What fueled the modern industrial economy? VUS.8b The Emergence of Modern America What fueled the modern industrial economy?

During the period from the Civil War to World War I, the United States underwent an economic transformation that involved a developing industrial economy, the expansion of big business, the growth of large-scale agriculture, and the rise of national labor unions and industrial conflict

Technological change spurred growth of industry primarily in northern cities.

Inventions/Innovations: Corporation Investors would buy stock in companies, then earn dividends when profits were made This would give the corporation capital with which to operate and expand. Investors could only lose the amount of money they put into the company (limited liability)

Inventions/Innovations: Bessemer steel process This was a quicker and cheaper way to make steel. Railroads were the largest users of steel by the end of the 19th century. Steel was a primary resource used for America’s industrialization!

Inventions/Innovations: Light bulb/ electricity Both developed by Thomas Edison Electricity as a source of power and light allowed for American lives to change at work and at play. Edison founded the first electric company.

Inventions/Innovations: Telephone Invented by Alexander Graham Bell This improved communication. This even helped women to find work as switchboard operators- a much better job than a factory worker!

Inventions/Innovations: Airplane Invented by the Wright Brothers First flight at Kitty Hawk, 1903 The use of planes has grown considerably over the last century!

Inventions/Innovations: Assembly line manufacturing Innovation by Henry Ford as a way to make his automobile more cheaply. He increased production by moving the product along an electric conveyor belt! Ford boasted that consumers could even get the Model T in any color they wanted, as long as it was black. His assembly line made autos affordable for the average family.

Andrew Carnegie (steel); a true immigrant to riches story, he made his fortune reducing the cost of producing steel. Later in life, Carnegie became a respected philanthropist- believing the wealthy should “give back” to the community. Industrial Leaders J.P. Morgan (finance); earned his first wealth in banking business, then later created US Steel Corporation when he bought Carnegie’s company.

Cornelius Vanderbilt (railroads); became a tycoon as he acquired vast amounts of railroad tracks and forced smaller companies out of business by charging lower fares in areas of competition. Industrial Leaders John D. Rockefeller (oil); created the Standard Oil Company and increased wealth through vertical integration of resources as well as advertising. Like Carnegie, he became a respected philanthropist.

Reasons for economic transformation Government policies of laissez-faire (“hands-off”) capitalism and special considerations (e.g., land grants to railroad builders) The increasing labor supply (from immigration and migration from farms) in the cities America’s possession of a wealth of natural resources and navigable rivers

During the period from the Civil War to World War I, the United States underwent an economic transformation that involved a developing industrial economy, the expansion of big business, the growth of large-scale agriculture, and the rise of national labor unions and industrial conflict

Prejudice and Discrimination VUS.8c Prejudice and Discrimination “Jim Crow” The attempt by the South to re-claim the ante-bellum (pre-Civil War) social order.

Who was the real Jim Crow? Jim Crow was the name of a minstrel character who became associated with the "Black Codes” - which took away many of the rights which had been granted to Blacks through the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments "Come listen all you galls and boys, I'm going to sing a little song, My name is Jim Crow. Weel about and turn about and do jis so, Eb'ry time I weel about I jump Jim Crow." Photo credit: National Archives

How did race relations in the South change after Reconstruction, and what was the African American response? Discrimination and segregation against African Americans intensified and took new forms in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century.

Discrimination and segregation against African Americans Laws limited African American freedoms. After reconstruction, many Southern state governments passed “Jim Crow” laws forcing separation of the races in public places. Here is a classic example of the segregation in the South. Photo courtesy chicora.org

Discrimination and segregation against African Americans Intimidation and crimes were directed against African Americans (lynchings). African Americans looked to the courts to safeguard their rights. Two images of extreme prejudice and discrimination Courtesy Library of Congress

Discrimination and segregation against African Americans In 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” did not violate the 14th Amendment, upholding the “Jim Crow” laws of the era. Facilities were separate, but never equal. Photo courtesy findlaw.com

Discrimination and segregation against African Americans During the late 19th and early 20th century, African Americans began the “Great Migration” to Northern cities in search of jobs and to escape poverty and discrimination in the South. Jim Crow laws were not popular in the North, but the migrants still suffered from discrimination! A family looking for a better life; Courtesy of American Social History Project, City University of New York Graduate Center.

African Americans disagreed about how to respond to the developments.

Ida B. Wells She led an anti-lynching crusade and called on the federal government to take action. Congress failed to make such a law, however a great deal of public awareness was raised! Photo credit Library of Congress

Booker T. Washington: He believed the way to equality was through vocational education and economic success; he accepted social separation. Economic success would precede social equality! Photo credit: Library of Congress

W.E.B. Du Bois: He believed that education was meaningless without equality. He supported political equality for African Americans by helping to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The early years of response to “Jim Crow” would be followed by a half-century of struggle known as the Civil Rights Movement.