Immigration / Urbanization/ West Standards

Immigration / Urbanization/

West Standards SSUSH11 The student will describe the economic, social, and geographic impact of the growth of big

business and technological innovations after Reconstruction.

a. Explain the impact of the railroads on other industries, such as steel, and on the organization of big

business.

b. Describe the impact of the railroads in the development of the West; include the transcontinental

railroad, and the use of Chinese labor.

c. Identify John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company and the rise of trusts and monopolies

d. Describe the inventions of Thomas Edison; include the electric light bulb, motion pictures, and the phonograph, and their impact on American life

New Inventions of the

Industrial Age

Bessemer Process,

1850’s

•Created by Henry Bessemer and William Kelly

•Transferred iron into steel by removing carbon from iron

•Produced a light, more flexible, rust-resistant metal

New Uses For Steel

• Railroads (largest consumer of steel) • Barbed Wire • Farm Equipment • Food Storage • Architectural Structures (Brooklyn Bridge, Skyscrapers)

Advantages of Steel

• Railroads opened up the west

• Machines more durable

• Taller Buildings

• Steel buildings less vulnerable to fire than wooden structures

The Great Chicago Fire

(October 8, 1871)

The city of Chicago burned for 2 days,

leaving 300 dead, 90,000 homeless, and

over $200 million in damages.

1st Skyscraper, 1885

William Le Baron Jenney The Home Insurance Building Chicago

Steel industry • The growth of American railroads helped

expand the industries that supplied the railroad companies‘ need for steel rails laid on wood ties, iron locomotives burning huge quantities of coal, wooden freight cars, and passenger cars with fabric-covered seats and glass windows.

• The railroads were the biggest customers for the steel industry because thousands of miles of steel track were laid.

• In turn, the railroads had a great impact on the steel industry. To supply their biggest customers, steel producers developed cheap, efficient methods for the mass production of steel rails. These low-cost methods enabled more industries to afford the steel companies‘ products.

Robber Barons

•Nickname given to wealthy industrialists who engaged in ruthless business practices

Social Darwinism •Belief that unrestrained competition will ensure the survival of the fittest

•Said riches were a sign of God’s favor, therefore the poor must be lazy or inferior

•Horatio Alger-popularized the idea of pulling yourself up by your own “bootstraps”

•Wrote novel about Immigrants going from “Rags to Riches”

Andrew Carnegie

•Born in Scotland to poor parents

•Came to US at age 13 (in 1848)

•Worked his way up the business ladder

•Gained the attention of railroad superintendent who offered him a job and the opportunity to buy stock in the company

Andrew Carnegie •Eventually bought his own steel company: Carnegie Steel

• Brought in new techniques and machinery to make better products (for less money)

•Encouraged competition among his workers to increase production and cut costs

•Offered company stock to employees (those who could afford it)

Andrew Carnegie

•Bought out all of his suppliers in an attempt to control the steel industry (vertical integration)

•Bought out competing steel producers to create a monopoly (horizontal consolidation)

•By 1901, 80% of the nation’s steel was produced by Carnegie

•RAILROADS VERY DEPENDENT ON STEEL

Carnegie’s

Contributions

•Andrew Carnegie gave 90% of his wealth to various charities, including:

•Carnegie Hall (Performing Arts Center)

•Carnegie Foundation (For the Advancement of Teaching)

•Opened over 3000 libraries

First Transcontinental RR

The "First Transcontinental Railroad" was the US railroad line

completed in 1869 between Iowa/Nebraska and California. By linking

with the existing railway network of the Eastern US, the railroad

connected the Atlantic and Pacific coasts by rail for the first time.

Opened on May 10, 1869, with the driving of the “Last Spike” at

Promontory Summit, Utah, the rail line that revolutionized the population

and economy of the West.

* Chinese workers were essential in the process

- They immigrated over to work on Calif RR

- Large immigration #s and “differences” caused

racial tension

Chinese laborers

• These Asian immigrants accepted lower pay than other laborers demanded.

• The work was dangerous.

• Many Chinese died in the explosive blasts they ignited to clear the path across the railroad companies‘ land.

