THE RISE OF BIG BUSINESS IN THE GILDED AGE

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

WHAT DO THE WORKERS IN THIS IMAGE HAVE IN COMMON? Why might factory managers hire women?

GILD – TO GIVE AN OFTEN DECEPTIVELY ATTRACTIVE OR IMPROVED APPEARANCE TO. TO COVER WITH OR AS IF WITH A THIN LAYER OF GOLD.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION ALSO KNOWN AS THE GILDED AGE What was the Gilded Age?

 Term coined by author Mark Twain to describe an era of fabulous wealth, which masked problems such as corruption and poverty

MANIFEST DESTINY The United States had to grow in order to achieve it. We had to Industrialize. Three things you need in order to Industrialize:

Land - Natural Resources opening of West led to increase of available resources-RR shipped resources Labor - workers needed met by population growth; between , pop. doubles Loot (Capital $)- manufactured goods (or $ for investment) used to make other goods and services

WHAT DO WE HAVE? WHAT DO WE NEED? HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET IT?

RAILROADS: THE KEY TO GROWTH

 raw materials to factories  manufactured goods & produce to markets  Provide jobs: steel, lumber, miners, laborers  Cities grow & communication improves The Railroad Boom Benefits:

IMPROVEMENTS:  Consolidation: Combining separate railroad companies into larger ones; Large railroad companies often forced smaller ones out of business  A standard gauge of width for the railroad track (4 ft, 8.5 in.)was adopted, allowing for faster shipment of goods and reduced prices. RESULT: Lower costs (no more loading and unloading goods on to different trains).

CONNECTING LINES / TIME ZONES  System that divided U.S. into 4 time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific -Adopted by Congress in 1919

Railroad Technology Air brakes, George Westinghouse – Janney car couplers, invented by Eli H. Janney – Refrigerated cars, Gustavus Swift – Pullman sleeping car, developed by George M. Pullman

RAILROAD BARONS  James Hill : Great Northern Line; built w/out gov’t assistance; gave seed, helped farmers buy equipment, special cattle to ranchers Minnesota  Washington

 Cornelius Vanderbilt: Rich + powerful; steamship lines, bought and consolidated railroads : used ruthless tactics to acquire track from N.Y. to Chicago New York Central RR

RAILROAD ABUSES  Rate Wars –competition; caused r.r to cut fares  Rebates – Secret discounts to large customers  Pools several r.r. would divide up business in an area and fix prices (high) Laws passed but not enforced

EFFECT ON FARMERS:  Result: Rebates and Pools bad for farmers; Populist Party formed

POSITIVES:  Growth of Industry Steel Lumber Miners Railroad workers (build and operate) Opened every corner to settlement and growth (new businesses and towns)

 Railroads: Corrupt or Just? Railroads: Corrupt or Just?

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: HOW DID RAILROAD EXPANSION AFFECT THE UNITED STATES ECONOMY?  Using the graphic organizer, explain the effects of railroad expansion on industry in the United States.

WHAT FACTORS CAUSED THE GROWTH OF INDUSTRY? Land - Natural Resources opening of West led to increase of available resources-RR shipped resources Labor – The population growth met needs for work force; between , pop. doubles Loot (Capital $)- (or $ for investment) used to make other goods and services

NEW WAYS OF DOING BUSINESS  Formation of Corporations- businesses owned by investors who buy portions of a company through shares of stock, in hopes of earning dividends ($$$). Investors (shareholders) have little risk. Few laws limited corporations.

 Vertical Integration- Controlling all aspects of production, from raw materials to finished product (Carnegie)  Horizontal Integration- Purchase of competing companies in the same industry (Rockefeller)

A NEW INDUSTRY CAUSE:  1850s: researchers found that they could burn petroleum to produce heat and smoke free light EFFECTS:  Oil became valuable led to growth of new industry (Oil had to be refined before use)  Edwin Drake drilled first oil well in Titusville, PA

FIRST OIL WELL- TITUSVILLE, PA

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER Led oil industry with his Standard Oil Company *Competition was wasteful~ Created monopoly *Developed trust: a legal body created to hold stock in several companies * Set high prices *secret deals w/ r.r. *Standard Oil Company~ by 1880, trust controlled 95% of oil industry

ANDREW CARNEGIE Controlled steel industry after creation of Bessemer steel process Wanted to make cheapest and best product using vertical integration U.S. Steel

ROBBER BARONS OR PHILANTHROPISTS? YOU DECIDE. Philanthropists: Both men donated large sums of money to community : charities, hospitals, universities, and libraries (Dunkirk Free Library was one!) Robber Barons: Definition: Business leaders who became wealthy through dishonest methods. Both were ruthless businessmen who worked their way from the bottom up.

 J.P. Morgan: biggest banker in U.S. Leader in business Bought shares of stock in several businesses during panic of 1893~ as large stockholder, won seats on board of directors Used $$ to buy railroads Eventually bought into steel industry (head of U.S. Steel)

GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION  Sherman Anti-trust Act: prohibited trusts and monopolies

WHAT IS FREE ENTERPRISE?  Did monopolies and trusts threaten the free enterprise system ?