1. Election of 1876/Rise of big business

2. background RECONSTRUCTION CORRUPTION /RACE RELATIONS OF 1870S
Political gridlock

3. CANDIDATES
Samuel Tilden-Democrat
Rutherford B. Hayes-Republican

4. Initially, Tilden won
Problems –Disputed Southern States
Congressional Commission

5. Compromise of 1877 Hayes-President
To withdraw federal soldiers from their remaining positions in the South
To enact federal legislation that would spur industrialization in the South
To appoint Democrats to patronage positions in the South
To appoint a Democrat to the president’s cabinet

6. Ford Assembly line

7. New methods of business organization
Vertical integration = control of every step in production process by one company
Swift Meat Company
American Tobacco Company
United Fruit Company
Ford Motor Company
Horizontal integration = control of the market for a single product by a single company
Standard Oil (by 1880 controlled 90% of nation’s refineries)

8. railroads Socio-political Commercial Tied sprawling nation together
A communication network
Opened the country
Commercial
Created and serviced a national (and eventually an international) market
Brought raw materials to manufacturers
Took finished goods to consumers
Were huge consumers themselves
Pioneered new management techniques-middle management

9. Government support
Laissez-faire economics

10. John d.rockefeller Made his fortune in the oil industry
Driven by a search for order and efficiency
Concentrated on refining and transportation
Developed the Trust
Instrumental in the evolution of the Holding Company

11. Andrew carnegie Self-made millionaire Founded Carnegie Steel Co.
Noted philanthropist
Gave away most of his fortune

12. Gospel of wealth Promulgated by Andrew Carnegie in 1889
Developed a justification for big business
Employed themes from Social Darwinism
Distance between rich & poor was a measure of civilization’s progress
Wealthy were public benefactors
Rich had a moral responsibility to reinvest wealth into the larger society

13. JP Morgan Financier Created General Electric in 1891
Consolidated the steel industry in 1901 (United States Steel)
Controlled over 100 corporations

14. Cornelius vanderbilt

15. Compare wealth Bill Gates- 78.9 billion
Rockefeller billion (1.5 in 1918-Tax returns) #1 in US HIstory
Carnegie –300 billion