The Industrial Revolution in the United States 1865 Remaly Mfg. Co. Tamaqua, PA

Background “Second” Industrial Revolution Civil War Immigration Capitalism Natural Resources

What’s the deal with Natural Resources? Coal Lumber Water Oil

Innovation and Invention Patents Alexander Graham Bell Thomas Edison Steel-The item that drove the revolution

Business is Booming! New industries pop up to deal with need for manufactured goods Railroads Urbanization Pollution

Change in Business World Profit motive Corporations Monopolies Cartels

Robber Barons/Captains of Industry John D. Rockefeller: Oil Andrew Carnegie: Steel Cornelius Vanderbilt: Railroads These men made huge fortunes through clever business practices which made their companies dominant, but pushed out smaller competitors

Working the system to their advantage Create a “Trust”! A way to work around government control. A company assigns ownership to a Board of Trustees who then run the company as a separate business. It became a way to buy or control other companies while not technically breaking the law.

You own Company A. You want to buy out Company B. How a Trust Works You own Company A. You want to buy out Company B. The Man a.k.a. The Government Company A Company B Your Trust. Not being blocked by the government, it buys Company B and controls it for you.

What could the Government do? Interstate Commerce Commission: estab. 1887 to oversee railroad operations. Sherman Anti-Trust Act: 1890, Outlawed trust that restrained trade and commerce. Had little success at first