Chapter # 18

Industrial Society

Industrial GrowthAbundant natural resources

Coal, Iron, Timber, Petroleum, Water Power

Abundant labor (Immigrants)People willing to invest money (capital)Expanding population = expanding marketsNew industries created - Northeast

Railroads

At first trains were very unsafeRailroads built to connect parts of AmericaTowns sprung up along railroadsCarry cattle from the cattle drives Texas Consumed large amounts of steel & ironLarge supply of labor needed

Federal, state and local governments gave money to support railroadsRailroads became vital to the growth of a small townCompetition between cities and government leaders led to wide scale corruption

Railroad Across AmericaUnion Pacific – from Nebraska west

Used mostly Irish immigrantsCentral Pacific –East from Pacific Coast

ChineseConstruction began at the same timeBoth sides raced to be the firstMay 10, 1869 – Promontory Utah

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/19-century/railroad-workers-1.jpg

Soon other railroads lines crossed AmericaCompetitionWars between railroadsCorruption and briberyRailroads cutting cost corners –CHEAPRailroads needed money and turned to bankers

J. P. MorganPowerful figure in American financeHe made owners sit and talkRailroads shared trackSome joined togetherAiling railroads refinancedWith people like Morgan 7 giant systems controlled 2/3rd

J. P. Morgan

Steel

Bessemer process removed impurities from steelStronger, easier to makeRailroad boom increased need for steelIron mines opened to fill the steel demandsUnited States became the world largest supplier of steel

Andrew CarnegieMaster of the steel industryBuilt the J. Edgar Thompson Steel Works – 1872Kept wages low – disliked unionsHomestead strike1892 – crushed by Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie

Carnegie emerged as a leader of the steel industryHe bought other steel companiesMarch 3, 1901 – created United States Steel1st Billion dollar business in America

Black Gold1859 Edwin Drake drilled 1st oil well – Titusville PennsylvaniaOil soon used for:

Lubricating oil, grease, paint, way, varnish and paraffin

Within a few years there was a world market for oil

John D. RockefellerBuilt Standard OilAs his business grew he absorbed other companiesHe marketed products at high quality and low cost1879 – controlled 90% of nation’s refineries

John D. Rockefeller

TrustStandard Trust9 trustee’s control and manageProfits soared1st modern trust in AmericaTrust movement spread to other industriesTrust became synonymous with monopoly

InventorsInventors began to explore the world around themCyrus Field improved transatlantic cables

Brazil, Japan, and ChinaTypewriter, stock ticker, cash register, adding machine

George Eastman developed a process for coating photo platesMarketed Kodak camerasAlexander Graham bell

1876 1st telephoneSoon American Telephone and Telegraph Company formed (soon monopoly)

Alexander Graham Bell

Thomas Edison Wizard of Menlo Park

PhonographIncandescent lampDeveloped complex system of conductors, meters, and generatorsElectricity could now be distributed to homes

Thomas Edison

J. P. Morgan – Edison Illumination CompanyPearl Street power station in New YorkPower stations soon built in other citiesCities now had electric light

Advertisements1867 - $50 million spent on advertisements1900 – over $500 millionBrand names became popular

Kellogg

Chain Stores

A & P GroceryWoolworth'sMontgomery WardSears & RoebuckMail order catalogs became very popular

The WorkersBefore 1900 average worker earned $400-

$500 a yearHard work, long hoursOn Railroads per year

1/26 injured1/399 killed

1870 15% of women over age 16 worked1900 20% / 5.3 millionMost women were young and singleBlack females – 25% worked mostly on farmsAbout ½ of boys and girls ages 11-14 had jobs

Women had jobs mostly in feminine fieldsLawyers and doctors

Most became nurses, teachers and librariansFactories – textiles, processed foods, made cigarsGarment industry – sewers and finishers

Blacks would be employed lastLast hired first firedChinese on the west coast lived in Chinese sections of townSome had own businessLowest paid jobs (railroads)Chinese Exclusion Act 1882 made it illegal for Chinese to work for 10 years

Labor UnionsEarly unions represented skilled workersNational Labor Union – 1866Did not last long after founder’s deathKnights of Labor

Secret fraternal groupIncluded people of both sexes and all races1882 – 110,000 members

1885 730, 0001886 a strike on the Pacific Railroad was crushedHaymarket Square riot turned public support against the unionWithin a few years the Union fell apart

American Federation of Labor –AFL – 1886Skilled workersSamuel Gompers –founderTask was in improving lives of workers

Higher wagesShorter hoursBetter conditions

Over a million members in 1901

Government and WorkersCourt injunctions used to stop strikes – PullmanHolden v. Hardey – Court upheld law limiting hours worked by minersLochner v. New York – Struck down law limiting bakery worker’s hours

Haymarket Riot

1886 – police shot and killed 2 workersLabor leaders called for a protest meetingA bomb went off1 policeman killed and and otherPolice fired into the crowd killing 4 peoplePolice later rounded up anarchists – 8 convicted of murder

Homestead Steel Plant

Owners had cut wages 20%Workers strikeOwners locked workers outWorkers surrounded the businessPrivate army of Pinkerton Detectives hired

Workers pinned them down and forced them to surrender3 detectives, 10 workers died in battleGovernor ordered the militia to end the strikeEvents like this troubled AmericansHeavy price to pay for industrialization