Big Business and Labor Unions

1. Big Business and Labor Unions 1865-1900

2. Key Characteristics of the New Industrial Era • Natural and human resources • Abundant supplies of coal, iron, petroleum, and timber • For example, the Mesabi Range in Minnesota contained the world’s largest deposits of iron ore • Labor was both plentiful and inexpensive • A huge pool of unskilled American workers included many women and children • In addition, waves of European immigrants provided a seemingly inexhaustible supply of low-wage laborers

3. Key Characteristics of the New Industrial Era • Government support • 19th century fed and state gov’ts were committed to the concept of private property and limited regulation of business activity • While the fed gov’t was reluctant to regulate business, it did enact high protective tariffs to shield companies from foreign competition • A group of ambitious, and sometimes ruthless, entrepreneurs took advantage of this stable business environment to build a number of enormously profitable corporations

4. Key Characteristics of the New Industrial Era • The golden age of railroads • America’s railroad network increased from 35,000 miles in 1865 to 193,000 miles in 1900 • Railroad construction stimulated industrial growth by consuming vast quantities of iron, steel, coal, and lumber • The railroads played a key role in creating an interconnected national transportation and communication network

5. Key Characteristics of the New Industrial Era • Horizontal and vertical integration • Railroads, steel companies, and oil refineries all faced intense competition from ambitious rivals • During the 1880s and 1890s, corporate executives used horizontal and vertical integration to create huge consolidated organizations • Horizontal integration • Process by which one company gains control over other firms that produce the same product • It was primarily a response to economic competition • For example, John D. Rockefeller believed that his competitors reduced profits by flooding the market with too much refined oil • He used horizontal integration to take over 22 of his 26 competitors • As a result, Standard Oil controlled almost 95% of the oil refining in America

6. Key Characteristics of the New Industrial Era • Horizontal and vertical integration • Vertical integration • Process by which a single company owns and controls the entire productive process from the unearthing of raw materials to the manufacture and sale of finished products • Primarily motivated by a desire to control raw materials • For example, Andrew Carnegie used vertical integration when he bought the mines that produced iron ore and the ships and railroad lines that carried the ore to his steel plants near Pittsburgh

7. Key Characteristics of the New Industrial Era • Edison and the business of invention • Thomas Edison was one of the most prolific inventors in U.S. history • His list of inventions included the first photograph and the first commercially successful incandescent light bulb • Edison established his famous “invention laboratory” at Menlo Park, NJ • It was the prototype for the modern research laboratory

8. Key Characteristics of the New Industrial Era • The World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 • Held in Chicago, the World’s Columbian Exposition celebrated the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America • The fair was more than a tribute to Columbus • It also celebrated Chicago’s dynamic growth and America’s amazing technological progress

9. Social Darwinism • Between 1869 and 1899 the value of American manufactures increased by 600% • America’s booming economy produced unprecedented personal fortunes • The new millionaires filled their mansions with fine furniture and precious works of art • By 1900, the richest 2% of American households owned over one-third of the nation’s physical wealth • Social Darwinism • Set of beliefs that both explained and justified how a small group of business and industrial leaders could accumulate such great wealth • Applied Charles Darwin’s theory that plants and animals are engaged in a constant “struggle for existence” to society • Individuals and corporations are also engaged in a ruthless struggle for profit in which only the fit survive and succeed

10. Social Darwinism • Wealthy “captains of industry” such as Rockefeller and Carnegie used the “law of competition” to explain their wealth and praise the free market economic system that made it possible • Social Darwinism explained that wealth is a reward for hard work and talent, while poverty is a punishment for laziness and bad judgment • Gov’ts must therefore avoid the temptation to regulate econ activities by supporting wage increases and social welfare programs • These policies are doomed to fail because they interfere with the natural workings of a free market

