his 112 chapter 18
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HIS 112 Chapter 18. Industrial Society. U.S. Industrial Revolution. By 1876, the U.S. was involved in another revolution, an industrial revolution By 1860: U.S. was 4 th largest industrial nation Had 100,000 factories worth $1.8 billion 70%of population lived on farms - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
HIS 112Chapter 18
Industrial Society
U.S. Industrial Revolution By 1876, the U.S. was involved in
another revolution, an industrial revolution
By 1860: U.S. was 4th largest industrial nation Had 100,000 factories worth $1.8 billion 70%of population lived on farms Fewer than 1 million worked in factories
By 1900: U.S. ranked 1st among industrialized
nations, ahead of Great Britain Factories were worth $13 billion Many had left the farm to work in
industry 5 million worked in industry
Basis for growth: U.S. was rich in capital Proved that it was a stable nation Was open to foreign investors U.S. kept control of industry Large labor force, both native-born
and immigrant
U. S. had abundant natural resources Rich agricultural land Lumber Gold Silver Semi-precious metals Lots of coal Iron Petroleum
U. S. also had a huge market for ready-made goods -- 1900, population was 76 million
We had inventors Companies worked to cut costs and
competition Entrepreneurs flourished Industry was concentrated in
northeast
Transportation & Communication
Advances in railroads, ocean-going steamships, telegraph, and telephone
Railroads More direct routes Greater safety Faster More comfortable
More dependable schedules Could carry more than a stagecoach Year-round service Covered 50 miles in an hour Went where waterways could not
1865 – 1890, total railroad track in U.S. expanded from 35,000 to 200,000 miles
4 Major Effects of Railroad Construction:
Economic railroad revenues were over $1 billion Steel and coal industries were greatly
stimulated
Altered concepts of Time and Space Space was transformed into time Scheduling necessitated an
agreement on time and time zones (Charles Dowd, 1883)
Technological and Organizational Reforms Standardization of track used Scheduling was better coordinated
Community Effects American railroads often created the
very communities they were to serve Different from Europe Towns grew up along railroad routes Many towns not on or close to railroad
routes shriveled up and often died
Aid to Railroads
Received government subsidies Railroads (RRs) convinced
government that expansion of rail routes would benefit public
Asked government to give them public land
Federal land grants totaled over 180 million acres
States gave railroads 50 million acres
Counties, cities, and towns offered loans or bought stocks and bonds in company
Problems
Discriminatory rate setting Competition between different lines
led to drastic rate reductions – usually on long-haul routes
RRs gave rebates to big shippers like Rockefeller
RRs gave free passenger passes to big companies
To make up the difference, RRs boosted rates on non-competitive short distance routes that most farmers would use
Then railroads consented to pools among railroads This was an agreement among RRS to
share traffic and earnings and to set common rates to reduce competition among major lines
These practices upset farmers, retailers, bankers, reformers, and some stock brokers
Cornelius Vanderbilt, Collis P. Huntington, Jay Gould, and James Hill were some of the best at re-organizing and expanding the railroad industry in the 1870s and 1880s
They devoured smaller RRs to create larger, integrated, & more consolidated lines
NORTH – lines were consolidated into 4 major ones called trunk lines
SOUTH – 400 smaller lines of 40 miles or less were consolidated into 5 major systems
West of the Mississippi, 5 major lines were created
All used standard equipment and scheduled with the help of the newly created U.S. time zones (1883)
The owners used cut-throat tactics to gain supremacy
Pools, rate-fixing, rebates, and passes for some, higher prices for others led to a demand in the 1870s for the government regulation of railroads
The Supreme Court upheld the principle of RR regulation in Munn v. Illinois (1877)
It resulted in the passage of the Interstate Commerce Act , 1877 (ICC) Created the Interstate Commerce
Commission Satisfied those protesting the
practices of the RRs
The ICC could Investigate RRs Issue cease & desist orders Seek court assistance to enforce
