Chapter 18 Industry, Immigrants, and Cities

1. Chapter 18Industry, Immigrants, and Cities

2. The Gilded Age

3. The Gilded Age • Term applied to late 19th century America that refers to the shallow display and worship of wealth characteristic of that period • Term was first used by Mark Twain • Used to satire people’s obsession with materialistic items of the day

4. Great Dilemma • New wealth was being created, but poverty was increasing as well • Dilemma of the time was to reconcile these contradictions and provide opportunity for a decent life to all • Philadelphia symbolized this issue in 1876

5. Philadelphia in 1876

6. Centennial Exposition • Celebration of America turning 100 • People came to witness new technologies and inventions by Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell

7. Celebration vs. Reality • Country was in the midst of a Depression; Not a hopeful time • Typical Philadelphia worker’s daily wage was $1.00 • Cost of admission to the exposition was 0.50 cents • Many were forced to celebrate elsewhere…

8. Centennial City • Collection of cheap bars, cheap hotels, and small restaurants • This is what most could afford • Had their own celebration, and it wasn’t fancy or sophisticated

9. New Industry • Huge switch takes place • The United States moves from primarily an agricultural nation into the world’s foremost industrial nation

10. The Electric Age • Steam engines and electricity meant manufacturers were no longer dependent on water power • Management could now substitute machines for workers • This had a great impact on city life: electric lights, appliances, store bought food

11. Electric Light Bulb • Invented by Thomas Edison

12. Light Bulb • Edison astounded everyone when he was able to get bulb to burn for 45 minutes! • The race was on to see who could invent a way to light the world cheaply and efficiently • Whoever was able to do this would gain a huge fortune • Edison would NOT be that guy

13. Elihu Thompson • High school Chemistry teacher • Look like Hutch at all????? • Purchased a company (which you all have heard of) from Edison

14. Company he Purchased?

15. General Electric • Established a research and development division • By 1914, they were producing 85% of the world’s light bulbs

16. The Corporation and its Impact • Corporation an association of individuals with legal rights and liabilities separate from those of its members • Key feature? separation of ownership from management • Raise oney by selling stock to shareholders

17. 2 Advantages of Corporations • Does not dissolve (end) when a partner dies, as partnerships did • Limited liability shareholders are not responsible for a corporation’s debts

18. Share of Stock

19. Vertical Integration • Consolidation of production functions under the direction of one firm • Meatpacking industry was a good example • Gustavas Swift

20. Refrigerated Railway Cars • He realized it was possible to ship meat from Western ranges to Eastern markets • Eliminated the need to transport live cattle • Railroads were skeptical and were not eager to buy his special railway cars

21. Oh, Canada! • Swift was able to convince Canadian railway to buy his cars • Also built refrigerated warehouses in Omaha and Kansas City • He controlled the production, transportation, and distribution of his products

22. Was it successful? • Swift was shipping $200,000 worth of meat per week!

23. Horizontal Integration • Merging of competitors in the same industry

24. Standard Oil Company • Owned by John D. Rockefeller • Used threats and deceit to acquire competitors • Controlled 90% of the nations oil refinery

26. Other Examples of Horizontal Integration • James Duke Cigarettes • Andrew Carnegie Steel

27. The Changing Nature of Work • Huge wave of immigrations into the United States looking for work (Europe and Asia) • Received very little pay • Eastern Europeans made up 75% of the steel workforce and were paid $12.50 per week • Corporations were making HUGE profits, but were not protecting worker safety

28. Unsafe Working Conditions • 30,000 railroad workers killed in 1881 alone • 25% of workers at U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh would be killed or injured • Those working in the Chicago meatpacking plants faced terrible conditions

29. Chicago Meatpacking • Workers grew careless from fatigue and long term exposure to extreme temperatures • Often worked rapidly with sharp knives • Would not notice that they had sliced the fingers off of their numb hands

30. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

31. The Jungle • Chronicled the killing floors of the meatpacking plants in Chicago • “It was to be counted as a wonder that there were not more men slaughtered than cattle” • Typical worker worked 10 hour days six days a week • By Sunday, workers would be so exhausted all they did was sit. • Only had time to eat and sleep during the week

32. Impact on Families • Families moved closer to factories to reduce the time spent going back and forth • Industrial wastes polluted rivers and streams near the plants • Workers and families could never escape the filth and pollution of these plants

33. Child Labor

34. Child Labor • Pg 473 • In Pennsylvania, children were made to work in coal mines all day long • Girls under the age of 16 made up 50% of the workforce in Scranton, PA

35. No Protection • Laws were passed to prevent child labor but they were rarely enforced • Parents who were desperate for income would lie about the children’s age

36. Working Women • Women looked for work out of necessity (Page 474). • Men could not support a wife and kids on his own • Women were often paid less than men • In one St. Louis factory, women were paid $4/per week compared to $16/per week for men

37. Prostitution • Some women were forced to work as prostitutes • They could earn 4-5 times more • These women were treated as outcasts • “Is it any wonder that a tempted girl who receives only six dollars per week working with her hands sells her body for $25 per week?”

38. New Invention • The invention of the typewriter transformed clerical (office) work • Before the typewriter, men held these jobs • Women were said to have greater dexterity and “tolerance for repetition

39. Nurturing Professions • Women were slowly gaining access to higher education • They were still restricted from high profile jobs, such as doctors and lawyers • Found work as teachers, nurses, and library work

40. Responses to Poverty and Wealth

41. Jacob Riis • How the Other Half Lives (excerpt on page 477) • Essay on the poor in New York City • “The half that is on top cares little for the struggles, and less for the fate of those who are underneath so long as it is able to hold them there and keep its own seat

42. Tenement Apartments • Apartments in urban slums that were known for their lack of ventilation and light

43. The Hull House

44. The Hull House Most famous settlement house Founded by Jane Addams Provided the poor with facilities and education to help them improve their environment and eventually escape it

45. The Gospel of Wealth Thesis that hard work and perseverance lead to wealth Implied that poverty was a character flaw Some people fought against this idea, but the majority of others simply accepted it as truth

46. One who Fought it Andrew Carnegie Felt it was the responsibility of the rich to set an example for the working class and return some of their wealth to the communities in which they lived

47. Social Darwinism Flawed attempt to apply Darwin’s theory of evolution to human society Used as a justification for the growing gap between the rich and poor The fit survive and become wealthy; The poor are simply weak

48. Believer of Social Darwinism? John D. Rockefeller “The working out of a law of nature and a law of God”

49. Workers Organize

50. The Great Uprising Railroad strike of 1877 Railroad workers in Baltimore went on strike to fight pay cuts