Rise of Industry

Railroad Industry• Transcontinental Railroad

– A railroad that spanned the continent (United States)

– Union Pacific – Built West– Central Pacific – Built East

• Met in Promontory, Utah and drove in the final Golden Spike

• By 1895 4 more U.S. lines were built across the continent

Activity

• Compare and contrast how the Union Pacific – Central Pacific Railroad changed travel for emigrants to the west

Railroad Industry• Effects of the railroad

– Altered Time• Each community had its own time based on

the sun’s travel.– Solar Time

• Railroad companies set up Standard Time– Divided the U.S into 4 time zones

Railroad Industry• Effects of the Railroad

– Linked Eastern and Western economies• West – Raw Materials• East – Manufactured Goods

Railroad Industry • Effects of the Railroad

– Helped people settle the West• Carried necessities for settlers

– Weakened the Native American hold on the West

• Workers need to eat so buffalo were hunted• Also carried settlers

– Gave people more control of the environment• Could settle in places without waterways.

Inventions

• Bessemer Steel Process– Henry Bessemer

– Steel was very expensive to produce because it used large amounts of coal

– Bessemer cut the use of coal by 1/7th

– Now that steal was cheaper its output increased 500X in 23 years• Plows, barbed wire, nails, beams, and rails

Inventions• Thomas Edison – The Wizard of

Menlo Park–Electricity

• Light Bulb – Not the first just the most efficient.

• System to deliver electricity to buildings• As a result of Edison’s inventions electric

lighting quickly replaced gas lights.

Inventions• Communication

– Telegraph• Samuel Morse• Allowed people to send messages long

distances by using electrical impulses.

– Telephone• Alexander Graham Bell• Transmit human speech using electricity.

Big Business• Corporations

– A business owned by investors who buy part of the company through shares of stock.

– Advantages• Can raise large amounts of money by selling stock.• Special legal status• Continue to exist after the owner dies• Banks are more likely to lend money • Limit investor risk

– Do not have to pay off corporate debt.

Big Business

• Corporations–Advantages

• Few legal regulations–Will lead to the rise of a few giant

corporations that dominate American industry.

Big Business• Oil

– John D. Rockefeller• Philosophy: The best way to make money is to

put your competitors out of business– What do we call this?

• Means– Bought other refineries– Made secret deals with railroad companies to carry

his oil at lower rates.– Purchased and build his own pipelines to carry oil.

Big Business• Oil

– John D Rockefeller• Means

– Developed the trust

» A legal body created to hold stock in many companies, often in the same industry.

» Persuaded other oil companies to join Standard Oil

» By 1880 he controlled 95% of the oil industry.

» Set a high price for oil

» Rockefeller made millions

Big Business• Steel

– Andrew Carnegie• Philosophy – Make the best and cheapest product.• Means

– Sought to control all the process related to the manufacture of steel.

» Bought the mines that supplied iron ore» Bought the ships and railroad that carried the product

– As a result Carnegie dominated the US steel industry until he sold his company in 1901.

Big Business• Philanthropy

– Donation of large sums of money to charities• Rockefeller

– University of Chicago

– Rockefeller University

– $500 million +

• Carnegie– Universities

– Built public libraries

» $350 million +

Industrial Workers• Conditions

– Factory owners wanted to keep profits high so they ran their factories as cheaply as possible• Buy own tools• Bring coal to heat the factory• Refuse to buy safety equipment.• Overcrowding

Industrial Workers• Conditions

– Sweatshops• Places where workers labored long hours

under poor conditions for low wages.

– Low wages• Less than $10 a week – barely enough to

cover expenses

Industrial Workers• Rise of Unions

– Labor Unions• Groups of workers that negotiated with

business owners to obtain better wages and working conditions

– Knights of Labor• Loose federation of workers from many

trades.– Allowed women and African Americans

Industrial Workers• Unions

– Homestead Strike (1894)• Andrew Carnegie reduced wages and the union

refused to accept the cut.• Locked the union employees out and threatened to

hire nonunion workers.– Also 300 armed guards.

• Union workers gathered weapons and conflict ensued.

– 10 people died

• 4 months later the strike collapsed breaking the union.

Industrial Workers

• Unions– Pullman Strike (1894)

• Pullman Palace Car Company cut workers pay by 25%. Kept rent on company housing the same.

• Pullman refused to negotiate with the American Railway Union.

• President of the union Eugene Debs called for all railroad workers to refuse to handle Pullman cars.

– Brought rail traffic to a halt.– President Grover Cleveland called out federal troops

ending the strike.– Eugene Debs was thrown in jail.

Industrial Workers

• Unions– Samuel Gompers

• American Federation of Labor (AFL)– Focused on improving working conditions

» Used strikes, boycotts, and negotiation very successfully.

» Won shorter working hours and better pay for workers.