The Growth of Modern America

Unit 5The Wild West

Industrialization, Urbanization, and the Growth of Big BusinessResponding to Problems: The Reform Efforts of Populism and

Progressivism

Bellringer

• Describe the “wild west” for me.

• Realities??

Activity• Read Chapter 15, Section 2-3 and provide a summary of the topics listed:

– New South– Railroads Open West– Homestead Act– Gold Rush– Economic Rivalries/Prejudice on Frontier– Massacre at Sand Creek– Battle of Little Big Horn– Fort Laramie Treaty– Assimilation/Ghost Dance– Dawes Severalty Act– Wounded Knee

• View film and answer questions– http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xwip7r_america-the-story-of-the-us-heartland-6

-12_people

The Industrial Revolution

• What is the industrial revolution?

• How has the Industrial Revolution impacted your life?

Technological Advancements

• Telephone (Alexander Graham Bell)

• Light Bulb (Thomas Edison)• Electric Motor (Nikola Tesla)• Diesel Engine (Rudolf

Diesel)• Large Scale Assembly Line

(Henry Ford)– Mechanization– Interchangeable Parts

(Whitney)– Specialization

The Role of Corporations

• What is a Corporation?: – an organization owned by many people but treated by law as

though it were a single person. • What is a Stockholder?:

– people who own the corporation because they own shares of ownership called stock.

• Raises large amounts of money by selling stocks– Invest in technology, large workforce, machines

• Spreads out financial risk. • Hurts small business – How?

– Cut costs

Robber Barons• Railroad entrepreneurs • Accusations of

swindling investors and taxpayers, bribing government officials, and cheating on their contracts and debts.

• Robber Barons: people who loot an industry and give nothing back.

• By 1900, big business dominated the economy

Andrew Carnegie

• Scottish immigrant who started small

• U.S. Steel • Began vertical integration-

owns all of the different businesses on which it depends for its operation. – Ex) Instead of buying coal

from a company, Carnegie bought the actual coal mine.

The Consolidation of Industry

• Business leaders also pushed for horizontal integration- combining many firms engaged in the same type of business into one, large corporation.

• This happened often and when a company began to lose market share, it would sell to its competitors and create a large organization.

• Can you think of modern examples?

John D. Rockefeller

• U.S. industrialist who made a fortune in the oil business.

• By 1880, Standard Oil controlled almost 90% of the oil refining industry in the U.S. – When a single company

achieves control of an entire market, this is called a monopoly.

The Consolidation of Industry

• Suspicion of large corporations and monopolies. • To preserve competition, many states made it illegal for

one company to own stock in another without permission from state legislature.

• In 1882 Standard Oil formed the first trust—a new way of merging businesses without violating the law of owning other companies.

• Trust: a legal concept that allows one person to manage another person’s property (called a trustee). – Ex) Standard Oil trustees were able to control a group of

companies as if they were one large merged company.

Political Cartoon

• Complete the a worksheet for each political cartoon.

• What conclusions can we draw about the trusts?

Political Cartoon Analysis

Robber Baron or Captain of Industry

• You will be broken into groups and research one of the following men, completing the handout provided. You will then share your findings with the class:– Andrew Carnegie– John D. Rockefeller– J.P. Morgan– Cornelius Vanderbilt– Thomas Edison– Henry Ford 

Closure

• What were the practices that led industrialists to being labeled as a robber baron or captain of industry?

• In what ways did these industrialists harm or benefit the U.S. economy and the quality of life of its citizens?

How would you describe your working conditions?

Immigration, Labor, and Urbanization

Working in the U.S.

• Effects of Industrialization– Increased standard of

living– Large income gap

between rich and poor– Work in factories was:

• Hard, dangerous, long hours, low pay, monotonous

Working Women and Children

• Women – domestic servants,

teachers, nurses, secretaries, light industry

• Children– Textile factories,

Railroads, mines

• Both paid less than male counterparts

Workers! To Arms!!• What is a labor union?• No laws protecting right to organize

– Courts ruled strikes as a conspiracy – labor leaders might be fined or jailed.

• Unions were also seen as a threat – Ideas from Karl Marx– Workers would eventually revolt, seize

control of the factories, and overthrow the government.

– Marxist ideas came to America when 33 million European immigrants came to the U.S.

– Since many Americans were already anti-immigrant, they became very suspicious of unions

• This often led officials to us the courts, police, and army to crush strikes and break up unions.

Struggling to Unionize• Trade Unions:

– For people with a certain skill (ex. Masons)– American Federation of Labor

• Samuel Gompers• 8 hour work day

• Industrial Unions:– For people who work in a similar job (ex., miners)– Knights of Labor

• 8 hour work day• Better pay

• Fighting against these Unions:– Businesses did the following:

• Pledge/Oath, Detectives (Pinkerton), Blacklists, use of strikebreakers (scabs), lockouts, violence

The Struggle to Organize• Confrontation with owners and

the government often led to violence and bloodshed– The riot at Haymarket Square

in Chicago led to the discrediting of the Knights of Labor (1st nationwide industrial union)

– The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and the Pullman Strike of 1894 both involved rail workers responding to wage cuts• The army was sent to

restore order

Photo Analysis

• Take a quick walk around the class and look at the pictures

• Select one and complete the photo analysis sheet provided

Discussion

• What do you notice first?• What people and objects are displayed?• Why do you think this image was made?• What's happening in this image?• What do you think was the audience for this

image?• What can you learn from examining this image?• What questions do you have about your photo?

Assignment

• You want to inform your co-workers of a problem in your field/industry TODAY.

• Create a pamphlet that would invite a person to a meeting related to this issue.

• Make sure to the reader knows:– the field of work– The problem facing workers– Proposed solutions– The group working to improve the problem

Bellringer

• Describe the worst place you’ve ever lived/stayed.

Urbanization

• Define – • Why?

– Push-Pull– Immigration

• “Rags to Riches” – Horatio Alger

• Effects– Suburbs– Cloudscrapers Skyscrapers– Slums/Tenements

• Disease• Fire• Filth• Crime

Dumbbell Tenements

NYC Tenement, 1860s

Assignment

• I own the tenement in the latter picture. I want to redesign the interior to better suit the lives of my tenants.

• However, I CANNOT change the exterior walls and I want to still have 12 units.

• Can you redesign the interior to accommodate both my needs and the needs of my tenants?

Film

• View the following film and answer the questions provided:

• http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xwir40_america-the-story-of-the-us-cities-7-12_people

Bellringer

• What were some of the problems facing society at the turn of the century?

• What could you see as possible solutions?

Answering Societies’ Problems

Passive• Laissez Faire –

• Social Darwinism –

• Malthusian Theory –

• Iron Rule of Wages –

Active…• Gospel of Wealth-

• Political Machines-

• Progressivism and Populism

Progressivism – 1880-1920

• Topics– Child labor– Women– Education– Pay– Working Hours– Working Conditions– Environment– Politic/Government– Trusts/Big Business– Voting Rights– Farmers

Progressivism

Populism