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Big Business & Labor

Big Business & Labor. How do the “Robber Barons” make their fortunes?. Andrew Carnegie. Immigrates from Scotland in 1848 at age 12. Clerk for the Superintendent the Pennsylvania Railroad by age 18. Does great job, boss offers him stock in company.

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Big Business & Labor

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  1. Big Business & Labor How do the “Robber Barons” make their fortunes?

  2. Andrew Carnegie • Immigrates from Scotland in 1848 at age 12 • Clerk for the Superintendent the Pennsylvania Railroad by age 18. • Does great job, boss offers him stock in company • Carnegie starts investing, makes it to Superintendent by age 24 • Forms a steel company in 1870s, most successful co. in US • Sells steel company to US Steel in 1901 for a HUGE profit

  3. Carnegie’s Business Strategy • Vertical Integration: Buy out suppliers of needed products and services so you control production top to bottom • Horizontal Integration: buy out competing producers so you are only co that offers that business

  4. John Rockefeller & Standard Oil Trust • Rockefeller makes Standard Oil one of the biggest and most profitable American co’s • Rockefeller tactics: • Paid very low wages, lowered prices to force competition to sell • Formed trusts with the bought out companies

  5. The Robber Barons • Businessmen and bankers who amassed huge personal fortunes, by using unfair business practices 2) Morgan 1) Carnegie 3) Rockefeller 4) Stanford 5) Vanderbilt 6) Gould

  6. Government Reaction to “robber barons” -Wanted to protect free market, feared big business stifling competition -Passed Sherman Anti-trust Act, 1890 – tried to stop monopolies by making it illegal to form a trust that interfered with free trade - difficult to enforce

  7. Problems in the workplace 1) Terms of employment: 6-7 day weeks, 12+ hour days, no vacation, no sick leave 2) Poor physical conditions: polluted and often dangerous 3) Low Wages: so bad that millions of women/children forced to work -Labor unions form to improve conditions - Skilled workers form AFL under Samuel Gompers -1905: radical unionists and socialists formed the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) - Goal: organize unskilled labor and semi-skilled workers

  8. Great Strike of 1877 -80,000 railroad workers strike -Shut down most railroad traffic for week -Joined by many other workers -President Hayes authorizes use of federal troops to stop the violence

  9. Haymarket Riot, 1886 - 3,000 gather to protest police killing of striker, police sent in to disperse crowd -someone throws bomb into police line - 7 police killed -Public opinion begins to turn against unions and strikes, connecting them to violence

  10. Homestead Strike, 1892 -President of Carnegie Steel announces wage cut, workers strike - Supervisors call in Pinkerton detectives protect strike breakers(“scabs”) -Pinkerton detectives battle strikers and townspeople- 12 die in violence, strike is broken, Carnegie Steel lowers wages Homestead Video Questions: • What happened to leaders who led the strike against Carnegie steel? • What happened to the town of Homestead? • What happens to Carnegie’s company? • What does Carnegie say about the strike? • How does he try to “makeup” for what happened at Homestead?

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