1. Industrialization

2. The Rise of Industry Main Ideas:
Natural Resources and a large labor force allowed the US to industrialize rapidly.
Inventions helped economic development
Free enterprise promoted industrialization
Key Terms: gross national product, laissez-faire, entrepreneur
People and Inventions: Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, typewriter, telephone, phonograph, light bulb, car, airplane

3. The Rise of Industry
Industry rapidly grew after the Civil War as millions of Americans left their farms to work in mines and factories.
By 1914 the GNP was eight times greater than at the end of the Civil War.
Natural resources included: timber, copper, coal, and iron.
The population nearly tripled during this time period, assuring a large workforce.

4. New Inventions
Bell invents the telephone in 1876, revolutionizing business and personal communication
Edison (called an invention factory) invented the light bulb (1879), phonograph (1877), and motion pictures, among other things
Westinghouse made better generators and a way to distribute electricity
Other inventions include: automobile (1893) typewriter (1873), and airplane (1903)

5. Free Enterprise
Laissez-faire – a French phrase meaning “let the people do as they choose.”
Free Enterprise depends on the government limiting its involvement in trade and letting the market (supply and demand) regulate wages and prices.
Entrepreneur – a person who risks their own money to organize and run a business.

6. The Railroads Linking the Nation
Main Idea: After the Civil War, railroads sped up the nation’s industrialization and linked the country together.
Key Terms: time zone
People and Events: Pacific Railway Act, Grenville Dodge, Leland Stanford, Cornelius Vanderbilt

7. Linking the Nation, Continued
The Pacific Railway Act of 1862 awarded the building of the transcontinental railroad to two corporations, The Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads.
The Union Pacific built east to west and the main workers were CW veterans, Irish immigrants, farmers, cooks, and ex-convicts under the direction of Grenville Dodge. They faced mountain blizzards, desert heat, and angry Native Americans.

8. Linking the Nation, Continued
The Central Pacific workers built west to east and were made up largely of Chinese Immigrants. All of the supplies had to be shipped by sea from the eastern US.
Leland Stanford made his fortune investing in the Central Pacific Railroad and later was governor of California and founded Stanford University.

9. Linking the Nation, Continued
Time Zones: Before the 1880s each community set its clocks by the sun’s position at noon.
This led to many different time zones that made it difficult and sometimes dangerous to schedule trains.
The American Railway Association is responsible for our current system of 4 time zones.

10. The Railroads Robber Barons
Main idea: the government helped finance railroad construction, but its method led to corruption.
Some railroad owners manipulated the government programs through bribery and cheating their investors. They became known as “Robber Barons.”

11. Big Business
Main Idea: Business people like Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller developed new ways to expand business
Key terms:
Corporation
Stock
Monopoly
Trust

12. The Rise of Big Business
Big business would not have been possible without corporations.
Big corporations could produce more goods cheaply and efficiently.
Corporation: an organization owned by many people but treated like a single person (corpus - body).
Stock: shares of ownership
p. 195 – see the chart – types of business organizations.

13. Consolidating Industry Competition
Competition with large corporations led to many small companies going out of business (compare to modern “big box” stores putting local merchants out of business)
Many business leaders didn’t like competition because it drove prices down.
By the 1870s competition had reduced many industries to a few large and efficient corporations.

14. Consolidating Industry
Andrew Carnegie and Steel
Realized money could be made by investing in companies that made railroad bridges, sleeping cars, and locomotives
Learned of a cheap, efficient method for making high quality steel and opened a factory in Pittsburgh
Made a fortune

15. Consolidating Industry
John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil
Instead of drilling for oil, he decided to build oil refineries.
By 1870 his company (Standard Oil) was the nation’s largest oil refiner.
He bought out his competition until he had a monopoly (mono=one – a monopoly is when a single company has control of an entire market or resource).

16. Consolidating Industry New Business Organizations
Many Americans feared monopolies because a monopoly had no competition to keep prices low or quality high.
Laws were passed to try to prevent monopolies from forming.
Corporations got around those laws by forming trusts ( a trust is a way for one person to manage another person’s property).

17. Consolidating Industry Investment Banking
Another increase in the size of corporations began in mid-1890s when investment bankers began to help put new holding companies together (holding company – owns stock of many companies).
J.P. Morgan was one of these bankers. J.P. Morgan Chase is a modern bank that has its roots in this time period.

18. Big Business Selling the Product
American companies began making so many different products it was difficult to continue to have specialty stores.
Departments stores were developed that could sell many types of products under one roof.
Mail order retailers like Sears and Montgomery Ward supplied the small towns on the frontier.

19. Unions
Low wages, long hours, and dangerous working conditions were common in big industries.
This led workers to band together to fight for better conditions but had little bargaining power against big companies.
Average worker earned 22 cents an hour and worked 59 hours a week.

20. Unions, continued Skilled workers formed trade unions
Employers opposed unions because they felt they were conspiracies that interfered with property rights.
Companies used many techniques to fight unionization including: making employees sign contracts promising not to join a union, firing union organizers, lockouts and blacklisting union members.

21. New Unions
AFL – the American Federation of Labor: made up of several trade unions.
IWW – Industrial Workers of the World
Women’s Unions – International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union and Women’s Trade Union League

22. Working Women Women worked in one of three areas: Domestic service
Teachers, nurses, sales clerks
Industrial workers
Women were paid less than men, even if doing the exact same job. It was assumed a woman had a man helping to support her.