruption • City governments were run by political machines and bosses that catered to industrial interests. • Political Machines: An organized group that controlled the activities of a political party in a city; offering services to voters and businesses in exhange for political or financial support • Graft: the illegal use of political influence for personal gain • Patronage: the giving of government jobs to people who helped a candidate get elected (AKA: The spoils system) • Civil Service: government administration
Criticism & Defense of Big Business • Wealthy Americans faced criticism • Industrialists defended Big business • Philanthropists supported moral efforts
The Impact of Industrialism • Industrialism benefited the Middle Class • Technological advances benefited members of the upper and middle classes. • New opportunities in clerical, sales, and technology created jobs for women • Most Americans viewed industrialism as drudgery and hardship • Laborers faced harsh working conditions • Men and women worked 10 to 12 hour days, 6 days a week. • Low pay was common in the factories
Changes and Discrimination in the Workforce • Industrialism and Women • Industrialists recruited women, children, ethnic minorities, and Immigrants • Young, single women carved out new opportunities • Child Labor was common practice and children were forced into mostly dangerous positions with low pay • Managers pitted one group against the other.
Organized Labor • Worker began organizing into labor or trade unions. • The Knights of Labor aimed to secure an 8 hour work day, income tax, the elimination of child labor and equal pay. • The American Federation of Labor under Samuel Gompers focused on higher wages, safer working conditions, and union representation. • Business resisted unions and strikes often resulted in violence.
Food Contamination and Muckrakers • Consumers Fraud • Consumers had no safeguards against poor quality products or misleading advertizing • Meat Packing Industry • The Jungle by Upton Sinclair described conditions in Chicago’s meatpacking industry • Writers focused on exposing societies ills rather than solving them. • Muckraker’s efforts paved the way for future reforms.
The Toll on the Environment • Environmental concerns • 19th Century businesses used nonrenewable, polluting fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. • Deforestation • Clear-Cutting is a method of deforestation used by logging companies to clear whole sections of land at a time • Air & Water pollution
The Toll on the Environment • Air & Water pollution • Cities manipulated natural routes to supply their industries • Environmental Reformers • Scientific Forest Management would cut down trees only to the extent of annual growth • Preservationists wanted total preservation fo America’s natural landscape • Famous environmentalists included John Muir and Gifford Pinchot.
