 First began in US during the early 1800s  Accelerated during the Civil War  By 1900, US had become the world’s leading industrial power

What advantages do we have?

 US had plentiful natural resources:  Water  Timber  Coal  Iron  Copper  Oil  Large workforce, thanks to immigration

 US government supported the “free enterprise” system  Kept taxes low  Minimal regulation of businesses  Made no effort to control wages or prices  Did, however, enact high tariffs to protect US industries from European competition

“ROBBER BARONS” “CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY” Entrepreneurs who built monopolies that were unfair to consumers Swindled the poor Bought out competitors Seen as bad for the economy Rockefeller Entrepreneurs that were seen as serving the nation in a positive way Creating jobs Stimulated innovation Were charitable Carnegie

“Survival of the fittest” promoted by Charles Darwin Wealth was a measure of one’s inherent value and those who had wealth were most fit Only the wealthy should rise to the top Promotes Laissez-Faire Economics We are a plutocratic society!

 Used for building railroads, heavy machinery, and skyscrapers and other buildings  Stronger, lighter, more durable, and more flexible than iron

It could not until………

 Developed by Sir Henry Bessemer, put into mainstream use in US by Andrew Carnegie  New process for making steel more efficiently and cheaply, while also producing steel of a superior quality

 1835 – 1919  Scottish immigrant  Started from poverty, worked his way up through telegraph and railroad companies until he eventually made a fortune investing in his own steel company  In 1901, Carnegie sold his steel company for $230 million and began pursuing philanthropic interests.  By the time of his death, he had given away nearly $450 million!

 Created in 1901 when J.P. Morgan bought out Carnegie and several other large steel manufacturers to create the world’s first billion-dollar company

 First major US oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania by Edwin L. Drake in 1858  Richest oil finds of 19 th century would come in Texas and Oklahoma  Used at first for making kerosene for lighting, but later used to power and lubricate machinery

 1839 – 1937  Became rich off his near- monopoly in the American oil industry  First billionaire in US; was worth $1.4 billion when he died (That’s about $600 billion in today’s dollars) – He held a little over 1% of the total wealth of the US!

 Created in 1870 by Rockefeller and several partners  Volume pricing allowed Standard Oil to bankrupt any competitors who refused to sell out  Became so powerful a monopoly that it was ordered broken up by the Supreme Court in 1911

 Who today would we consider to be modern robber barons/captains of industry?  Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Mark Zuckerberg, etc.  Use the chrome books and the graphic organizer provided to determine your choice as a either a Robber Baron or a Captain of Industry?

 Railroads became the lifeline of all American agricultural and industrial production  Moved natural resources to the factories, farm goods to market, and manufactured goods to distributors

 1794 – 1877  “The Commodore”  Dropped out of school to operate a ferry business which grew into a huge fortune in the shipping and railroad industries  Founded Vanderbilt University with a $1 million donation, the largest in US history at that time  One of his grandsons built Biltmore House in Asheville, NC

 Vital to new industrial growth, the ability to use electrical power to create light and run machinery allowed factories to run 24 hours a day  Electricity also opened up new avenues of entertainment

 1847 – 1931  “The Wizard of Menlo Park”  Holder of over 1000 patents  Developed the phonograph, the light bulb, and motion picture camera  Founder of Edison General Electric Company, which later became General Electric (GE)  A better developer of ideas than marketer, many of his inventions would make other people rich

 1846 – 1914  Inventor, who developed the air brake and rotary steam engine for the railroads  Made his fortune in electricity by backing Nikola Tesla’s alternating current (AC) method of electrical distribution over Edison’s direct current (DC) method

 Larger and more powerful banking firms were needed to loan money to these new mega-corporations  Small banks began to merge, just as small corporations had merged into monopolies like US Steel and Standard Oil

 1837 – 1913  Financed the merger of steel companies into the giant US Steel; also financed the merger of electric operators into General Electric  Key stakeholder in several other corporations, including International Harvester, AT&T, and numerous railroads  Was scheduled to sail on the Titanic, but cancelled his reservation at the last minute

 Monopolies : control of an entire market or good by a single corporation (Purpose is to end competition)!!!  Trusts : combination of independent corporations under one group of managers  Holding companies : ownership of multiple companies by a single controlling company which doesn’t actually produce anything itself

 Vertical  Company buys all of the different businesses on which it depends for its operations  Controls all of its suppliers from the natural resources on up  Controls all of the companies which transport and distribute its products  Horizontal  Company buys out all of its competitors to create a larger more efficient corporation  Ultimate form of horizontal integration is the creation of a monopoly

 Alexander Graham Bell’s Telephone  Elisha Otis’ Elevator  Gustavus Swift’s Refrigerated Railroad Car  Standardization of clothing & shoe sizes

 1. Inventions Analysis – See worksheet, Rank only 1 through 5, must be essay format  2. Gospel of Wealth Analysis – See worksheet, Must be essay format  3. Visual Representation of Integration – Create an ORIGINAL representation of either vertical or horizontal integration. Must use color on printer paper