Bellringer

Write these down and respond on a loose sheet of paper:1. What are the first three things that

come to mind when you read the word “industry?”

2. Come up with your own definition of the word “industry.”

The Rise of Industry in

the late 1800s

Chapter 6, Section 1August 30, 2010

Rise of Industrialism

• In the late 1800s, many Americans move off of their farms and move into the city – a RURAL to URBAN migration

• In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the U.S. goes from an AGRICULTURAL nation (one that primarily grows stuff) to a INDUSTRIAL nation (one that makes stuff).

• GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT (GNP), which is the total value of goods and services a country produces, increases 8x from the Civil War to WWI

Why the rise in Industry?

• RESOURCES – The U.S. had many natural resources (which you need for industry). They could get them cheaply, and many were in the newly settled West.– In 1859, Edwin Drake drills for

petroleum. People get serious about oil.

• PEOPLE – Population triples (due to bigger families and immigrants), and people need jobs. They also need the goods that factories made.

FREE ENTERPRISE

• Another thing that leads to rapid industrialization is America’s belief in the idea of the free enterprise system. It is embodied by the idea of LAISSEZ-FAIRE (meaning “let do” or “leave it alone”).

Laissez Faire capitalists wanted:

• The government to keep taxes low and avoid regulating business.

• This pro-business climate led to many ENTREPRENEURS – people who risk their capital (money and resources) to start a new business

Government Help• Even with this laissez-faire climate, the

government looks to help business by placing TARIFFS (or taxes) on imported goods.

• The MORRILL Tariff, passed after the Civil War, is an example.

• The gov’t does this so that people will buy American goods instead of more expensive foreign goods.

• This hurts many Americans, however, because they have trouble EXPORTING their goods to other countries.

NEW INVENTIONS

• New inventions play a role in free enterprise as well.

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL• WHO?• Bell• WHAT? • Invents the first

telephone• WHEN?• 1876• WHERE?• Philadephia

• HOW?• Transmits sound

through an electrical current

• SO WHAT?• Starts American

Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), and changes the way that people communicate with each other – thus helping the nation’s industrial growth.

THOMAS ALVA EDISON• WHO?• Edison• WHAT?• Created the

phonograph, the electric light bulb, and the first power plant

• WHEN?• 1870s and 1880s• Where?• Menlo Park, NJ

• HOW?• Builds a NYC power

plant in 1882 that provides DIRECT CURRENT to homes and offices, allowing them to use electricity.

• SO WHAT?• The invention of electric

light revolutionizes factories, allowing industry to become more efficient. His companies are now known as General Electric (GE).

George Westinghouse

• Created a power plant that uses ALTERNATING CURRENT (AC)

• While Edison’s direct current (DC) was revolutionary, it could not go very far. AC allowed power to be transmitted over long distances.

Large Corporations dominate the business world.

• Some create monopolies. A monopoly is where one business

takes over an entire industry. For instance- if I am making steel I am

going to buy up all of the mines where the iron ore is found, then I’m going to buy the railroads that bring it to my factories.

Large Corporations dominate the business world.

• Some create trustsA trust is where one board

manages a group of companies to more easily create a monopoly.

The trust will run my operation of buying up the mines and the railroads.

Leaders of these corporations were either loved or hated.

Robber Barons• This was a label for corporate leaders that

was negative.• People believed they used ruthless business

tactics to push out competitors.

Captains of Industry• This was a label for corporate leaders that

was positive.• People believed they

benefited American society because of their

strong leadership and business skills.

Robber Baron v Captain of Industry

Why call them Robber Barons?• When giant businesses

create monopolies they can crush small businesses.

• When no one is bigger than the monopoly they can make prices as high as they want and treat workers however they want.

Why call them Captains of Industry?• As businesses grow the

economy grows and over time the standard of living improves inside the country.

• Many industrialists were also philanthropists (meaning they gave money to charity and tried to improve society).

The Men Who Built America

• Andrew Carnegie• Rockefeller- Standard Oil• J.P. Morgan- Morgan Bank

Objective

• Examine these primary source cartoons looking for clues about whether the characters are being portrayed as Robber Barons or Captains of Industry.barons or captains of industry.

Andrew Carnegie Playing with Blocks

Carnegie’s Trustworthy Beast

The Trust Giant

Standard Oil