1. Clockwise from top left:
U.S. History I
Topic 9.2
“Big Business Rises”
Clockwise from top left:
Standard Oil, Vanderbilt Mansion, Monopoly Board Game, J.P. Morgan Chase Building

2. The Corporation
Corporation: Many people “share” ownership of ONE company
Monopoly: Complete control of a product or service
Cartel: Businesses agree to make same product and limit supply to drive up prices. (OPEC-oil, De Beers-diamonds)
J.D. Rockefeller: Standard Oil/ Controlled Railroads to “corner” oil market
J.P. Morgan: Developed research labs
Cornelius Vanderbilt: Railroad tycoon: N.Y. to Chicago direct rail line.

3. Vertical/Horizontal Integration
Horizontal Integration: Consolidate many firms into one business (Super Company)
** Was Illegal
Trust: Companies assign stock to board of TRUSTEES who get paid with stock profits (Made Horizontal Integration Legal)
Vertical Integration: Control ALL businesses involved in product development (Monopoly: Own the Board)
Andrew Carnegie: U.S. Steel/Pittsburgh, PA

4. The Big Business Debate
Support: “Captains of Industry”
1. Efficient
2. Lower Prices
3. Provided Jobs
4. Made U.S. Powerful
5. Philanthropists: Helped fellow man
Against: “Robber Barons”
1. Unfair Advantages
2. Drove Small businesses out
3. No Competition
4. Monopolies would RAISE prices
5. “Swindle” Poor

5. Big Business Debate

6. Social Darwinism Charles Darwin: On the Origin of Species
Animals evolved through Natural Selection
“Survival of the fittest”
Social Darwinism: Wealth was a measure of one’s value and those who had it were “fit” Those who do not should “adapt”
* Many used theory as a way to discriminate against minorities and other “poverty-stricken” Americans and Immigrants because of their “unfitness”

7. Government Regulations
Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC): Could monitor railroads that cross state lines. Then refer records to Congress to address “unfairness”
Sherman Anti-trust Act: Outlawed Trusts/Monopolies that limited trade among several states
Read Wealth: Page 113: Andrew Carnegie

8. The Organized Labor Movement Topic 9.3 2.1-2.9
U.S. History I
The Organized Labor Movement
Topic 9.3

9. Worker Hardships
Immigrants and poor exploited by big business: (Low Wages)
Long Days: (12 Hour/ 6 Days per week)
Unsafe conditions: Sweatshops: Small, hot, dark, and dirty: Triangle Shirt waste Co. NYC (Top)
Children exploited (20% Employed 1890’s)
Company Towns: Pullman Town-Chicago (Bottom) Isolated communities owned by company
Company Stores: Workers forced to shop at company owned stores that overcharged them

10. Labor Unions Form
Collective Bargaining: negotiating with employer as a group: Strikes used to force negotiation (Top Left)
Socialism: Favors PUBLIC control of property/ Opposite of Capitalism (Private Ownership) (Karl Marx: Communist Manifesto)
Knights of Labor: Industrial Union: Uriah Stephens
1881: Terence Powderly : Became president (Bottom)
American Federation of Labor: Samuel Gompers: “Skilled worker” Union (Top)

11. Strikes Rock the Nation
Railroad Strike of 1877: First major strike in U.S. History (Wages): Government sided w/ Business and Violence Erupted
Haymarket Riot: 1886: Chicago: Knights of Labor (Fair Wages/ 8 HR Work Day)
Anarchists: Anti-government: Joined protest: Bomb Exploded: Dozens Killed/ Including Police

12. Strikes Rock the Nation
Homestead Strike: Pennsylvania: U.S. Steel (protest wage cuts during depression)
Pinkerton: Private “Strike Breaking” Police Force (intimidate workers)
*Anarchist tried to assassinate Henry Frick: (Carnegie’s Partner)
*Government Sided w/ Business

13. Strikes Rock the Nation
Pullman Strike: 1893: Pullman Palace Car Company: Chicago
Eugene Debs: American Railway Union President
*Workers blocked trains from running during strike.
*Pullman attached MAIL CARS to his
*Grover Cleveland sent troops to end strike
*Eugene Debs arrested for “federal offense”

14. Effects on Labor Movement
Trend: general course of events
Government trend was to side with business
Socialism spread through U.S.
Eugene Debs: Ran for President in 1900
*Radical ideas continued to spread because of Industrial worker’s “perception” of unfairness

15. DID YOU KNOW?
During a coal miner’s strike in 1921, miners in West Virginia (Battle of Blair Mountain) wore red handkerchiefs around their necks to show unity.
They were nicknamed “rednecks”!
…Oh yeah… and the color red is usually associated with Communism (Marxism), too!