1. Chapter 17 Age of Industry 1865-1900

2. The United States Industrializes After the Civil War, people moved from farming to working in mines and factories. Industrial success aided by: Water, timber, coal, iron, copper Transcontinental RR Petroleum (kerosene) - lanterns and stoves. Population tripled = more labor and desire for goods.

3. Government’s Role Laissez-faire – Allow supply and demand to regulate prices and wages without gov’t interference Entrepreneurs built factories and RR’s and opened businesses Tariffs (taxes on imports) - necessary to protect American industry against foreign competition.

5. New Inventions Alexander G. Bell – telephone (1876) Bell Telephone = American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) Thomas A. Edison (late 1800s)– phonograph, light bulb, electric generator, dictaphone, motion picture. Edison Electric Company supplied electricity to NYC = General Electric Trans-Atlantic telegraph cable (1866)= instant communication between U.S. and Europe Italian Guglielmo Marconi (1880s)– radio Common in American homes by 1920

6. Consumerism Clothing and shoe industry increased productivity Automatic loom, power sewing machine, cloth cutters Standard sizes led to buying “off the rack” Department stores allowed people to shop for goods at one place Those in rural areas could purchase by mail-order catalogues – Sears and Roebuck; Montgomery Ward

7. Railroads Gov’t encouraged building of RR’s by offering land grants. Chinese laborers were hired to help build the RR’s. Transcontinental RR was completed in 1869 in Utah.

8. Railroads (con’t) Smaller RR’s - consolidated into larger systems. Cornelius Vanderbilt – (1869) merged 3 RR lines to offer direct rail service from NYC to Chicago. 1883 – country divided into 4 time zones to aid in RR scheduling.

9. Big Business By 1900, large companies dominated the economy. Stockholders owned shares of the company called stock. As companies grew, trusts formed. Trust - combination of corporations to reduce competition. Led to a monopoly - one company gaining control of the entire market for a good or service

10. Andrew Carnegie A poor Scottish immigrant, he became the leader of the steel industry. Bessemer process - manufacture stronger steel for less cost. Carnegie Steel was successful because of vertical integration – owning all the resources needed to produce a product. Carnegie Steel Wholesale/Retail Outlets Steel Mills Shipping Iron ore and Coal mines

11. U.S. Steel Corporation (Carnegie)

12. John D. Rockefeller Made millions in the oil business. Formed the Standard Oil Trust Used horizontal integration – combined many smaller companies in the same business into one large corporation. Standard Oil Independent Oil Refinery Independent Oil Refinery Independent Oil Refinery

13. “Growing the American Beauty Rose” From a speech by Rockefeller (“Reck- a-fellow”) in which he stated: “"The American Beauty rose can be produced in all its splendor only by sacrificing the early buds that grow up around it.”

14. Robber Barons vs. Captains of Industry Two views of big business: 1. “Robber Barons” (negative) – destroyed small companies, charged high prices, exploited workers, corrupt. 2. “Captains of Industry” (positive) - organized new industries, provided better services, improved quality, were philanthropic.

15. New Ideas Andrew Carnegie – Gospel of Wealth – wealthy should use their resources to aid society through philanthropy. Charles Darwin – On the Origin of Species (1859) – theory of evolution through “natural selection” and “survival of fittest” challenged traditional religious views of creation

16. Social Darwinism Social Darwinism - “survival of the fittest in society” supported laissez-faire and pure capitalism

17. Setting the Scene…. 1860-1900 – 14 million immigrants came to the U.S. Capitalize on industrialization Men, women, children all worked By 1890, 75% of wealth held by 9% of population Some turned to socialism: Economic/political philosophies should favor the public Majority of nation’s wealth should be held by the public, not private individuals

18. Workers Laborers worked long hours, little pay, bad conditions, no benefits. To fight for rights, organized labor unions – united all workers within an industry. Companies hated unions! Employees often forced to sign yellow-dog contracts (not be in union). People in a union or on strike often fired and put on a blacklist – list of troublemakers. Scabs (replacement workers) and lockouts used to break strikes.

19. Labor Unions: Knights of Labor (1870s) First nationwide industrial union Led by Terrance Powderly Both skilled and unskilled workers 8-hr. workday Equal pay for women End to child labor Unsuccessful – untrue reputation for violence; unskilled easily replaced

20. Labor Unions: American Federation of Labor (AFL) - 1886 Trade union – skilled workers only Leader was Samuel Gompers Get companies to accept unions Push for closed shop – only hire union members “bread and butter” issues: 8-hr. workday, better conditions

21. Great RR Strike: July 1877 Pittsburgh, PA - Baltimore and Ohio Railroads cut wages. Strikers and rioters attacked RR property. President Rutherford B. Hayes sent in troops to stop strikers

22. Haymarket Square – May 1886 Workers in Chicago on strike for 8-hour work day. Anarchists in crowd threw a bomb, killing dozens. American public began viewing unions as violent radicals.

23. Homestead Steel Strike - 1892 Homestead, PA Carnegie Steel employees on strike to protest wage cuts. Henry Frick (Carnegie’s manager) called in Pinkerton Agency to put down strikers.

24. Pullman Palace Car Strike - 1894 Chicago, IL Led by Eugene Debs and American Railway Union Employees of Pullman Palace Car company went on strike to protest wage cuts. President Grover Cleveland sent in troops to ensure no violence occurred. Court issued an injunction, forcing strikers to stop because it brought nation’s RR’s to a standstill. Debs arrested for ignoring injuction Set precedent for court injunctions; hurt union efforts.