Ch 14 Section 3 Notes

Andrew Carnegie 1899 the Carnegie Steel Company was created Does Amazing He creates vertical integration  Where you buy all the suppliers to create your product  Coal fields, iron mines, ore freighters, railroad lines  He creates horizontal integration  Buying other companies in the same product as you  Monopolies develop  Holding Companies develop (companies literally created to buy out others)

Horizontal and Vertical Integration

Social Darwinism Charles Darwin's theory of biological evolution in “theory of evolution” Herbert Spencer uses Darwin's biological evolution as an explanation of human society Economists used this idea to develop that laissez faire is the way to go (federal government does not regulate the market) Businesses die that don’t do well, poor are poor because they don’t work, and the rich are rich because they do work

Social Darwinism

John D. Rockefeller and Robber Barons Rockefeller used trusts (same as monopolies) Rockefellers Standard Oil Company produced 2-3$ of oil, and 90% of the refining business Received a lot of profits because his employees were paid very low wages Drove his competitors out of business by selling under them, then increased his prices Called robber barons

Sherman Antitrust Act--stop Government was concerned that free competition was being stopped The Act mad it illegal to form a trust (monopoly) that interfered with free trade It was still hard to prosecute the companies because the act did not clarify what a “trust” was Companies like the Standard Oil would just separate into single companies

Labor Unions Emerge Did not exempt any race or gender Long hours, seven day workweek Ex. Seamstresses worked 12hrs 6 days a week NO vacation, workers compensation, or sick leave Dirty unventilated working conditions Sweatshops Dangerous or faulty equipment, little to no protective gear Poor wages, very low considering what they worked through

Early Labor Unions 1 st large scale union was the National Labor Union (NLU) They persuade Congress to legalize 8 hr. work days Knights of Labor: open to all workers, supported 8hr work days, equal pay, strikes were a last resort led by Terrence Powderly American Federation of Labor (AFL) led by Samuel Gompers They focused on negotiations between representatives of labor and management They also used strikes as a major tactic

Colored National Labor Union Led by Issac Meyers (1869) Emphasized cooperation between management and labor, promoted political reform Disbanded in 1870s because many left to join KofL which allowed African Americans Strikes brought white and African American workers together under a common goal but did nothing to end racial discrimination African Americans often hired as strike breakers which made racial tension worse

Early Labor Unions Socialism: government control of businesses and equal distribution of wealth Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) aka the Wobblies Led by Bill Haywood, Eugene V Debs Made of miners, lumber workers, and dock workers Promoted Socialism

Strikes Great Strike of 1877  Baltimore and Ohio RR (B&O) workers protested their 2 nd wage cut  RR Traffic was stopped for over a week  Federal Troops end the strike, workers were interfering with interstate commerce  The Haymarket Affair ( May 4,1886)  Gathering at Chicago's Haymarket Square to protest police brutality  A striker had been killed and some wounded at a McCormick Harvest Plant  The crowd was dispersing when police arrived  Someone tossed a bomb into the police line  Police fired at the workers, 7 police and some workers died  3 speakers and 5 protestors charged with inciting a riot  4 hanged and one committed suicide  Many turn against the labor movement after this

Homestead Strike Homestead Strike (June 30, 1892) At Carnegie Steel Company Homestead plant in PA President Henry Clay Frick cuts wages leading to the strike Workers were working in terrible conditions as well Frick hires guards to protect the plant 3 detectives and 9 workers dead The strike loses support and falls to the company

Pullman Strike Pullman Company created RR cars (summer of 1894) Pullman Company laid off more than 3,000 and cut wages of 2,800 after Panic of 1893 Wages were cut but the cost of housing had not decreased Pullman refused any negotiations with the employees Federal troops sent in Most of the strikers fired All others blacklisted and could never get a job with the RR again