compliance with the law
But there were LOOPHOLES and enforcement was weak
These business practices of the RRs were adopted by other businessmen
One was Andrew Carnegie in Steel, and another was John D. Rockefeller in oil
Andrew Carnegie 1848- came from Scotland at age 12 Was bobbin boy in Pittsburgh Learned bookkeeping Became a telegrapher and message
boy for Western Union Took job as telegrapher and
secretary for Tom Scott of Pennsylvania Railroad, West
Later was an executive for Pennsylvania Railroad
Speculated in oil and the manufacture of iron bridges during Civil War and got rich
1873 – constructed a steel plant outside of Pittsburgh during a depression when costs were low
Vertical Integration His major contribution to business Expanded the base of operation to
include its many stages: Raw materials Barges and ports
He owned the different stages of his operation, so he didn’t have to pay anyone else
Andrew Carnegie advocated Social Darwinism – survival of the fittest business
John D. Rockefeller
Established the Standard Oil Company of Ohio along with his brother William, Samuel Andrews, and Maurice Clark
1870 – they refined 3 or 4% of the nation’s oil
1890 – that grew to 90% How? Horizontal Integration
Horizontal Integration Control of an entire industry by
controlling the key phase: the refining Rockefeller established a monopoly
across the business without owning all phases
Rockefeller persuaded strong and cooperative competitors to join him and he drove weaker ones out of business
Trust Formed by Rockefeller He had his competitors surrender
control of their refineries to Standard Oil
They, in turn, would receive trust certificates and would not have to manage their companies or fight the competion
Trustees would combine their factories and their incomes
They became very wealthy Competition had to join them or be
forced out of business This created a monopoly
New Technology
1866 – Telegraph Cables by Cyrus W. Field, linked Europe with America
1867 – Typewriter, p. 536 – picture 1867 – Stock Ticker 1879 – Cash Register, p.532 -
picture
1887 – Calculating Machine 1888 – Adding Machine 1888 – Kodak Camera by George
Eastman 1876 – Telephone by Alexander
Graham Bell, a Scottish immigrant Made the discovery while perfecting a
hearing aid for the deaf
President Hayes had a phone in the White House 1878 His phone number was 1 When the Treasury got a phone, its
number was 2 1880s – 50,000 phones in U.S. End of 1890s – 800,000 phones in U.S. 1905 – 10 million or 1 for every 10
people
Thomas Alva Edison
“Wizard of Menlo Park” Patented over 1,000 inventions
1876 – 1900 Storage battery Motion picture projector Phonograph In candescent light bulb – most
important
Financier J.P. Morgan was among the first to electrically illuminate his house and his bank
1882 – in New York – 80 illuminatewd homes
1900 – 3,000 towns and cities were electrically illuminated
Safer than gas
Edison based electric current on low voltage direct current that could only go 2 miles
George Westinghouse perfected a means of transmitting alternating current over long distances
Westinghouse also perfected air brakes for trains using pneumatic pressure
Mass Production
Sometimes industries produced more than people could buy
To help increase sales new advertising and marketing techniques were used Example: the flour industry came up
with new products like cereals and cake flour
Many used advertising H.J. Heinz Campbell’s Soup Pabst’s Beer of Milwaukee Borden’s Milk Swift Meats Henry Crowell’s Quaker Oats Proctor and Gamble’s Ivory Soap
Industry expanded and great fortunes could be made, but all on the backs of the poorly paid, mostly unskilled laborers.
Industry polluted water, filled the sky with sooty smoke, and littered the landscape.
1870 – 1900 – world’s manufactured goods produced by America rose from 25% - 33%
Population in U.S. doubled overall from 1860 – 1900
Those working in industry grew 4 times during the same period
1860 – 1.5 million worked in workshops and mills and 700,000 in mining and construction
1900 – 6 million worked in manufacturing and 2.3 million in mining and construction
The U.S. was moving away from being that agricultural nation of Jefferson
1870 – Americans worked in small workshops along side of their employers. They were often skilled laborers
1900 – Workshops had evolved into plants employing thousands of unskilled men, women, and children. Employers were distanced from employees.
