Chapter 6 – The Industrial Age

1877-1900

Causes

• Natural resources – especially from the West

• Work force/growing urban populations

• Money (capital) to invest

• Government support for big business

• Innovations/inventions

Oil

• 1859-Edwin L. Drake

• 1st to use steam engine to drill

• Better source of light

• Better lubricant

Bessemer Process - 1850

• Produced cheaper, stronger steel

• Steel now used to build railroads, farm tools, bridges, skyscrapers

Brooklyn Bridge

• 1883• Steel Cable Bridge• Called a wonder of the world at the time

Electricity

• Thomas Alva Edison invented light bulb

• 1789

• Develops dynamo-produces, distributes electricity

• Allows factories to move away from rivers

• phonograph

Movies

Telephone• Alexander Graham Bell – 1876

• Allows human voice to be transmitted over a distance

• Increased business transactions/worldwide

communications

Christopher Sholes

• Typewriter

• Changed the world of work

Telephone and typewriter created new jobs for women in offices

Elisha Gray

• Invented telephone same time as Bell

• Applied for a patent a few hours after Bell

Age of the Railroads

• More people moved to the plains

• towns, cities are born

Late 19th Century

• Railroads are the most important use of steel

• Government gave subsidies– Grants of land– Money– To help it grow

Transcontinental Railroad

• 1869 – opened up the dreams of available land, adventures, and a fresh start to many Americans

Dark Side

• Many immigrants employed by railroads

• Harsh life

• Bad working conditions

Social Darwinism

• Law of the jungle

• The strong survive, the weak fail

• No government interference– Most people liked this concept because it

appealed to their work ethic

George Pullman

• Built railroad sleeping cars

• Built town for his workers

• Tried to control their lives

Interstate Commerce

• Farmers begin demanding governmental control of railroad industry

• Angry over:– Misuse of land grants– High prices for hauling of goods

• Grange – fought abuses– Court rules states could regulate railroads to

benefit farmers and consumers

Interstate Commerce Act - 1887

• Federal government had right to supervise railroad activities

• Overturned victories won by Grangers

• Faced many difficulties

Age of the Robber Barons

• Men that do anything to achieve great wealth– Accused of exploiting workers– Forcing horrible working conditions– Unfair labor practices

• “Captains of Industry”

Steel Industry

• Andrew Carnegie builds steel empire using new machinery

• Made big use of the Bessemer Process

Philanthropist

• Donated some of his fortune to community help projects:– libraries all over the world– music halls– technology

Oil Industry

• John D. Rockefeller started Standard Oil Company

• Used a trust to gain control of other companies

• TRUST – Stockholders turn their stock over to trustees– Run the corporation

• Many companies joined together

• Horizontal Integration – merged companies making similar products into one

• Vertical integration – gain control of raw materials and distributors (transportation system)

Sherman Anti-Trust

• Illegal to form a trust that interfered with free trade between states and other countries

• Hard to enforce – many large companies reorganized into smaller organizations

• Eventually the government stopped enforcing it

Labor Unions

• Workers were being exploited• 1882 – 675 workers were killed each week in

factories• Wages

– Child .27 per day– Women - $267 per year– Men - $498 per year

• No benefits• 6 day work week – 12-14 hours per day• Unions improved wages, hours, and conditions

over time

Labor Tactics

• Strikes– Work stoppage– Major tactic and successful

• Collective bargaining– Tactic used by unions to win workers rights,

speaks on behalf of all members

• Management Tactic– Use of “scabs” (replacement workers) to

break the strike

Early Unions

• National Labor Union – 1886– Persuaded congress to pass 8 hr. work day

for government jobs

• Knights of Labor – 1869– Popular but failed when strikes were not

honored

Samuel Gompers

• Started American Federation of Labor – 1886– By 1915 avg. work week went from 55hrs to

49 hrs– Avg. weeks wage rose from $17.50 to $24

Violent Strikes

• Great Strike of 1877 – railroad strike that stopped trains for a week, federal troops called in to halt strike

• Haymarket Affair – protest police brutality in breaking up strikes, police/dozen workers died in ensuing violence

• Homestead Strike – steel workers strike, more violence and death

• Pullman Strike – strike against Pullman’s control, more violence and death

Public turns against unions

• Most Americans opposed unions/supported big business– Resented hardships caused by strikes– Strikes caused violence– Would lead to anarchy