Bell Ringer – 9/13 Of the following inventions which do you consider the most important and why: typewriter, phonograph, telegraph, telephone.

A Technological Revolution

Changes in Daily Life 1865 Electric light did not exist Ice was expensive and rare Mail traveled by stagecoach or horseback 1900 Typewriter, sewing machine, & phonograph made life easier Standard of living highest in the world

The Transcontinental Railroad Construction began in 1862 & ended on May 10, 1869 where the Central Pacific & the Union Pacific Railroads met in Promontory Point and the ceremonial golden spike was hammered into the last rail.

The Union Pacific Railroad Started building in 1865 at Omaha, Nebraska Workers included Civil War veterans, new Irish immigrants, miners, farmers, cooks, adventurers, & ex-convicts

The Central Pacific Railroad The Big Four – grocer Leland Stanford, shop owner Charley Crocker, & hardware store owners Mark Hopkins and Collis P. Huntington Construction started in Sacramento, CA and cost $36 million Leland Stanford Gov. of CA, US Senator, Founded Stanford Univ. Charley Crocker Mark Hopkins Collis P. Huntington

Railroad Problems & Solutions Trains were dirty, but began to improve –Steel rails –Standardized track –Improved air brakes –Telegraphs used –Clocks set to the same time

The Land Grant System Land grants – to encourage railroad construction Land was sold to raise money Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 & 1864 Awarded over 120 million acres of land, covered building costs

Alexander Graham Bell **patented the telephone, ** 1885 he and a group of partners formed AT &T Improvements in Communication Samuel F. B. Morse **perfected the telegraph & its code **after the CW several companies formed the Western Union Telegraph Company.

Electric Power The “Wizard of Menlo Park”, Thomas Edison invented many items such as the phonograph. Although none had such an impact as the light bulb, and by 1882 he had built a central power station. George Westinghouse **1885 developed alternating current **1890s, General Electric & Westinghouse Electricity were formed using ideas of Edison & Westinghouse.

The Bessemer Process William Kelly of Kentucky developed a process of smelting iron that was quicker and cheaper and made possible the mass production of steel. End Day 1

Railroad Regulation Munn v. Illinois (1877) & Wabash case – S.C. did not allow state to regulate RRs Interstate Commerce Act – RR rates should be set in proportion to the distance traveled

The Growth of Big Business

Captains of Industry or Robber Barons Increased supply of goods Created jobs philanthropists Drained natural resources Encouraged gov’t. corruption Drove competitors out of business Paid workers little Dangerous factories

Andrew Carnegie Vertical consolidation Carnegie Steel Company (Est. 1889) Philanthropist – “Gospel of Wealth” Social Darwinism Economies of scale

Monopoly v. Cartel Monopoly → complete control of a product or service Trusts – trustees owned controlling stock in other companies Holding companies – does not own any companies, just stock in others

Standard Oil Company Horizontal consolidation J. D. Rockefeller Standard Oil Trust (1882) Sherman Anti- Trust Act

Vertical Consolidation purchase of all levels of production

Horizontal Consolidation purchase of competing companies in the same industry

EFFECTS on AMERICA? Overproduction –Cut prices –Laid off workers –Panic of 1893

Industrialization & Workers Immigrants – Contract Labor Act (1864) Working families –Young children worked –No insurance, employment or otherwise –Social Darwinism, relief would encourage idleness Factory work –Most worked 12 hrs., 6 days/week –piecework→work hard, more $ –Large workload hard on workers, no extra $, unhealthy/safe A strict work environment –Workers fined/fired for being late –Factories unsafe –Division of labor Took joy out of work Working women & children –Women – no chance to advance –Children – 5% of work force, wage meant not going hungry