• Many others died under rock slides and heavy snowfalls before the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869.

Prejudice Against

Immigrants • The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

banned entry to all Chinese for 10 years except for:

– Students and teachers

– Merchants

– Tourists

– Government officials

• The US also made an agreement with Japan, called the Gentleman’s Agreement

– Japan agreed to limit their immigration to the US

Development of the West • : The railroad companies contributed to the

development of the West by :

• selling low-cost parcels of their western land for farming. Settlers traveled west on the trains to farm on the fertile soil.

• Western farmers used the trains to ship their grain east and western cattle ranchers shipped their steers to eastern butchers.

• Both farmers and ranchers sold their goods to people they could not easily reach without railroads.

• The railroads earned money by transporting the settlers west and the goods east.

Rise of Big Business

• . : The rapid rise of the steel and railroad

industries between the end of the Civil War and

the early 1900s spurred the growth of other big

businesses, especially in the oil, financial, and

manufacturing sectors of the economy.

• These big businesses acquired enormous

financial wealth. They often used this wealth to

dominate and control many aspects of

American cultural and political life.

• By the beginning of the 20th century, as a

consequence of these practices, big business

became the target of government reform

movements at the state and national levels.

John D. Rockefeller

•Owner of Standard Oil Company

•Largest and most profitable company in the world (at that time)

•Made Rockefeller the richest man in the world

•Huge profits for owner, very low wages for workers

•Put competitors out of business by selling his oil at a lower price than it cost to produce it

John D. Rockefeller

•Created a monopoly in the oil industry •Control the market and the price of his product

•Established trusts •companies join together •stock is controlled by trustees

•increased monopolies

1st

Billionaire

Standard Oil Co.

John D. Rockefeller

home

Rockefeller’s

Contributions

•Rockefeller Foundation

•one of America's oldest private foundations

•mission is to "promote the well-being of mankind

throughout the world."

•Founded the University of Chicago

Philanthropists

Sherman Anti-Trust

Act •Said any attempt to interfere with free trade by forming a trust was illegal

•Directed at big business owners like Carnegie and Rockefeller

•July 1890

Immigration in

America • Immigrants come to

America to find a better life – Most arrive in steamships

• Often In Cargo Holds

– 3 week journey

– Immigrants change from Western Europeans to Southern and Eastern Europeans

Immigration in

America • Majority of immigrants

come from:

– Great Britain

– Ireland

– Germany

– Italy

– Russia

– China

– Japan

Arrival In America

“Oh God, I was sick. Everybody was sick. I don’t even want to remember anything about that old boat. One night I prayed to God that it would go down because the waves were washing

over it. I was that sick, I didn’t care if it went down or not.”

Bertha Devlin, an Irish immigrant in 1923

Ellis Island

• Main Immigration station on East Coast

Ellis Island

“I remember my grandfather always telling me how he knew he could be rich in America because he saw the riches in the architecture of Ellis Island. He felt that

if they let the poor in such a gorgeous hall, then life in this country was just.”

Roseanne Welch, granddaughter of Giuseppe Italiano, an Italian immigrant in 1904

Ellis Island

• Nearly 11,000 people entered the US at Ellis Island each day.

Ellis Island • Once immigrants arrived in

America, they had to pass several examinations before they were allowed to stay

– 5+ hour exam

• Physical exam

• Government inspections

• Literacy tests

• Ability to work

• Money to get started

• Etc.

Ellis Island

“They asked us questions. ‘How much is two and one? How much is two and two?’ But the next young girl, also from our city, went and they asked her,

‘How do you wash stairs, from the top or from the bottom?’ She says, ‘I don’t come to America to wash stairs.”

Pauline Notkoff, a Polish Jewish immigrant in 1917

The Statue of Liberty

•The Statue of Liberty greeted those entering New York

at Ellis Island.


• Designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi • Also Designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris

– His mother, Charlotte, is believed to be one of the models for the statue


The statue commemorates the alliance between the United States and France during the Revolution from 1775 to 1783

and was a gift from the French people.

The Statue of Liberty “The New Colossus”

The statue was presented to

the people of America on

July 4, 1884, but was not

ready to be unveiled until

October 1886. The plaque

was dedicated in 1903.


