Explosion of new inventions Abundance of natural resources
Availability of labor and demand for products
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1865-35,000 miles of track 1900-192,556 miles of track Land
grants offered to railroad companies RR gave land value Towns with
RR grew into larger cities; those without became ghost towns
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Transcontinental Railroad Spans North American continent
Construction began in 1862 Union Pacific built west from Omaha,
Nebraska Central Pacific built east from Sacramento, California
Irishmen laid as much as 10 miles of track per day
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Chinese workers employed by Central Pacific Railroad CP RR had
to be built over the Sierra Nevada Mountains 1869-TCR completed at
Promontory Point, Utah Union Pacific-1086 miles, Central
Pacific-689 miles Before 1900, 4 other TCRs would be built
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Steel Rails Westinghouse Air Brake-increased safety Pullman
Palace Car Telegraphs and block signals Eastern RRs often financed
successful western RRs
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Connected nations regions together Generated jobs, new markets
and aided rapid industrialization Stimulated mining and agriculture
out West Helped people to settle in the harsh Great Plains 4
national time zones created as result to coordinate shipping
times-1883 Responsible for millionaire class
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Credit Mobilier Scandal Jay Gould embezzled money in stocks
from several RR companies Stock-watering-RRs grossly over-inflated
worth of their stock and sold them at huge profits RR owners abused
the public, bribed judges and legislatures and elected their own to
political office Owners worked together to set prices
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Grange formed by farmers to combat corruption Wabash
case-Supreme Court ruling- stated that states could not regulate
interstate commerce, ex: trains Interstate Commerce Act-1887 Banned
pooling to control prices RRs had to publish rates Regulated
shipping prices Bettered society
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Mass production was refined and perfected Popular inventions:
Cash register Stock ticker Typewriter Refrigerator car Electric
light bulb Electric railway Telephone
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Andrew Carnegie Steel giant Used vertical integration- see
transparency By 1900, produced of nations steel Used the Bessemer
Process-transformed iron into steel by extracting carbon from
iron
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John D. Rockefeller Oil tycoon Considered ruthless and
merciless Created Standard Oil Company Used horizontal
consolidation Produced superior oil at a cheaper price Both of
these men known to form monopolies and trusts Wanted to gain
influence and reduce competition
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Many of the new rich worked from poverty to wealth Felt some
people in the world were destined to become rich and then help
society with their wealth Philanthropy Many criticized the
capitalists and called them robber barons
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Herbert Spencer Applied Charles Darwins survival of the fittest
theory to the business world Businesses that adapted were more
successful See Greed video
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1890 Forbade any monopolistic activity No distinction between
good and bad trusts Proved ineffective, could not be enforced No
punishment for offenders
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Labor Union-group of workers that unite to improve working
conditions Late 1800s Some for skilled and unskilled laborers
Wanted to combat low wages, dangerous working conditions, long
hours, discrimination, etc.
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Collective Bargaining Arbitration Mediation Strikes
Scabs-replacement workers Work Slowdowns
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Founded by Samuel Gompers Skilled laborers Used collective
bargaining
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Used both skilled and unskilled workers Strikes were main
methods used Formed in 1866
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Founded by Eugene V. Debs Promoted government control of
factories and railroads=socialism Skilled and unskilled
workers
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South remained agrarian despite industrial advances Standard of
living rose Immigrants swarmed to the U.S. Women began work in
factories and found new opportunities Gibson Girl image created by
Charles Dana Gibson-became the romantic ideal of the age.young,
athletic, attractive, outdoorsy
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Nation of farmers became a nation of wage-earners, fear of
unemployment never far, and illness of bread winner was
disastrous
