CHAPTER SIX: THE AGE OF INDUSTRIALISM

State Standards Covered

CE 6.1.1 I can analyze the factors that allowed the United States to become an industrial power including the advantages of physical geography.

CE 6.1.2 I can evaluate the different responses of labor to industrial change including the southern and western farmers’ reactions (i.e. The Grangers).

CE 6.1.3 I can analyze the changing urban landscape by examining resulting tensions within groups.

Industry Expands: Section One

NATURAL RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIALIZATION After Civil War, the U.S. was agricultural;

in the 1920’s it became highly industrial Causesmany natural resources,

government support of business, an increasing urban population that offers cheap labor

1859: Edwin Drake uses a steam engine to drill in Titusville, Pennsylvania that removes oil from the surface of the earth

Industry Expands

Spreads to Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Texas; originally converted into kerosene but was later used for cars

Expansive deposits of coal and iron—iron, in particular, had to go through a conversion process due to its dense nature that makes it easy to break and rust

Steel is created out of iron due its durability and rust-resistance—the Bessemer process injects air into the iron to rid itself of carbon and other impurities

Industry Expands

Industry Expands

Railroads utilized steel the most, but it was used for other productsGlidden’s barbed wire and John Deere’s machinery

Steel was used for the Brooklyn Bridge; it spans 1,595 feet; labeled as one of the wonders of the world

William Le Baron Jenney builds the first skyscraper with a steel basis; the Home Insurance Building in Chicago

Industry Expands

Industry Expands

INVENTIONS ENHANCE CHANGE Thomas Alva Edison improved the

incandescent light bulb, in 1880, and developed and distributed an entire electrical system

By 1890, electricity ran machines, spurred the creation of home appliances, and was a cheap source of energy to power home

Growth of cities Manufacturers moved plants anywhere—

away from rivers that used to supply power

Industry Expands

Industry Expands

Thomas Alva Edison ClipINVENTIONS CHANGE QUALITY OF LIFE Christopher Sholes (1867) invents the

typewriter and Alexander Graham Bell (1876) invents the telephone

Two inventions impacted women by creating more clerical jobs and made working more efficient

The creation of inventions and industrialization decreased the amount of back-breaking labor and improved working conditions

Negative feedback: the creation of machines devalues the hard work of mankind and reduces the amount of job availability

Rise of Railroads: Section Two

RAILROADS EXPAND Railroads made local travel possible and

increased settlements and developments in the West

Extended over thousands of miles of territory: popular railroads include Central Pacific and Union Pacific

Central Pacific hired Chinese immigrants; the Union Pacific hired Irish immigrants and Civil War Veterans: built them around treacherous terrains, faced attacks by Native Americans, accidents and diseases either killed or disabled men

Rise of Railroads

Rise of Railroads

Rise of Railroads

Transcontinental railroad linked the Atlantic to the Pacific (1869)

The problem of time: in the beginning, each region in the United States operated on its own time, which caused scheduling conflicts

Solution: (1869) Professor C. F. Dowd came up with the ideas for 24 world time zones, which included four U.S. time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific—became govt. recognized in 1918

Rise of Railroads

RAILROADS CREATE OPPORTUNITIES Iron, coal, steel, and glass

industries increased to keep up with the demands of the railroads for raw materials

New markets are created and increases opportunities for entrepreneurs

Trade is promoted and new towns are created: Albiene, Kansas; Flagstaff, Arizona; Denver, Colorado; Seattle, Washington

Rise of Railroads

George Pullman (1880) invents sleeper cars and creates a town for his workers; includes clean housing and offers services such as a doctor’s office or a post office

Pullman’s control—no loitering or alcohol use

Pullman faces backlash when he would not lower rent when he cutback the wages of his workers—leads to a major strike

Rise of Railroads

Rise of Railroads

Rise of Railroads

Corruption against Credit Mobilier: stockholders for Union Pacific Railroad charged the company two to three times the cost to build more track—pocketed the profits and donated shares of stock to 20 representatives in Congress

Investigation ensuesstockholder receive a slap on the wrist and keep their profits; the reputation of the Republican Party is harmed

Rise of Railroads

THE GRANGE AND THE RAILROADS Grangers, members of a farm

alliance, in 1867, demand that the govt. regulates the railroad business

Farmers angry with railroad companies: misuse of land grants (sold to businesses rather than settlers), fixed prices that kept farmers in debt, charged different customers different rates (more costly for short hauls)

Grangers sponsor state and local political candidates to push for laws that protect their interests—very successful (Granger laws)

Rise of Railroads

1877 Munn vs. Illinois: railroads challenge the laws; the Supreme Court rules in favor of the laws to benefit consumers and farmers

1886—Supreme Court is contradictory by ruling that the govt. cannot interfere with interstate commerce—includes railroad traffic