President Grover Cleveland officially accepted the Statue on

October 28, 1886 saying, “We will not forget that liberty here

made her home; nor shall her chosen alter be neglected.”




•In her right hand she holds a flaming torch,

representing liberty.


•In her left hand, she holds a tablet on which is

inscribed, in roman numerals, the date the US

declared its independence.


•She wears flowing robes and the seven rays of her

spiked crown symbolize the seven seas and continents.


A reconstruction effort was made in 1984 under the

request of President Ronald Reagan.


The project cost an estimated $87 million

and took 2 years to complete.


The original torch was replaced during the

reconstruction process and is now on display in the

monument’s museum lobby.

Angel Island

• Immigrant station in San Francisco for

Asian Immigrants

• The Golden Gate Bridge welcomed

Asian immigrants as the Statue of

Liberty welcomed the immigrants in

NYC

Culture Shock

• Culture Shock---confusion and anxiety caused by

a new culture and language

– Ethnic Communities developed to help natives deal

with culture shock

• Speak native language

• Learn new language and customs together

Melting Pot

• The US becomes known as a melting pot: – Mixture of people of different cultures and races who blend together by

abandoning their native language and customs

– Some argue that we are now a salad bowl instead of a melting pot

Urbanization

• Urbanization=rapid growth of cities – Many people move to the cities because of:

• More opportunity

• Cheaper living

• Jobs

Urban Problems

1. Housing

– Overcrowded, unsanitary, 2-3 families living in a single home--often slums (tenements)

Urban Problems

2. Transportation

– Develop public transportation to help • cable cars, subways

Urban Problems

3. Water – Begin chlorinating water in 1893 to make it safer to drink

4. Sanitation – Animal and human waste, pollution, garbage piled in streets

– Sanitation department is created; put in sewage lines

Urban Problems

5. Fire – Limited water supply; wood dwellings (later replaced by steel

structures)

– Cleveland creates the 1st paid fire department in 1853

Urban Problems

6. Crime – Pickpockets, thieves, con men, gangs

– New York City creates the 1st police department in 1844

Political Machines

• Organized groups that control the activities of a

political party in a city

– Offer services to voters and businesses in exchange for

political or financial support

Political Machines • Political bosses provided

“services” in exchange for people’s votes – City jobs

– Contracts

– Political Appointments

– Help immigrants gain citizenship

• Control Political Offices and City Jobs: – Fire, Police, Sanitation, Etc.

• Once elected, the “bosses” took advantage of the opportunity for “graft” or kickbacks – Also falsified bills and accepted

bribes

The Tweed Ring

• The most powerful city

boss in New York City

was William Marcy Tweed

(aka “Boss Tweed”)

– It is estimated that he

illegally pocketed $200

million in grafts/payoffs

from the city

Thomas Nast

• Political Cartoonist Thomas Nast helped bring Tweed’s activities to light – Resulted in Tweed’s arrest

Labor Unrest: 1870-1900

Labor Unions

• Unskilled laborers were subject to

low wages, long workdays, no

vacations, and unsafe workplaces.

Because individual workers had little

power to change the way an

employer ran a business, workers

banded together in labor unions to

demand better pay and working

conditions .

Strikes

• Employees refuse to work until

employers meet certain

demands.

Boycotts

• Refusal to buy or pay for certain products or

services in the hopes of forcing producers to

change their policies and actions.

Collective Bargaining »Process through which

employees negotiate as a

united group rather than

individuals, thereby

increasing their bargaining

power.

A Striker Confronts a

SCAB!

American Federation of Labor

• Founded by Samuel Gompers in Columbus, Ohio in 1886

• Largest labor union in the US until the CIO split in 1938 – Argued about organizing mass production industries

– Its concerns were working conditions, pay and control over jobs

– Believed that capitalism was the path to the betterment of labor, unlike other radical unions

(Socialist party and the International Workers of the World)

The Pullman Strike of 1894

A

“Company

Town”:

Pullman,

IL

Pullman Cars

A Pullman porter

1894 Pullman Strike The Pullman Strike occurred when 3,000 Pullman Palace Car Company

workers reacted to a 25% wage cut by going on strike in Illinois on

May 11, 1894, bringing traffic west of Chicago to a halt.

