Chapter 18 The Rise of Smokestack America The American People, 6th ed.

The Texture of Industrial Progress

Technological Innovations Advances in technology allowed production to be more efficient which in turn generated new needs and newer innovations New power sources were at the heart of America’s shift to mass production; electricity was the key to a new worldview for most Americans

Railroads Railroads were the first gigantic corporations in America The government expedited the building of the railroads with generous land grants and business-friendly regulations The high cost of running a railroad necessitated cut-throat business practices The logistical tangles of the industry prompted development of professional management techniques

Integration Vertical Integration: adding operations before or after the production process such as distribution; desires all stages of production Horizontal Integration: the combination of multiple similar business ventures under one “umbrella”; desires a monopoly of a particular market

Urban Expansion in the Industrial Age

The Cities The central cause of the phenomenal growth of cities in this era was their ability to attract newcomers from rural areas and abroad Work and increased pay rates was the prime attraction Rural life was often dull

The New Immigration, 1880-1900 Over the course of the century, the sources of immigrants for the United States changed “New immigrants” came from southern and eastern Europe New agricultural techniques in these European regions removed the need for thousands of farm laborers

III. The Industrial City

Neighborhoods Working-class neighborhoods clustered near the city’s center Usually separated by particular ethnic groups These areas were crowded, unsanitary, and dangerous Community cohesion became the saving force for many immigrants

The Suburbs The fringes of the city contained the houses of the middle class and the rich Public transportation allowed them to work in the city center and live outside The upper classes often had no idea what conditions the working class had to endure

Industrial Work and the Laboring Class

Ethnic Diversity Immigrants made up a large portion of the working class in the late nineteenth century The occupational patterns of the workplace are a direct result of the ethnic diversity of the times Whites occupied the top tier, next came northern Europeans, next came the “new immigrants”, and finally came African Americans

The Nature of Work A majority of Americans now labored in a factory setting or small sweatshop Workdays were very long: ten hours a day, six days a week Work was uncomfortable, dangerous, and usually repetitively boring; accident rates were high Sending children into the work forces was a fact of survival for many Americans

V. Capital Versus Labor

Protests Workers and employers constantly struggled for control of the workplace Workers felt the right to control the pace of production in factories and developed strong-arm tactics to encourage solidarity within the shop Protest came in the guise of absenteeism, drunkenness, general inefficiency, and quitting work altogether

Strikes The most direct methodology to adjust conditions in the workplace was the strike Strikes in the nineteenth century usually happened at the workplace, replacing neighborhood riots As collective action spread, unions began to play a more active role in arbitration of grievances Coordination between workplaces performing the same work led to uniform wages and hours