AP EXAM REVIEW! PART VI. #6 THE MACHINE AGE (1877- 1900)

AP EXAM REVIEW!PART VI

#6THE MACHINE

AGE (1877-1900)

THE AGE OF INVENTION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH- In 1876, Thomas Edison built his workshop in Menlo Park,

NJ and produced some of the most important inventions of the century- Invented the light bulb

- Extended the work day (which previously ended at sundown)- Pioneered work in the development of power plants- The last quarter of the 19th century is often called the AGE OF

INVENTION because so many technological advances

- These advances generated greater opportunities for MASS PRODUCTION, which caused the economy to grow at a tremendous rate

- Not surprisingly, people known as “captains of industry” to their fans (and “robber barons” to others) became extremely rich and powerful during this period

INDUSTRIALIZATION, CORPORATE CONSOLIDATION, AND THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH- As more and faster machines became available,

businessmen discovered that their cost per unit decrease and their number of units produced increased

- The more raw product they bought, the cheaper the suppliers’ asking price was- Lower costs = lower cost of products- Cheaper the product, the more they sold- This is the concept of ECONOMIES OF SALES

- ASSEMBLY LINE PRODUCTION began to take hold when Eli Whitney developed interchangeable parts, but reached a whole new level in Ford’s plants- Workers were asked to perform a single task over and over again, for

(before labor reform) 12 to 14 hours a day- Factories were dangerous and resulted in 50,000 injuries/year

- Profits continued to rise by huge margins

- Government wasn’t able to enforce regulations

- Supreme Court was extremely pro-business

- Businesses such as railroad companies created larger and larger business, which is known as CORPORATE CONSOLIDATION

- Holding company’s were formed as well- A holding company owned enough stock in various companies to have a

controlling interest in the production of raw material, the means of transporting that material to a factory, the factory itself, and the distribution network for selling the product

- The conclusion of this, logically, is a MONOPOLY (complete control of an entire industry

INDUSTRIALIZATION, CORPORATE CONSOLIDATION, AND THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH

- The most common forms of business consolidation were HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL INTEGRATION- One is legal; one is not- Both were practiced by captains of industry during the Gilded Age- Horizontal (illegal): several smaller companies within the same industry

are combined to form one, larger company (either by being bought out legally or destroyed by ruthless practices)

- Ex: John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil- Vertical (legal): one company buys out all the factors of production, from

raw materials to the finished product- Ex: Swift Premium might control stockyards, the slaughterhouse,

and the processing and packaging plants, but still compete with Oscar Mayer

INDUSTRIALIZATION, CORPORATE CONSOLIDATION, AND THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH

- The back-and-forth battle among the public, the government, and the courts is best exemplified by the SHERMAN ANTITRUST ACT- Sherman Antitrust: forbade any “combination…or conspiracy in the

restraint of trade”- The wording was weak and the pro-business Supreme Court interpreted

the law as it saw fit, finding loopholes to benefit big business- These loopholes would be close during Wilson’s administration with the

passage of the Clayton Antitrust Act

INDUSTRIALIZATION, CORPORATE CONSOLIDATION, AND THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH

- Andrew Carnegie- Promoted a philosophy based on the work of Charles Darwin- Using Darwin’s theory of evolution as an analogy, Carnegie argued that

in business, as in nature, unrestricted competition allowed only the “fittest” to survive

- This theory was called SOCIAL DARWINISM- He also argued that the concentration of wealth among a few was the

natural and most efficient result of capitalism. He asserted that great wealth brought with it social responsibility

- He dubbed this belief the GOSPEL OF WEALTH, and he advocated philanthropy (building libraries, but not charity)

INDUSTRIALIZATION, CORPORATE CONSOLIDATION, AND THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH

FACTORIES AND CITY LIFE- In order to maximize profits, manufacturers reduced labor

costs by hiring women and children

- Also hired newly arrived immigrants who were anxious for work

- Majority of immigrants arrived from southern and eastern Europe- Prior to 1880, most came from northern and western Europe

- Because manufacturers paid as little as possible, the cities in which their employees lived suffered many problems associated with poverty- Crime- Disease- Lack of livable housing

- Advances in mass transportation (expansion of railroads, streetcars, and subways) allowed the middle class to live in nicer neighborhoods

- Services for the poor were not provided by churches, private charities, and ethnic communities, they were provided by a group of corrupt men called POLITICAL BOSSES

- Political Bosses- Helped the poor find homes and jobs- Helped them apply for citizenship and voting rights- Built parks- Funded police and fire departments- Constructed roads and sewage lines- In return they expected community members to vote as they were

instructed- Sometimes required “donations” to help fund community projects- Their organizations were called POLITICAL MACHINES- The most notorious was “Boss” Tweed of Tammany Hall New York

FACTORIES AND CITY LIFE

- Widespread misery in cities led many to seek changes

- Labor unions formed to try and counter the poor treatment of workers- Unions were considered radical- Hired goons or troops broke up strikes- Before the Civil War, few unions existed, and they were small- One of the first national labor unions was the KNIGHTS OF LABOR founded

in 1869

- The Knights of Labor- Organized skilled and unskilled workers from a variety of crafts- Their goals

