460 likes | 575 Views
A New Industrial Age. Natural resources and new ideas create a boom for industry and railroads. Government addresses corruption in business, and laborers organize for better working conditions. Section 1 The Expansion of Industry.
E N D
A New Industrial Age Natural resources and new ideas create a boom for industry and railroads. Government addresses corruption in business, and laborers organize for better working conditions
Section 1The Expansion of Industry At the end of the 19th century, natural resources, creative ideas, and growing markets fuel an industrial boom
Natural Resources Fuel Industrialization • By 1920s, U.S. is world’s leading industrial power, due to: - Wealth of natural resources - government support for business - growing urban population
Steel played the biggest role in moving the U.S. into the Industrial revolution - It is a mixture of Iron and other metals Steel had been used to make Knives, Swords, and Guns (VERY EXPENSIVE) Steel: The backbone of industry
Steel: The backbone of industry 1860 - Bessemer Process enabled people to make iron into steel at a low cost - Bessemer process put air into iron to remove carbon to make steel Railroads demanded most of the new steel (9/10) Steel required both iron and coal - Coal both source of fuel and carbon - Coal mining, iron mining and steelmaking expanded along with railroads Steel also used in barbed wire & farm machines Changed construction: Brooklyn Bridge; steel-framed skyscrapers
Inventions in Electricity • 1800's - scientist continued to learn about electricity • Learned how to make electricity from a generator - Used Niagara Falls to generate the electricity • Electricity changed business - By 1890 used to run numerous machines • Became available in homes & encouraged invention of appliances • Allowed manufacturers to locate plants anyplace & industry grew
Inventions in Electricity Thomas Edison - made widest use of electricity - Wanted practical inventions (something that would sell) - Took out new patent almost every month for a 5-year period - Light bulb, motion picture camera, .phonograph most famous inventions
1867 - Christopher Sholes invented typewriter Inventions Change Lifestyles
1876 - Alexander Graham Bell & Thomas Watson introduce telephone - People didn't see a practical purpose for the telephone at first - By 1890's several cities were connected by phone lines Office work changed - By 1910, women were 40% of clerical workers Inventions Change Lifestyles
Inventions Change Lifestyles • Inventions impacted factory work & led to industrialization - clothing factories hired many women • Industrialization made jobs easier& improves standard of living - By 1890, average workweek 10 hours shorter - Workers regained power in the market as consumers • Some laborers thought mechanization reduced value of human worker
Changes in Everyday Life • Companies could mass produce products cheaply - Plows - Zippers - Ready made clothing • Improved quality of life
Changes in Everyday Life • Companies began advertising - Procter& Gamble (Ivory soap) • Department stores developed to handle women’s clothing - R.H. Macy in New York - Marshall Field in Chicago • Woolworth’s and Sears Roebuck offered products to people in small towns
Section 2 The Age of the RailroadsThe growth and consolidation of railroads benefits the nation but also leads to corruption and required government regulation.
