THE RISE OF BIG BUSINESS

Homework: Due at the Start of Next Class  Write a dialogue between a factory owner and a worker that might have taken place in Your dialogue must:  Begin with these opening lines:  Worker: We on the assembly line aren’t happy.  Owner: Well, what’s your beef?  Worker: I’ve got a list of complaints and I want to know your response. To begin with…  Contain at least 4 concerns of workers at the turn of the century.  Contain accurate responses by the factory owner to each of the worker’s concerns  Use the following terms: assembly line, working conditions, labor union, strike, profit  Use appropriate language that reflects the passionate feelings held by workers and owners.  Be free of spelling and grammatical errors.

Changes in American Society  America went from an agricultural (farming) society to an industrial (factories) society.

Industrialization  Industrialization:  using machines to do work usually done by people  Increase in the use of factories  Age of Steel:  In 1872, a Scottish immigrant named Andrew Carnegie brought a technique for making cheap steel to America.  Steel is stronger than iron, and soon was used to make many different products.

Bright ideas!  1870s: Thomas Edison developed the electric light bulb.  1876: Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.  Telephones made American industry more competitive because suppliers, producers, sellers, and customers could communicate quickly and easily.

Assembly Line  Made popular by Henry Ford.  The assembly line was like a conveyor belt, where a product was assembled one piece at a time.  Each factory worker was responsible for one part of the product.  The assembly line made creating products faster and cheaper.

Urbanization  Urbanization: the growth of cities  Immigrants and rural Americans flocked to cities looking for jobs.  As cities swelled with workers, demand for cheap housing exploded. To meet the demand, developers threw up cheap apartments called tenements.  Tenements were overcrowded and usually didn’t have running water.

…comes new problems… With new technology…

Working Conditions  Working conditions in factories were horrible!  Low wages (women earned ~$1-$3/day!)  Long hours, no breaks  Hot in summer, cold in winter  No fire escapes or sprinkler systems  Dangerous machinery

20 minutes!!  With a partner, read the passages about the Triangle Factory and answer the questions.

Watch, Listen & THINK!  Complete the FQR on the next slide as you watch a video clip about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.  What Facts do you hear?  What Questions do you have?  How do you Respond to what you see?  Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

F.Q.R. Facts I Hear Questions I Have Responses I Feel

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory on fire

Onlookers watching the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory burn

Hole in glass sidewalk skylight from a falling worker

Policemen cover the fallen bodies

 The broken fire escape ladder

The 9 th floor after the fire was out.

Vocabulary  Labor Union: Organization of workers who join together for collective bargaining and mutual protection  Assembly Line: A production system of machines and workers arranged so each person does one task again and again building efficiency  Working Conditions: environment in which business occurs. These can be both positive and negative  Strike: a stopping of work by workers to force an employer to meet demands  Profit: Remaining money after expenses are paid for

Homework: Due at the Start of Next Class  Write a dialogue between a factory owner and a worker that might have taken place in Your dialogue must:  Begin with these opening lines:  Worker: We on the assembly line aren’t happy.  Owner: Well, what’s your beef?  Worker: I’ve got a list of complaints and I want to know your response. To begin with…  Contain at least 4 concerns of workers at the turn of the century.  Contain accurate responses by the factory owner to each of the worker’s concerns  Use the following terms: assembly line, working conditions, labor union, strike, profit  Use appropriate language that reflects the passionate feelings held by workers and owners.  Be free of spelling and grammatical errors.