Chapter 6
The Expansion of Industry
Technological Revolution• technology is high priority– Patents-owners have
exclusive rights to make, use, and sell inventions
– 500,000 patents issued from 1860-1890
• Financing came from investors willing to take chance to make profit– Stocks sold to raise capital
– Productivity increases standard of living
Edwin L. Drake• Sent by Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co to drill for oil• Titusville, Pennsylvania• Used steam powered engine• 1859 struck oil• Oil became major industry
Thomas Edison• Got $40,000 bonus for improving stock ticker• Left job to be inventor (age 23)• 1880 light bulb invented• 1882 created power station that powered
several buildings in NYC
Lewis Latimer• Son of escaped slaves• Improved filament on
light bulb to last longer that a few days
• Self-taught mechanical drawing
• Did patent drawing for Bell’s telephone
• Invented toilet that worked on moving trains
• Supervised construction of lighting system in NYC and other cities
George Westinghouse• Used transformers and power stations to run
electricity over long distances• By 1898 3,000 power stations; 2 million
homes in U.S. with power• Invented air brakes for trains (safety
improvement)
Electricity’s impact on life• Factories run 24/7• Sewing machines=ready made clothes• Thousands of jobs, including women, children,
immigrants• Refrigeration• Rural areas did not have electricity for decades
(Alabama in 1930s)
telegraph• Telegraph invented
before Morse• Morse patented it• Invented Morse
code• Granville Woods-
used telegraph to communicate w/ moving train=fewer collisions
Time Zones
• Created to help reduce delays in train traveled• Called RR time
Railroads and industry
• Faster and practical-higher speeds/move more goods
• Lowered cost of production-received raw materials and transported finished products quicker
• Created national markets Model for big business
• Stimulation of other industries-ex. Iron rail for steel rails
Transcontinental Railroad
• Funded by Congress• Central Pacific Railroad from
Sacramento, CA• Union Pacific Railroad from
Omaha, Nebraska• Met at Promontory Point,
Utah-golden spike• Immigrant workers (many
Chinese)
Bessemer Process• Made it easier and cheaper to remove impurities
from steel• Made steel lighter, stronger, and more flexible• Allowed for mass production of steel• Allowed for building of Brooklyn Bridge-
completed May 24, 1883
Section 2The Growth of Big Business
Big BusinessRobber barons• Made money by
steeling from public/on backs of workers
• Drained natural resources
• Stretched laws
Captains of Industry• Served nation by
building factories, schools, etc
• Increased productivity• Created higher standard
of living
Andrew Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth
• Make as much money as you can and then give it away
• 80% of his wealth went toward some form of education
• Funded over 3000 free public libraries• Gave over $350 million away during lifetime
Social Darwinism
• Government should not interfere in business
• If left alone, fittest businesses would survive and become rich
Carnegie Steel
• Used vertical consolidation
• Bought up all aspects of production
• Created larger profit margin for own company
Standard Oil Company• Used horizontal consolidation• Used large size of company to negotiate lower prices for doing
business• Cut prices of oil to drive competition out of business• Bought out many firms in the same business• Created a trust
Sherman Antitrust Act• Attempted to limit the control
businesses would have over an industry
• Outlawed combining companies that restrained interstate trade or commerce
• Ineffective for 15 years: vague and large companies drug out court fights
• Used in reverse against labor unions
Immigrants/urbanization• Factories needed labor to function• Immigrants and farmers moved to cities in large
numbers to find work• Workers were either paid piece work, by the job, or by
the hour.• Many sweatshops sprang up with horrible conditions
and low wages
The Principles of Scientific Management
• By Fredrick Winslow Taylor• Designed to improve efficiency by breaking
down tasks and increasing productivity
Work environment• Difficult for farmers and
immigrants to adapt to working by the clock
• Unsafe• Child labor- 5% of labor force
in 1880, one in five children age 10-16 was employed
• Some children as young as 6 worked
• Social Darwinism supported bad conditions=poverty was result of weakness
The Great Strikesstrike: to stop work as a coercive message
• Why would workers strike?– Workers’ wages too low to afford
consumer products even though high productivity lowered prices
– Richest 9% control 75% of wealth– Some believed that wealth should
be equally distributed and turned to the socialist ideas of Marx and Engels
Labor Unions• Knights of Labor-recruited skilled and unskilled laborers,
African-Americans, women; led by Terrance Powderly; wanted eight hour workday, end of child labor; membership declined by 1890s due to violence
• American Federation of Labor- led by Samuel Gompers; organized skilled laborers only; used collective bargaining; closed shop
• Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Wobblies- organized unskilled workers, full of Socialists, violent strikes
Employers Feared Labor Unions
• If paid higher wages and other demands, costs would rise and profits would fall
• Fired union members• Yellow dog contracts• Refused collective bargaining
Great RR Strike of 1877• Baltimore and Ohio RR company-10% wage cut & said would run double
headers (lay off workers)• Workers clashed with the company and with local militias• Pres. Hayes sent in troops to restore order• Rioters burned RR property ($5 mill damage)• Federal and state govs sided w/ companies
Eugene V. Debs
• Instrumental in the formation of the American Railways Union, an industrial union, that replaced craft unions in railway industry
Haymarket Riot 1886• McCormick Reaper factory• Riots b/t strikers and scabs• Police killed several workers• Anarchists joined strikers to protest actions of police at
Haymarket Square• Bomb thrown at police by anarchist, riot erupts, dozens dead• Unions looked down upon by public as violent and anti-American
Homestead Strike, 1892• Carnegie Steel in Homestead, Penn• Henry Frick cut wages• Frick used Pinkerton Security to put
down strike• Shoot out b/t Pinkerton and strikers
left many dead• Attempted assassination of Frick by
anarchist• Public outcry against union violence• Carnegie Steel, later U.S. Steel,
remained un-unionized until 1930s
Pullman Strike, 1894• Pullman Sleeping Car (RR) company• Had built town to house workers• Company held tight control over town• Cut wages, maintained rent/food prices• Workers went on strike w/ aid of Debs and ARU; strikes prevented western
mail delivery• Co. turned to gov for help• Used Sherman Anti-trust Act to say that union was preventing trade• Pres. Grover Cleveland sent in 2,500 troops