U.S HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT REGENTS REVIEWPOWER POINT 5

The First Industrial Revolution and Wave of Immigration

Growth of Factories

• Factories sprouted in GB in the 1700s• Factory technology spread to the US in the

early 1800s• Built in New England– Iron– Coal– Rivers

The Factory System

• The production of goods in factories = the factory system

• Lowell Mill– Hired young women from farms to work in the

factories– Offered financial independence

• 1840s and 1850s: Irish immigrants offer a more permanent work force

First Wave of Immigration: 1840s-1860s

• Most immigrants came from northern and Western Europe (Germany, Great Britain, Ireland)– Potato famine in Ireland caused a widespread

exodus from the country• Immigrants settled in Northern cities and

western farms• Immigrants provided a steady labor force in

new factories, so there was little regulation

Early Nativism

• Nativism: anti-immigrant feelings– “No Irish Need Apply”– America is for Americans

• Irish Catholic immigrants were despised for their religion and affinity for alcohol

• Know-Nothing Party: political party formed to restrict immigration

The Second Industrial Revolution and Wav of Immigration

Transportation

• Homestead Act 1862: Offered free land to people who would become western farmers

• Pacific Railway Act 1862: Provided land to RR companies– Helps fund RR development– Facilitates western migration

• Transcontinental RR: makes it easier to transport good and people from east to west

Business Development

• Corporation– A business with many investors• Give a business access to more money (capital)• Limits individual loss if the business fails

• Monopoly– One company has complete control over an entire

industry (i.e. Carnegie steel, Rockefeller’s Standard Oil)• Conglomerate, pool, trust, holding company,

vertical/horizontal integration

Henry Ford’s Assembly Line

• Moving Assembly Line: goods are moved down the assembly line on a conveyor belt; combination of human and machine labor– Mass produce cars– Lowers cost of production– Lowers consumer cost– Method will later transfer into other industries

Attitudes toward Business• Laissez Faire

– Gov’t should not interfere in the affairs of business– Free enterprise system: private individuals make economic

decision• Social Darwinism

– Stems from Charles Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest– Free enterprise would see weak businesses fail and strong

succeed• Robber Barons

– Entrepreneurs gained wealth through ruthless methods at the expense of the poor

• Philanthropists– Entrepreneurs used their wealth to aid society

Gov’t Action toward Business

• Supreme Court Decisions– Munn v. Illinois: permits the state to regulate private

property when it affects the public interest– Wabash, et al v. Illinois: only the federal gov’t can

regulate interstate commerce• Interstate Commerce Commission– Work to end railroad abuses

• Sherman Anti-Trust Act– Monopolies are illegal– Similar to Clayton Anti-Trust Act

Organization of Labor

• Major Unions: American Federation of Labor (skilled workers); Knights of Labor

• Major Leaders: Terrence Powderly, Samuel Gompers, Eugene V. Debs

• Collective bargaining: union representative will work with business to make a deal for everyone

• Early strikes were unsuccessful bc gov’t sided with big business

The West

• Post Civil War: mass movement to the west• Leads to conflicts with Native Americans• Dawes Act: Americanize Native Americans• Populist Party and Granger Movement– Farmers relied on RR to transport crops– RR prices were fixed at a high rate, keeping farmers

relatively poor– Call for gov’t regulation of RR, telephones, telegraph– Free coinage of silver to put more money into

circulation

Second Wave of Immigration

• Known as “new immigrants” 1870 to 1920• Came from southern and eastern Europe• New Nativism– Chinese Exclusion Act: limits Chinese immigration– Gentlemen’s Agreement: limits Japanese immigration– Emergency Quota Act: places a limit on immigration

from certain countries (Russia, Italy)– National Origins Act: further limits immigration from

southern and eastern Europe

Urbanization

• Industrialization=Immigration=Urbanization• Most factories and jobs were in the cities, so

many people settled in the cities near their jobs• Immigrants lived in tenements• Poor working conditions: tight spaces, dangerous

machines, no ventilation, long hours, low wages• Child labor• All conditions created by industrialization• Leads into the progressive movement