Industrial Revolution

By early 1900s, US world’s leading industrial nation.

Abundant supply of natural resources Improved transportation

transcontinental railroad moving resources and people

Increase in labor force 1860-1910 population tripled

Greater demand for consumer goods Large workforce

Fueled by:

Gov’t supported industrialization:

Helped industries with loans & minimal regulation Railroad construction subsidized by gov’t

Loans and land grants

Maintained laissez-faire approach Imposed few regulations Viewed labor organizations with suspicion High tariffs on imports to protect domestic

industry Contradicted laissez-faire

Caused foreign nations to raise tariffs Increased cost of American goods

Steel…Affected technological change more

than any other product Allowed for cheaper building materials

Bessemer Process Cold air pressure method of transforming

iron ore into steel

Oil and Electricity

Oil could be refined into gasoline, kerosene, and distillate

John D. Rockefeller Standard Oil Co.

Own all aspects of production Oil wells, refineries, retail outlets

Controlled 90% of world’s oil trade

Edison Electric Illuminating Co. Supplied electric power to New York City

The Assembly Line

Henry Ford popularized use in manufacturing Combined sub-assembly lines into one

continuous moving line Divided operation into simple tasks

Workers performed same task repeatedly Unskilled workers could perform tasks

Allowed for faster production Reduced cost of automobile

RailroadsPacific Railway Act provided for

construction of transcontinental rrTranscontinental Railroad

Gov’t gave land along right-of-way to encourage rapid construction

Sold land to pay for costs Union Pacific RR-built East to West from

Omaha, NE Central Pacific RR-built West to East from

Sacramento, CA Hired workers from China

Joined May 10, 1869 near Ogden Utah

Big Business

Corporation – company owned by many but treated by law as single-owner

Business costs Fixed—items paid when company is operating

or not Operating—costs occurred only when

company is operatingAdvantage of big business—can operate

during poor economic times Can cut prices to increase sales Disadvantage for small business—can’t stay in

operation if not selling product

Big Business cont’d.

Competition creates lower prices Without competition, monopolies form

Vertical integration One company owns all other businesses it

takes to make finished product Chair Co = Cloth Co + Frame Co + Shipping Co

Horizontal integration One large company owns several smaller

companies doing the same type business Mega Convenience Store = Allsups + Pak-a-Sak

+ Toot-n-Totum

Factory Work in USLife in the factory—

Unsafe work environment No gov’t regulations

Low pay Long hours Tedious, monotonous jobs—no skills required

Unions Great length to keep out of factories Samuel Gompers—first leader of American

Federation of Labor Fought for higher wages, better working conditions

The Impact of Industry Industrial Revolution at first not benefit

everyone equallyNational wealth and personal income

grew significantly by 1920sMore consumer goods on market