The Age of Industry (1865-1900)

The Age of Industry (1865-1900)

After the Civil War, American scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs, encouraged by capitalism and the government, transformed the U.S. into an industrial powerhouse.

Natural Resources Fuel Growth Coal Mines Forests Farm Land 1859 – 1st Oil Well

drilled in PA (Edwin Drake)

Oil replaced whale blubber

Immigration – Peaked at 1 M a year in 1905

Laissez-faire Economics The U.S. Gov’t

policy was “hands off”

Businesses had little gov’t regulation, subsidies, and protective tariffs

100% Supply and Demand!

Railroads Lead the Way! As the USA was

united by rail (Transcontinental R.R. 1869), problems resulted for trains, freight, and people

Solar time was no longer adequate

1883 the U.S. and most of world adopted International Standard Time

Electricity Changed Lives! Thomas A. Edison

1. Phonograph (1877)

2. Electric Light (1880)

3. Power Plant (1882)

4. Motion Picture (1888)

Advancing Communications Samuel F.B. Morse

used Morse Code to transmit telegraph messages in 1844

By 1900 Western Union was sending 63 M messages a year

Alexander G. Bell’s telephone (1876) led to the formation of AT&T in 1885

The Rise of the Steel Industry Bessemer Process

made steel production more efficient

John A. Roebling’s Brooklyn Bridge (1883)

“Race to the Skies” and RR’s improved too

It is the longest cable suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere.

Arthur Ravenel, Jr. BridgeCharleston, SC – July 2005

Exit Slip – Inventors of the Industrial Age1. The government’s policy toward the economy after

the Civil War can be described asa. very involved b. little Involved

2. In 1883, the move to Standard Time was driven by the _______ industry.a. steel b. coal mining c. auto d. railroad

3. He is credited with the invention of the electric light?a. Edison b. Bell c. Gates d. Swift

4. Which of the following was not an important industry in post-Civil War America?a. Steel b. Oil c. Telegraph d. Electronic

Thinking about Big Business-Bell Ringer!

1. What does it mean to own stock in a company? Explain.

2. Why is gasoline now $2.59 (9/2/10) a gallon compared to $3.69 (9/12/08)?

3. What if people refused to pay $2.59 per gallon for gasoline? Explain.

4. Do you have the right to make as much money as you possibly can? Explain.

5. Why do some workers join labor unions?

Many Corporations Merge Corporation – people get a charter & sell

shares of stock to raise capital (P. 108) Monopoly – Corporations join to control an

entire industry or service Trust – Companies ally and turn assets over

to board of trustees The goal was to restrict competition! Interstate Commerce Commission (1887) Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) – But it was

rarely enforced for 15 years – Why?

Andrew Carnegie and Steel 13 yr-old Scottish

Immigrant earned $1.35-wk (1848)

Carnegie Steel (1889)

Used Vertical Integration (coal, RR’s, iron mines) to force competitors out

John D. Rockefeller and Oil 1st oil well in Titusville,

PA (1859) Cleveland, OH

Refinery built in 1863 Standard Oil Trust

formed in 1870 via Horizontal Integration (P. 110)

He drove his competitors out of business as he sidestepped laws

Horizontal and Vertical Integration

Social Darwinism and the “Gospel of Wealth” Carnegie said

“millionaires are bees that make most honey”

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution (1859)

Social Darwinism held that gov’t shouldn’t interfere with business and the most fit will be rich

Robber Barons or Captains of Industry?

Did the wealthy “rob” from the public and workers to build empires?

Did their contributions (jobs, goods, services, and philanthropy) outweigh the bad?

Exit Slip – The Rise of Big Business 1. T or F – Many industrialists formed trusts

during the 19th Century in an attempt to gain complete control of an industry or a service.

2. T or F - Andrew Carnegie made a fortune in the oil industry.

3. T or F – The theory of Social Darwinism put forth the belief that the smartest business owners are the “fittest” and,thus, they are the most successful.

4. T or F - Critics of big business owners derogatorily called them “Robber Barons.”

Industrialization and Workers It was a family affair Child Labor – 1/5

ages 10-16 worked No welfare only over-

burdened charities 12-hour days, 6- day

weeks Unsafe conditions –

1882 avg. 675 deaths/ week – 120 today

The Rise of Labor Unions 1820s - Collective

Bargaining – negotiating as a group for better wages or benefits

Strike - the most potent collective bargaining method

Socialism – many labor activists borrowed from this philosophy

Early Labor Unions Knights of Labor

(1869) – skilled and unskilled

American Federation of Labor (1886) – craft unions – more exclusive than the Knights

1890 Census – 9% controlled 75% of wealth

The Great Strikes! (Pg. 118) 1877 RR Strike –

President Hayes uses federal troops-wages cut

Haymarket Square (1886) – Chicago, 8 HR Day, bomb, dozens killed

Homestead, PA (1892) – Carnegie Steel – cut wages

Pullman Strike (1894) – 120,000 ARU and Eugene V. Debs – 30 killed