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“Ballston Spa, I learned, had once been famous for its string of quiet little health retreats, but over the last century things had changed pretty drastically: many of the mineral springs had dried up, and the spas had been replaced by a collection of mills…By 1897, there wasn’t much about Ballston that brought the word ‘spa’ to mind.” -Caleb Carr, Angel of Darkness
Island Mill, a paper mill along the Kayaderosseras off Mechanic Street, Ballston Spa. sign on building reads Union Bag Paper Co. Destroyed by fire
The Industrialization of the United States: A look at the Capital Region
How did the Capital District reflect the changes occurring in other cities in the U.S.? How did industry reflect the “character” of each of the cities? Who provided the labor force?
Troy, NY, makers of Arrow collars and Arrow shirts. The company started in 1851.
1904 - Ballston Spa and Saratoga trolley lines opened and Mohawk trolley bridge was completed
Day Line steamer Albany leaving the Albany waterfront for her run down the Hudson to New York City, on a summer morning in 1900
The new plant of the Elite Glove company, which was completed recently, adds to Fulton County -- the home of gloves -- one of the finest and best-equipped plants in the country.
A view of the four corners in Gloversville shows two trolley cars bringing passengers downtown to view a parade in the early 1900s.
Winter on South Main Street in Gloversville. The white building on left is The Morning Herald newspaper and on right is the First Baptist Church
The Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Co. was founded in 1877, to manufacture perforated rolls of wrapping and toilet paper.
NY Power and Light Company Cohoes, NY
Behr-Manning in Watervliet, NY made sandpaper. The Manning Abrasive Co. was established and built this plant in 1912.
What factors led to the post-Civil War industrial boom? Natural resources -“black gold”-coal and iron deposits – Bessemer process: new method of producing steel (which would then be used for railroads, construction projects, new structures) 2. New Inventions -electricity: electric power ran machines, spurred invention of new appliances, electric streetcars changed urban travel, allowed manufacturers to locate plants away from rivers-Communications 3. Government support for business laissez-faire policies (supported by the philosophy of Social Darwinism) 4. Growing urban population cheap labor and markets for new products
Were the founders of American industry “robber barons” or “captains of industry”? • Robber Barons • Cruel and ruthless businessmen who would stop at nothing to achieve great wealth • Industrialists made hundreds of millions of dollars while the average worker made $350 a year • Exploiting workers and forcing horrible working conditions and unfair labor practices upon the laborer • Created monopolies & trusts which hurt the consumer by eliminating competition & raising prices • Captains of Industry • Ingenious and industrious leaders who transformed the American economy with their business skills • Creators of companies & therefore jobs • They were praised for their skills as well as for their philanthropy (charity) • Funded education, libraries, medicine, and the arts
Founders of American Industry: Robber Barons or Captains of Industry? Andrew Carnegie John D. Rockefeller J.P. Morgan .
Resources on the Founders of American Industry • Andrew Carnegie • Carnegie Biography • The Two Andrews • J.P. Morgan • History of the Morgan • Labor Union versus Morgan • John D. Rockefeller • Rockefeller Biography
How did big business control American society during the Gilded Age?
The Rise of Labor Unions What problems were created by big business that would cause labor unions to rise? What sorts of demands do you think they will begin to make? • Thomas B McGuire, a New York wagon driver, was ambitious. He had saved $300 from his wages “so that I might become something of a capitalist eventually.” but his venture as a cab driver in the early 1880s soon failed: • Corporations usually take that business themselves. They can manage to get men, at starvation wages, and put them on a hack, and put livery on them with a gold band and brass buttons, to show that they are slaves—I beg pardon; I did not intend to use the word slaves; there are no slaves in this country now—to show that they are merely servants.
Steel mills often demanded a seven-day workweek • Seamstresses worked 12 or more hours a day, six days a week • Employees not entitled to vacation, sick leave, unemployment compensation, or reimbursement for injuries suffered on the job • 1882 – an average of 675 laborers were killed in work-related accidents each week • Wages were so low that most families couldn’t survive unless everyone held a job • 1890-1910 – the number of women working for wages doubled (4 million more than 8 million) • 20% of boys and 10% of girls under 15 held full-time jobs • Sweatshop (workshops in tenements rather than factories) employment was often the only avenue open to women and children (children paid 27 cents for a 14-hour day) • 1899 – women made $267/year, men $498/year • 1900 – Andrew Carnegie made $23 million (not taxed)
Case Study: The Homestead Strike Andrew Carnegie Result of Homestead Strike: No union presence in the steel industry for the next 40 years! Henry Clay Frick
Business Responds to Labor • Employers took the offensive after the Haymarket affair (riot after a striker was killed at the McCormick Harvester plant) • Broke strikes violently • Compiled blacklists of strikers • Forced workers to sign yellow-dog contracts workers had to pledge not to join labor organizations
Immigration During the Gilded Age Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land;Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall standA mighty woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned lightning, and her nameMother of Exiles. From her beacon-handGlows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes commandThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame."Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries sheWith silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
“New” Immigrants • Why did so many leave their homelands? • Jews left Russia because of pogroms • Many Europeans left Russia because of rising population scarcity of land for farming, farmers competed for too few industrial jobs • Chinese came in search of gold; worked on the railroads, then turned to farming, mining, and domestic service • Many Japanese moved to Hawaii to work for planters • Many came from the West Indies to find work • Mexicans fled political turmoil
Immigration Restrictions Nativism: overt favoritism toward native-born Americans (believed Anglo-Saxons were superior to other ethnic groups); gave rise to anti-immigrant groups and led to a demand for immigration restrictions
Urban Problems Housing – Tenements overcrowded and unsanitary Water and Sanitation
Urban Problems Fire
Urban Problems – Politics in the Gilded Age Political Machine: an organized group that controls a political party in a city and offers services to voters and businesses in exchange for political and financial support City boss – controlled the activities of the political party throughout the city Ward boss – at election time, worked to secure the vote in all the precincts in the ward, or electoral district; helped the poor and gained their votes by doing favors or providing services Local precinct workers and captains – try to gain voters’ support on a city block or in a neighborhood and reported to a ward boss
The Tammany Hall Political Machine Vote for, or give money to, Tammany politicians be rewarded with jobs, city services, and/or building contracts with the city • Boss Tweed • Head of Tammany Hall, NYC’s powerful Democratic political machine • 1869-1871 – led the Tweed Ring (a group of corrupt politicians) • Construction of NY County Courthouse cost taxpayers $13 million, actual cost was $3 million • Political cartoonist Thomas Nast helped arouse public outrage against Tammany Hall’s graft (illegal use of political influence for personal gain) William “Boss” Tweed
