Business and Labor in the Gilded Age Innovation, Profits, and Workers’ Rights

Major Issues Forms of business innovation in late 19 th -c. New technologies and processes Social class in America The Labor Question Labor-Business conflicts Forms of labor organization Politics & trade unions American Radicalism

Industrial Capitalism: Different Perspectives on Success Business/Managers Profit Efficiency Time-management Expansion Low turnover Control over workplace, workforce Stockholder equity Productivity Bright future for business Workers Quality of life Good working conditions Higher wages Advancement opportunities Benefits Job stability/security Profit-sharing Bigger piece of the pie Gratitude/ acknowledgment

Pittsburgh & Steel in the Gilded Age

Pushing Coke from By-product Oven, by Aaron Henry Gorson, ( n.d.).

Gorson, River Embankment

Gorson, The Burn Off

Gorson, At the Riverhead

Gorson, Pittsburgh Steel Mill at Night

Steel Images: Attitudes Towards Industry?

Late 19 th -Century Business Innovations Capitalism = dynamic system, always changing Capitalists always trying to find new ways to achieve profits and control Use of new technologies and methods of production New ways of getting the most value out of employees Cutting costs for labor, supplies, transport, processing

J.M.W. Turner, “Rain, Steam, Speed, The Great Western Railway,” 1844

Freedom & Power for some; exploitation and powerlessness for others New ways of thinking about individual, society, one’s place in the world Exciting & Troubling at the same time Capitalism = new ways of thinking about time, space, speed, self, and society

Role of Railroads Capital-intensive industry = needed a lot of $ to pay for machinery and rails Answer: Corporations and stocks New transportation routes = new markets, a national market for goods A far-flung business = new management structures = departments & white collar jobs Railroad managers move on to other industries – Carnegie and others Great market for steel

Rise of Big Business Modeled on railroads Looked to increase profits by cutting costs, increasing output of goods, cutting down on competition Get Bigger - Vertical integration – swallow up suppliers and sellers – Swift meatpacking Monopoly – Rockefeller Oil – sweetheart deals with railroads (also vertical int.) Better marketing – advertising advantages Crush competitors by lowering prices or buying them out (horizontal integration)

Rise of the Corporation Link to clips from documentary The Corporation Link What is the corporation? Benefits? Problems?

New Industries = New Social Classes in America Myth: America is class-less society (no classes) Gilded Age saw creation of new classes and new class conflicts Nouveau-riche (New rich) elite – non-inherited wealth, entrepreneurs, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt Middle-class – white collar managers, engineers, office workers Changes in working-class: growth of unskilled manufacturing workforce Different classes had different ideas of how economy should work, who it should benefit most, who should have power

Different Perspectives on Social Class in America

The American Elite Elite Ideology – the elite’s perspective on the world Way they viewed: Themselves The society The economy The government’s role, politics Work – who does what and why? Wealth – who should get it and why? Who should have power, who shouldn’t? Gender roles (in family, society, politics, work, etc.) Who should make decisions, who shouldn’t? Was capitalism a good thing and for whom?

John D. Rockefeller Painted by John Singer Sargent Impressions of painting

Upper Class View of the World William Graham Sumner & Social Darwinism: Individual liberty = individual wealth Inequality of wealth is natural Survival of the fittest Poor – it’s their fault, lazy, vice, uneducated Laissez-faire argument – limited govt. Inequality is good – eliminates the weak Idea of social improvement - evolution

Rauschenberg Social Gospel There is a problem – greed, inequality A social problem Religious message – Christianity of love, golden rule Stewardship idea Government involvement

Impressions of Painting John Singer Sargent Video J.S.S. Video #2

Abbott Thayer, “Winged Figure,” 1889

Abbott Thayer, “The Virgin”

Abbott Thayer, “Angel,” 1889

Thomas Dewing, “Summer,” 1890

Upper Class Gender Roles: Victorian Separate Spheres Men Women Problems with Victorian Separate Spheres?:

Definition of Social Class How does class work in this time period?

American Labor: Traditions & Challenges

Labor Songs of Gilded Age Mining Songs

The Labor Question End of Reconstruction, ignoring plight of southern blacks; “end of frontier” – nation turned to growing labor conflict and economic concerns Labor Question: What share of the wealth, power, and rights would workers have in the new modern industrial economy? What models of worker power were most effective in opposing Capital/Big Business? What forms of organization were most inclusive or exclusive of all American workers? What strategies did capital use to fight and control workers? What role did the government play in the Labor Question?

Different Labor Visions: The Change from Traditional Male Labor to New Industrial Labor

Thomas Anschutz, Ironworkers – Noontime

Interpretation of Painting Impressions?