Unskilled labor was preferable because employers didn’t have to pay them as much, and they could be replaced easily
Salaries for workers decreased in the second half of 19th century
However, workers could get more for their money because of mass production – cheaper prices
Still, 1 out of every 8 Americans lived in poverty in 1904
Hours varied from job to job Government employee – 8 hr. day Skilled workers – 10 hr. day Factory workers – 12 hours or more
per day
Work week in 1860 was 66 hours In 1910 – 55 hours Most worked 5 ½ to 6 days a week Some industries had shift work Holidays were few, but there were
lay-offs due to depressions and the off-season
Conditions in Workplace Not much attention paid to safety Boilers would explode – 10,000
from 1870 -1910 Railway accidents – 1 worker in 26
injured each year and 1 in 400 was killed
Those working with machines could lose fingers and hands
Owners usually not held responsible If a worker knew there was
something wrong with the machine, and he used it anyway, then it was the worker’s fault
However, if the worker didn’t use the machine, then he would be fired
No workers’ compensation or death insurance
Employers were not held responsible for diseases caused by the job: black lung, white lung, etc.
The workers were men, women, and children – often unskilled immigrant labor
1900 – 1.8 million children working full time
Women and children were employed because they could be paid less than men
1900 – 20% of work force was female ½ of textile workers were female 2 million women were employed in
service jobs like cooks, maids for subsistence wages
Women were paid ½ as much as men for the same work and the same hours
Later as work in factories became heavier, men replaced women
Women also worked as telephone operators, clerks, and typists
There were few blacks in industry; most were farmers or in service jobs
80% still lived in the South by 1900
Blacks received low wages and had a poor standard of living
There were few unions, and those that existed had little power
Often workers expressed discontent by breaking machines or through high absenteeism, especially on Mondays
Sometimes there was violence At Homestead Works of Andrew
Carnegie, there was a strike in 1892 At nationwide railroad strike of 1877,
troops had to be called in to restore peace
Molly Maguires
Secret organization Sub-organization of the Ancient
Order of the Hibernians Irish coal miners were its members Conducted terrorism against coal
mine owners and supervisors in N.E. Pennsylvania
Infiltrated by James McParland of the Pinkertons
He gathered enough evidence to get 19 men hanged and the terrorism stopped
Other Unions
Knights of St. Crispin was the first American union formed in 1800; it was an association of Philadelphia shoemakers
Other workingmen’s associations arose, usually for skilled workers, but they were small, individual, and isolated
National Labor Union (NLU) Began in 1866 by Wm. Sylvis Believed in political action by united
workers United many reform groups into his
union, including women’s suffrage Had presidential candidate in 1872 –
lost NLU disappeared by 1874
Knights of Labor National labor union Organized by Uriah P. Stephens Secret organization Not interested in politics Interested in solidarity of workers to bring
about better conditions in the workplace Hoped for a cooperative effort in
workplace
Women, blacks, and unskilled workers were welcomed
Saloonkeepers, lawyers, and gamblers were not admitted
Mason-like in rituals and Masons were anti-Catholic
Catholics weren’t allowed to join secret organizations, so they didn’t belong to Knights of Labor
Change occurred with new leader, Terence Powderly in 1879
He was Catholic He broke down secret rituals and
worked to get papal permission for Catholics to join
He did and membership grew from 110,000 in 1885 to 700,000 in 1886
Difficult to control membership Powderly was against strikes
After violent Haymarket Strike in 1886, the union was in chaos
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) came about in 1886 by Samuel Gompers for skilled workers only
AFL For skilled worker because Gompers
felt they held the power For higher wages, shorter hours, and
better working conditions Believed in the strike Wanted unions to be partners in
industry Didn’t allow in unskilled laborers,
women, blacks, or immigrants