1860 – Abraham Lincoln promised a transcontinental Railroad if elected 1862 – Pacific Railroad Act Required Large amounts of Capital - Congress gave companies loans and government land located along new tracks Two Companies were hired to build it Rails across America
Central Pacific • Central Pacific would build east from Sacramento California • Central Pacific hired Chinese - Discriminated against at 1st due to size - Drank gallons of tea which made them less likely than the Irish to get sick • Had to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains • One place required them to lay track along cliff face with a 1,400 drop • Workers were dropped down in basket to light dynamite fuses • Had to dig through mountains - Started on both sides and met in the middle
Union Pacific • Union Pacific would build west from Omaha Nebraska • Hired Irish immigrants • Unskilled labor • Drinking un-boiled ditch water made them sick
Two Companies raced to see who could lay the most track - Averaged 1 to 2 miles per day Union Pacific – 1,086 miles Central Pacific – 690 miles May 10, 1869 - Track was completed in Promontory, Utah - Connected with a golden spike - Attached a telegraph wire to the stake - Transmitted a charge to the entire nation when it was finished Track Completed
Western railroads were big from the beginning due to Government help Large rail systems in the east were formed by combining smaller companies Cornelius Vanderbilt created the New York Central Systems by buying smaller systems in the eastern United States 1873 – New York Central provided services between New York and Chicago Combining the Railroads
Helped end Indian control of the west - Lines cut through Indian’s territory - Carried settlers, buffalo hunters, and minors west Tied the East and West economies together - Carried raw materials, crops, and live stock from West to East - Midwestern cities became processing centers (Chicago and St. Louis) - .Helped the growth of industry by turning America into one giant market place Impact of Railroads
Impact of Railroads • Helped people settle and farm the West - Raised cattle and wheat top to feed people in the cities - People moved West with dreams of independence - Farmers were often at the mercy of railroads who transported goods to market and - Eastern buyers who determined how much they would pay for them
Impact of Railroads • Changed the way people thought about the environment - Before railroads People lived and worked near water transportation routes - Railroad made it possible to transport goods without water - Denver, Colorado and Cheyenne, Wyoming developed without water Transportation - Weather didn't stop Railroad
Schedules became a part of American life - Standard time established - 1st established railroad time that was too local (over 100 time zones) - November 18, 1883 - standard time went into effect (divided U.S. into 4 zones) - Many communities refused to accept it -1918 - Congress adopted standard time\ - Today we have six (4 original plus the Alaska time and Hawaii- Aleutian time) Impact of Railroads
Railroads required great supply of materials, parts Iron, coal, steel, lumber, glass industries grew to meet demand 1880 - George M. Pullman built railcar factory on Illinois prairie Pullman provided housing, doctors, shops, & sports field for workers Company tightly controlled residents to ensure stable work force tarnished Opportunities and Opportunists
Opportunities and • Wish for control, profit leads some railroad magnates to corruption - Union Pacific stockholders formed construction company, Crédit Mobilier - overpaid for laying track, pocketed profits - Republican politicians were implicated & reputation of party
The Grange and the Railroads • Farmers became angry over perceived railroad corruption - Railroads sold government lands to businesses, not settlers - Fixed prices & kept farmers in debt - Charged different customers different rates
Granger Laws • Grangers sponsored state & local political candidates • Pressed for laws to protect farmers’ interests • Munn v. Illinois - Supreme Court upheld states’ right to regulate RR • Set principle that federal government could regulate private industry • 1886 - Interstate Commerce Act - Supreme Court said states couldn’t set rates on interstate commerce • Public outrage led to Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 - Federal government could supervise railroads - Established Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) • Legal battle with railroads; difficult for ICC to take action
Panic and Consolidation • Abuses, mismanagement, competition almost bankrupt many railroads • Railroad problems contribute to panic of 1893, depression • By mid-1894, 25% of railroads taken over by financial companies
Section 3 Big Business and LaborThe expansion of industry results in the growth of big business and prompts laborers to form unions to better their lives.
U. S. threw itself a birthday party that lasted 6 months World's Fair in Philadelphia Millions of people came to see American advancements in technology - Biggest attraction - Corliss engine (steam engine) - supplied power to 8,000 other machines. The Centennial- 100 year anniversary (1876)
What made Industry Grow • Railroads - made possible a vast national exchange of goods • Inventions - New ideas and inventions helped U.S. become an industrial Giant • Patent - guarantees an inventor all the profits for/her invention for a certain length of time • Before 1860 - 36,000 patents • Between 1860 and 1900 - 650,000 • Natural Resources - U.S. had abundant supplies of coal, iron ore, oil, forest, water resources, and fertile land • Human labor and talent - U.S. population more than doubled between 1860 and 1900 (much of this population came from immigrants) • Capital-large profits could be made from America's growing economy - This encouraged Banks and wealthy people to lend money to build new factories (A lot of capital came from European investors)