Public angry again—Congress passes the Interstate Commerce Act (1887): establishes the right of the federal govt. to regulate the railroad business and creates the Interstate Commerce Commission

Rise of Railroads

Corporate abuses, mismanagement, overbuilding, and competition pushed many railroads to the tip of bankruptcy

Their financial difficulties led to the Panic of 1893—banks close; businesses fail; extreme job loss

1894—large business firms take over railroad use

Business vs. Labor: Section Three

THE RISE OF ANDREW CARNEGIE Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant, used

stocks from previous job at Pennsylvania Railroad to invest in the steel business

Very successful business—found cheap ways to make better products and used talented people to help run his company by promising large shares of his stock

Other reasons for success: vertical integration is where he bought out his suppliers (coal, iron, railroads); horizontal integration is where he bought out or merged with other steel companies

1901 produces the one of the largest portions of steel in the world

Business vs. Labor

Business vs. Labor

THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL DARWINISM Social Darwinism is

applying the idea of “survival of the fittest” to social classes and businesses; the weak businesses fail and the strong businesses survive; supported by laissez-fair govt. (no govt. regulation)

Appealing to many millionaires of the time; believed to be in God’s favor if rich and the poor were inferior people that deserved their misfortune

Business vs. Labor

THE FEW CONTROL THE MANY Monopoly is where a company buys out all of

their competitors and controls production, workers’ wages, and product prices

Monopolies sometimes used holding companies in order to be created: bought out all of the stocks of their competitors

John D. Rockefeller, owner of the Standard Oil Company, controlled the entire oil industry with the use of a trusts that controlled his stock and worked toward making profits

Made lots of money by driving out competitors (competitive pricing) and paying workers low wages (known, at times, as a robber baron)

Business vs. Labor

Business vs. Labor

Gave away 500 mill. to Rockefeller Foundation, which gave money to the Univ. of Chicago and created a medical institute; donated 90% of his earnings to arts and learning (captain of industry)

1890 Sherman Antitrust Act created to break up controlling trusts that interfered with trade and trust inside and outside of the country

Response to the Actcompanies break up into single businesses if govt. pressures them; seven of eight cases were thrown out by Supreme Court

Business vs. Labor

THE EMERGENCE OF LABOR UNIONS Unfair circumstances for

workers: had to work six to seven days a week; work ten to twelve hours a day; not allowed to take vacations, collect sick pay or unemployment, and there was no injury compensation

Factories are unclean, poorly ventilated, and had dangerous equipment

Everyone worked in poor families including kids (some as young as five); education not as important at this time

Business vs. Labor

1866 National Labor Union (skilled workers, only allowed whites) pursued an eight-hour workday

1869 Knights of Labor (Uriah Stevens) opened the org. to all races and fought for an eight-hour day and equal pay between genders

Business vs. Labor

UNION MOVEMENT 1886 American Federation of

Labor, led by its president, Samuel Gompers, was a group of skilled workers that used negotiation for wages, hours, and working conditions

Used the strike method to receive higher wages and better hours

Eugene V. Debs begins the American Railway Union to include all workers, skilled and unskilled; larger membership than other railway unions

Business vs. Labor

Some labor activists favor socialism: overthrow capitalism and allow govt. to take over business, private property, and distribution of wealth

Industrial Workers of the Workers of the World: a radical socialist group that includes all workers emerges; only have one major victory in 1912

Business vs. Labor

THE VIOLENCE OF STRIKES 1877 workers for the B&O Railroad strike to protest the

second wage cut in two months; worker stoppage spread over 50,000 miles; Pres. Hayes ends it by sending in federal troops

1886 Haymarket Square, Chicago about 3,000 workers gather to protest the death of a fellow striker; a bomb is thrown into the police squad; officers open fire on the crowd; seven officers die along with several workers; not sure who started it; put eight on trial and all eight are convicted; four are hanged and one commits suicide

June 1892 Homstead Strike: Henry Frick, president of Carnegie Steel, announces wages cuts; workers go on strike; he hires guards known as the Pinkertons to put down strikes and allow scabs to work instead; strikers able to defeat Pinkertons but support dies out by November

Business vs. Labor

Panic of 1893 impacts George Pullman as he lays off workers and cuts wages; 1894 a strike is called by Eugene Debs after Pullman refuses to negotiate with workers; Pres. Cleveland sends in federal troops, Debs put in jail, Pullman fires strikers, and railroads blacklist others

Mary Harris Jones, although women are banned from unions, supported Strike of 1877 and organized United Mine Workers of America; put up with death threats and spent time in jail; led 80 mill. children to Pres. Roosevelt’s home and had child labor laws passed

Triangle Shirtwaist Incident (1911): a fire in the factory spreads over oil-drenched machines and piles of cloth; workers cannot leave because the doors are locked; no sprinkler system; 146 women die; jury acquits factory owners

Business vs. Labor

Triangle Shirtwaist Incident