Chapter 19
THE INDUSTRIAL AGE
Section
Section
Section
Section
1
2
3
4
Railroads Lead The Way
Inventions
An Age of Big Business
Industrial Workers
Section 1

Railroad Expansion
– During Civil War, trains carried troops and supplies
– After war, railroad grew rapidly and drove economic
growth in US ( 30,000 to 193,000 miles of track)
– Railroad expansion came with consolidation, the
practice of combining separate companies, in the
industry
– Large companies buy smaller ones and force them
out of business
– Makes larger companies more efficient, set standard
pricing, makes processes more uniform.
Sect 1 cont’d
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Railroad Barons
– Railroad barons- powerful individuals that controlled the nation’s
rail traffic
- Cornelius Vanderbilt - empire stretched NY to Great Lakes
- James Hill - Great Northern Line, Minnesota to Wash.
- Huntington/Stanford- Central Pacific
– Aggressive and competitive
– Few laws that regulated business
Sect 1 cont’d
Railroad Stimulate the Economy
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Railroads carried raw materials
- Iron ore, coal, and timber to factories
–
Carried manufactured goods
- from factories to markets
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Produce from farms to area cities
Sect 1 cont’d
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Demand for iron and locomotives helped the iron mining.
1800’s, tracks went from iron to steel
Using steel, stimulated America’s steel industry
Railroads effected the lumber industry, for railway ties, coal industry
for fuel for the trains, and railroad companies provided work for
thousands.
Sect 1 cont’d

Improving the Railroads
- increase use made of rails, it necessary to expand and unify
systems
- with rails running across the country, different lines had
different rails with different widths and gauges
- With this, one train could not use another lines rails
- With this, it created gaps in service and made travel very
slow
- With the companies consolidated, companies adopted
“standard gauge”- 4’-8.5” as the width of the track
- This allowed faster shipment of goods at a reduced cost
- To more loading and unloading from one train to another
Sec1 cont’d

Railroad Technology
- Improvements came along with the new technology
-
George Westinghouse air brakes
Eli H. Janney couplers
Gustavus Swift refrigerated cars
George Pullmanluxury cars
Sect 1 cont’d

Competing for Customers
- competed fiercely for customers, old and new
- large companies offered “rebates”, or secret
discounts to their biggest customers
- smaller companies couldn’t match the discounts and
were often forced out of business
- big discounts raised freight rates for farmers and
others who ship small amounts
- barons also made secret agreements among themselves called
(pools)
- divided business among their companies and set rates
- no other competition means they can charge higher rates and
earn higher profits
- some laws were created to regulate but did little to stop it
Section 1 cont’d
Essay Question # 1
How did the Railroad stimulate the economy?
1.
2.
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6.
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12.
Created new economic links.
Carried raw materials to factories.
Carried manufactured goods to market.
Carried products from farms to cities.
Help iron industry – iron for tracks.
Help steel industry – steel for tracks.
Help timber industry – timber for railroad ties.
Help coal industry – fuel for trains.
Work for thousands of people.
Laid tracks, build station houses.
Manufacture railcars and equipment.
Redistributed the population (labor force)
Section 2

Communications
– By 1910 Americans in cities drove cars through streets lit with
electric lights
– Department stores where they bought everything from kitchen
sinks to shoes
– Americans could do their shopping by mail or pick up the phone
and order from a local store
– The car, electric light and telephone were invented after 1870.
– Within a generation, they became part of everyday life.
– Improvements in communications help unify the country and
promote economic growth.
Section 2 cont’d

