Unit 5 – The Industrial Revolution and Gilded Age (1865-1900)

After the Civil War, American scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs, encouraged by capitalism and the government, transformed the U.S. into an industrial powerhouse.

Natural Resources Fuel Growth Coal Mines Forests Farm Land Electricity! 1859 – 1st Oil Well drilled in

PA (Edwin Drake) Oil replaced whale blubber Scientific Management

changed production Immigration – Peaked at 1 M

a year in 1905

Laissez-faire Economics The U.S. Gov’t policy was

“hands off” Businesses had little

gov’t regulation, subsidies, and protective tariffs

When gov’t did intervene, it was to aid businesses in starting up

Economy 100% governed by the Laws of Supply and Demand!

Railroads Lead the Way! As the USA was

united by rail (1st Transcontinental R.R. 1869), problems resulted for trains, freight, and people

Solar time was no longer adequate

1883 the U.S. and most of world adopted International Standard Time

Electricity Changed Lives! Thomas A. Edison

1. Phonograph (1877)

2. Electric Light (1880)

3. Power Plant (1882)

4. Motion Picture (1888)

We have had electricity for only 130 years!

Con Edison Steam StationLower Manhattan, NYC

Advancing Communications Samuel F.B. Morse

used Morse Code to transmit telegraph messages in 1844

By 1900 Western Union was sending 63 M messages a year

Alexander G. Bell’s telephone (1876) led to the formation of AT&T in 1885

The Rise of the Steel Industry

Bessemer Process made steel production more efficient

John A. Roebling’s Brooklyn Bridge (1883)

“Race to the Skies” = Skyscrapers and RR’s improved too

Roebling Bridge (1866)

Brooklyn Bridge1883

It is the longest cable suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere.

Arthur Ravenel, Jr. BridgeCharleston, SC – July 2005

Many Corporations Merge Corporation – people get a charter & sell

shares of stock to raise capital (P. 108) Monopoly – Corporations combine to

control an entire industry or service Trust – Companies ally and turn assets

over to board of trustees, may offer many brands, but really ran as one company

The goal was to restrict competition and maximize profits!

Is Wal-Mart a monopoly????

Are Monopolies Good or Bad? Interstate Commerce Commission

(1887)- established to monitor the RR industry by investigating unfair practices.

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) – Outlawed business practices that restricted free trade. But it was rarely enforced for 15 years – Why?

Andrew Carnegie and Steel 13 yr-old Scottish

Immigrant earned $1.35-wk (1848)

Carnegie Steel (1889)

Used Vertical Integration (coal, RR’s, iron mines) to force competitors out

John D. Rockefeller and Oil 1st oil well in Titusville,

PA (1859) Cleveland, OH

Refinery built in 1863 Standard Oil Trust

formed in 1870 via Horizontal Integration (P. 110)

He drove his competitors out of business as he sidestepped laws

Horizontal and Vertical Integration

Social Darwinism and the “Gospel of Wealth” The “Gospel of Wealth” -

Carnegie said “millionaires are the bees that make the most honey”

Based on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution (1859)

Social Darwinism – a theory held that gov’t shouldn’t interfere with business and the fittest will become rich

Robber Barons or Captains of Industry?

Did the wealthy “rob” from the public trust (politicians), workers, and environment to build empires?

Did their contributions (jobs, goods, services, and philanthropy) outweigh the bad?

Industrialization and Workers

It was a family affair Child Labor – 1/5

ages 10-16 worked! No welfare only over-

burdened charities! 12-hour days, 6- day

weeks! Unsafe conditions –

1882 avg. 675 deaths/ week – 120 today

The Rise of Labor Unions 1820s - Collective Bargaining

– negotiating as a group for better wages or benefits

Strike - the most potent collective bargaining method – it is a work stoppage to voice demands

Socialism – favors government not private control over major industries and sharing of the wealth! Labor leaders influenced by philosophy.

Early Labor Unions Knights of Labor

(1869) – skilled and unskilled

American Federation of Labor (1886) – craft unions – more exclusive than the Knights

1890 Census – 9% controlled 75% of wealth

The Great Strikes! (Pg. 118) 1877 RR Strike –

President Hayes uses federal troops to break strike: violence in many cities b/c of pay cut.

Haymarket Square (1886) – Chicago, 8 HR Day, bomb!, dozens killed! Knights of Labor’s was blamed and union membership declined.

Homestead, PA (1892) – Carnegie Steel – he cut wages then used violence to break the steel union!

Pullman Strike (1894) – 120,000 ARU and Eugene V. Debs protested 25% pay cut – 30 killed- Pres. Cleveland sent in troops – Debs to jail