U.S. History I Topic 9.2 “Big Business Rises” 2.1-2.9 Clockwise from top left: Standard Oil,...
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Transcript of U.S. History I Topic 9.2 “Big Business Rises” 2.1-2.9 Clockwise from top left: Standard Oil,...
U.S. History I
Topic 9.2“Big Business Rises”
2.1-2.9Clockwise from top left:
Standard Oil, Vanderbilt Mansion, Monopoly Board Game, J.P. Morgan Chase Building
The Corporation• Corporation: Many people “share” ownership of
ONE company• Monopoly: Complete control of a product or
service• Cartel: Businesses agree to make same product
and limit supply to drive up prices. (OPEC-oil, De Beers-diamonds)
• J.D. Rockefeller: Standard Oil/ Controlled Railroads to “corner” oil market
• J.P. Morgan: Developed research labs• Cornelius Vanderbilt: Railroad tycoon: N.Y. to
Chicago direct rail line.
Vertical/Horizontal Integration• Horizontal Integration:
Consolidate many firms into one business (Super Company)
** Was IllegalTrust: Companies assign
stock to board of TRUSTEES who get paid with stock profits (Made Horizontal Integration Legal)
Vertical Integration: Control ALL businesses involved in product development (Monopoly: Own the Board)
Andrew Carnegie: U.S. Steel/Pittsburgh, PA
The Big Business Debate
• Support: “Captains of Industry”
• 1. Efficient• 2. Lower Prices• 3. Provided Jobs• 4. Made U.S.
Powerful• 5. Philanthropists:
Helped fellow man
• Against: “Robber Barons”
• 1. Unfair Advantages• 2. Drove Small
businesses out• 3. No Competition• 4. Monopolies would
RAISE prices• 5. “Swindle” Poor
Big Business Debate
Social Darwinism
• Charles Darwin: On the Origin of Species- Animals evolved through Natural Selection- “Survival of the fittest”- Social Darwinism: Wealth was a measure of
one’s value and those who had it were “fit” Those who do not should “adapt”
- * Many used theory as a way to discriminate against minorities and other “poverty-stricken” Americans and Immigrants because of their “unfitness”
Government Regulations
• Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC): Could monitor railroads that cross state lines. Then refer records to Congress to address “unfairness”
• Sherman Anti-trust Act: Outlawed Trusts/Monopolies that limited trade among several states
• Read Wealth: Page 113: Andrew Carnegie
U.S. History I
The Organized Labor Movement
Topic 9.3
2.1-2.9
Worker Hardships• Immigrants and poor exploited
by big business: (Low Wages)• Long Days: (12 Hour/ 6 Days
per week)• Unsafe conditions:
Sweatshops: Small, hot, dark, and dirty: Triangle Shirt waste Co. NYC (Top)
• Children exploited (20% 10-16 Employed 1890’s)
• Company Towns: Pullman Town-Chicago (Bottom) Isolated communities owned by company
• Company Stores: Workers forced to shop at company owned stores that overcharged them
• http://www.ernieford.com/SixteenTons.htm
Labor Unions Form• Collective Bargaining:
negotiating with employer as a group: Strikes used to force negotiation (Top Left)
• Socialism: Favors PUBLIC control of property/ Opposite of Capitalism (Private Ownership) (Karl Marx: Communist Manifesto)
• Knights of Labor: Industrial Union: Uriah Stephens
• 1881: Terence Powderly : Became president (Bottom)
• American Federation of Labor: Samuel Gompers: “Skilled worker” Union (Top)
Strikes Rock the Nation• Railroad Strike of 1877:
First major strike in U.S. History (Wages): Government sided w/ Business and Violence Erupted
• Haymarket Riot: 1886: Chicago: Knights of Labor (Fair Wages/ 8 HR Work Day)
• Anarchists: Anti-government: Joined protest: Bomb Exploded: Dozens Killed/ Including Police
Strikes Rock the Nation
• Homestead Strike: Pennsylvania: U.S. Steel (protest wage cuts during depression)
• Pinkerton: Private “Strike Breaking” Police Force (intimidate workers)
*Anarchist tried to assassinate Henry Frick: (Carnegie’s Partner)
*Government Sided w/ Business
Strikes Rock the Nation• Pullman Strike: 1893:
Pullman Palace Car Company: Chicago
• Eugene Debs: American Railway Union President
*Workers blocked trains from running during strike.
*Pullman attached MAIL CARS to his
*Grover Cleveland sent troops to end strike
*Eugene Debs arrested for “federal offense”
Effects on Labor Movement• Trend: general course
of events• Government trend
was to side with business
• Socialism spread through U.S.
• Eugene Debs: Ran for President in 1900
• *Radical ideas continued to spread because of Industrial worker’s “perception” of unfairness
DID YOU KNOW?
• During a coal miner’s strike in 1921, miners in West Virginia (Battle of Blair Mountain) wore red handkerchiefs around their necks to show unity.
• They were nicknamed “rednecks”!
• …Oh yeah… and the color red is usually associated with Communism (Marxism), too!