The Telegraph
– Invented by Samuel Morse 1844
– By 1860, US had 1,000 miles of telegraph lines managed by
Western
Union Telegraph company
– Trained operators “transmitted”, or sent messages in morse
code.
– Telegrams offered instant communication
– Storekeepers ordered goods
– Reporters transmitted stories to newspapers
– American used telegrams to send personal messages
– Telegraphs linked the US to Europe (in 1860 news from Europe
to US took several weeks on ships)
– Cyrus Field laid a telegraph cable across Atlantic.
– Transmitted messages within seconds bringing US and Europe
closer.
Section 2 cont’d
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The Telephone Rings in
– Invented by Alexander Graham Bell
– Born and educated in Scotland moved to US to study methods
for teaching hearing impaired people to speak
– Experimented with sending voices through electrical wires
– 1876 developed a device that transmitted speech – telephone
– Formed the Bell Telephone Company in 1877
– 1890s had sold hundreds of thousands of phones
– Businesses were first customers ten before long telephones were
common in homes
Section 2 cont’d
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The Genius of Invention
– Between 1860 and 1890 US government granted more than
400,000 patents
– Many inventions were designed to help business operate more
efficiently
– Christopher Sholes – typewriter (1868)
– William Burroughs – adding machine (1888)
– Other inventions for everyday life
– George Eastman – small box camera a.k.a. Kodak
– John Thurman – vacuum cleaner
Section 2 cont’d
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The Wizard of Menlo Park
– Thomas Edison
dull by his teachers,
poor hearing,
trouble in school and
often did not attend
his mother home schooled
Twelve years old got a job with railroad
1st invention – a gadget to send automatic telegraph signals (so he
could sleep on the job)
 1876 set up a workshop in Menlo Park New Jersey from here came
the phonograph, motion picture projector and others
 Most important invention by far is the light bulb (1879)
 In 1882 Edison built the 1st central electric power plant illuminating
85 buildings in New York City.
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Section 2 cont’d
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George Westinghouse
– Took Edison’s work with electricity further
– Developed and built transformers that could send electric power
cheaper over longer distances
– As a result, factories, trolleys, streetlights and lamps across the
US could be powered by electricity
Section 2 cont’d
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African American Inventors
– A number of African Americans contributed to the era
of inventions
– Lewis Howard Latimer – improved wire for light bulbs
– Granville Woods – electric incubator, electromagnetic
brake (railroad), automatic circuit breaker
– Elijah McCoy – mechanism for oiling machinery
– Jan E. Matzeliger – shoemaking machine (performed
many steps performed previously by hand)
Section 2 cont’d
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Changing Society
– Improvements ushered in a new era of transportation
– Henry Ford’s automobile
 Wanted to build an inexpensive car to last a lifetime
 1903 established his own auto making company
 1906 “we are going to get a car now that we can make in
great volume and get the price way down.”
 Then came the model T (1908)
 “Anyone can afford, anyone could drive anywhere, almost
anyone can keep and repair”
 Sold 15 million Model T’s.
Section 2 cont’d
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Ford pioneered a new cheaper way to make cars –
assembly line
– Each worker performed an assigned job again and again
– The assembly line enabled manufacturers to produce large
quantities more quickly
– “Mass production” of goods decreased manufacturing cost, so
products sold cheaper
Section 2 cont’d
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Selling Goods
- Merchants looked for efficient ways to sell goods
- One method was mail
- Some created “mail order” business
- Montgomery Wards
- Sears Roebuck
- Chain Stores-stores with same stores in many
places grew quickly
- “five and ten” stores specialized in everyday
household and personal items at bargain
prices
Sect 2 cont’d
Essay Question #2
Name 5 inventors and describe the inventions they are known
for.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
George Westinghouse – Air brakes for Trains.
Gustavus Swift – Refrigerated Train Cars.
Cyrus Field – Transatlantic Telegraph line.
Alexander G. Bell – Telephone.
George Eastman – Camera
John Thurman – Vacuum Cleaner
Jan E. Matzeliger – Shoemaking machine.
Henry Ford – Assembly line.
Section 3
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Foundations for Growth
– Black sticky substance – petroleum – seeped from the ground
– 1850 – could burn petroleum to make heat, also to lubricate
machinery
– Oil becomes valuable
– Edwin Drake – thought he could find oil by digging a well
– 1st well – Titusville, PA struck oil
– Created multi-million dollar industry
Section 3 cont’d
