CHAPTER 6 A NEW INDUSTRIAL AGE 1869-1900

THE EXPANSION OF INDUSTRY SECTION 1 THE EXPANSION OF INDUSTRY

After Civil War, advances in technology began to change the nation b/c of these advances… Large supply of natural resources Explosion of inventions Growing city population that wanted the new products.

What were some of these natural resources?

OIL…. Very important natural resource 1840, Canadian geologist discovered that kerosene could be used to light lamps. Kerosene produced from oil Increased Americans’ demand for oil.

Edwin L. Drake 1859, Edwin L. Drake used a steam engine to drill for oil. This helped start an oil boom. Drake never benefited He died a pauper.

GASOLINE Also produced by oil. Thrown away at first. But when the automobile became popular, gasoline was in great demand.

COAL & IRON 1887, Large amounts of IRON discovered in Minnesota Also, COAL production increased from 33 mill. tons in 1870 to over 250 mill. tons in 1900.

BESSEMER PROCESS Turns iron to STEEL. Removes carbon from iron. Steel lighter, more flexible & doesn’t rust like iron. Process invented by Henry Bessemer

USES OF STEEL: Railroads for tracks Improve farm tools like plow & reaper Cans for preserving food. Bridges like Brooklyn Bridge Skyscrapers

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Site of many Steel mills along the rivers.

INVENTIONS Here are some of the inventions of the late 1800’s that changed how people lived & worked…..

ELECTRICITY 1876, Thomas Alva Edison perfected an early light bulb. He then worked to establish power plants to generate electricity.

Invention of Electricity changed America... Ran machines like fans & printing presses. Soon became available in homes. Led to invention of appliances. Cities built electric streetcars which made travel cheaper & easier.

TYPEWRITER Invented by Christopher Sholes in 1867. Led to dramatic changes in the workplace.

TELEPHONE Invented by Alexander Graham Bell & Thomas Watson in 1876.

Phonographs, Bicycles, & Cameras

How did the wave of inventions during the late 1800’s change some American’s life?

More Women began to work in offices…… By 1910, women made up about 40% of office work force

Work that had been done at home- like sewing clothes- was now done in FACTORIES.

Unfortunately, many factory employees worked long hours in unhealthy conditions.

LEISURE TIME Invention of machines allowed employees to work faster…..this led to a shorter work week.

THE AGE OF RAILROADS Section 2

TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD 1869, work completed on first TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD. This railroad crossed the entire continent.

Building & Running Railroads: Very difficult & dangerous work. Most work done by Chinese & Irish immigrants & desperate out-of-work Civil War Vets.

By 1888, over 2,000 workers had died. 20,000 had been injured. Accidents & diseases affected thousands of railroad builders each year. By 1888, over 2,000 workers had died. 20,000 had been injured.

TIME ZONES: Railroad schedules hard to keep b/c each community set its own times 1870, earth divided into 24 time zones. U.S. contained 4 time zones. Everyone living in a particular zone would follow the same time.

World Time Zones

RAILROADS MADE TRAVEL EASIER, LED TO INDUSTRIAL GROWTH,AND COMMUNITIES BEGAN TO GROW & PROSPER…

Railroads led to creation of new towns… 1880, George M. Pullman built factory outside Chicago . There, workers made the sleeping cars he invented for trains.

Pullman built a large town to house the workers he needed. He created quality housing for his workers. But he tried to control many aspects of their lives…Eventually, the workers rebelled.

Railroad industry offered people chance to become rich. Also attracted many corrupt individuals. Credit-Mobilier scandal of 1868. (This was an illegal manipulation of construction contracts) SCANDAL

FARMERS VS. RAILROADS why?

Farmers claimed that railroads sold government land grants to businesses rather than to families. They also accuse railroad industry of setting high shipping prices to keep farmers in debt.

GRANGERS TAKE ACTION!!! VS. Grangers convinced some states to pass laws regulating railroad activity. Members of the railroad companies challenged the states’ rights to regulate them. VS.

MUNN vs. ILLINOIS RAILROADS DEFEATED!!! Battle b/w Farmers & Railroad reached Supreme court in 1877. Court declared that government could regulate private industries in order to protect the public interest. Railroads had lost the fight. RAILROADS DEFEATED!!!

INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT 1887 Gave federal government even more power over railroads. Railroad companies, however, continued to resist all government intervention.

Many railroad companies failed due to economic depression of 1893 Result: 7 companies owned most of the nation’s railways.

BIG BUSINESS & LABOR Section 3

ANDREW CARNEGIE Scottish immigrant who became a giant in the steel industry Carnegie’s birthplace below.

VERTICAL & HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION: Through VERTICAL INTEGRATION he bought companies that supplied his raw materials like iron and coal, & railroads needed to transport the steel. He used HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION by buying out or merging w/other steel companies.

Carnegie’s success helped popularize theory of … SOCIAL DARWINISM

What is Social Darwinism? Theory, based on ideas of biologist Charles Darwin. Said that “natural selection” enabled the best suited people to survive & succeed

Most entrepreneurs tried to control competition by forming a MONOPOLY

America's 1st Billionaire! JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER Used Standard Oil trust to almost completely control the oil industry. America's 1st Billionaire!

SHERMAN ANTITRUST ACT 1890 Made it illegal to form a TRUST. Many able to avoid prosecution. South bypassed by business boom…continued to suffer economic stagnation.

Workers respond by forming LABOR UNIONS: Many workers worked long hours under dangerous conditions for low wages. Women, children, & workers in sweatshops worked under esp. harsh conditions.

Several Labor Unions: NATIONAL LABOR UNION (NLU)- Persuaded Congress to legalize an 8 hour day for government workers. COLORED NATL’ LABOR UNION (CNLU) KNIGHTS OF LABOR – Failed after series of strikes failed.

UNION MOVEMENTS DIVERGE…. STRIKES TURN VIOLENT!!!

One major type of union was CRAFT UNIONS.. Samuel Gompers- Formed the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1886. Gompers used strikes & collective bargaining.

EUGENE DEBS formed an industrial union…a union for all workers. American Railway Union (ARU) Debs & other workers turned to socialism.

IWW or WOBBLIES Union formed in 1905 by radicals & socialists

In the West, Japanese & Mexican farm workers formed a union to improve conditions

Unions used strikes to improve conditions 1877, workers for Baltimore & Ohio railroad went on strike. Strike broken up when railroad president persuaded President Rutherford B. Hayes to bring in federal troops to end strike.

HAYMARKET AFFAIR 1886, bomb exploded at demonstration in Chicago’s Haymarket Square in support of striking workers Several killed Labor leaders charged w/inciting a riot. 4 were hanged. 1 Committed suicide in jail.

HAYMARKET AFFAIR

HOMESTEAD, PENNSYLVANIA 1892, steel workers & Pinkerton guards fought a battle near Pittsburgh. Deaths on both sides.

1894, Eugene Debs led strike against the Pullman Company Strike turned violent when fed. Troops called out to break the strike.

MARY HARRIS (MOTHER) JONES Organizer for the United Mine Workers. Unions’ struggle for better conditions hurt by government intervening on side of management.

Despite pressures of government action, unions continued to grow

IMMIGRANTS & URBANIZATION COMING NEXT….. IMMIGRANTS & URBANIZATION