Philip D. Armour Erica Snook

Early Life Philip D. Armour Born May 16, 1832 on a farm in Stock-bridge, New York. As a child, Armour attended a district school, then transferred to the Cazenova Academy only to be dropped from the program. As a teenager, Armour’s father – who was of Scotch-Irish and Puritan descent – took on Phillip as his apprentice as a farmer.

Early Business At age 19, Armour left New York to seek a job during the California gold rush and had made over $6,000 (apprx. $160,000 today) by the time he was 24. During his time in California, Armour worked as a miner and as a contractor for miners. During the Civil War, Armour began to work in the pork-packing business in Milwaukee, and came into a substantial fortune immediately after the war had ended. Shortly after, Armour opened his own meat packing industry, named Armour and Company, near the Union Stock Yards. Armour’s brother Joseph ran the business until his health failed, forcing Philip to take control and move to Chicago.

Big Business Armour became most famous for his meat packing business, Armour & Co. Originally, this plant started out solely as a pork packing site. The company was centered in Chicago, Illinois, but expanded to other cities such as Kansas City and Omaha. Over the years Armour & Co. expanded to include: - Dressed beef - Meat canning - Glue manufacturing - Fertilizer manufaturing - Oleomargarine manufacturing - Hairbrushes - Buttons - Many other materials derived from animal by-products

Big Business By 1880, Armour & Co. had take off, with more than 1,500 men on the payroll. During this time, Armour was Chicago’s leading industrial enterprise and employer, processing just under $60 million in sales every year. Some have said that Armour was able to generate so much income due to the fact that he processed every part of the animal, that is “every part but the squeal”. As soon as the refrigerated railroad car was perfected, Armour & Co. went cross-country, causing the business to grow rapidly due to the fact that it was now possible to acquire fresh meat during the “off-season”.

Big Business Armour’s packing house was one of the first companies to use a new killing and cutting line, similar to an assembly line, increasing efficiency. This efficiency reduced the factory’s pollution, however, the plant often operated without strong federal inspection standards. Without regular inspection it was very possible to pollute the meat itself and customers occasionally found rat droppings, dead rodents, sawdust, spoiled meat, and meat mixed with waste materials incorporated into their sausages.

Philanthropy Armour strongly opposed trade unions and helped defeat many strikes uring the late nineteenth century. Just as well, Armour was very interested in training younger generations. In 1886 Armour’s brother established the Armour Mission, which sposored classes and activities for children. Philip strongly sponsored this organization as it provided a kindergarten, library, and free medical care to many citizens. In 1893 the Armour Institute of Technology was founded. This organization taught engineering, architecture and library science to high-school graduates at a very low cost. This institute provided education for both blacks an whites, as well as providing courses in certain trades for girls.

Political Cartoon This political cartoon is aimed at addressing the feelings of the working class concerning the newfound robber barons. The man on the wood represents the working class. In this cartoon, the working class can be seen chained to a monopoly, implying that the monopolies of the time would not let the working class escape their grasp. Underneath the working class can be seen the faces of several robber barons of the time period, including Philip Armour. The robber barons spitting fire at the working class suggests that these captains of industry are becoming the cause of a slow, painful death of the working class. In being titled Hopelessly Bound to the Stake, the artist implies that the working class is hopelessly dependent on the monopolies of the time period, because doing this is the only way that working men had a chance to remain employed and provide for their families. The artist is anti-robber baron.

Works Cited Gillam. "Hopelessly Bound to the Stake." Cartoon. Business, Labor and Technology in the Gilded Age. Web. 3 Feb "Armour & Co." Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Web. 01 Feb "Philip Armour and the Packing Industry." Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Web. 01 Feb “Phillip Danforth Armour.” Encyclopedia of World Biography Encyclopedia.com. 1 Feb "Philip Danforth Armour ( )." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service Web. 01 Feb