Industrial America
Reasons For Industrial Boom Wealth of natural resources Government support for business Growing urban population Cheap labor Market for goods
Black Gold Edwin Drake drills for oil Oil boom begins and spreads across Midwest Refining industries turned oil into kerosene Gasoline comes from this process
Steel Bessemer Process Steel changes the nature of the nation Injects air into iron to remove carbon Steel changes the nature of the nation Brooklyn Bridge Skyscrapers
Railroads Transcontinental Railroad completed in 1869 Speed up and expand travel and business Time zones created “Railroad time”
Railroads Promoted trade between previously independent towns Railroads demanded more resources Towns specializing in products Chicago-stockyards Communities along rail lines
Pullman George Pullman makes a town by his rail line for employees Strictly controlled their lives leading to a strike Profit and control
Credit Mobilier Railroad company creates construction company Applies for a contract to build their railroad with their company Subsidized by federal government Pocketed the profits Gave stocks to members of Congress
Granger Laws Frustrated by corruption farmers pressed for regulation Railroads challenged these new regulations Munn v. Illinois
Interstate Commerce Act Federal government can supervise railroads 5 member ICC to regulate Not effective at first
Panic of 1893 Mismanagement, competition, and overbuilding cause railroads to go bankrupt Investment firms bought up the railroads Monopolies