Early Railroad In Chicago -First ten-mile section of track of Galena-Chicago Union Railroad began in By 1853 tracks extended 100 miles northwest of Chicago -By ,000 miles of track were connected to Chicago *Nearly 100 trains entered and departed the city daily

Railroad Brings Business Before 1865 no railroad companies operated trains both east and west of Chi., so Chicago became center of the railroad ◦Railroads then channeled commerce to Chi. ◦Passengers would also disembark and spend money

Business Booms People began flocking to the city; population was 30,000 in 1850 to 110,000 in 1860 Chicago’s unique position as center of railroad meant Chi. controlled commerce from Michigan to Oregon Chicago would come to dominate 4 major industries: ◦Grain Trade ◦Lumber ◦Meatpacking ◦Mail-order Catalogue

The Need For Lumber Prairies of Illinois were ideal for farming, but were treeless Lumber was needed for homes, barns, fences, and heating fuel Railroads needed lumber for more track construction ◦1,000 wooden railroad ties were needed for 1 mile of track * Cities also needed lumber for nearly all structures: homes, warehouses, stores, and even sidewalks and streets

Chicago Dominates Lumber 1. Chi. Was close to large untouched forests in Wisc., Mich., and Minn. 2. Big White Pines could float, so lumberjack could float lumber from rivers to L. Mich. 3. Never a shortage of men to harvest trees 4. Railroad could easily transport lumber around the country

The Lumber Numbers By 1867 around 200 ships unloaded lumber in Chi. per day In ,000 of the 13,000 ships coming to Chi. Carried lumber By 1880 Chi. Shipped out 1 billion broad ft. of wood via railroad

The Meatpacking Industry Other cities had grain elevators & lumber yards, but no city had the stockyards like Chi. By the 1860s the stockyards was the #1 tourist attraction in Chi. Butchering animals was becoming a science in Chi. b/c meatpackers were making use of every part of the animals they could

Meatpacking and The Civil War Before the Civil War stockyards sold pigs, cattle, and sheep to local butchers who would butcher the animals slowly The war led to high demand for food; more than 1 million military men Pork began to pour into the city via railroad B/W 1859 and 1863 Chicago’s pork output grew sixfold 1862 Chi. Was largest meatpacking city in the world

Union Stockyards 1 ½ sq. miles of land, 4 miles south of downtown, west of Halsted b/w39th and 47 th streets Contained miles of water troughs and 10 miles of feed troughs Nearly 30 miles of drainage pipes carried animal waste into the Chi. River ,000 cattle, 75,000 hogs, 22,000 sheep There was even a 200 room hotel for buyers and sellers.

The Process Chi. Meatpackers mastered the art of butchering livestock using assembly line techniques Animals traveled down a line on hooks and were disassembled piece by piece The process was done in such a way to maximize profit, but it appalled many people

The Workers many workers were skilled Irish and German butchers After 1880 unskilled immigrants were hired so the bosses could pay lower wages, and make more money for themselves

Workers Continued… Low wages created slums where health was poor & housing was deplorable Low wages and the ability to use the whole animal created huge profits ◦But stockyards created a very dark, poor, and ugly Chicago

Questions What parts of the animal were used in the process of this mass butchering? What were some of the end products of the various parts of the animals? Who were the butchers in factories b/w 1865 and 1880 in Chicago? Who began to take over the job of butchering animals after 1880? Why? What factors led to the creation of Chicago’s 19 th century slums?