Chapter 13
The Triumph of Industry
Introduction
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What impact does a war have on industry and
technology?
What specific impact did industry have on the
Civil War?
http://www.history.com/videos/the-industrialrevolition
1. Technology and Industry
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Post Civil War
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Rapid industrial growth
Railroads expanded
Natural resources helped
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Coal – steam power
Lumber
Rivers for shipping
Edwin Drake – first oil well (whales previously)
Workforce grows
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New surge in immigration from Europe and Asia
Large and willing work force to fuel industry
Technology & Industry cont.
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Growth of capitalism
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Laissez faire – govt. stays out of business
Horatio Alger - “rags to riches” idea; the
American dream
Entrepreneurship – invest money to make a
profit; creates jobs
Protective tariffs
Innovation
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Electricity transforms life
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Communication
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Thomas Edison – light bulb
1,000 patents (grant giving exclusive rights to develop and sell for a
limited time)
Samuel F.B. Morse – telegraph
Alexander Graham Bell – telephone
Steel
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Henry Bessemer – Bessemer Process
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Purified iron ore to create lightweight, strong steel
Suspension bridges held by steel cables (Brooklyn Bridge)
Westinghouse – air brakes; electricity over long distances
Swift – refrigeration cars (meat)
Innovation cont.
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The nation is linked by railroads
Adopted 24 time zones for scheduling
Streetcars, subways, commuter rails appear
Mass production
Growing link in world markets
Everything becomes mechanized
Impacts the environment
http://www.history.com/shows/modernmarvels/videos/the-telegraph-and-telephone
http://www.history.com/shows/modernmarvels/videos/light-bulb-turns-night-into-day
2. Rise of Big Business
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Most businesses privately owned – limited
capital
Desire for profits, expansion, access to
transportation leads to corporations
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Many people share ownership
Huge amounts of capital for research, technology,
reinvestment
Board of directors, some shareholders receive
dividends (payments)
Big Business cont.
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J.P Morgan – banking
Cornelius Vanderbilt – steamboats then railroads
John D. Rockefeller – oil
Andrew Carnegie – steel
Some became monopolies where they bought out
competition or drove them out of business
Cartel – people in same business agree on production
to keep prices high
Trust – put business in other names or smaller
companies
http://www.history.com/videos/john-drockefeller-oil-money-and-power
Corporate Giants – How?
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Horizontal Integration
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Consolidate (buy) many smaller companies in the
same business
Rockefeller - bought small oil companies
Vertical Integration
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Control all parts of the production process
Rockefeller did this also – controlled oil wells,
pipelines, retail outlets, etc.
Standard Oil
Debating the Giants
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Captains of Industry or Robber Barons?
Robber barons
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Captains of industry
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Unfairly kept high prices, paid workers little, stifled
competition, swindled the poor
Increased labor force, stimulated the economy, technology
benefited all, shaped the U.S. into strong industrial power
Most men were philanthropists and donated millions
Giants cont.
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Social Darwinism develops out of Charles
Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural
selection: “survival of the fittest”
Applied this theory to capitalism
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The rich were the best because they earned it
The most rigorous and productive rise to the top
Reluctant to help poor – they were unfit
Government should stay out of it
Regulations
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ICC – Interstate Commerce Commission – first
federal body set up to monitor business
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Regulated railroads
Long history of price fixing, unfair rates, etc.
Sherman Antitrust Act – Outlawed any trust
that operated “in restraint of trade or
commerce among the states.”
Both seldom enforced but at least an attempt
Factories
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Immigrants made up large % of work force
Long hours – 12-16 hours, 6 days/week
Sweatshops – small, hot, dirty workplaces
Many women & children employed – 1 in 5 children
worked rather than attend school – stunted physical
and emotional growth – lost childhood
Strict regulation of employees
Dangerous – hearing loss from noise, accidents from
faulty equipment, poor ventilation
Child labor
http://www.history.com/videos/the-fight-to-end-childlabor
3. Organized Labor
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Pros of industrial expansion:
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Economy grew drastically, great wealth for
industrialists, higher standards of living,
availability of goods, access to public institutions
(schools, museums)
Cons of industrial expansion:
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People who worked in factories struggled to
survive, immigrant workers faced discrimination
Labor Unions Form
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Early attempts – collective bargaining – group
negotiates for better wages, conditions
Socialism spreads in Europe 1830’s
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Favors public (not private) control of property and
industry
1848 – Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels Communist
Manifesto – denounced capitalism and predicted
workers would overthrow owners
Labor activists borrowed from these ideas
Labor Unions cont.
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Knights of Labor – created for all workers of any
trade, skilled or unskilled
Terrence Powderly took over, encouraged boycotts
Unsuccessful strikes led to its demise
AFL – American Federation of Labor founded by
Samuel Gompers
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Craft union of skilled workers
Required dues
Sought wages, working conditions, better hours
Opposed women – feared they would drive wages low
Strikes
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Railroad strikes – caused destruction of
property, militias called in to protect
temporary workers, federal troops sent to stop
strikers
Haymarket Square – wanted 8 hour workday,
violence began, bomb killed policemen,
several others killed
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Knights of Labor died as people shied away from
radicalism; employers associated unions now with
violence
Strikes cont.
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Homestead Strike - Carnegie cuts wages at steel
plant; partner (Frick) hired Pinkerton agency, killed
several
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Workers ended strike but led to epidemic of other strikes
Pullman Strike – railway car workers required to live
in company towns, wages cut; Eugene V. Debs
organizes strike – shut down railroads, mail delivery
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President Cleveland says strike interferes with free trade,
sends troops; Debs arrested
*Used Sherman Anti Trust Act against WORKERS!
http://www.history.com/videos/andrewcarnegie-and-the-homestead-strike
http://www.history.com/videos/jp-morganbattles-coal-miners-in-1902
Impact of Labor Unions
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Frequent use of troops citing “interference
with trade”
Trend of contract negotiations & strikes
Splits within the union – radical, moderate
Mistrust and fear of labor; conflicts