american west and industrialization part 4

8/7/2019 american west and industrialization part 4

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American West and Industrialization

Part 4: Industrialization


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Th e Rise of Industry

Around t h e turn of t h ecentury, America began itsgreat industrializationperiod.

Corporations arose, bigbusiness men emerged,reform movements beganto grow, immigrants settled

at a mass rate, anddifferent social andeconomic c h anges sweptth e nation.


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Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie owned theCarnegie Steel Company , w h ich was very successful.

Carnegie wrote an essay titled " Th e

Gospel of Wealt h " in 1889.In th e essay, h e encouraged

wealthy businessmen to usetheir fortunes in ways that would benefit society.

Carnegie became a greatph ilant h ropist and funded t h ecreation of t h ousands of publiclibraries in t h e United States.


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Forty-Millionaire Carnegie in h is Great Double Role. Asth e tig h t-fisted employer h e reduces wages t h at h e may

play p h ilant h ropist and give away libraries, etc.


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J oh n D. Rockefeller

Joh n D. R ock efeller was t h e founder of theStandard Oil Company.

In 1879, h e created a trust in an effort to gainmore control of t h e oil industry.

Th e creation of t h e trust allowed Standard OilCompany to take over more companies inth e oil refining industry, creating a monopoly.

In 1890, t h e S h erman Antitrust A c t waspassed by Congress to ban trusts.

Th e Act allowed the federal government to start proceedings against trusts to dissolve them,but t h e Standard Oil Company trust was notdissolved until 1911 because t h e SupremeCourt rulings prevented federal aut h oritiesfrom using t h e S h erman Antitrust Act for years.


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Key T erms

Co rp o rati o n : A corporation is a type of business in w h ich owners sell stock, raise largeamounts of capital, and enjoy limited liability.

M o n o p o ly : A monopoly is a condition when there is only one seller of a particular good or service in the market ; for example, owning all of t h e steel companies in t h e U.S.

Robb

er Bar o

ns : Robber Barons were business owners who engaged in unfair or anti-competitive business practices ; for example, J oh n Rockefeller's establis h ment of atrust.

T rust : A trust occurs w h en shareholders of one company turn their shares over to aboard of trustees, who then control the business.

V erti c al Integrati o n : Vertical integration occurs when a person owns different parts of

the same production path ; for example, owning a cattle ranch

and a meat-packingplant.

Interstate C o mmer c e A c t

Th e Interstate Commerce Act allowed Congress to regulate the railroad industry.

It prevented railroad owners from c h arging unfair rates, forming pools, or givingrebates.


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Water Pumping Windmill

W ater pumping wind millswere built in t h e GreatPlains in t h e 1800s.

Windmills were an effectiveway to draw up water fromunderground since theplains did not get muchrain.

Windmills allowed farming totake place in areas t h atwere ot h erwise too dry for growing crops.


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Refrigerator Cars

Refrigerated railr o adc ars were inventedin 1877 by GustavusSwift.

Th ese cooled railroad cars allowed cattleto be slaughtered inone location and sent as frozen beef to a different

location.Before refrigerator

cars, cattle h ad to bes h ipped live, w h ich was very expensive.


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Barbed Wire

Bar b ed wire was invented in1874 by J osep h Glidden.

It is strong material made of h

eavy wire with

smaller pieces of wire twisted into"barbs."

Barbed wire was anaffordable and effectiveway to fence off largeareas, and it was strong enough to keep cattle in anenclosed space.


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Rapid Industrialization andUrbanization

Th e number of immigrants to fill jobs increases.

Railroads grow, including transcontinental line.

Many new inventions are patented, such

as th

etelep h one and lig h t bulb.L aissez-faire is t h e economic policy, w h ich

means t h at business is unregulated by

government.


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Populist Party

Th e P o pulist P arty grew as a response to farmers' frustrations (debt, h igh interest rates, inflated prices of manufactured goods and railroad use)

Populists championed the following platforms: Direct election of senators;Unlimited silver coinage; A national income tax; Shorter working hours


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Th omas Edison

T ho mas Edis o n is per h aps t h emost famous inventor of t h elate nineteent h century.

He was first recognized for theinvention of the phonograph.

J ust two years later, h e h adperfected the light bulb and the electric generator.

People in New York City wereth e first to experience electricpower in 1882.


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Alexander Gra h am Bell

Alexander Gra h am Bell was aScottis h -American inventor wh o is credited with theinvention of the first

telephone.He began studying speec h

patterns w h ile communicatingwith h is deaf mot h er and wife.

Eventually, t h ese studies led toth e telep h one, for w h ich h ereceived t h e first U.S. patentin 1876.


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Henry Ford

H enry F o rd is most well-known for the creation of Ford Motor Company.

He is also credited wit h th eintroduction of t h eassem b ly line , w h ich divided operations intosimple tasks along amechanized conveyor.

Workers were soon buildingcars every 93 minutes.


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Anti-Semitism


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Sir Henry Bessemer

S ir H enry Bessemer was anEnglis h man w h o produced steel from molten pig iron.

The idea be

hind t

heBessemer Process was t h e

removal of impurities fromth e iron by oxidation.

Andrew Carnegie adopted

th is met h od and went on torevolutionize t h e steelindustry in t h e UnitedStates.


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George Westing h ouse

Ge o rge W esting ho use was arival of Thomas Edison 'sduring t h e late nineteent h century.

Th ey were both attempting toestablish the most effectiveway to distribute electricity.

Westing h ouse argued for alternating current, meaningth e flow of t h e electric c h argeperiodically reversesdirection. Edison, h owever,advocated for direct current.

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american west and industrialization part 4