INDUSTRIALIZATION AND THE “GILDED AGE”

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS BESSEMER PROCESS HENRY BESSEMER FOUND THAT BY BLOWING AIR INTO LIQUID IRON, IT WOULD REMOVE THE IMPURITIES AND CREATE STEEL STEEL = HARDER AND STURDIER BEFORE BESSEMER, PLANT COULD MAKE 5 TONS OF STEEL A DAY AFTER BESSEMER, PLANT COULD MAKE 5 TONS OF STEEL IN 15 MINUTES IMPORTANT BECAUSE NOW WE COULD BUILD UPWARDS, NOT JUST OUTWARDS LED TO CREATION OF SKYSCRAPERS

COMMERCIAL USE OF ELECTRICITY FIRST COMMERCIAL USE OF ELECTRICITY WAS TO COMMUNICATE LONG DISTANCES ALONG TELEGRAPH WIRES IN 1876, ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL INVENTED THE TELEPHONE TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE IMPORTANT BECAUSE THEY ALLOW PEOPLE TO COMMUNICATE LONG DISTANCES IN 1879, THOMAS EDISON CREATED THE LIGHT BULB THIS PAVED THE WAY FOR CITIES TO BE LIT AT NIGHT

OTHER INVENTIONS ELIAS HOWE: SEWING MACHINE (1846) ELISHA OTIS: PASSENGER ELEVATORS (1852) CHRISTOPHER SHOLES: TYPEWRITER (1867) ALEXANDER G. BELL: TELEPHONE (1876) THOMAS EDISON: LIGHTBULB (1879) ORVILLE AND WILBUR WRIGHT: AIRPLANE (1903)

RESULTS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION

GROWTH OF RAILROADS TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD WAS BUILT TO CONNECT THE EAST AND WEST OF U.S. MOST WORKERS ON CALIFORNIA SIDE WERE CHINESE EARNED JUST $26 TO $35 DOLLARS A MONTH FOR 12 HOURS A DAY, SIX DAYS A WEEK IN 1869, THE TWO HALVES OF THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD CONNECTED IN PROMONTORY POINT, UTAH REDUCED THE JOURNEY COAST TO COAST BY SEVERAL MONTHS

DEVELOPMENT OF A NATIONAL MARKET MARKET: A LOCATION WHERE THERE IS A DEMAND FOR YOUR GOOD OR SERVICE WITH RAILROADS, CANALS, TELEGRAPHS, AND TELEPHONES CONNECTING THE COUNTRY, SHIPPING BECAME CHEAPER NATIONAL PRODUCERS NEEDED TO SELL A LOT OF GOODS TO MAKE PROFIT DUE TO LARGE MANUFACTURING COSTS MANUFACTURERS BEGAN ADVERTISING IN MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS, SELLING SAME GOODS THROUGHOUT COUNTRY NATIONAL MARKET: A COMPANY SELLING GOODS ALL OVER COUNTRY DUE TO HIGH DEMAND

OTHER IMPORTANT RESULTS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION GROWTH OF POPULATION BETWEEN 1850 AND 1900, THE POPULATION OF THE COUNTRY TRIPLED THIS WAS FUELED BY HIGH BIRTHRATE AND STEADY STREAM OF IMMIGRATION GOOD FOR BUSINESS: INCREASED DEMAND FOR GOODS NEW TYPES OF BUSINESS ORGANIZATION CORPORATION: A COMPANY THAT CAN ACT AS A SINGLE ENTITY (RECOGNIZED AS A SEPARATE “PERSON”) SHAREHOLDERS: PEOPLE WHO BUY STOCKS (PARTIAL OWNERSHIP) IN A COMPANY COMPANY MAY PAY DIVIDENDS: SMALL SHARES OF YEAR’S PROFIT EQUAL TO NUMBER OF STOCKS PURCHASED

HOW AN ECONOMY STARTS 3 BASIC ECONOMIC QUESTIONS: 1. WHAT SHOULD BE PRODUCED? 2. HOW SHOULD IT BE PRODUCED? 3. WHO GETS WHAT IS PRODUCED? EVERY ECONOMY HAS TO ANSWER THESE THREE QUESTIONS FOR EXAMPLE, WHO DECIDES THESE QUESTIONS IN A COMMAND (COMMUNIST) ECONOMY?

FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM IN A FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM 1. WHAT SHOULD BE PRODUCED? WHO DECIDES THIS? ___________________ 2. HOW SHOULD IT BE PRODUCED? _________________________________ 3. WHO GETS WHAT IS PRODUCED? _________________________________ IN FREE ENTERPRISE, INDIVIDUALS ARE FREE TO PRODUCE AND SELL WHATEVER THEY WISH (ALMOST) ALSO, PRODUCERS GET TO CHOOSE WHAT TO PRODUCE, AND HOW MUCH FREE MARKET IS BASED AROUND PRESSURES OF COMPETITION OTHER NAMES FOR FREE ENTERPRISE: FREE MARKET, CAPITALISM, LAISSEZ-FAIRE ECONOMICS

ENTREPRENEURS ENTREPRENEUR: A PERSON WHO STARTS A BUSINESS IN THE HOPES OF MAKING A PROFIT (EXTRA MONEY AFTER ALL EXPENSES ARE PAID) THE LATE 1800S EXPERIENCED A RISE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP BECAUSE OF THE NATIONAL MARKET, NEW TECHNOLOGIES, AND IMPROVED QUALITY, THE ENTREPRENEURS WERE ABLE TO MAKE HUGE PROFITS FOR THEMSELVES THIS CAUSED THIS ERA TO BE KNOWN AS THE “GILDED AGE” (GILDED: COVERED IN A THIN LAIR OF GOLD, THINK GILDED BOOKS)

“CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY” V. “ROBBER BARONS” ENTREPRENEURS TENDED TO MAKE A LOT OF MONEY DURING THIS TIME PERIOD AND RESULTED IN TWO DIFFERENT VIEWS OF THEM CAPTAIN OF INDUSTRY: SOMEONE WHO USED THEIR WEALTH FOR GOOD ROBBER BARON: SOMEONE WHO WAS RUTHLESS AND GREEDY THESE WERE IN NO WAY MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE: ONE PERSON COULD BE CONSIDERED BOTH

ANDREW CARNEGIE SCOTTISH IMMIGRANT WHO ENDED UP CREATING THE FIRST STEEL EMPIRE IN AMERICA IN 1892, FOUNDED THE CARNEGIE STEEL COMPANY. BOUGHT OUT COMPETITION. FORMED U.S. STEEL AFTER CREATING COMPANY CARNEGIE PAID WORKERS LOW WAGES AND FORCED THEM TO WORK 12 HOUR DAYS, BUT ALSO GAVE AWAY $350 MILLION TO BUILD LIBRARIES AND UNIVERSITIES

GOSPEL OF WEALTH READING

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER USED PROFITS FROM ANOTHER BUSINESS TO OPEN AN OIL REFINERY (TAKE CRUDE OIL, TURN IT INTO SOMETHING USEFUL) ROCKEFELLER KEPT BUYING OUT COMPETITION UNTIL HE HAD CREATED A MONOPOLY MONOPOLY: A COMPANY HAVING COMPLETE CONTROL OVER THE SUPPLY OF A PRODUCT OR SERVICE HE FORCED RAILROAD COMPANIES TO GIVE HIM SPECIAL RATES WHILE CHARGING COMPETITORS HIGHER PRICES IN 1892, THE GOV’T FORCED HIM TO BREAK UP STANDARD OIL LIKE CARNEGIE, HE GAVE AWAY MILLIONS TO EDUCATION AND SCIENCE, CREATING THE UNIVERSITY OF CHIAGO AND THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION

BRAINSTORM WHAT ARE SOME PROS OF BIG BUSINESS? WHAT ARE SOME CONS?

PROS AND CONS OF BIG BUSINESS ProsCons Large businesses are more efficient, leading to lower prices They have an unfair competitive advantage against small businesses They can hire large numbers of workersThey sometimes exploit workers They can produce goods in large quantitiesThey are less concerned with where they do business and pollute the area They have the resources to support expensive research and invent new items They have an unfair influence over government policies affecting them

LAWS AGAINST ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT (1887) ACT THAT CREATED GOVERNMENT AGENCY (INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION) TO REGULATE UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICES FIRST TIME CONGRESS STEPPED IN TO REGULATE BUSINESS IN AMERICA SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT TRUST: A LARGE BUSINESS MADE OF SEVERAL COMPANIES THAT ARE CONTROLLED BY THE SAME GROUP (BOARD OF TRUSTEES) THIS LAW WAS CREATED TO BREAK UP MONOPOLIES ENGAGING IN UNFAIR PRACTICES THAT PREVENTED FAIR COMPETITION

THE CONDITIONS OF LABOR LONG HOURS, LOW WAGES HOUR DAYS, SIX DAYS A WEEK. $3-12 A WEEK POOR CONDITIONS, BORING AND REPETITIVE TASKS PRIOR, SKILLED LABOR (BLACKSMITH, SHOEMAKER, BAKER) WORK BECAME LESS SKILLED, MORE REPETITIVE APPLE PLANT CHILD LABOR CHILDREN WERE OFTEN BROUGHT IN TO PERFORM SPECIAL TASKS LIKE FIXING GEARS INSIDE MACHINERY LACK OF SECURITY WORKERS COULD BE FIRED AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON

RISE OF UNIONS- WORKERS SEEK A NATION VOICE UNIONS: GROUPS OF WORKERS ACTING TOGETHER FOR MUTUAL BENEFIT (BETTER WAGES, CONDITIONS, ETC.) KNIGHTS OF LABOR: FORMED IN 1869, THEIR GOAL WAS TO CREATE A SINGLE, NATIONAL UNION BY JOINING TOGETHER ALL SKILLED AND UNSKILLED LABORERS DEMANDED 8 HOUR WORK DAY, HIGHER WAGES, SAFETY CODES, NO CHILD LABOR, HIGHER WAGES FOR WOMEN AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR: FOUNDED IN 1881 BY SAMUEL GOMPERS. WANTED TO CREATE A UNION OF WORKERS WITH SIMILAR INTERESTS (I.E. SEPARATE UNION FOR SKILLED AND UNSKILLED)

GOVERNMENT’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS UNIONS GREATER INFLUENCE OF BUSINESS BUSINESS LEADERS CONTRIBUTED HEAVILY TO POLITICAL CAMPAIGN FUNDS TO HELP PROTECT THEIR INTERESTS PROTECTOR OF THE ECONOMY GOVERNMENT LEADERS FEARED DISRUPTIVE EFFECT OF UNION STRIKES FEDERAL GOVERNMENT USED SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT TO BREAK UP UNIONS THAT WERE “RESTRAINING TRADE” PUBLIC OPINION MANY AMERICANS OPPOSED UNIONS BECAUSE THEY FEARED HIGHER WAGES = HIGHER PRICES UNION ACTIVITIES WERE OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH RADICAL BEHAVIOR HAYMARKET AFFAIR OF 1886: LABOR LEADERS WERE ACCUSED OF BLOWING UP A GROUP OF STRIKING WORKERS IN CHICAGO