1. The Rise of Big Business

2.   Until the late 1800’s most businesses were owned directly by one person or by a few partners.  The industrial revolution made many businesses want to expand and buy new equipment.  To do this they formed corporations, which are owned by investors who buy part of the company through shares of stock.  In the late 1800’s there were few laws that regulated corporations. The Growth of Corporations

3. John D. Rockefeller He dominated the oil industry by establishing a monopoly. This is when a company wipes out its competitors and controls an industry. Rockefeller bought other refineries and convinced railroads to carry his oil cheaper than others. He also established a trust which allowed him to own stock in other companies within the oil industry. By 1880, he controlled 95% of all oil refining in the United States.

4. Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie controlled much of the steel industry using different methods than Rockefeller. He tried to beat his competition by offering the best and cheapest product. He bought up the mines that supplied his iron ore. He also controlled the ships and railroads that carried his ore to steel mills to be manufactured. Carnegie dominated the steel industry from 1889 to 1901.

5.   Rockefeller and Carnegie had grown up very poor before becoming incredibly rich.  Their lives inspired writers to write lots of stories with characters who worked hard and became rich.  Most people who were rich had not been raised in poverty.  For the rich, the late 1800’s was a time of fabulous wealth.  Authors such as Mark Twain called this era The Gilded Age. The Gilded Age

6.   The Civil War had left the South in ruins.  There was some industry in the South where iron and steel were produced.  Most of the South remained agricultural.  The price of cotton was very low and kept many in a cycle of poverty.  Sharecroppers who rented land from landowners were unable to get out of debt and were often cheated.  Because of this most of the South remained very poor. The South in the late 1800’s

7. Workers face hardships Business owners of the late 1800’s wanted to keep their profits high, so they ran their factories as cheaply possible. One area where a lot of corners were cut was in protecting the safety of the workers. The work was often done in sweatshops. These were places where workers labored for long hours under poor conditions for low wages. Their wages would not cover basic living expenses.

8.   Because they felt like they were being treated unfairly, workers started to organize into unions.  Unions are organizations concerned with the rights of workers.  One of the first unions was called The Knights of Labor.  In 1877, many railroad workers went on strike and refused to run the trains.  They did this in response to a pay cut they were forced to take.  President Rutherford B. Hayes sent out troops to put down the strike, and dozens were killed. Early Unions

9. Rutherford B. Hayes 1877 Railroad Strike

10.  Union Setbacks  The growth of unions scared many business leaders.  They blamed the labor movements on socialism.  In this economic system all members of a society are equal owners of all businesses.  Many businesses tried to break the unions by locking out striking union workers.  Incidents like the Haymarket Affair were violent and convinced a lot of workers to drop out of unions or not join them at all.

11. Homestead Strike Pullman Strike Eugene V. Debs Grover Cleveland

12.  Gompers founds the AFL  Some companies like Procter & Gamble did start to treat their workers better.  However most companies still gave their workers low wages and few benefits.  In response to this, Samuel Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL).  This union focused on improving working conditions through the use of strikes, boycotts and negotiations.