Packet #1
The Industrial Revolution
Packet #1
The Industrial Revolution
Since you all come from different U.S. I classes, it is evident that you bring with you to U.S. II varying
historical backgrounds, depending on where you left off last year. For that reason, I have decided to
hand out and go over the Industrial Revolution in a short time. Ordinarily this handout would go
into greater detail about labor unrest and politics. However, in the interest of time, this is a
truncated outline. Please complete using pen or pencil- do not print/type answers.
The period of the Industrial Revolution 1868-1900
1. Some key facts:
a. Between 1868-1900
i. Capital invested in manufacturing rose from $1 billion to $10 billion
ii. The number of industrial workers grew from 1,300,000 to 5,300,000
iii. The value of the annual industrial product mounted from less than $2 billion
to more than $13 billion
iv. The total railroad mileage of the US grew from 30,000 miles to 193,000
miles
v. America went from the number 5 industrial power in the world to the
number 1 industrial power in the world
vi. America was transformed from a rural and agrarian nation to an urban and
industrial one.
2. Reasons for industrialization:
a. The discovery of new natural resources: oil, iron ore
b. Government policies favorable to industry—Laissez Faire and Social Darwinism are
the prevailing philosophies of the day. High tariffs, no regulation of big business.
i. Social Darwinism: the idea that the laws of nature apply to human society in
that certain groups of people are more prone to survival. Aligns with the
belief in the “survival of the fittest.” The notion that, due to biological
superiority, some groups will survive over others.
ii. Laissez Faire: French term; indicates no government intervention or
interference in the economy.
c. The development of a national railroad system
i. This provided the transportation system necessary for industrial
expansion—provided a wider market for industrial goods and made it easier
for industries to acquire raw materials and natural resources
d. A flood of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe provided a cheap labor
force for American industries.
i. A key concept to know about immigration is the difference between the old
immigration and the new immigration. The old immigration (early 19th
century) was from northern and western Europe and was predominantly
white Anglo-Saxon Protestant (Irish Catholics being the exception). The new
immigration began after the 1890s. 14 million immigrants poured into the
US from 1860 to 1900 and was non-WASP. These immigrants came from
Southern and Eastern Europe and were darker in skin, Catholic and Jewish
and were not of Anglo Saxon background.
e. The development of new technological inventions.
i. The Bessemer process of making steel (perfected by Andrew Carnegie).
Carnegie was the industrial statesman who made his wealth in the steel
industry.
ii. Fractional distillation of oil (oil refining) John D. Rockefeller
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f.
iii. The invention of alternating current and incandescent light bulb by Thomas
Edison.
iv. The invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell
v. The invention of single gauge track, the modern locomotive, and the
Westinghouse Air Brake, which revolutionized the RR industry.
vi. The invention of new agricultural machinery which revolutionized
agriculture—the McCormick Reaper, the John Deere Plow
vii. The packaging of cereals, the canning of goods, the Kodak camera, the
typewriter, the cigarette rolling machine affected the lives of millions
The invention of the Trust, which was a combination of corporations. Rockefeller
invented the first trust with the formation of Standard Oil
i. The development of the fist vertical consolidation by Carnegie—he
controlled EVERY phase of the steel industry from the top to bottom. Other
industrialists adopted this model later.
ii. Rockefeller used the horizontal consolidation to build his dynasty in oil. He
perfected the refining of oil and dominated the transportation of oil. In other
words, he chose to dominate these two phases of the oil businesses. Later
Rocky formed a vertical consolidation and came to dominate 95% of the oil
business.
*****
3. Work:
a. The Changing Nature of Work: Key facts about American workers in the period of
industrialization
i. The rise of “Big Business,” which relied on mechanization for the mass
production of goods changed the shape of the work force and the nature of
work itself
ii. More and more Americans were wage earners rather than independent
artisans. Loss of individuality in working.
iii. The working day was long (10-12 hours, 6 days a week)
iv. The work was usually unhealthy, dangerous, and comfortless
v. Workers were expendable
b. The Formation of the first national labor unions
i. In 1866, the National Labor union was formed. Claimed 300,000 members
by the 1870s. Its goals were the 8 hour day, labor cooperatives, temperance,
women’s’ rights. The union died out when it unsuccessfully tried to form a
political part yin 1873.
ii. The Knights of Labor was formed in 1869 by Terence Powderly. The KoL
tried to “secure to the workers the full enjoyment of the wealth they create.”
The KoL advocated the formation of the industrial cooperatives (the
workers in the factory would share the profits). They accepted both
unskilled and skilled workers. They declined after the Haymarket Riot in
1886 (Chicago). A bomb was set off by an anarchist during a KoL labor
demonstration and the KoL were thereafter associated with anarchism and
this led to their decline.
iii. The American Federation of Labor now emerged as the leading union in
America. The founder of the union was Samuel Gompers. The AFL was
different from the KoL in the following ways:
1. They were composed of only skilled laborers or craftsmen.
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2. They did not believe in labor cooperatives and were advocates of
strikes to achieve higher wages, better conditions and shorter hours.
After reviewing this packet, complete the identifications and answer the following questions.
Term
Social Darwinism
Laissez Faire
Old Immigration
New Immigration
Bessemer Process
John D. Rockefeller
Andrew Carnegie
Alexander Graham Bell
Trust
Vertical Consolidation
Horizontal Consolidation
Big Business
Mechanization
Definition
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1. How did the Industrial Revolution change America?
2. Why was the end of the century prime time for American industrialization?
3. Who benefitted from the Industrial Revolution? Who was exploited?