INDUSTRY AND URBAN GROWTH
A New Industrial Revolution
Big Business and Organized Labor
Cities Grow and Change
The New Immigrants
Education and Culture
A. A New Industrial Revolution
I. Why Industry Boomed after the Civil War
a. Discovery of deposits of coal, iron, lead,
and copper
b. Government gave businesses subsidies- a form of
financial aid or support extended to an economic
sector (or institution, business, or individual).
1. land grants to railroads; high tariffs.
c. Steel and Oil
1. Bessemer Process- made stronger steel at lower
cost. This replaced Iron.
a. Pittsburgh becomes the steel-making capital
2. Oil found in Titusville, PA 1859
a. called black gold because it was so valuable
d. Railroad Network Systems
1. Answered a need to move people and supplies
2. improved by adding sleeping/dining cars, called
Pullmans
3. Big Railroad companies consolidated to eliminate
competition
a. use of standardized gauge -same width for all
rails- allowed trains to move between railroads
4. kept prices high by eliminating competition, by
giving rebates (discounts) to best customers, and
controlling grain traffic- this angered small farmers
5. Railroad Problems
a.Rebates – Big railroads offered secret rebates to
large customers to drive smaller railroads out of
business.
b. Pools – Largest railroads divided business amongst
themselves and fixed prices to eliminate
competition
c. Too Many Railroads – railroad’s were the popular
“get rich quick” company and too many railroads
were built going to the same place
d. Rate Wars – rail companies tried to drive their
competitors out of business by cutting prices
e. Inventors and Inventions
1. Government issued patents- document giving
someone the sole right to make and sell an
invention
2. Thomas Edison
a. Menlo Park, NJ- his research lab
b. produced the light bulb, phonograph, motion
picture camera
c. opened first electrical plant in nation
patents- document
giving someone
the sole right to
make and sell an
invention. Issued
by the Federal
Government
MENLO PARK, NEW JERSEY
3. Communications Revolution
a. Cyrus Field- underwater communication cable
to Europe
b. Alexander Graham Bell- telephone
“Mr. Watson, come here. I want you.”-first
telephone message
c. Christopher Sholes- Typewriter- improved
office communication
d. George Eastman –lightweight camera
e. Jan Matzeliger- AA –new machine to sew shoes
f. Granville Woods- AA-invented way to send
telegraph messages between moving trains
Alexander Graham Bell’s Voice
• Alexander Graham Bell
BELL’s FIRST PHONE CALL
SHOLES’ TYPEWRITER
4. Transportation Revolution
a. Henry Ford –mass-produced the automobile
1. assembly line- manufacturing method in
which a product is put together as it moves
along a belt
a. lowered cost by slicing production time in half
b. Wilbur and Orville Wright- the airplane 1903
1. Kitty Hawk, NC- first test site
2. lack of interest in airplane until WWI
THE ASSEMBLY LINE
THE ASSEMBLY LINE
• Ford's Assembly Line
WRIGHT BROTHERS FIRST FLIGHT
II. Big Business and Organized Labor
A. New Ways of Doing Business
1. entrepreneur – person who sets up new business
for profit
2. corporation – business owned by many investors
a. sell stocks, or shares, to stockholders
3. Banking- lent large amounts of money to
corporations
a. J. Pierpont Morgan- banker who became most
powerful force in American economy
1. bought stock in troubled corps-eliminated
competition and increased profits
B. Growth of Big Businesses
1. laissez-faire (hands off) approach by government
2. This approach allowed for the growth of large
corporations and monopolies- a company that
controls most or all business in an industry
3. Major Players
a. Andrew Carnegie – steel industry
1. took over control of steel industry
2. believed in Gospel of Wealth- the rich had a
duty to improve society thru philanthropydesire to promote the welfare of others by
generous donations of money to good causes
ANDREW CARNEGIE
Monopoly is a
company that controls
most or all business in
a particular industry
Andrew Carnegie
entered the steel
industry and
eventually owned
most of the steel in the
US.
b. John D. Rockefeller- Standard Oil Trust
1. crushed oil competitors by forming a trustgroup of corporations run by single board of
directors
a. many believed trusts killed free enterprisesystem by which privately owned businesses
compete freely
1. called Carnegie and Rockefeller “Robber Barons”
c. Social Darwinism- philosophy that supported trusts“survival of the fittest” among businesses
1. this was how Carnegie and Rockefeller justified
limiting competition
John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller
formed the Standard Oil
Trust. He controlled the oil
business.
A trust is a group of
corporations run by a single
board of directors. It hurts
free enterprise by eliminating
competitors.
Free enterprise is a system in
which privately owned
businesses compete freely.