Gilded Age • American industry enabled a few people to become rich beyond imagination • Had palace like homes with gilded decoration • 1883 - William and Alvia Vanderbilt threw party that cost $200 per person (1,200 guest $250,000 total - Average non farm person made $438 per year • Nations economy seesawed between boom and bust (called business cycle)
Rise of Corporations • Before 1880 most businesses owned directly by one person or partnership • Banks were afraid to loan money because company could collapse if person died • Corporation - company that has Gov. permission to raise money by selling stock • People buy stock for 2 reasons - Hope price of stock will rise - Want dividends (share of profits) • Corporations can borrow money more easily - Continues to exist if when its owners die
Social Darwinism and Business • Principles of Social Darwinism • Darwin’s theory of biological evolution: the best-adapted survive • Social Darwinism, or social evolution, based on Darwin’s theory • Economists used Social Darwinism to justify doctrine of laissez faire • Idea of survival & success of the most capable appealled to wealthy • Notion of individual responsibility in line with Protestant ethic • See riches as sign of God’s favor; poor must be lazy, inferior
Entrepreneurs • People who start businesses • They imagined a goal then achieved it • Used new inventions to gain what they wanted • Many became philanthropist - gave money to colleges, libraries, museums, etc • Many Entrepreneurs of the 1800's called "Captains of Industry" for leadership • Critics call them "Robber Barons" for ruthlessness - Destroyed their competitors - Raised prices and lowered quality - Paid low wages and had unsafe factories
Andrew Carnegie (Steel) • Born poor • Started out in textile business • Moved to job with railroads saved money • Decided steel was industry of the future - Invested money in steel mills that used latest technology • Used vertical integration - bought out suppliers to control materials - Cut cost buy purchasing mines and ships to transport • By 1900 - controlled American steel business • Didn't believe in leaving money to family - Gave away 350 million dollars for the improvement of mankind
John D. Rockefeller (Oil) • Cleveland merchant • Entered oil business in 1860's • Purchased refinery - plant that turned purify crude oil • Formed Standard Oil - Trust - a business that controlled many businesses in same industry - Charged whatever prices they wanted to
Sherman Antitrust Act • Government thought expanding corporations stifled free competition • Sherman Antitrust Act: trust illegal if they interfere with free trade • Prosecuting companies was difficult • Government stopped enforcing act
Business Boom Bypasses the South • South recovering from Civil War, hindered by lack of capital • North owns 90% of stock in RR, most profitable Southern businesses • Business problems: high transport cost, tariffs, few skilled workers
Lives of Workers • Most workers had 12 hour days, 6 day workweeks - perform repetitive, mind-dulling tasks - no vacation, sick leave, injury compensation • To survive, families needed all member to work, including children • Late 1800's - children worked along aside adults - Child labor laws didn’t exist • Sweatshops - places where people work long hours in unsafe conditions for low wages • By 1900 - 2/3 of people were wage earners - Lost sense of accomplishment that comes from making product start to finish • Treated like another piece of machinery
Gov. played no role in telling business how to operate Workers organized to better lives Labor unions - group of workers that negotiate with the company owners about wages and working conditions Railroad Strike of 1877 - Railroad cut wages - Workers went on strike - State militias battled angry mobs - President Hayes sent federal troops to stop strike and restore order Call for Action
Formed by Terrence Powderly (machinist) Became a national union of workers Wanted to reform society - 8 hour workday - Child labor laws - Wanted equal pay for women Were against immigration - Immigrants worked for lower wages - Applauded the Chinese Exclusion Act - Stopped all Chinese immigration to the U.S. for 10 years Knights of Labor
Reacting to Unions • Leaders saw unions power as a threat to profits • Blamed unions on socialist and anarchist - Socialist - wanted workers to share in ownership and profits of business - Anarchist - rejected all forms of government and authority • Late 1800's - most Americans sided with business leaders - Felt that person's success should depend upon their labor effort
AFL only had skilled workers (harder to replace) Limited demands to wages and working conditions Began to achieve goals Gov. began to help workers - Passed safety laws Samuel Gompers and the AFL
Union Setbacks • Homestead Strike of 1892 - Steel mill workers won higher wages - Carnegie announced company would only deal with employees one on one - Employees protested - Company locked them out hired new employees - Pinkerton agents (people hired as private security guards were brought in) - Pinkerton agents and former employees had a 12 hour gun fight - Gov. sent in militia - Steel workers union destroyed
Union Setbacks • Pullman strike – 1894 - Depression - Pullman Palace car cut wages - Company owned town - refused to cut rent - Workers protested - Federal troops sent in to end strike