Chapter 3 Lessons 2 and 3 Notes August 31, 2015

D.A.S.H. DATE: August 31, 2015 AGENDA: Notes on Chapter 3 Lessons 2.  STATE OBJECTIVE: The student will analyze the transformation of the United States through its civil rights struggles, immigrant experiences, settlement of the American West, and the industrialization of American society in the Post-Reconstruction through the Progressive Eras, 1865 to  HOMEWORK/CLASSWORK: Continue with the work on Chapter 3’s assignment. Test over Chapter 3 is Friday.

Bell ringer 2 1. What was different about the Second Industrial Revolution? 2. Where was the first oil well drilled? 3. Who was Thomas Edison? 4. What happened at Promontory Summit, Utah? 5. How did time zones help railroads?

Bell ringer 3 1. What was the Credit Mobilier Scandal? 2. Who was Cornelius Vanderbilt? 3. Who was Andrew Carnegie? 4. Who was John D. Rockefeller? 5. What was the Haymarket Riot?

Notes over Lesson 2 The railroad boom began in 1862 with the Pacific Railway Act. It gave two corporations—Union Pacific and Central Pacific—permission to build a transcontinental railroad. The UNION PACIFIC railroad began pushing westward from Omaha, Nebraska in Labor, money, and engineering problems plagued the supervisors of the project. The Union Pacific employed about 10,000 workers—Irish immigrants, Civil War veterans, miners, farmers, adventurers, cooks and ex-convicts. The CENTRAL PACIFIC railroad began its push east from California. It too had challenges in building its part of the transcontinental railroad. It hired 10,000 workers from China and paid them about a $1 a day!

Notes continued Workers completed the transcontinental railroad in four years. Each mile of track required 400 rails and each rail took 10 spikes. The Central Pacific laid 688 miles of track and the Union Pacific laid 1086 miles of track. The two companies met at PROMONTORY SUMMIT, UTAH. On May 10, 1869 five gold and silver spikes were driven into the final rails bringing the two companies together. The first transcontinental railroad and other railroads even unified the nation’s clocks. The American Railway Association divided the country into four TIME ZONES in 1883 helping the trains run on a standard time. Before there were multiple local zones which made it difficult to arrive or depart on time!

Notes Continued LAND GRANTS were given to the railroad companies if the private investors could not raise the funds. The companies sold the land to raise money for construction. JAY GOULD AND CORNELIUS VANDERBILT were both railroad owners. Gould was an entrepreneur but many felt he gained his wealth through bribes and cheating investors and taxpayers. Vanderbilt was also an entrepreneur, having a personal wealth of over 25 million dollars in just five years time. Many critics believed he had also gained wealth from cheating others. The term ROBBER BARON was sometimes used to describe men like Gould and Vanderbilt. Many felt that some business tycoons would bribe, cheat, and/or steal their way to the top—robbing from the very people they were supposed to be helping.

Notes concluded on Lesson 2 THE CREDIT MOBILIER SCANDAL became public in It involved lucrative contracts that investors such as future President James Garfield and sitting Vice President Schulyer Colfax received shares and profited from the overpriced contracts. Several Congressman (including Garfield) were investigated on possible bribery charges. No one was ever charged with criminal or civil charges. The GREAT NORTHERN RAILROAD was the most successful transcontinental railroads at the time and one of the few not forced into bankruptcy. The railroad was built WITHOUT federal land grants or subsidies. It shipped goods east and west rather than have the cars return east empty. This is what provided the railroad its success.

Notes on Lesson 3 CORPORATIONS are organizations owned by many people but treated by law as though it were a person. Before the 1830’s, few corporations existed because entrepreneurs had to convince state legislatures to issue them charters. In the 1830’s, states began allowing companies to become corporations and issue stock without a charter from the legislature. ECONOMIES OF SCALE is a reduction in the cost of a good brought about especially by increased production at a given facility. Fixed costs are loans, mortgages, taxes, etc. that have to be paid regardless. Operating costs are wages, shipping costs, buying raw materials, etc. The operating costs can be reduced so a company’s profits can increase. Corporations have a bigger advantage over smaller businesses because they can offer the same product at a lower price without losing much (if any) in profits.

Notes continued ANDREW CARNEGIE was a Scottish immigrant who went to work at age 12 in a textile factory. He bought shares in iron mills and factories and did well enough that he quit working in his early 30’s! He opened a steel mill near Pittsburgh in 1875 using the Bessemer process to make stronger steel. He also used vertical integration to control the raw products needed for the mills. This saved money and allowed him to become the wealthiest man in America. JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER used horizontal integration, buying his competitors’ companies and creating a monopoly. His company, Standard Oil, controlled about 90 percent of the U.S. oil refining industries. He also became quite wealthy and probably was our first billionaire.

Notes continued MONOPOLY is where there is total control of a type of industry by one person or one company. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil was one example and in today’s times an example of a supposed monopoly is Microsoft. TRUST is a combination of firms or corporations formed by a legal agreement, especially to reduce competition. Again Standard Oil is the example of a trust but today trusts are illegal. HOLDING COMPANIES is a company whose primary business is owning a controlling share of stock in other companies.

Notes concluded N.W. AYER AND SON was the first advertising company. It began creating large illustrated ads instead of relying on the old small print line ads previously used in newspapers. JOHN WANAMAKER had a department store in Philadelphia called the Grand Depot. It was advertised as the “largest space in the world devoted to retail selling on a single floor.” MONTGOMERY WARD and SEARS, ROEBUCK AND COMPANY were two of the largest mail-order retailers. They used mail-order catalogs to reach rural areas. They used attractive illustrations and appealing descriptions to advertise thousands of items for sale.