C. Changes in the Workplace
1. New workers included freed African-Americans
2. Women and Children –the majority of workers
in some industries like textiles
a. sweatshops- manufacturing workshop where
workers worked long hours in poor conditions
and little pay
3. Dangerous Conditions
a. lung diseases from breathing in fibers and dust
b. burns or death -no workman’s compensation
c. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire- 150 mostly young
women died trying to escape
1. exits locked to keep workers at their job
2. fire ladders could not reach the fire
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
D. Workers Organize
1.Unions
a. Knights of Labor- PHL clothing workers
1. Terence Powderly- president
2. admitted all workers (skilled and unskilled),
women, African-Americans, immigrants
3. Haymarket Square Riot -striking workers
held rally; bomb goes off-7 cops killed
4. This violence turned public against unions
b. AFL- American Federation of Workers
1. Samuel Gompers- president
2. only admitted skilled workers
3. used collective bargaining -unions negotiate
with management for all workers
c. Women in Labor Movement
1. Mary “Mother” Harris –campaigned for
unions, supported striking miners, worked for
better conditions for child labor.
d. Bitter Strikes
1. economic depression in 1893 hurt businesses
a. cut production, fired workers, cut pay
2. Pullman Strike- George Pullman, cut his
worker’s pay by 25%, but did not lower their rent
a. all railroad workers walked off their jobs
b. rail lines shut down
c. President Grover Cleveland sent in federal troops
to end the strike- some protesters killed
III. Cities Grow and Change
A. Rapid Growth of Cities
1. urbanization- rapid growth of city populations
a. cities attract industry ;industry attracts people
b. farmers, immigrants, African-Americans
migrated to cities for jobs
2. Growing Up and out
a. transportation
1. electric streetcars; elevated trains; subways
2. public transportation and cars led to growth of
suburbs
b. housing-birth of skyscrapers; elevators
The first skyscraper was built in 1880 in Chicago.
It was 10 stories high
THE MAKING OF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE
B. Problems with Urban Life
1. fire- constant threat in closely-packed cities
2. Tenements-buildings divided into many small
apartments- with ONE shared bathroom on a
floor- diseases like cholera spread easily
3. Improving City Life
a. Mother Cabrini set up clinics and hospitals
b. Salvation Army- gave clothes, food, shelter to
homeless
c. Settlement Houses- centers offering help to
urban poor
1. Hull House- Chicago -founded by Jane
Addams, a reformer
TENEMENT LIVING
TENEMENT LIVING
Tenements were groups of apartments on each floor , usually 2 rooms with
sometimes up to 10 people living in each.
All apartments used the same bathroom on each floor. This led to the spread of
diseases.
C. Excitement of City Life
1. Department stores- one-stop shopping for all
different types of goods
2. Leisure Activities
a. museums, orchestras, art galleries, theaters
were built
b. Central Park- planned by Frederick Olmsted
provided fresh, outside areas –other cities did
the same
c. Sports- professional sports teams like Cincinnati
Reds Stockings; basketball invented by James
Naismith in 1891
IV. The New Immigrants
A. Reason for migration
1. Italy’s farmland was shrinking
2. Russian Jews-victims of pogroms- government
sponsored vicious attacks on Jews
3. Political unrest in countries like Mexico
4. Availability of jobs in US due to industry
B. Issues- did not speak English unlike earlier
English and Irish immigrants
1. many were Catholics or Jewish
C. Starting a New Life
1. Trip to America on ships was difficult in steerage
a. large compartments that usually held cattle
b. Ellis Island- immigrants were checked for
diseases; could be sent back
2. New Neighborhoods- immigrants tended to live
with people from their homelands
D. Becoming American
1. assimilation- process of becoming part of
another culture- easier for children than adults
a. language barriers
b. education became a priority for immigrants
• Ellis Island
2. Contributions of Immigrants
a. took whatever jobs necessary
b. opened small businesses like Chinese laundries
c. major contributions by immigrants like
Alexander Graham Bell, Andrew Carnegie,
E. New Wave of Nativisim
1. native-born Americans disliked new immigrants
2. feared anarchists- person opposed to all forms
of government
3. Chinese Exclusion Act- 1882-first law limiting
immigration based on race
4. 1917- law passed to deny entry to immigrants who
could not read their own language-kept out poor
V. Education and Culture
A. educating Americans
1. Compulsory education begins (MA. 1852)-requirement that children attend school to certain
age
2. Freedmen’s Bureau built grade schools for black
and white students in South
3. public school systems emerged after Civil War
4. Adult Education- libraries, guest speakers
B. New American Writers
1. realism- writers who tried to show life as it is
a. Stephen Crane- Maggie, A Girl of the Streets
b. Jack London- wrote about miners and sailors
c. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)- wrote
Huckleberry Finn, story of an uneducated boy
and Jim, an escaped slave
C. Newspaper Boom- due to people being able to read
1. New Kinds of Newspaper
a. Joseph Pulitzer- New York World known for
sensational headlines.
1. Yellow Kid- comic-strip character of NY World
that led to term yellow journalism- sensational
reporting style of certain newspapers
Mark Twain’s
novel,
Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn,
was criticized by
parents who felt
the character was
crude. Today,
many critics feel it
is one of our
greatest novels
• Pulitzer’s Yellow Kid
comic strip led to the
term “Yellow
Journalism”, which
was used to describe
newspapers that
used sensational
headlines and
stories.