What factors influenced American growth and expansion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century?
Natural Resources America had tons of natural resources –Coal, Iron, Oil, Farmland Natural resources were used to generate huge profits by new American businesses
Laissez – Faire Capitalism Gov’t should not interfere with private businesses Businesses took advantage of people and abused workers’ rights Businesses did “anything to turn a larger profit”
Special Business Considerations Gov’t granted special privileges to business owners Gave free land to railroad owners by stealing it from rightful owners
Immigration Immigrants increased the labor supply Businesses paid immigrants as little as possible in order to generate huge profits
New Inventions Technology led to new industrial growth
Transportation Airplane – Wright Brothers Allowed businesses to transport products to new markets overseas
Business Production Bessemer Process – Henry Bessemer Made steel cheap and affordable to increase construction of cities
Communication Telephone – Alexander Graham Bell Allowed businesses to expand to different markets
Communication Telegraph – Samuel Morse Allowed businesses to expand to different markets
Business Production Electricity – Thomas Edison Increased production by allowing work at night
Business Production Mechanical Reaper – Cyrus McCormick Increased farm production and helped clear landscape in west for settlers
Business Production Alternating Current – George Westinghouse Increased production by allowing electricity to spread across the country
Business Production Assembly Line – Henry Ford Used by all factories to increase production
New Business Practices
Monopoly One business owner controls the market of a product Drives other competitors out of business by lowering and raising prices
Trusts One company controls the making of a product Allows company to control the price of the product
Corporation Large companies made up of smaller businesses Limited Liability –Allowed people to invest money with little risk by investing in profitable parts of corporation
Modern Corporations
Robber barons or Captains of Industry?
Robber barrons Wealthy business owners who lied, cheated, and stole fortunes from average Americans
Captains of Industry Smart businessmen who earned their money through legal business practices Gave millions of dollars to charity
Andrew Carnegie Scottish Immigrant Created US Steel –first corporation worth $1 billion dollars
Andrew Carnegie Believed in Social Darwinism –people can do whatever they want to make money
Andrew Carnegie Gave 80% of his money back to the public Workers protested working conditions in his factories
J. P. Morgan Banking tycoon who made millions off of investments and investment companies
John D Rockefeller Created the Standard Oil Company in 1870 (trust) Able to control the price of oil in America by owning all aspects of oil production
Gave $500 million dollars to various charities
Cornelius Vanderbilt Made a fortune in the railroad business Introduced the use of steel rails and a standard gauge (distance between rails).