U.S. HISTORY CHAPTER 5, SECTION 2

THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The Second Industrial RevolutionINTRODUCTION: During the late

1800’s, new technology and inventions led to growth in industry and big business, and revolutions in transportation and communication.

OIL BOOM

In the mid-1800’s people refined oil into kerosene to light lamps

In 1859 in Pennsylvania, Edwin L. Drake drilled into the ground to extract oil – soon he was pumping oil to the surface

“Wildcatters” – oil prospectors

OIL BOOM (continued)

In 1901 oil was found near Beaumont, Texas – this led to an “oil boom” in Texas

Many leading oil companies started here, and later they would refine crude oil into gasoline and other petroleum products, creating a revolution in transportation and industry

INDUSTRY

New technology in oil and steel industries

MAKING STEEL: in the 1850’s a new method, called the “Bessemer process,” made steel making faster and cheaper

American steel mills:1873: 115,000 tons1910: 24 million tons

RAILROADS

In the 1850’s, railroads crisscrossed the Northeast and into the Southeast and Great Lakes region

Congress authorized two companies to build rail lines to the West Coast: Union Pacific westward from Omaha; Central Pacific eastward from Sacramento

May 10, 1869 the two lines met at Promontory Summit in Utah Territory

Railroads…

-Government gave land-Cheap steel enabled expansion-Promoted trade and provided jobs-Sped up settlement of the West-Caused new towns to spring up-Led to standardized time for the

nation (1918)

THE RISE OF BIG BUSINESS

Big business prospered in the 1800’s

Entrepreneurs: risk takers who started new business ventures

Capitalism: economic system in which business is privately owned

Laissez-faire capitalism: companies operating without government interference

Social Darwinism: the stronger survive

New Business OrganizationsNew type of business organization:

Corporation – a business with the legal status of an individual; business owned by people who buy stock, or shares, in the companyBoard of Directors – make decisionsCorporate Officers – run operations

Monopoly: business having complete control over an industry

Industrial Tycoons

John D. Rockefeller: Standard Oilstarted in oil refinery business – by 1875 Standard Oil refined half the oil in the U.S.

Andrew Carnegie: poor boy – went to work for the railroads – invested – founded his own company, Carnegie Steel Company, and by 1899 dominated the steel industry (sold his company in 1901 for $480 million)

Industrial Tycoons (con’t)Cornelius Vanderbilt

Began investing in railroads during the Civil War

George Pullmanmade a fortune designing and building railroad sleeper cars

Industrial Tycoons (con’t)TWO VIEWS:

1) “Robber Barons” who destroyed competitors with tough tactics

2) “Captains of Industry” who used their business skills to expand and strengthen the national economy

Working Conditions late 1800’sSteelworkers: worked 12 hours a day, six

days a week, for little payTextile workers: worked 60 – 80 hours per

week(many of them were children)

Miners: worked underground with explosives, but without safety regulations

Low pay, unhealthy conditions, no sick pay or leave, no compensation for injuries

Management and Labor

They had differing opposing interests – workers wanted good wages; owners wanted to keep labor costs low

There was a great gap between rich and poor.

The relationship became strained – conflict!

Workers began forming Unions

Workers began to organize

By the late 1800’s workers began to band together to pressure employers for better pay and working conditions

KNIGHTS OF LABOR (1869) – campaigned for an 8-hour workday, end of child labor, and equal pay for equal work

This was the beginning of the LABOR UNION

Unions STRIKE!

GREAT RAILROAD STRIKE (1877): Workers struck in protest against wage cuts – blocked movement of trains – strikes spread – clashes led to many deaths – Army finally ended the strike

HAYMARKET RIOT (1886): about 1,500 different strikes over wage cuts – in Chicago crowds gathered, a bomb went off, 11 died and more than 100 were injured

“Solidarity Forever”When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run, There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun; Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one, But the union makes us strong.

CHORUS: Solidarity forever, Solidarity forever, Solidarity forever, For the union makes us strong.

It is we who plowed the prairies; built the cities where they trade; Dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad laid; Now we stand outcast and starving midst the wonders we have made; But the union makes us strong.

Chorus. They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn, But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn. We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn That the union makes us strong.

Setbacks for organized laborEmployers tried to get employees to sign

pledges to not join unions –

In 1886 a group of workers, led by Samuel Gompers, formed the American Federation of Labor (AFL) – they won wage increases and shorter workweeks

Though gains were made, yet the late 1800’s remained the era of “big business”

Workers: Organize & Strike

Advances in Transportation Railroads made long-distance travel easier

A transportation revolution:STREETCARS: by 1900 most cities had

electric streetcarsSUBWAYS: Boston opened the first subway

line in 1897; New York in 1904AUTOMOBILES: first practical American

motorcar in 1893AIRPLANES: Wright brothers first flew

December 17, 1903

Mass Marketing

Retail merchants looking for ways to maximize their profits – new forms of marketing (brand names, advertising)

“DEPARTMENT STORE”Many items in one storeMail-order purchasing

Advances in Communication

TELEGRAPH: 1837 Samuel Morse patented method for sending messages over wiresWires came to be strung on poles along railroad tracks

TELEPHONE: Alexander Graham Bell patented a design in 1876 – by 1900 there were more than a million telephones in offices & homes

TYPEWRITER: first practical typewriter developed in 1867 – women hired as typists

Thomas Edison

One of America’s most amazing inventors: in 1876, Thomas Alva Edison opened a research lab in New Jersey – spent hours testing ideas – invented first phonograph; telephone transmitter; electric light bulb; electricity network to New York City; electric power plants…(more than 1,000 U.S. patents!)

An Age of Extremes:

Great individual wealth and terrible poverty

New factory jobs and corporations

New inventions:Electric lights Horseless carriagesTelephones Flying machinesMoving pictures SkyscrapersRecord players TypewritersBaseball & Football leagues