find the fiction the word “trusts” actually deals with a business the words bessemer, steel,...
TRANSCRIPT
Find the Fiction
• The word “trusts” actually deals with a business
• The words Bessemer, steel, & Carnegie all go together
• New inventions like electricity made workers lives much easier
Find the Fiction #2
• The US government used to quarantine and deport immigrants from Europe
• Incoming immigrants were welcomed to America and quickly accepted into society
• The US government passed a law to keep Chinese people out of the country
Find the Fiction #3
• Cities used to have sewage and “crap” backflow into the streets
• Tenements were used in the production of industrial goods
• A Hull House was a place for the homeless to live and get help
Areas of Industry
• Railroads– Two main people are Cornelius Vanderbilt and J.
Edgar Thomson
• Steel– Andrew Carnegie – Carnegie Steel/US Steel– Railroad tracks need to be replaced– steel is stronger than iron; lasts 20x longer– Main area of production was Ohio & Pennsylvania– Bessemer process– Uses cut-throat business tactics to gain fortune
• Focused more on money saved (middle managers)• Uses Vertical Integration
• Oil– Edwin Drake creates oil drill– John D. Rockefeller – Standard Oil– Creates oil monopoly by undercutting competition
• Used Vertical integration
• Banking/Investment– J.P. Morgan
• Industrialists were collectively known as “Robber Barons”
• Practiced idea called Social Darwinism– Survival of the fittest
Robber Barons (l-r): Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan
Discuss with someone sitting close by, the meaning of this cartoon. Whom does each side represent? How can you tell?
New Business Practices• Corporations
– Begins with individuals pooling moneys to finance larger businesses
– Businesses start selling shares of ownership (stock) to get more money for investment
– Main advantage is limited liability
• Trusts– Combining businesses and running them as 1 organization– Used by several robber barons to eliminate competition
• Purchased majority ownership of several competing companies• Board of Trustees run all similar businesses the same• Leads to monopolies and price inflation (ex – Standard Oil)
• Sherman Anti-Trust Act – passed in 1890 to limit trusts & preserve competition– Outlaws monopolies, but poorly enforced early– Will later be used incorrectly against labor unions
Inventions
• Electricity– Thomas Edison creates 1st incandescent light bulb in 1876
• Known as the “Wizard of Menlo Park”
– Edison also creates system for producing & distributing electricity– Makes it possible to create factories away from rivers– Factory workers lives get worse (longer hours)
• Telegraph– Samuel Morse – precursor to Telephone
• Telephone– Invented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell– Bell worked with acoustics
• Turned sound waves into electrical currents• Current travels through electrical wire; converted back to sound
– In 1880: 85 towns had phone systems– In 1885: 100+ telephone companies serving most of America
Changes in Labor• More factories created – leads to more need for
unskilled workers (immigrants)• More machines created – dangerous working
conditions (no safety regulations)– No protection against accidents, injury, or death– Most dangerous industry was steel
• Workers received low wages, hours increase– Wages often cut for no reason– Can’t complain or you’ll be replaced– Some factories pay based on piece work– Factory owners look for women or children to work for
cheaper wages• Problems lead to formation of Unions
Major Labor Unions• AFL – American Federation of Labor
– Started by Samuel Gompers in 1886– Accepted skilled workers (“A+”)
• Knights of Labor– Started by Uriah Stephens in 1869– Accepted ALL workers into the union
• ARU – American Railway Union– Started by Eugene V. Debs in 1893– Workers had to be in the Railroad business
• Debs also member of a socialist group known as the IWW (Wobblies) – goal was to increase worker solidarity; welcomed all workers (women, African-Americans, Asians, other immigrants, etc.)
Major Strikes• The Great Strike of 1877 (Railroad Strike)
– Started because of wages cuts by B&O Railroad (1st major strike)
– Put down by federal troops• Homestead Strike
– Strike against Carnegie Steel in 1892 (AA & KoL)– Pinkertons used unsuccessfully– Henry Frick (chairman of company) shot
• Haymarket Square Riot– Chicago, 1886 – workers strike for 8 hour workday– Policeman killed by bomb, riot ensues– Union blamed for deaths & riot (KoL); public turns
against unions• Pullman Strike
– 1894 in Illinois protesting wage cuts (ARU)– Federal troops called in to put down Strike
Immigration
• Between 1870-1920 over 20 million European immigrants came to the US– Before 1870-1880, most are from Western Europe
(England, Ireland, Germany, etc.) - WASP– After 1870-1880, most come from Southern & Eastern
Europe (Italy, Greece, Poland, Russia, etc.)
• Most immigrants come for better life or to escape persecution
• Ellis Island opens as processing station for European immigrants– Must pass physical inspection, intelligence/literacy
test, etc.– Government could quarantine or deport undesirables
Other Immigrants
• Asian Immigrants– Most came through West Coast (Angel Island)– More discrimination against Asians– US passes Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 – suspended
Chinese immigration to US; not repealed until 1943– Japanese immigration limited by Teddy Roosevelt with
Gentleman’s Agreement in 1907• Hispanic Immigration
– Most in the south– Newlands Act helped w/ irrigation of dry lands– Increased immigration in Texas, California, Arizona
• Feelings of Nativism spread throughout US
Urbanization & Problems• Growth of Cities
– Most immigrants make their way into cities– More opportunity for jobs (factories)– Cities tended to have clusters of same peoples (ie –
China Town, Little Italy, etc.)– Influx of people caused demand/need for more
housing– Cities begin growing out AND up
• Housing Problems– Cities grow, but not fast enough to keep up with
population– Leads to tenement apartments
• Overcrowded, multiple families• Unsanitary (little to no plumbing or ventilation)
Other Urban Problems
• Transportation– People must walk; leads to public transport– Cable Cars, Subways
• Water & Sanitation– Little indoor plumbing– Sewage problems led to backflow– Pollution due to factories
• Fire– Most buildings made of wood– Fire easily spreads once started (ex – Chicago)– Leads to cities building w/ steel (skyscrapers)
• Crime– Mainly pickpockets & thieves– Con men take advantage of new immigrants– Organized crime (gangs) begin – usually w/ ethnic impacts
Political Corruption• Political Machines
– Boss Tweed & Tammany Hall– Used immigrant votes & graft
• Helped immigrants find jobs/housing in exchange for their votes
– Finally brought down by Thomas Nast• “stop them damned pictures. I don’t care so much what they say
about me. My constituents can’t read, but, damn it, they can see pictures!”
• Credit Mobilier (1867) – corrupt stock/profits taken by congressmen (James
Garfield) & VP Schuyler Colfax – Goal was to steal RR $$ from the shareholders
• Whiskey Ring Scandal (1875)– Political scandal during Grant’s presidency– Involved cabinet members, politicians who stole tax
revenue from whiskey
Politics (cont.)
• Election of 1880– Split in Republicans due to Rutherford B. Hayes &
Roscoe Conkling– Nomination for Republicans in 1880 had James
Garfield & Chester Authur (Conkling’s friend)– Garfield wins election– Garfield shot in 1881 by Charles Guiteau
• Pendleton Civil Service Act– Ended jobs based on patronage (spoils system) –
used merit to decide jobs• Mugwumps
– Republicans who supported Democrat Grover Cleveland in 1884 (instead of Rep. James Blaine)
– Against corruption of Republicans
Discuss these cartoons with a partner sitting nearby. What are the overall messages? How can you tell?