1. Eight-hour workday

2. Equal pay for equal work for men and women (this wouldn’t become a federal law until 1963!)

3. Child labor laws (prohibiting workers under 14)

4. Safety and sanitary codes

5. Federal income tax (not enacted until 16th Amendment in 1913)

6. Government ownership of railroad and telegraph lines

FACTORIES AND CITY LIFE

- The Haymarket Square Riot (1886)- A labor demonstration in Chicago’s Haymarket Square- A bomb went off, killing police- Many blamed the incident on the influence of radicals within the union

movement, although no one knew who set off the bomb- Propagandists began to associate unions with violence and political

radicalism

- The American Federation of Labor (Samuel Gompers)- Concentrated on the “bread and butter” issues of higher wages and

shorter workdays- Excluded unskilled workers (skilled only)- Refused to accept immigrants

FACTORIES AND CITY LIFE

- Charitable middle-class organizations, usually run by women, made efforts at urban reform

- Lobbied local governments for building-safety codes, better sanitation, and public schools

- Frustrated by government’s slow progress pace, members founded and lived in settlement houses in poor neighborhoods

- Jane Adams: Hull House (Chicago)- Provided services such as English lessons for immigrants, day care for

children of working mothers, childcare classes for parents, playgrounds for children

- Popular novels and newspapers began to appear - “Yellow Journalism” – new style of sensational journalism

- Bold, screaming headlines

FACTORIES AND CITY LIFE

JIM CROW LAWS AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN THE SOUTH- Advancements in the machine age affected primarily the

Northern cities

- South: agriculture continued to be the main form of labor- Landless farmers were sharecroppers, renting land in which was called

the CROP-LEIN SYSTEM, which was designed to keep the poor in constant debt

- The advent of the JIM CROW LAWS made matters worse for blacks- As the federal government backed off the South after Reconstruction,

cities passed discriminatory laws- Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment didn’t protect blacks

discrimination by privately owned businesses- Plessy v. Ferguson: Supreme Court case that ruled that “separate but

equal” facilities for different races was legal

- Booker T. Washington- Believed that white society was not ready to accept blacks as equals- He promoted economic independence as the means by which blacks

would improve their lot- Founded the Tuskegee Institute, a training school for blacks

- Accused of being an ACCOMODATIONIST because he refused to press for immediate equal rights

FACTORIES AND CITY LIFE

THE RAILROADS AND DEVELOPMENTS IN THE WEST- Railroads quickly transformed depot towns into vital cities

by connecting them to civilization

- Easier, faster travel meant more contact with ideas and technological advances from the East

- “railroad time” (schedules of the railroads) gave the nation its first standardized method of telling time with the adoption of time zones

- As rails pushed westward, settlers started filling in the territory.

- By 1889, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, and Montana were populous enough to achieve statehood- Wyoming and Idaho followed in 1890

- The government, realizing the potential of the region passed two significant pieces of legislation in 1862: THE HOMESTEAD ACT AND THE MORRILL LAND GRAND ACT- Homestead Act: Federal government offered 160 acres of land to

anyone who would “homestead” it (cultivate the land, build a home, live there) for five years

- Of course, the land they were giving away belonged to the Native Americans

- Morrill Land Grand Act: set aside land and provided money for agriculture colleges, turning agriculture sciences became a huge industry in the U.S.

THE RAILROADS AND DEVELOPMENTS IN THE WEST

- Mark Twain dubbed the era between Reconstruction and 1900 THE GILDED AGE- Gilded metals: shiny, gold-like surface, but beneath lies a cheap base- Twain’s point: politics looked good, but just beneath the surface lay

crass corruption- Political machines ran the cities- Big business bought votes in Congress- Workers had no protection from greed from their employers- Twain was right on the money

- The presidents were generally not corrupt, but relatively weak

- As a result, we barely remember Rutherford B. Hayes (except for his connection to the Compromise of 1877), James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland (both times), or Benjamin Harrison

NATIONAL POLITICS

THE SILVER ISSUE AND THE POPULIST MOVEMENT- After the Civil War, production on all fronts – agricultural

and industrial – increased

- Greater supply led to a drop in prices, which was trouble for many farmers

- Looking for a solution, farmers supported a more generous money supply- An increase in available money would make payments easier- Inflation would rise, making their debts worth less- Obviously the banks were against this, preferring the country to use only

gold to back its money supply- Silver was mined in the West, so the plan had the added support of

Western miners as well

- The “silver vs. gold” debate- The Grange Movement formed and by 1875 had more than 1 million

members- Became big enough to to endorse political parties and lobby for

legislation- Ultimately died out due to lack of money, but were replaced by the

Farmers Alliance- The Farmers Alliance eventually turned into the People’s Party, the

political arm of the POPULIST MOVEMENT- Populists backed William Jennings Bryan in the election of 1896

- Best remembered for his “Cross of Gold” speech- Called for “free silver”- Lost to Republican William McKinley- This is when the Republicans first became associated with its pro-

business stance

THE SILVER ISSUE AND THE POPULIST MOVEMENT

- William H. Seward, secretary of state under Lincoln and Johnson- Set the precedent for increased American participation in the Western

Hemisphere- Engineered the purchase of Alaska - Invoked the Monroe Doctrine to force France out of Mexico

- The search for a port along the route to Asia drew the U.S. to Hawaii- The U.S. annexed Hawaii, enraging Japan (this anger would resurface

during WWII)

- Another opportunity for expansion was in Cuba- Cuban natives revolted against Spanish control- An American warship, The Maine, exploded of Cuba’s coast- U.S. declared war, drove Spain out of Cuba, and also drove Spain out of

the Philippines- The Treaty of Paris (again): Spain granted Cuba independence and

ceded the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam to the U.S.

FOREIGN POLICY: IMPERIALISM