The New Industrial Age

The Expansion of Industry 1.Edwin Drake: used steam engine to drill for oil 2.Bessemer Process: turn iron to steel 3.Thomas Edison: inventor of light bulb/ technique to harness electricity 4.Christopher Sholes: inventor of typewriter 5.Alexander Graham Bell: inventor of telephone

Natural Resources Fuel Industrialization Advances in technology caused by large supply of natural resources, explosion of inventions, and people who wanted new products Important natural resources included: oil (kerosene, gasoline), coal, iron Removing carbon from iron using the Bessemer Process created lighter, more flexible and rust resistant steel Steel used to make: locomotives, railroad tracks, farm tools, cans, bridges, skyscrapers

Inventions Promote Change Thomas Edison improved the light bulb and established power plants to generate electricity and deliver it to homes on power lines. This technique made safer by George Westinghouse Christopher Sholes’ typewriter revolutionized the workplace Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone improved communication More women work in offices, more work that had been done at home now done in factories Shorter work week allowed more free time and people enjoyed new products like phonographs, bicycles, and cameras

The Age of Railroads 1.Transcontinental railroad: railroad that crossed entire country 2.George Pullman: inventor of the sleeping car 3.Credit Mobilier: Company involved in stealing of railroad money 4.Interstate Commerce Act: Law allowing Congress to regulate railroads

Railroad Spans Time and Space Building and running railroads dangerous, many died of disease and accidents Railroad schedules hard to keep as communities set their own times Officials decided to divide earth into 24 time zones for each hour of the day. US contains 4: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific

Opportunities and Opportunists Railroads improved transportation and helped industries grow Towns grew along railroad lines George Pullman’s sleeping car factories employed and housed many, but he tried to control workers lives and they rebelled Railroad industry also invited corruption: Union Pacific Railroad created its own construction company, Credit Mobilier, and paid them over actual cost to lay tracks…they kept profits and bribed Congress

The Grange and Railroads Farmers accused railroads of setting high shipping prices to keep farmers in debt Grangers took political action and in Munn v. Illinois, the Supreme Court rules that the gov’t could regulate railroads to protect public interest (1877) The Interstate Commerce Act was passed in 1887 Panic of 1893 caused many railroads to fail

1.Andrew Carnegie: controlled steel industry 2.Vertical integration: buy out suppliers 3.Horizontal integration: buy out competitors 4.Social Darwinism: only strong businesses survive 5.John D. Rockefeller: controlled oil industry 6.Sherman Antitrust Act: Outlawed trusts 7.Samuel Gompers: Union leader 8.American Federation of Labor: Union led by Gompers 9.Eugene Debs: Leader of Railway union/socialist 10.Industrial Workers of the World: radical socialists nicknamed Wobblies 11.Mary Jones: organized mine workers

Carnegies Innovations; Social Darwinism and Business Andrew Carnegie used vertical integration and horizontal integration to eliminate his competitors in the steel industry Carnegie believed in Social Darwinism: businesses that stressed competition, hard work, and responsibility would survive

Fewer Control More; Labor Unions Merge John D. Rockefeller also practiced integration to eliminate competitors in oil industry; but he did it to create the best product and lowest price Big Business owners became known as robber barons because of shrewd business practices Sherman Antitrust Act made trusts (monopolies) illegal Labor Unions formed to improve working conditions and get better wages for workers

Union Movements diverge; Strikes turn violent Unions like the American Federation of Labor led by Samuel Gompers used strikes and collective bargaining to win higher wages and shorter work weeks Other union leaders, like Eugene Debs, formed unions like the International Workers of the World and advocated socialism and violence to improve conditions When strikes turned violent, like in Chicago’s Haymarket Affair and the Steel workers strike in Chicago, federal troops are called in to break up the strike Women were also active in Union work; Mary Jones led the United Mine Workers for better working conditions Government usually sided with business owners