Post on 18-Jan-2018
description
Big corporations and railroads
Everything you didn’t want to know about railroads.
The Steam Engine• Uses steam as a power
mechanism
• First used as a mining tool in Britain
• John Watt perfected it 1765
• Soon used in textiles and mining factories
With the steam engine, came the steam boat.
Next big step is the railroad
•First railroad in U.S. in Quincy, Mass (1826)
•Increased travel•Increased Production•United country with
Transcontinental railroad
•Pushed steam boats out of fashion
1860
1870
1880
1890
1950
˙Started in 1863˙Connected West
(Sacramento) to East (Omaha)
˙Met in Promontory Point, Utah on May 10, 1969
Transcontinental Railroad
Union pacific (Omaha) used mostly Irish and Germans
central pacific (Sacramento) used mostly Chinese
Andrew CarnegieCarnegie Steel Company
• Scottish-born• Pittsburgh, PA• Largest Distributer of Steel• Monopoly• Philanthropist• Homestead Strike• Political• Net Worth close to $300 Billion
• Reason behind the name Pittsburgh Steelers
Steel: Vertical IntegrationRaw Materials
Example: Iron Ore
MeltingHot air is pumped into
a furnace, melting iron at 1600 degrees Celsius.
(2,912 degrees F)
RefiningImpurities are removed and alloys are added from the molten metal
through the use of a ladle.
CastingThe liquid steel is cast into
billets and slabs.
RollingThe billets and slabs areheated and rolled into
finished products.1
2 3
4
˚1839-1937˚Standard oil in Cleveland, Ohio˚First monopoly˚Philanthropist
˚richest man in U.S. history ($400 billion)
˚Political figures attacked him for his trusts
John D. Rockefellerfounder of
standard oil
compared to Scrooge McDuck
Monopoly• Definition: The
exclusive possession or control of a supply or service
• Rockefeller and Carnegie• Able to charge higher
prices• Suppresses innovation• Provides inferior
goods/services
Trusts• Definition: Allowing one person or persons to be in control of shares to a company for the benefit of others
• Rockefeller perfected form
• Bought out smaller companies
• Forcing customers to buy certain products
• Price fixing
Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 1890
• Prohibited the Trusts and Monopolies• Allowed the Federal Gov’t to investigate
monopolies and trusts• Wanted to allow more competition• Though wasn’t really used until T.
Roosevelt was in office
Chinese Exclusion Act,
1882•First significant act restricting
immigration•Chinese taking all railroad jobs•Placed 10 year suspension of
Chinese immigration•Refused to grant the Chinese
that were already here Citizenship
•After 10 years, another 10 years were added, became
permanent until WWII, but still only 105 Chinese could enter
annually