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The Rise of Industrial America, 1865-1900

The Rise of Industrial America, 1865-1900. The Rise of Big Business 1900 – U.S. is leading industrial power Exceeds Great Britain, France, and Germany 4% growth per year. Reasons: Natural resources Massive labor supply Growing population Capital - $$$$ Labor-saving technologies

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The Rise of Industrial America, 1865-1900

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  1. The Rise of Industrial America, 1865-1900

  2. The Rise of Big Business • 1900 – U.S. is leading industrial power • Exceeds Great Britain, France, and Germany • 4% growth per year

  3. Reasons: • Natural resources • Massive labor supply • Growing population • Capital - $$$$ • Labor-saving technologies • Friendly govt. policies • Talented entrepreneurs

  4. The Business of Railroads • BIGGEST business • 1865 – 35,000 miles of track • 1900 – 190,000 miles • 1883 – split U.S. into four time zones • Created market for commercial goods

  5. Eastern Trunk Lines: • 1830-1860 – Huge growth • Different gauge tracks • After Civil War – RRs consolidated • Cornelius Vanderbilt – 1867 – New York Central • 4,500 miles of track • NYC to Chicago

  6. Western Railroads: • Played a role in settling West • Promoted settlements on Great Plains • Linking East to West creating one market • Federal land grants • 80 rail companies • Problems: • Hasty and poor construction • Led to widespread corruption

  7. Transcontinental RR • Pre-Civil War land grants • Link CA to Union • Union Pacific – started at Omaha, NE • Central Pacific – Sacramento to ??? • Constructed by Chinese and Irish • Met at Promontory Point, UT – May 10, 1869

  8. Panic of 1893 • ¼ of all RRs went bankrupt • J. Pierpont Morgan • Consolidated RRs • Eliminated competition • Controlled 7 companies by 1900

  9. Industrial Empire • Major shift in output • Antebellum • Textiles • Clothing • Lumber • Leather products • Postbellum • Heavy industry • Steel • Petroleum • Electrical power

  10. Steel Industry • 1850s – Henry Bessemer and William Kelly • Bessemer Process • Great Lakes region becomes hotbed for steel • Minnesota’s Mesabi Range

  11. Andrew Carnegie • 1848 – Scottish immigrant • Superintendant of RRs • 1870s – Pittsburgh, PA • Technology • Salesmanship • Horizontal and Vertical Integration

  12. Carnegie Steel Corp. • 20,000 employees • Produced more steel than ALL of Great Britain • U.S. Steel • Carnegie retires • Sold company in 1900 for $400 million to J.P. Morgan • Control 3/5 of all steel • 168,000 employees

  13. Petroleum Industry • 1859 – Edwin Drake – Titusville, PA • 1863 – John D. Rockefeller – Standard Oil Company • By 1891 – controlled 90% of oil industry • Established “trusts” – conglomerates of businesses • $900 million fortune

  14. Laissez-Faire Capitalism • Adam Smith (1776) • Wealth of Nations • Social Darwinism • “Survival of the Fittest” • Gospel of Wealth • Carnegie

  15. Anti-Trust Movement • Trusts came under harsh scrutiny • Middle class believed trusts controlled everything • Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) • Prohibited creation of trusts • Tried to make trade honest

  16. Marketing Consumer Goods • Increased demand for goods • Increased output • Decreased price • R.H. Macy • Frank Woolworth • Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward

  17. Inventions and Inventors • Between 1860 – 19,591 patents • By 1900 – over 400,000 patents • Changed the way we did everything!!!

  18. American Workforce • Workers were poor • Top 10% of wealthiest owned 90% of income • “New Money” • Working conditions were horrible • Living conditions were unsanitary • Horatio Alger Myth • “Rags to Respectability”

  19. Organized Labor • National Labor Union • 1860s • First union to try to unionize all workers • Higher wages • 8-hour day • Equal rights • Lost members during Panic of 1873

  20. Knights of Labor • 1869 – secret society • Wanted members from ALL work forces • Demands: • Worker cooperatives • Abolish child labor • Abolish trusts and monopolies • Settled disputes legally • Haymarket Bombing – May 4, 1886

  21. American Federation of Labor • Samuel Gompers – 1886 • Economic-minded • Method: • Collective bargaining • 1901 – 1 million members

  22. Immigration • 1850 – 23.2 million • 1900 – 76.2 million • 1850-1900 – 16.2 million immigrants entered U.S.

  23. Pushes • Poverty • Overcrowding • Religious persecution • Pulls: • Tolerance • Jobs!!! • “Streets were paved with gold”

  24. Old vs. New • Old immigrants: • England • Germany • Scandinavia • New immigrants: • Russia • Italy • Greece • Croatia • Poland

  25. Incoming Terminals • Ellis Island, New York • Europeans • Angel Island, California • Asians

  26. Urbanization • By 1900 – 40% of Americans lived in cities • Tenements • Lousy conditions • Ethnic neighborhoods • Safe havens

  27. Political Machines • Tammany Hall – NYC • Boss Tweed • 1860s – 1871 • Backed and protected immigrants • New York County Courthouse (1870) • Thomas Nast • Harper’s Weekly • Mugwumps – wanted to end reform

  28. Awakening of Reform: • Problems in cities were brought to attention • Books of social criticism • How the Other Half Lives • A History of Standard Oil Company • The Jungle

  29. Settlement House Movement • Educated reformers • Moved into ghettos • Hull House – Chicago • Jane Addams (1889) • Taught immigrants English • Childhood education • Industrial arts education • By 1900 – 400 settlement houses

  30. Women’s Movements • Women’s Christian Temperance Movement (1874) • Frances Willard • Anti-Saloon League (1893) • Cary Nation

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