1. Big Businesses, Technology, and Labor Unions
Unit 6
SSUSH11

2. Following the Civil War and Reconstruction…
Cities like Atlanta, Georgia and Dallas, Texas become significant railroad hubs and manufacturing centers- encourages the development of the Transcontinental Railroad
“Mining boom” takes place out west in areas such as Arizona, New Mexico, and South Dakota- made possible by RR’s particularly the Transcontinental Railroad
(We will get more into the Transcontinental Railroad later)

4. Technology Expands Cities
Skyscrapers, elevators, bridges, along with new inventions, paved the way for the development of the modern American city
1876- Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone which improves communication
1879- Thomas Edison invents the light bulb, which provides laborers with longer and safer hours in the factories
Most people did not have electricity initially
Edison also invented the motion picture camera and the phonograph- these created a new favorite past time of Americans that are still a favorite today!

6. Rise of Big Businesses
Markets began to expand due to railroads and emerging technologies
Led to the development of corporations (businesses ownership shared by multiple people)
Corporations wanted to work to maximize profits and did so by destroying their competition through monopolies
Monopolies- complete control over a product or service

7. Big Businesses (continued…)
Corporations would buy out others to create a monopoly and eliminate competition
This allowed for them to charge any price they wanted for their product or service
Later, laws were created to prevent companies from doing this.
To avoid this, companies would form “trusts” (assign their stock to a board of trustees and create a more powerful organization)

9. “Robber Barons”
Many people began to see these business practices as unfair and advantageous to certain industries
It kept prices high and the rich got richer and the poor got poorer
“Robber barons” were heads of large corporations who got extremely rich off of the labor and hardship of the poor
Often times these men were also seen as “Captains of Industry” because they would contribute to brought jobs to the masses, donated to charities, and carried out philanthropy work
Providing housing for the homeless, starting charities, or donating to education

10. JP Morgan
John D. Rockefeller
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Andrew Carnegie

11. John D. Rockefeller Oil tycoon and “robber baron”
Founded the Standard Oil Company
Richest man to ever live in the US (based on adjusted inflation)
He was worth more than $336,000,000,000 (in today’s currency) when he died in (equal to 1.5% of the US income at the time)
Seen as a “captain of industry”- donated a lot of money towards education and the endowment of the University of Chicago

12. Andrew Carnegie Steel tycoon and “robber baron”
Immigrated from Scotland
Expanded the steel industry in both the US and throughout the British Empire
Second richest man in US History
Donated about 90% of his wealth to education and pensions for teachers (therefore he’s a “captain of industry”)
Believed the best thing wealthy people could do was use their money to better society

13. Hazards of Factory Work
By the late 1800s, factory owners tried to maximize their profits at the expense of the workers
Hired immigrants and children and paid very low wages
Work shifts were typically 12 hour days, 6 days a week
Factory conditions were horrible and very dangerous

14. Labor Unions are Born
To fight horrible conditions and poor pay, workers began to practice “collective bargaining” (negotiations)
One popular form of protest was to go on strike (workers refuse to work until their demands are met)

15. American Federation of Labor
Founded by Samuel Gompers
1886
Worked to improve wages, working conditions, and 8-hour work days
It preferred negotiations before strikes
Also believed that government should not control business (socialism and communism)

16. The Pullman Strike
George Pullman (owner of a luxury railroad car company) began cutting wages and laying off workers
May violent strike broke out
President Grover Cleveland called in 12,000 troops to stop it
Seen as the greatest example of industrial unrest in American History!
Consequences: disrupted postal service, 30 people were killed, and it got the attention of the government.