INDUSTRIAL SUPREMACY
Factors that Contribute to Growth of American Industry
*Abundant Raw Materials *Growing Labor Supply *Technological Innovations *Emergences of Talented, Ruthless Entrepreneurs *Gov. eager to help Business *Large, Expanding Market
Technology & Industry *Cyrus Field – Transatlantic Cable 1866
*A.G. Bell Phone 1876 by 1890 AT&T ½ million phones
Steel *Bessemer Process *Abram Hewitt-Open Hearth Process
Iron Ore Freighters
Pittsburgh 1900
Marconi & the Radio 1896
1903 - Wright Brothers
Samuel Langley
1901 Glider
Wilbur Wright October 29, 1909
1893 Charles & Frank Duryea
1896 Ford Quadricycle
Science of Production
Frederick Winslow Taylor Scientific Management “Taylorism”
Subdivide tasks to speed production
Ford Assembly Line *cuts time from 12 ½ to 1 ½ h *cuts price 1914 $950 1929 $290
Menlo Park
Thomas Edison
Edison and George Eastman
Firestone Ford Burroughs and Edison
Railroad
Mileage 30,000 in 1860 193,000 in 1900
Cornelius Vanderbilt James Hill
J. P. Morgan
Robber Barons
Andrew Carnegie
Horizontal Integration
Vertical Integration
Corporation Trust Holding Company
John David Rockefeller
Forces Railroad to cut prices for him Uses both horizontal & vertical integration by age 33 owns 90% of refineries
Undersells competition to force them either into bankruptcy or to sell Becomes the first billionaire
Herbert Spencer Social Darwinism
Gospel of Wealth
Andrew Carnegie
Skibo Castle
Horatio Alger
Henry George
1893 Economic Recession 1% owns 88% of assets 10 million below poverty line
Immigration
Labor Contract Law *Allows employers to pay for passage – deduct from pay *repealed 1885
Minimum income for reasonable level of comfort: $600 Average income for American Worker: $400-500
Women in 1900: 17% of industrial work force 20% of women work
1900: Ave Salary Male: $597 Female: $314
Child Labor *1.7 million under 16 *10% girls 20% boys 10-15
1907 Average # of Railroad workers killed: 12 Per week
Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire March 25,1911 146 killed
Bodies of jumpers
$75 Owner found not guilty in criminal trial Civil suit is won by families of victims who are awarded: $75
Molly Maguires
The Great Railroad Strike 1877 Eastern railroads cut wages by 10% Workers disrupt rail service throughout the East
State and Federal troops called out to stop demonstrations around country Over 100 killed in different cities
Knights of Labor 1869 Open to all who toil Except: Lawyers Bankers Liquor Dealers Gamblers
Goals: 8 hour work day no child labor
American Federation of Labor
Samuel Gompers Secure for workers a greater share of capitalism’s rewards
Haymarket Square May 1, 1886
Homestead Strike 1892
Pullman Strike 1894
Eugene V. Debs
Weakness of Labor *Wages can’t stay with cost of living *Few legislative victories *Represent only small % *Shifting workforce *Strength of forces against them