Industrialization And The Gilded Age. America Industrializes After Civil War – Second Industrial Revolution – rapid industrializationAfter Civil War –

Industrialization And The “Gilded Age”

America Industrializes

• After Civil War – “Second Industrial Revolution” – rapid industrialization

• Occurred during the decades after Civil War

New Inventions and Technology

• Bessemer Process – made production of steel more economical • Wood --- Iron - Steel • Before -1 Day = 5 tons of steel• After – 15 Minutes = 5 tons of steel

Steam Engines

• Steam engines powered pneumatic drills, cutting deeper into the Earth• 1860 – 14 million tons of coal• 1884 – 100 million tons of coal• Oil drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859• First internal combustion engine used

gasoline, from oil

Electricity

• Alexander Graham Bell created telephone to increase communication

• Thomas Edison combined gas and metal filament to create electric light bulbs.

• Electricity replaced steam and coal in factories

• Also used on streetcars and subways

• Each new invention increased people’s standard of living.

Growth of Railroads

• Transcontinental Railroad completed in 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah

• Built in the west by Chinese Immigrants• Worked 12 Hour Days, and 6-Day Weeks• Made $26-$35 a month

• Trip across U.S. was reduced from several months, to a few weeks.

A National Market

• Railroads now linked both coasts of the United States

• Raw goods and materials are linked to larger markets

• National Producers could make and ship goods cheaper than local producers

• Creation of Department Stores, chain stores and mail order houses.

Railroad Impact on Population

• Between 1850 and 1900 the population more than tripled.

• High Birthrates and increased immigration

• Created a favorable condition for buisness expansion• Demand for goods increased• Supply of cheap labor increased

New Types of Business Organizations

• Before Civil War, most businesses were owned by individuals or partners

• After the war, corporations became popular• Separate “person”• Allows for many people to pool money together

Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy

• By 1870’s entrepreneurs began to have a dominant influence on American business

• Lowered the price of goods and improved their quality

• Made HUGE profits for themselves

• Known as “Captains of Industry” because they forged modern industrial economy

• Also known as “robber barons” – used ruthless tactics to destroy competitors and keep wages low

Andrew Carnegie

• Scottish Immigrant, began his life penniless

• After Civil War, he invested in ironworks and built steel mills in Pittsburgh

• Used profits to buy more mills and created Carnegie Steel Corporation

Carnegie

• Controlled all phases of steel production• Iron ore fields, coal mines, steel mills and ships• Paid low wages, and crushed attempts at unions

in his mills

• Later in life, he gave away $350 Million to build libraries and endow universities

John D. Rockefeller

• Built an oil refinery in Cleveland, Ohio

• In 1870 founded the Standard Oil Company

• By 1879, he controlled 90% of oil refining in the U.S.

• Created a monopoly• Forced the railroads to pay “secret” low rates,

and charged his competitors higher rates

Rockefeller

• Like Carnegie, Rockefeller gave millions of his fortune away

• Founded University of Chicago and Rockefeller Foundation

Interstate Commerce Act (1887)

• Railroads charged higher rates to local farmers on shorter routes

• U.S. Supreme Court said only national government could regulate interstate commerce

• The Interstate Commerce Act prohibits unfair practices by railroads

• Created Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce the act

Sherman Anti-Trust Act

• Was created to stop monopolies

• Marked a significant change in Congress’ attitude towards big business• Before – Laissez-faire – little government

interference • After – More control by Congress

Conditions of Labor

• Average workday – 10-14 hours

• Average work week – 6 Days

• Average pay - $3-$12 a week

• Even lower wages for immigrants, women and children

Poor Conditions

• Workers became nothing more than a cog in a companies machine

• Work became less skilled, more repetitive and boring

• Very little if any safety.

• Thousands killed or injured every year

Child Labor

• Textile Mills and Coal Mines used children to preform special tasks• Smaller hands fit well into small parts of

machines

• 1/5 Children worked outside the home in 1910• Work = no school = little chance of increased

standard of living

Rise of Unions

• Knights of Labor – joined together all skilled and unskilled workers

• Demanded an 8 hour work day, higher wages and safety codes

• Grew rapidly in 1880’s, but fell apart after failed strikes

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

• Founded by Samuel Gompers in 1881

• Sought “Closed Shops” where only union members could be hired

• AFL became weakened by the exclusion of unskilled workers

• By 1910 less than 5% of American workers were unionized

Government and Unions

• Business leaders often contributed to politicians campaigns

• Politicians saw workers as greedy and businesses as good for American prosperity

• Most Americans believed that businesses should have the right to hire and fire employees as they pleased

Government and Unions

• Between 1880 and 1900 there were 20,000 strikes involving 6 million workers

• Government saw this as a disruption of the American economy

• Supreme Court ruled that unions were illegal combinations in restraint of trade

Haymarket Strike of 1886

• Haymarket Affair of 1886- labor leaders were blamed when a bomb exploded during a demonstration of strikers in Chicago.

• 7 Policemen killed and 67 severely wounded

Pullman strike (1894)

• Begin in Pullman, Illinois

• ARU (American Railway Union) led by Eugene Debs vs. the railroads

• @ its height involved over 250,000 workers in 27 different states

• 30 people killed

• Army was eventually called in to many cities to restore order

• Debs eventually goes to prison for violating a court order