Traditional Labor Relations Related to Free Labor Ideology Craft workers and skilled trades – apprenticeships and training = dignity of work Independence vs. “wage slavery” Manly brotherhood and fraternity Exclusivity = training (no women or minorities) Control over workplace and work pace/output Bargaining power with owners, some became owners themselves Basis for trade unions

The Veteran in a New Field, 1865 Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910) Oil on canvas

Traditional Labor Hierarchy Under Threat Artisanal/Farm Household Economy Power = Male breadwinner, Farmer or skilled worker /\ Dependents: Apprentices Women Children Big Business - Unskilled or semi-skilled industrial work Power = Owners/stockholders /\ Managers White Collar workers /\ Men—women—immigrants (Low pay, little power)

Different Steps and Workers in Iron-making process Iron Charger - Placed the iron ore into the smelting furnace Iron Founder - Founds or casts iron Iron Moulder - Made molds for casting iron Iron Puddler - Made wrought iron using the puddling process Iron Roller - Worked a machine that rolled iron to form and shape it Iron Turner - Used a lathe to turn items from iron Ironmaster - Foundry owner / manager Ironsmith - Blacksmith Laborers - unskilled workers who moved materials

Big Business = Threat to Labor Why would changes in manufacturing be a threat to workers? Carnegie and the Homestead Strike, 1892 Broke power of trade unions Replaced skilled workers with unskilled Steel industry non-union until 1930s Frederick W. Taylor Scientific management – What does Taylor think about Schmidt?

Homestead Strike, 1892: Burning Barges

Westinghouse Corporation Films, 1904 Skilled Male Work & Skilled Furnace Work Skilled Male WorkSkilled Furnace Work Less-Skilled Work Women’s Work 1 & Women’s Work 2 Women’s Work 1Women’s Work 2 The Time-Clock Major Issues in Films?

The New Working Class “New immigrants” from southern and eastern Europe Traditional gender divisions, but rising # of women in industry Black workers used for dirtiest lowest-paid jobs In south, 19 th c. textile industry often reserved for white families Child labor All of these groups formerly excluded from manufacturing, but could now take unskilled or semi- skilled jobs – threat to male domain

Options Available for the Worker? ?

Responses: Unions and Politics Trade Unions (Sam Gompers & AFL)– protect traditional crafts and trades (mostly white males), power in workplace, force employers to bargain – “More” of the pie Knights of Labor -- organize all “producers”, create new society with respect for producers, education Ind. Workers of the World (IWW) – organize all workers into One Big Union, fight as a class, unions will run economy and society (syndicalism) American Railway Union (Debs) – all rail workers in one union (model for other industries too) Socialist Party (Debs) – along with unions, fight for political power to change system

Knights of Labor: Beliefs & Goals Stop child labor Proper share of the wealth Arbitration, rather than strikes Equal pay for equal work, women’s rights Appeal to #s, larger pool of workers who could join organization Dealing with reality of changing workforce Getting govt. involved on the side of workers – banking, land issues 8-hour day Shifting power to workers Weekly pay Right to organize a union

Knights of Labor: Beliefs & Goals Value knowledge, rather than wealth Government involvement on the side of labor Equal pay for equal work Abolish child labor 8-hour day Shifting power to workers National money paid to workers Reform justice system Fair land distribution Reform banking Organize all workers, inclusive

Major Labor Conflicts and Issues,

1877 Great Railroad Strike Railworkers fought cuts in wages during Panic of 1873 Shut down rail lines across country After attacked, burned rail facilities in Pittsburgh Federal troops broke strike Photos of Pittsburgh destruction

Eight-hour Movement – the fight for the eight-hour day Protests, strikes, and political action Led to Haymarket Massacre in 1886

Lead-up to Haymarket Massacre: A call for revenge against police after strikers were shot at McCormick Reaper Works in Chicago on May 3rd, 1886

Anarchists protested slaying of strikers Police intervened and bomb was thrown, killing police Eight anarchist leaders arrested, unfair trial, four executed Effects: national hysteria; crackdown on anarchists, radicals, and unions; May Day became international day of pro-worker and radical protest Haymarket Square, May 4th, 1886:

Aftermath of Haymarket Immigrants = Anarchists: Go back to Europe (choice on left) or Receive American Justice (on right)

Lasting Effects of Haymarket Crackdown on unions, radicals, anarchists Employers, police, and govt. united Trade union idea won greatest support = the most conservative option, protecting skilled male white workers, left the rest out Red Scare, red-baiting – can defeat most protest movements by calling them anarchist or communist

Connections – Continuing Issues Industrialization = new international markets, international engagement, imperialism Industrialism mass production/mass consumption economy (Fordism) Rising standard of living, but inequality, bad working conditions, pollution Immigration issues Labor Question remained important Boom and bust economy depressions