1. The Second industrial revolution

2. The Rise of Industry 1861: Most Americans live on farms
After the Civil War, more move to cities for work
Second Industrial Revolution (Technology)
1900: USA=world’s richest country in GNP
Gross National Product (GNP) = total goods and services produced in a year by a country
United States’ advantages:
Natural Resources (timber, copper, coal, iron, oil)
Large Workforce (large families, immigrants)
New Inventions (light bulb, phone, telegraph, auto loom, refrigeration, air breaks for trains)

4. Free Market Capitalism
Laissez-faire: Government should interfere as little as possible in business affairs
Relies on supply and demand to regulate wages and prices
“The scariest words in politics are ‘we are the government, and we’re here to help’”
Entrepreneurs: one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise
Start businesses, grow rich, help economic growth

5. The Railroads
May 10, 1869: The first transcontinental railroad connects the Atlantic to Pacific, with two lines meeting at Promontory Summit, UT
Railroads crisscross country
South benefits from improved transportation
Florida tourist trade begins
Railroads develop idea of time zones in 1883
Gov’t gives land grants to railroad investors, investors sell the land for huge profits

7. Captains of Industry or Robber Barons?
Huge railroad profits= corruption
Bribing congressmen, cheating taxpayers, swindling
Credit Mobilier Scandal
Businessmen sign overpriced contracts with themselves with government money
Many railroad investors like Cornelieus Vanderbilt and Leyland Stanford give large sums to charities, start universities