CHAPTER 24 NOTES

AP US HISTORY

MRS. MARSHALL

Industry Comes of Age

American Society

Reasons for transformation of American society:IndustrializationDevelopment of labor unionsMassive immigrationCreation of urban centers

Needs for the Industrial Revolution

For the Industrial Revolution of develop the nation needed:

A national transportation systemLarge deposits of iron, coal and later oilNew sources of powerA supply of laborCapital for investmentA stable banking systemSurplus agricultural production

Reasons for Subsidies

Reasons private railroad promoters gave the government for needing subsidies:

Too risky and expensive without government help

It was not profitable in thinly populated areas

In return for subsidies the government received long-term preferential rates for postal service and military traffic.

First Transcontinental Railroad

Pacific Railway Act- passed by Congress 1862

Union Pacific Railroad- built west from Omaha, Nebraska, relied on Irish immigrants

Central Pacific Railroad- built easy from Sacramento, California, relied on Chinese immigrants.

The 2 lines joined 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah

Other Railroads

Other transcontinental railroads completed by end of the century:Northern Pacific railroadAtchison, Topeka and Santa FeSouthern PacificGreat Northern

James. J. Hill’s Great Northern Railroad-only one not built with government subsidies

Innovations

Important innovations contributing to growth of railroads:

Standardization of time zonesStandard gauge of track widthAir brakesSteel rails replacing iron tracksPullman Palace Cars

Cornelius Vanderbilt

An American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads.

Through graft and bribery he built the New York Central into the largest single railroad line in America.

Stimulus from Railroad

Railroads in the late nineteenth century provided a significant stimulus to:

AgricultureUrbanizationImmigrationIndustrialization

Wealth of Railroads

Tactics used by railroads to amass large wealth:Stock-watering people selling stock would inflate

their claims about the companies assets/profits and sold stock way above the actual value

Bribery bribed judges, congressmen, lobbyistsPool an agreement between railroad

corporations to divide the business in a given area and share the profits

Rebates and Kickbacks would pay to big shippers in return for steady business

Regulation of Railroads

Efforts by government to regulate practices of railroad corporations:

1st attempt came from state legislaturesInterstate Commerce Act- created 1st federal

regulatory agency. This act prohibited rebates and pools, required railroads to publish their rates, prohibited discrimination against shippers, outlawed charging more for short hauls than long hauls.

Interstate Commerce Commission-created to enforce the new legislation

Growth of Manufacturing

Factors which promoted growth of manufacturing in post-Civil War America:

Plentiful cheap laborAvailable investment capitalAbundant natural resourcesMassive immigration

Inventors

Eli Whitney- mass productionAlexander Graham Bell- telephone,

resulted in building of a giant communication network.

Thomas Edison- electric light, mimeograph machine, motion picture

Andrew Carnegie

Scottish immigrant who became a giant in the steel industry

Two methods he used:Vertical integration- process in which a

company buys out its suppliersHorizontal integration- process in which

companies producing similar products merge

John D. Rockefeller

Industrialist who organized the Standard Oil Company

Trusts

Trusts- combination of firms or corporations formed by a legal agreement. It reduces competition.

Bessemer Process

Henry Bessemer and the Bessemer Process

Cheap and efficient process for making steel from iron (around 1850)

JP Morgan

Became the head of one of the most powerful banking houses in the world.

Bought out CarnegieUnited States Steel Corporation

Oil Industry

Discovered kerosene (which comes from oil) could be used in lamps. Increased the demand.

Edwin Drake (1859) used a steam engine to drill for oil.

Gasoline was another by-product.Gasoline was not demanded until the

automobile.Oil industry became a huge business with the

invention of the internal combustion engine.

Social Darwinism

An economic and social philosophy based on the biologist Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection-holding that a system of unrestrained competition will ensure the survival of the fittest.

Two notable Social Darwinist:

Herbert Spencer and William Graham

Sumner

“Gospel of Wealth”

“Gospel of Wealth” –essay by Carnegie-argues that accumulation of wealth was beneficial and government should not take action to impede it. People with money had duty to help others.

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

Was intended to prevent the creation of monopolies by making it illegal to establish trusts that interfered with free trade.

Textile mills provided jobs for many southerners in the “new south.”

Henry Grady editor of the Atlanta Constitution

Women were most affected by the new industrial age. Image of the “Gibson Girl” represented an independent and athletic “new woman”

Working Against the Worker

Tactics used by corporations against workers:Lockout- closing factories so worker could not

workYellow dog contract- signed agreement not to

join a unionBlacklist- put name of union members/ agitators

on list circulated among industriesCompany town- corporation owned stores in

town-workers became deeply in debt

National Labor Union (1866)

Successful in gaining 8 hour work day for government workers. A major setback was Depression of the 1870’s

Knights of Labor

1869-Uriah StephensSkilled and unskilled workersTerence Powderly replaced Stephens in

1879Favored open arbitration/discouraged

strikesHaymarket RiotDisappeared by 1900

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Samuel GompersAffiliation of craft unions for skilled

workersLobbied for 8 hour day, 6 day week,

higher wages, better working conditions, protection for workers

Attitude Towards Labor

By 1900, American attitude toward labor began to change as the public came to recognize the rights of workers to bargain collectively and strike. The vast majority of employers continued to fight organized labor.