The Age of Industry (1865-1900)

1
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.

2
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

3
Laissez-faire Economics

• The U.S. Govt policy was hands off
• Businesses had little govt regulation,
  subsidies, and protective tariffs
• 100 Supply and Demand!

4
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

5
Electricity Changed Lives!

• Thomas A. Edison
• Phonograph (1877)
• Electric Light (1880)
• Power Plant (1882)
• Motion Picture (1888)

6
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. Bells telephone (1876) led to the
  formation of ATT in 1885

7
The Rise of the Steel Industry

• Bessemer Process made steel production more
  efficient
• John A. Roeblings Brooklyn Bridge (1883)
• Race to the Skies and RRs improved too

8
Arthur Ravenel, Jr. BridgeCharleston, SC July
2005
It is the longest cable suspension bridge in the
Western Hemisphere.
9
Exit Slip Inventors of the Industrial Age

• 1. The governments policy toward the economy
  after the Civil War can be described as
• a. 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
  

10
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?

3.69 9/12/08 1.84 2/13/09 2.38 9/26/09 2.59
9/2/10
11
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?

12
Andrew Carnegie and Steel

• 13 yr-old Scottish Immigrant earned 1.35-wk
  (1848)
• Carnegie Steel (1889)
• Used Vertical Integration (coal, RRs, iron
  mines) to force competitors out

13
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

14
Horizontal and Vertical Integration
15
Social Darwinism and the Gospel of Wealth

• Carnegie said millionaires are bees that make
  most honey
• Charles Darwins theory of evolution (1859)
• Social Darwinism held that govt shouldnt
  interfere with business and the most fit will be
  rich

16
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?

17
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.

18
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

19
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

20
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

21
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