11. Andrew Carnegie and the Gospel of Wealth • Andrew Carnegie was an ardent supporter of Social Darwinism • He believed that disparities in wealth were inevitable in a free economic system but he also believed that great wealth brought great responsibilities • “The Gospel of Wealth” • Warned that men who died wealthy would pass away “unwept, unhonored, and unsung” • The public would justly condemn these men • Instead of squandering their money on passing fantasies, men of wealth have a duty to regard their surplus fortunes as a trust to be administered for the benefit of the community • Carnegie encouraged philanthropists to support public libraries, universities, museums, etc. • Carnegie practiced what he preached • After selling his huge steel and iron holdings to J.P. Morgan for $500 million ($5 bil today), Carnegie devoted the rest of his life to promoting the public good • His supported parks, hospitals, concert halls, and especially public libraries (over 2,500)

13. Labor Unions • Wage and working conditions • Owners enjoyed enormous profits while their workers earned meager salaries • For example, Marshall Fields, the founder of a Chicago-based chain of department stores, earned $600/hr while his shopgirls survived on a salary of just $3-5/wk • In 1900, a male industrial worker earned an average of $597/yr while his female counterpart earned an average of only $314/yr • Factory laborers typically worked 10-hr days, 6 days a week • Hours were even longer in steel mills where workers put in 12-hr shifts for $1.25/day • America’s poorly paid workers were also unprotected by safety regulations • U.S. industry had highest accident rate in the world • Health hazards were very high • In 1890, railroad accidents injured one railroader for every 30 employed workers

14. Labor Unions • The Knights of Labor • The KoL was founded in 1869 • Attempted to unify all working men and women into a national union under the motto, “An injury to one is the concern of all” • With the exception of lawyers, bankers, and saloon keepers, the KoL accepted anyone who worked for wages, including women and AA • The KoL denounced “wage-slavery” and were dedicated to achieving a “cooperative commonwealth” of independent workers • The KoL encouraged workers to combine their wages so that they could collectively purchase mines, factories, and stores • The KoL open-membership and a few successful strikes contributed to a period of rapid growth in the 1880s • Membership rolls swelled from 42,000 in1882 to over 700,000 in 1886

15. Labor Unions • The Knights of Labor • The KoLbegan to lose strength when newspapers unjustly blamed them for causing the Haymarket Square riot • As a result of this misrepresentation, the public wrongly linked the KoLwith violent anarchists who opposed all forms of government • The economic depression following the Panic of 1893 ended the union’s importance

16. Labor Unions • Samuel Gompers and the AFL • As the KoL declined in national importance, the American Federation of Labor began to grow • Founded in 1886, the AFL was an alliance of skilled workers in craft unions • Unlike the KoL, the AFL did not welcome unskilled workers, women, or racial minorities • Led for 37 years by Samuel Gompers, the AFL opposed political activity not directly related to the union • Instead, Gompers advocated using collective bargaining and, if necessary, strikes to win concrete “bread and butter” goals such as higher wages, shorter hours, and better working conditions • Membership in the AFL grew steadily as it replaced the KoL as the most powerful labor union • By 1904, the AFL had 1.7 million members and Gompers was recognized as a national spokesman for American laborers

17. Labor Unions • The Industrial Workers of the World • The AFL’s commitment to craft unionism excluded many workers • Like the KoL, the IWW (or Wobblies) was intended to be “One Big Union” that would unite all skilled and unskilled workers • While the AFL pursued “bread and butter” issues, the IWW was founded on what one of its early leaders called “the irrepressible conflict between the capitalist class and the working class” • The Wobblies never attracted more than 150,000 members • Branded as dangerous radicals and agitators, they faded from the national scene by the end of WWI

18. Labor Strikes and Unrest • The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 • The Panic of 1873 triggered a severe depression that bankrupted 47,000 firms and drove wholesale prices down by 30% • As orders for industrial goods fell, railroad lines in the East began a series of pay cuts • On July 16, 1877 railroad workers spontaneously walked off their jobs to protest a 2nd wage cut by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad • Walkouts and sympathy demonstrators quickly formed as the strike spread from MD to CA

