MACHINERY HALL AND THE RISE OF THE INDUSTRIAL METROPOLIS

Week Three

Philadelphia Centennial Exposition (1876)

Machinery Hall

A “type machine” in Machinery Hall

Corliss Steam Engine

Centennial City

I. Rise of Industry

A. Revolution in technology

Explosion in patents: nearly half a million filed between 1865 and 1882

Edison and electricity Electricity and the

transformation of industry and culture

I. Rise of Industry

B. Mechanization Mass production:

from skilled artisans and small shops to large factories

Cigarette machine: from raw materials to packaging

I. Rise of Industry

C. Transportation Bulk and speed Efficiency Mail order Department stores

From Florida to NJ

I. Rise of Industry

D. Incorporation of America

1. Vertical integration Control production

and distribution at every step

Swift Meats2. Horizontal integration

Merging of competing companies in the same industry

Standard Oil3. Consequences:

concentration and size; global stature of the U.S.

I. Rise of Industry

E. Era of Self-Initiative

Human factor Horatio Alger The World Before Him

(1880)

II. The Rise of Discontent

A. Cultural discontent From romanticism: emotion,

imagination, possibilities

To realism: loss of innocence; “nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material”

Leutze, Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851)

A Laundry Maid Ironing (1770s)

Gettysburg (1863)

Crane, “War Is Kind” (1899)

Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind,Because your lover threw wild hands toward the skyAnd the affrighted steed ran on alone,Do not weep.War is kind.

Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,Little souls who thirst for fight,These men were born to drill and die.The unexplained glory flies above them.Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom--A field where a thousand corpses lie.

Crane, “War Is Kind” (1899)

Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.Because your father tumbles in the yellow trenches,Raged at his breast, gulped and died,Do not weep.War is kind.

Swift blazing flag of the regiment,Eagle with crest of red and gold,These men were born to drill and die.Point for them the virtue of slaughter,Make plain to them the excellence of killingAnd a field where a thousand corpses lie.

Mother whose heart hung humble as a buttonOn the bright splendid shroud of your son,Do not weep.War is kind!

The Gross Clinic (1875)

The Ironworkers—Noontime (1880)

The Ironworkers—Noontime (1880)

II. The Rise of Discontent

B. Political discontent Corrupt politics:

lawmakers often invested heavily in large corporations

Monopolies Sherman Antitrust Act

(1890): designed to prevent mergers that would stifle competition. But it backfires.

II. Rise of Discontent

C. Labor discontent1. Knights of Labor

Established in 1869 in Philadelphia for a “great brotherhood”

Structural reform Haymarket riot

2. American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Did not challenge wage labor; instead fought more conservatively for better hours and pay

Haymarket Riot, 1886

II. Rise of Discontent

3. Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Return to radicalism:

“Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world unite as a class, take possession of the earth and the machinery of production, and abolish the wage system.”

Return to brotherhood

Quiz 1

Define and discuss the significance of one of the following two terms:

“Bottom rail” Vertical integration

Napoleon Hill