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The Rise of Big Business. Topics to be covered: Developing the Role of Big Business Workers Endure Hardships. Developing the Role Of Big Business. Robber Barons & Captains of Industry. The era of industrialization was driven by a few great men labeled as industrialists.
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The Rise of Big Business • Topics to be covered: • Developing the Role of Big Business • Workers Endure Hardships
Developing the Role Of Big Business
Robber Barons & Captains of Industry • The era of industrialization was driven by a few great men labeled as industrialists. • Some of these industrialists included: • Andrew Carnegie • John D. Rockefeller • Cornelius Vanderbilt • J.P. Morgan • Their number one motive was wealth. • Some believe these people should be referred to as “robber barons”, while others believed they should be referred to as “captains of industry”.
Robber Barons • This term portrayed the industrialists as ruthless, cruel businessmen who would let nothing stand in their way of achieving great wealth. • They were accused of misusing workers and forcing awful working environments upon the laborer.
Captains of Industry • This term portrayed the industrialists as resourceful and productive leaders who changed the American economy with their business skills. • They were commended for their skills.
Robber Baron orCaptain of Industry? • J.P. Morgan • *He was one of the most powerful banking houses in the country, he helped the railroad industry recover, and made a fortune in railroads. • *Robber Baron
Social Darwinism • Social Darwinism is an evolutional theory about stating, that only the strongest and fittest should survive and flourish in society, and the weak and unfit should be left to die. • It was present in factory life because if you died while working that means you were unfit to work in that society and you were left to die.
Charles Darwin • February 12, 1809 – April 19, 1882 • He was an English naturalist • He developed the theory of Social Darwinism, which many people accepted.
Workers Endure Hardships
Working Conditions In Factories of the 1800s • The conditions were pretty harsh, the factories were overcrowded, dark, dirty, and dangerous. • Some of the machinery was dangerous to handle. • Most of the workers didn’t even have protective gear to wear.
Factory Life • Many Americans worked 70 hours or more per week, and most of those people started before the age of 7. • Everyone knew at least 5 people working in these factories because so many people worked in them. • The average wage earned was $16 a week, and some of them made less than that.
Sweatshops • Sweatshops were poorly lit and ventilated rooms where seamstresses sat side by side doing piece work. • The cloth would be piled high and the workers wouldn’t be allowed to talk. • If their job wasn’t completed they wouldn’t get paid.
Families in the Workplace -role of women -role of children -physical effects on people
Role of Women • Women had to work in factories • They were forced to work for little to no pay • Worked in a building a with horrible conditions (unsanitary) • Women had to work full days. • Women found jobs in domestic service, textile factories, and piece workshops. (sometimes coal mines)
Role of Children • Children as young as 6 years old worked hard hours for little or no pay. • Children worked up to 19 hours a day, with a 1 hour total break. • Worked in horrible conditions (large, heavy, and dangerous equipment). • After 1833 children were paid only a fraction of what an adult got. • Children orphans were subject to slave-like labor. • They’re pay was food, shelter, and clothing.
Role of Children Cont. • Children got treated cruel. • They’re safety was neglected. • People who served the children would abuse them • Boys were dragged naked from their beds and sent to factories only holding there clothes to be put on there.
Physical Effects on People • In some factories they used a the chemical phosphorous, which could cause their teeth to rot and some died from breathing it into their lungs. • The health conditions in the factories were low so people easily caught diseases and died. • There were also some machine accidents at times and people faced the risk of losing a limb or possibly their life.
Factory/Company towns • The company town was an economic institution that was part of the market for labor. • The first large scale industrial community was in Lowell, Massachusetts, and it began in post revolutionary eastern US with textile mills. • Today’s company towns are neither utopian nor exploitive.
Way of life • In the Lowell Mill Company Towns, like most others, the workers were told how to dress, how to act, when to speak properly, and they had a curfew. • They were also told how to conduct themselves in public, and when to go to church.