The Rise of
Industrialism
U.S. History
The Rise of Industrialism


A change from
hand
craftsmanship to
machine
manufacturing.
By 1900, the U.S.
produced more
industrial goods
than any other
country in the
world.
Factors in Industrial Growth


The following are
reasons the U.S.
was able to
industrialize:
1) Abundant
supply of natural
resources
– Oil, coal, timber,
iron
– All used to build
goods, and power
factories
Factors in Industrial Growth

2) Improved
transportation
methods (the
railroad)
– Businesses could
transport goods
from coast to
coast.
– Farms on the west
coast could buy
tractors from the
east coast.
Factors in Industrial Growth

3) Population shift:
more people lived
in urban areas
instead of rural
areas.
– most took jobs in
factories.
– The population
shift supplied
factories with a
large labor supply.
Factors in Industrial Growth

4) Government
supported industrial
growth by:
– Subsidized railroad
construction
– Maintained a
laissez-faire
approach
– Few taxes
– No env. controls
Talk to your neighbor:
What were the factors of
Industrial growth in the U.S.?
Spirit of Innovation


Between 18601900 676,000
patents granted
Universities
became
magnets
Steel




The “Bessemer
Process” made
producing steel faster
and cost effective.
The skyscraper
appeared.
Bridges held greater
loads.
Steel railroads could
carry steel railcars
with heavy goods
faster than iron
railroads.
Electricity Becomes
Widespread

Businesses installed
electrical elevators
(made with steel)
– Allowed buildings to be
built with multiple
floors

Factories installed
lighting
– Allowed factory to
operate 24/7

Stores installed
lighting and heating
– Allowed stores to stay
open later, and in cold
weather
The Telegraph
• Speech is transmitted
across electrical wires
Electricity Becomes
Widespread


Elias Howe’s
sewing machine
allowed increased
production in the
textile industry
Textile industry
used the machines
to create mass
quantities of
“ready to wear”
clothing.“
Talk to your neighbor:
1) Why was steel considered
the #1 innovation?
2) How did electricity become
widespread in the 19th C?
Industrial Leaders

John D.
Rockefeller
– Formed the
company Standard
Oil
– Controlled 90% of
the country’s oil
– Owned the oil
refineries, the
pipelines and
railroads
Industrial Leaders

Andrew Carnegie
– Built a steel company
– By 1900 his company
supplied 1/4 of all
steel on the market.
– Used his capitol
(money) to ensure he
had the lowest price,
and therefore no one
else could compete
Extravagant Wealth of Industrial Leaders


Vanderbilt’s NYC home

Vanderbilt’s NC home
Amassed
fortunes
Multiple homes
worth millions
of dollars
Outrageous
parties
The Gilded Age
• Term coined by
Mark Twain
• Gilded = covered
thinly w/ gold leaf
or paint
• Analogy used for
American society
• Golden on the
outside and rotting
on the inside
The Rise of Trusts
• Competing businesses combined
to create monstrous firms called
trusts.
• Examples:
• 5,300 independent
manufacturers  319
Industrial trusts
• 2,400 utilities companies
(RR, electricity, water) 
127 utility trusts
• Same happens in oil, coal, steel,
whiskey, sugar, tobacco,
banking, farm machinery
Trusts Influence Gov’t Affairs
• Industrial giants ran for
office.
• Manipulated gov’t by:
• giving lots of $ to
political candidates.
• bribing lawmakers to
de-regulate business,
take an anti-union
stance, impose high
tariffs (taxes) on
foreign goods.
• What do
you see?
• Who are
the men
with hats?
• Who are
the men at
the desks?
• What is
the
message of
the
cartoon?
Wealthy Americans Face Criticism



Wide gap between
rich and poor.
Material wealth of 1%
of population greater
than that of other 99%
combined.
Few individuals
control majority of
America’s natural
resources, industries
and utilities.
Industrialists Defend Big Business
• Industrialist argued that they
deserved their wealth
because they took the most
risk.
• In 1889, Carnegie wrote The
Gospel of Wealth, arguing
the rich deserved what they
had, but they should share it.
Impacts of Industrialism: The Middle Class

Rise of the Middle
Class
– Families who could
earn a comfortable
living and afford extra
consumer goods on
top of necessities.


Able to buy property
and send children to
college
Jobs included
managers, technical
workers, sales
people, industrial
skilled workers
Impacts of Industrialism: The Average American



Lived in crowded city
tenements or
employer owned
company towns.
Most still used
candles to light
homes, no indoor
plumbing or heating.
Could not afford the
consumer goods
THEY were producing
in factories.
Industrial Working Conditions
“Become a hand –
not a brain, not a
soul – deadened into
a part of a machine”
• Most worked in steel mills, coal mines,
garment factories, shipyards or on railroad
tracks
• 10-12 hours six days a week
• Crowded, uncomfortable, dangerous
factories
• Monotonous work
What do you see?
-Where is this
picture taken?
-Describe the
people in the picture
-How old are they?
-What is it like to
work in these
conditions?
-What problems do
they face?
Discrimination in the Work Force
Women:
• entered the public work
force.
• Paid half of what men were
paid.
Child Labor:
• 1.75 million children ages 6 15 worked in mines and
factories in the late 1800s.
• Most dangerous jobs.
• Young bodies suffered from
• deformities, asthma, stunted
growth.
Minority Laborers:
• New immigrants and African Americans did the
most tedious jobs for the lowest pay.
• African-Am competed against other immigrants
and accepted lowest wages and toughest
schedules.
• Business managers pitted ethnic groups
against each other.
Job/Ethnicity :
Pay:
Cigar Rollers/ 92% Chinese
$287 per year
Tailors/ 91% White
$588 per year
Talk to your neighbor:
Industrialization had many positive
and negative impacts on American society.
How did industrialization negatively
impact Americans?
Labor Unions Emerge
•
•
•
•
Work collectively to be able to bargain w/ big business.
1897: 440,000 union workers
1904: 2M union workers
Knights of Labor
• Accepted women and Af-Am
• Wanted an 8 hr work day, income tax, elimination
of child labor, equal pay for men and women
• American Federation of Labor (AFL) was a union for
white, male, skilled workers.
• Socialist Union groups: Wobblies.
Business Response to Labor
• Industrialists fought against unions.
• Often accused union leaders of being
communists or terrorists.
• Gov’t supported big business
-with anti-union legislation.
-breaking up strikes.
Strikes and Violence
• Workers often went on
strike, which means
they refused to work
until their demands
were met.
• Many times, federal
troops were called in to
restore order and
things turned violent.
• Great Railroad Strike
• Haymarket Affair
Union Victories
• Eventually most business
were forced to:
-shorten work hours
-compensate for injuries
-stop hiring young
children
-provide breaks
-improve health
standards in work places
Talk to your neighbor:
What demands did labor unions make of
big business? Why should Americans
appreciate the work of labor unions in
the late 19th and early 20th centuries?