Objective: Students will understand the role that industry played in the United States during the Gilded Age

Iron Horse  35,000 miles of track in 1865 and by ,000  Too expensive, needed government funding, mostly done through land grants  Checkerboard land grants next to the tracks, this was the cheapest way for the government, didn’t have to come up with cash

Transcontinental Railroad  1862 creation of the UP RR to build a transcontinental RR  Paid for by gov loans and land grants and built by Irish and Chinese workers  Central Pacific RR worked east through the Sierra Nevadas  1869 Promontory Point in Utah  Opened the way West, trade with Asia  5 total transcontinental RR by 1900

Railroad Consolidation and Mechanization Vanderbilt  Made his fortune off steamboats and turned to trains  Had over $100 million, founded Vanderbilt University with a million dollar contribution  Steel rails replaced iron, heavier loads  -Standard gauge, air brakes, Pullman cars, etc.  -Western lines existed by joining older eastern lines

Revolution by Rails  United the whole country, created domestic markets for raw materials and manufactured goods, helped industrialize the country  Stimulated mining and agriculture, immigration, etc.  Brought on rapid ecological change to the west  Created time zones  Millions made and lost in RR speculation

Government Bridles the Iron Horse  Grange  Political organization of farmers that tried to regulate the RR  Wabash case  States had no power to regulate interstate commerce  Interstate Commerce Act of 1887  Prohibited rebates, pools, had to publish rates, stopped unfair discrimination, outlawed charging more for short vs. long hauls  Set up the ICC; Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce the laws  Tended to stabilize the RR not revolutionize them, helped the RR not the common people  1 st attempt by the federal government to regulate business for the benefit of the people

The Trust Titans Emerge Vertical integration Carnegie used every aspect of steel from mining it to shipping it after it was formed Horizontal integration Eliminate all competition, Rockefeller and Standard Oil, controlled 95% of the oil refineries in US Interlocking Directorates—Morgan Had his own officers on the board of directors for dozens of his competitors

Steel  By 1880 US produced 1/3 of the world’s steel  Bessemer Process (also Kelly) apply cold air to the hot iron to burn off impurities  Carnegie  Started at the bottom and worked his way up  Controlled the steel mills in Pittsburgh and made over 25$ million a year in pure profits for himself  Sold out to Morgan for over 400$ million  Ended up giving away over 350$ million of it  Morgan created United States Steel Corporation worth 1.4$ billion

Gospel of Wealth vs. Social Darwinism Gospel of WealthSocial Darwinism  Believed that God helped wealthy get their money and the rich had a duty to use it to benefit mankind  Best example is Andrew Carnegie that spent millions on libraries, concert halls, colleges, etc  This is survival of the fittest  The rich are rich because they worked harder and were smarter  Everyone else could have done the same  Best example is Rockefellar

Government Tackles the Trust  1 st tried state legislation but it was declared unconstitutional  Sherman Antitrust Act 1890  Forbade combinations in restraint of trade  Didn’t make distinctions between good and bad trusts—big was bad  It was very ineffective, had no teeth and too many loopholes  Actually used to stop labor unions