Ch.13.1 A Technological Revolution

• Q - Why did people’s daily lives change in the decades following the Civil War?

• A - Electricity, Oil, over 500,000 inventions ushered Modern America which transformed daily life from one of self sustaining work to a work for a salary to buy goods

Ch.13.1 A Technological Revolution

• Q - How did advances in electric power and communication affect life for people and businesses?

• Productivity increased because of extended lighting and newly invented high powered machines increased output.

• By 1900 there were 1.5 Million telephones and 63 Million telegraph messages sent by Western Union

Ch.13.1 A Technological Revolution

• Q - What effects did the development of railroads have on industrial growth?

• They provided a faster, more practical means of transporting goods.

• They lowered the costs of production.

• They created national markets.

• They provided a model for big business.

Ch.13.1 A Technological Revolution• Q - What was the impact of

the Bessemer process on American culture?

• Made steel production easier and less expensive.

• The Bessemer process made possible the mass production, or production in great amounts, of steel.

• As a result, a new age of building began allowing for suspension bridges, skyscrapers, and mass

Ch.13.2 The Growth of Big Business

• Q - Why were American industrialists of the late 1800s called both “robber barons” and “captains of industry”?

• Robber Baron - Ruthless, Exploited Natural Resources and Workers, and Bribed lawmakers to make laws that favored them

• Captains of Industry - Provided Jobs and Goods people wanted, ran successful businesses, and used their wealth to create schools, museums, libraries, ect

Ch.13.2 The Growth of Big Business

• Q - How did Social Darwinism affect Americans’ views on big business?

• Most people thought that strong businesses would beat out the weak ones “survival of fittest”

• Government did not regulate businesses and did not tax their profits

• People thought that this could create a better society through competition but were also skeptical of business having to much power

Ch.13.2 The Growth of Big Business

• Q - In what ways did big businesses differ from smaller businesses?

• Big Business had more resources and covered larger regions that made it dificult and sometimes impossible for small business to compete, leaving people with little or no choices

• When a company gains complete control of an industry its called a Monopoly

Ch.13.2 The Growth of Big Business

• Q - How did industrialists gain a competitive edge over their rivals?

• By consolidating the manufacturing process to be under their control

• They formed cartels or loose alliances between businesses to influence prices and production

Ch.13.3 Industrialization and Workers• Q - What factors led to a

growing American work force between 1860 and 1900?

• A - In 1860 for every one person that lived in a city there were 4 people that lived on a farm

• By 1900 that ratio changed to every 2 people living in a city there were 3 people living on a farm

• Immigration from Europe and newly invented farm equipment

Ch.13.3 Industrialization and Workers• Q - What was factory work

like at the turn of the century?

• A - Workers were forced to work long hours, in poor conditions, for very little pay

• Workers were treated like interchangeable parts and not like people

• The Taylor Process & Division of Labor made work more efficient but took the pride and satisfaction out of producing

Ch.13.3 Industrialization and Workers• Q - Why was it necessary for

entire families to work?

• A - Children left school around 12 to start working

• Girls often had to work younger so their brothers could keep attending school

• If a parent became to ill to work, their children had to take their place

• The government did not provide any type of assistance to unemployed people

Child Coal Miners

Child Textile Mill Workers Injured Child Worker

Ch.13.4 The Great Strikes

• Q - What impact did industrialization have on the gulf between rich and poor?

• A - The average worker made only $200 - $400 a year ($4,390-$8,780 in today’s money)

• Workers began to resent the wealth that factory owners were accumulating so they began to organize politically

• Socialism developed out of the desire for a nation’s wealth to be owned by the public

The Richest 10% Everyone Else 90%

Distribution of Wealth 1880

Ch.13.4 The Great Strikes

The Richest 10% Everyone Else (90%)

Distribution of Wealth 2010

Ch.13.4 The Great Strikes

• Q - What were the goals of the early labor unions in the United States?

• A - The Knights of Labor - Organized nearly everyone, pushed for social reforms

• American Federation of Labor (AFL) - Skilled Workers, pushed for collective bargaining

• Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) - Unskilled Workers, pushed a more radical agenda, used violent strikes

Ch.13.4 The Great Strikes• Q - Why did Eugene V. Debs

organize the American Railway Union?

• A - In 1877 Railroad workers were loosely organized and not unified

• Deb proposed that the workers unify under one railroad workers union ARU

• The ARU would represent all skilled and unskilled railroad workers and provide them with a stronger voice when dealing with companies owners

Ch.13.4 The Great Strikes• Q - What were the causes

and outcomes of the major strikes in the late 1800s?

• A - Haymarket Riot 1886 - a protest for an 8 hour work day, ended with a deadly riot after a bomb was thrown

• Homestead 1892 - Steel workers protested having their wages cut in half, Carnegie Steel hired private police to beat the workers into submission. This got worse after an unrelated death threat

Ch.13.4 The Great Strikes

• Q - What were the causes and outcomes of the major strikes in the late 1800s? (cont)

• Pullman Strike 1894 - Debs tells workers not to interfere with US Mail service when striking. The Railroad owners get the government to make union activity illegal which limits what unions can do for the next 30 years