Paternalism

Pullman workers lived in attractive company-owned houses, complete with indoor

plumbing, gas, and sewer systems (considered luxuries) Beautifully landscaped

town, with free education through eighth grade, and a free public library

When 125,000 went on strike, they were replaced by “scabs” many of whom were

African American causing racial tension as well.

Fires and destruction of Property 13 killed 57 wounded

Union Leader, Eugene V.Debs was told to call off the strike or all workers would be

Fired…HE REFUSED (Union leaders were bigger than the Management)

US Marshalls and 12,000 US Army soldiers called in to stop the strike b/c it

“interfered w/ the running of the US Mail

Debs was imprisoned and read Marx while in jail (became a Socialist)

President Grover Cleveland

If it takes the entire army and navy to deliver a postal card in Chicago, that card

will be delivered!

The Socialists

Eugene V. Debs

Custer’s Last Stand

• Custer and his army are sent to Little Bighorn River to maintain peace between natives and gold prospectors

• On June 25, 1876, Custer and his men rode out to meet Sioux warriors led by Crazy Horse

– Custer ignored scouts estimations that Natives had between 2,000-3,000 men (Custer expected less than 1,500)

– He also divided his army and attacked with only 200 men

• Within 20 minutes, Custer and all of his men were dead

The Defeat of the Sioux • Americans, shocked and angered

by Custer’s defeat, demanded

revenge

• The army continued to raid

villages and slaughter the buffalo

• The Sioux were defeated in late

1876

• Sitting Bull and a few followers

fled to Canada

– In 1885, Sitting Bull was forced to

surrender to prevent his people

from starving

– Later became an attraction in

‘Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show’

"I wish it to be known that I was the last

man of my tribe to surrender my rifle."

Ending Native Ways

The Dawes Act • Goal of Dawes Act was to

“Americanize” natives:

– Broke up reservations and

distributed the land • Each adult head of the family

was to be given 160 acres for

farming and 320 acres for

grazing

– Most was poor land

• Remaining land was to be

sold and the money given

to natives for supplies

– They never got it

Torlino

Educating Natives

• US government established boarding schools for

Native Americans to be educated

– Idea was to “kill the Indian, save the man”

– Taught them that traditional ways were backward and

superstitious

– Promoted the values of the white man and returned

them to the reservations

Destruction of the

Buffalo • Most significant blow to tribal

life was the destruction of the

buffalo

– Escalates when the railroad

moves west

• Railroad companies killed

buffalo while laying tracks (to

feed employees, for sport)

– Travelers also shot buffalo for

sport from trains

• William F. Cody killed 4300

buffalo in 8 months, earning

the nickname “Buffalo Bill”

The Death of Sitting Bull • Native Americans begin

performing the Ghost Dance

– Indian prophet told them it would make the whites disappear, the buffalo return, and Natives would get their lands back

• Military leaders banned the dance and decided to arrest Sitting Bull (believed he encouraged it)

– During the arrest, Sitting Bull is killed when his bodyguard interfered and his horse began performing tricks he’d learned in the Wild West Show

• Soldiers thought he was performing the Ghost Dance

Battle of Wounded Knee • The army continued to arrest Sioux leaders

• On December 29, 1890 they met up with Natives near Wounded Knee creek intending to arrest Chief Bigfoot

– Bigfoot had been leading his tribe to a reservation for safety, but the army suspected he also practiced the Ghost Dance

• A battle soon followed and nearly 300 natives (most unarmed) were slaughtered and their bodies left unburied

• The massacre resulted in the end of the Indian Wars because natives had little power to fight back (and many of their leaders were arrested or killed)

Thomas Edison •Established world’s 1st research laboratory in 1876

•Perfected incandescent light bulb (1880)

•Invented the entire system for producing and distributing electrical power

•Also found many uses for electrical power including electric streetcars and subway trains

The Light Bulb

The Phonograph (1877)

The Motion Picture Camera

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Immigration / Urbanization/ West Standards