The Growth and Impact of RR 14.2 Competency Goal 5: Becoming an Industrial Society ( ) - The learner will describe innovations in technology and business practices and assess their impact on economic, political, and social life in America.

Quiz 14.1 and 14.2 Sentence completion 1.) Drake, kerosene, whales 2.) Bessemer, railroads, skyscrapers 3.) Congress, Credit Mobilier, construction

Cell phone Active Define the following words – Sacrilegious – Initiative (as an election) – Referendum – Graduated income tax – Australian ballot – Pinkerton detectives – Merit system – Poll tax

Documents Pack 1.Who were the major candidates in the election of 1896? 2.What did the Populists/Democrats want? 3.What were some arguments against electing the Populists/Democrats in 1896? Look closely at the cartoons and Document A 4.In looking at Document C, what does the map tell you about why Bryan lost?

Railroads

Government endorses construction Pacific Railway Act 1862-one square mile of land for each mile of track laid

First transcontinental RR complete 1869 Promontory Point Utah Central Pacific RR and Union Pacific RR Chinese /Irish labor Harsh conditions (2K killed, 20K injured)

RR network today

New Technology helps Steel rails Standard gauge Westinghouse-air brakes Pullman cars Refrigerated cars—meat and produce Time zones Telegraph (SFB Morse 1844)

RR Wrongs Credit Mobilier—stock given/sold for imaginary rr const co. during Grant admin Charged “all traffic would bear”—mid-western farmers at the mercy of the RR Led to rise of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk—notorious for disregard for law

RR Wrongs Pooling—price fixing agreement dividing business/profits in a region by rr’s where competition is possible Rebates: volume shippers get discount rates Drawbacks: very large shippers get “competition’s” rebate Long v short haul evil Free passes to government officials

Gov’t attempts to regulate At state level first—Illinois is most famous Munn v. Illinois (1877)— Other states pass similar “granger laws” Overturned in 1886: Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Railway company v. Illinois

Interstate Commerce Act 1887 Result of Wabash case? Rates published and reasonable ICC to oversee—has little impact until after 1900’s 15 of 1 st 16 cases courts favor business Intentional?