Chapter 6:
The Triumph of Industry
Vocabulary
17 Identifications
Edwin Drake
 Part
I: 1859-Drake drilled the first
oil well near Titusville,
Pennsylvania.
 Part II and III on your own.
Samuel F.B. Morse

Perfected telegraph
technology.
Alexander Graham Bell
 Invented
the telephone, revolutionizing
both business and personal
communication
 In 1877 he organized the Bell Telephone
Company which eventually became the
American Telephone and Telegraph
Company (AT&T).
Thomas Edison
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Most famous inventor of the late 1800s
Had a research lab at Menlo Park, NJ, which
would become the forerunner of the modern
research lab.
Inventions included the phonograph, the light
bulb, the electric generator.
1882-the Edison electric Illuminating Company
launched a new industry and began the
transformation of American society when it
began to supply electricity to customers in NYC.
1889-Edison General Electric Company formed,
which became General Electric (GE).
Bessemer Process
 English
Inventor, Henry Bessemer
invented a new process for making high
quality steel efficiently and cheaply.
 Motivated Andrew Carnegie to concentrate
his investments into the steel industry.
Laissez-faire
 Literal
translation: French for “let do”
meaning let people do as they choose.
 Supporters of laissez-faire believe the
government should not interfere with the
economy other than to protect private
property rights and maintain peace.
 Part II and III on your own.
Andrew Carnegie

Steel Industry; Carnegie Steel Industry
 Cut his prices until he drove his competitors out
of business, allowing him to control the steel
industry.
 Controlled all aspects of the steel industry from
the mines that produced iron ore to the shipping
and rail lines necessary for transportation
(vertical integration).
 Preached a “gospel of wealth”/ philanthropy
John D. Rockefeller
 Standard
Oil company
 As he made more money, he was able to
undersell his competitors.
 Created the idea of a “trust”; a new kind of
monopoly.
J.P. Morgan
 American
financier, banker and art
collector who dominated corporate finance
and industrial consolidation during his
time.
Social Darwinism
 Based
on Darwin’s theory of evolution
 Society should do as little as possible to
interfere with people’s pursuit of success.
 If the government would stay out of
business, those who were most “fit” would
succeed and become rich. Society would
benefit from the success of the fit and the
weeding out of the unfit.
 Part II and III on your own.
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
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1st nationwide labor protest
Panic of 1873 forces many companies to cut
wages.
July 1877, several railroad companies announce
another round of wage cuts.
Railroad workers across the country walked off
the job, and angrily smashed equipment, tore up
tracks, and blocked rail service.
Many governors called out state militias to stop
the violence.
President Hayes ordered the army to open the
railroad.
Haymarket Square Riot
 1886-organizers
organized a nationwide
strike on May 1 calling for an 8-hour
workday.
 On May 3 a clash between strikers and
police left one striker dead in Chicago.
 A meeting was organized in Chicago’s
Haymarket Square to protest the killing.
 When police entered the square, someone
threw a bomb. The police opened fire and
workers shot back.
 7 police officers and 4 workers were shot.
The Pullman Strike
A
strike of the American Railway Union of
Pullman Cars that threatened to paralyze
the economy.
 Railroad managers attached mail cars to
the Pullman cars.
 President Cleveland then sent in troops
claiming that it was his responsibility to
keep mail running.
Samuel Gompers/ AFL

Samuel Gompers was the first leader of the
American Federation of Labor.
 Made up from over 20 of the nations trade
unions.
 3 goals:
gain recognition and collective bargaining
closed shops (only union members hired)
8 hour workday
 By 1900 it was the biggest union in the country.
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
 1890-Congress
passed this law to outlaw
any combination of companies that
restrained interstate trade or commerce.
 i.e. monopolies, trusts, etc…
 Proved ineffective against trusts, because
the government rarely enforced it and the
law’s vague language made it hard to
apply in court. Also, the law was used
against labor unions.
Socialism/ Eugene Debs
 An
economic and political philosophy that
favors public (or social) control of property
and income, not private control.
 Socialists believe that society at large, not
just private individuals should take charge
of a nation’s wealth. The wealth of a
nation should be distributed to everyone.
 Eugene Debs was an important leader of
the socialist party and labor organizer.