SSUSH11 The student will describe the
growth of big business and
technological innovations after
Reconstruction.
Railroads
Railroads
Railroads increased the amount of steel being used in two
ways1. The railroads used steel for their rails.
2. Railroads made it much easier to transport large
quantities of the natural resources needed to produce steel
(iron, coal), which increased the demand for those
products.
Railroads
• Railroads also reshaped the steel industry (and many
others) by developing vertical integration.
• Railroad owners bought iron mills, coal mines, and
factories which produced railroad cars.
• Railroads helped to spur the “Gilded Age”.
Railroads
• In 1862 Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act which helped create
the transcontinental railroad.
• The railroad connected the east coast to the west coast, opening up
settlement in the west.
• Much of the western portions of the railroad were built by Chinese
laborers, specifically brought to the US to work.
Transcontinental railroad
Transcontinental railroad helped spur growth by:
-increasing the number of markets (places to sell
products).
-requiring enormous amount raw and finished materials
to build and supply the railroad.
-providing land for settlement.
John D. Rockefeller
• Founded Standard Oil Company in
1870.
• To remove competition, Standard Oil
bought up oil refineries, so that by 1880
they owned 90% of the refineries in the
US, forming a monopoly.
• To avoid violating state laws, Standard
Oil formed a trust, a way of merging
and controlling other companies.
John D. Rockefeller
• Standard Oil was a monopoly
controlling all aspects of the
oil industry.
• Standard Oil was broken up by
the government in 1911 for
being a monopoly.
• Rockefeller was also a
philanthropist.
Thomas Edison
• Invented the phonograph, light
bulb, and the motion picture all in
the late 1800s.
• Created a research lab to develop
and perfect his inventions.
• Electricity eliminated much need
for manual labor.
How would these inventions have
an impact on society?
Questions
1. How did the railroads help big business and the steel industry
grow?
2. Why were railroads important in the settling of the west?
3. How was John Rockefeller able to control the oil industry?
4. What were the results on American life that many of Thomas
Edison’s inventions had?