19. Labor Strikes and Unrest • The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 • 1st major interstate strike in U.S. history • As the strike rippled across the country it paralyzed rail service • Looters and rioters destroyed millions of dollars of property • State militia and federal troops called out by President Hayes finally crushed the strikes • Over 100 workers died before the troops finally restored order • Signaled the beginning of a period of strikes and violent confrontations between labor and management • 1880-1900 over 23,000 strikes, the most in the industrial world, shook the U.S. and hardened relations between unions and owners

20. Labor Strikes and Unrest • The Haymarket Square Riot, 1886 • On May 4, 1886 nearly 1,500 working people gathered at Chicago’s Haymarket Square to protest violent police actions the previous day at a strike at the McCormick reaper factory • As about 180 policemen tried to disperse the crowd, an unidentified person hurled a bomb into the police ranks • The explosion killed 7 officers and injured 67 other people • The police fired wildly into the crowd, killing 4 people and wounding over 100 others • Although no one knew who threw the bomb, outraged and frightened Americans blamed anarchists • Supported by an alarmed public, employers compiled blacklists of strikers and used private security firms to break strikes

21. Labor Strikes and Unrest • The Homestead Strike, 1892 • The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers was the largest craft union in the AFL • The union’s history of friendly relations with Andrew Carnegie’s company abruptly changed in 1892 when Henry Clay Frick became president of the Homestead plant outside Pittsburgh • Frick was determined to replace expensive skilled workers with new labor-saving machinery • He reduced the number of workers and slashed salaries by nearly 20% in a deliberate attempt to break the union • When the Amalgamated called for a strike, Frick closed the Homestead plant and hired 300 union-busting Pinkerton detectives to protect nonunion workers

22. Labor Strikes and Unrest • The Homestead Strike, 1892 • Enraged strikers fired at barges carrying Pinkertons to the plant • 3 detectives and 10 workers died before the Pinkertons finally surrendered • The workers’ victory proved to be short-lived • The governor of PN ordered the state’s entire contingent of 8,000 National Guard troops to Homestead to protect the plant • The strike finally ended 4 months later leaving the Amalgamated broken and defeated • The Strike underscored the gov’ts determination to protect property rights and maintain law and order • The strike ushered in a decade of violent strikes that set back the industrial union movement for 40 years

23. Labor Strikes and Unrest • The Pullman Strike, 1894 • One of the most serious labor strikes of the late 19th century • It began as a dispute between the Pullman Palace Car Company and its 3,000 employees • Following the Panic of 1893, the Pullman company cut the wages of its workers by about 25% • However, the company did not reduce the rent or prices it charged workers in company- run stores at the “model” town of Pullman just outside of Chicago • As tensions mounted and negotiations failed, many workers joined the American Railway Union led by Eugene Debs • Fearing that they had no alternative, workers walked off their jobs

24. Labor Strikes and Unrest • The Pullman Strike, 1894 • The ARU then staged a nationwide boycott of Pullman cars • Because most railroad companies used Pullman cars, rail traffic ground to a halt in Chicago and across 27 states and territories • President Cleveland had no sympathy for the striking workers • He called out fed troops to break the strike on the grounds that it obstructed delivery of the U.S. mail • The Pullman strike once again demonstrated that the fed gov’t would actively intervene to crush strikes and protect management • The strike left Debs disillusioned and embittered and within a few years, he became a key leader of the Socialist Party of America

25. Early Christmas Present • You may “recover” one grade from this semester. This is an optional assignment. If you lost points for late work, cheating, etc. there is no way to recover those points back. • Just about anything is possible but here are some suggestions: • Turning in test corrections for Unit 1 or Unit 2 (but not both) • Turning in a missing classwork or homework assignment • Retaking a reading/vocabulary quiz • Rewriting the FRE from Unit 2 Exam • Rewriting your DBQ or FRE from Comp 1 (but not both) • Submitting/Resubmitting a Summer Assignment • Be sure to check your grade report carefully and chose wisely. If you have questions or need advice on picking the right thing, let me know. • The last day for this “gift” is Friday, December 16th.