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Factors of Production
– New technology transportation and business methods – tap into rich
supply of natural resources
– Change from agricultural economy to an industrial one was possible
because the US had what it needed; land, labor and capital
 Land –
– not just land itself but all natural resources
 Labor –
– Large number of workers to turn raw materials into goods
– Needed due to population growth (pop. Doubled between 1860
and 1900)
 Capital – (money for investments)
– Manufactured goods used to make other goods and services
– Machines, buildings and tools are examples of capital goods.
– One source to make capital is the sale of stock
Section 3 cont’d
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Raising Capital
– With an economy growing, businesses were looking
to expand
– To do so, they needed capital to buy materials
– One way was to become a corporation (a company
that sells shares or stock of its business to the public)
– People who invest in the corporation are stockholders
 Good times – receive dividends
 Bad times – lose investments
– Late 1800’s many bought and sold stocks in special
markets – stock exchange
– Growth of corporations fueled expansions
– Banks made money by lending money
Section 3 cont’d
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Oil Business
– As oil grew prospectors and investors came – “oil
rush” towns
– John D. Rockefeller – famous figure in oil industry
 Four partners agree to run business together
 Built oil refinery (to process oil) in Cleveland, OH
 1870’s formed Standard Oil company
 Set out to dominate oil industry (horizontal
integration – combining competing companies into
one
 Standard oil grew powerful and wealthy
Section 3 cont’d
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Standard Oil Trust
– Rockefeller lower prices to drive out competitions
– Pressed customers not to deal with Rivals
– Railroad to give him special rates
Section3 cont’d
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1882, Formed a trust (Group of companies
managed by same board)
– Did this by buying stock in different companies
– Shareholders traded stock for standard oil stock – paid higher
dividends
– Equals – Standard oil is part owner of other companies
– Created a monopoly – total control of an industry by a single
producer.
Section 3 cont’d
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Steel business/Steel industry growth
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1800’s became huge
Idea material for railroad tracks and bridges
Henry Bessemer – open hearth process
New process produce at good prices and large amounts
1870 built steel mill plants near source of iron ore (Western PA)
Pittsburgh becomes steel capital
Located near Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago
Section 3 cont’d
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Andrew Carnegie
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Leading figure in American Steel
1865 invested in growing iron industry
After learning Bessemer’s process, started mill near Pittsburgh
1890 dominated steel industry
Became powerful by vertical integration (getting companies that
provide equipment and services needed i.e. mines, warehouses,
ships and railroads)
– 1900’s produced half of nations steel
Section 3 cont’d
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Philanthropist
– Philanthropy – the use of money to benefit the community
– Carnegie and Rockefeller
 Used money to fund colleges and libraries
 Carnegie Hall and Rockefeller Center
Section 3 cont’d
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Corporations grow larger
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General trend in business was monopolies
Buy stock instead of buying company outright
Mergers – combining of companies
Some admired, others argued that lack of competition hurts
consumers
– 1890 the Sherman Anti-trust act – did not allow trusts or
monopolies
Sect 3 cont’d
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Essay Question #3
How did Rockefeller create a monopoly with Standard Oil
Company?
1.
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6.
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9.
10.
Increase control of industry.
Formed a trust (companies managed by same Board of Directors)
Bought stock from different companies.
Shareholders trade their stock.
Purchased Standard Oil stock.
Standard Oil stock paid higher dividends.
Gave ownership of other companies to trust.
Right to manage other companies.
Created a monopoly.
Rockefeller now controlled oil industry.
Section 4

Working Conditions
– Industrial growth means jobs
– Mass production increased, people decreased
– 10 to 12 hour days, 6 days a week could be fired at
any time
– Lost jobs to immigrants for lower pay
– Conditions were bad and unsafe
 Steel workers – burns
 Coal miners – cave ins, gases, coal dust
 Garment workers – crowded and dangerous factories in
urban areas called sweat shops
Section 4 cont’d
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Women and Children
– 1900’s one million women in workforce
– No laws for pay, women paid half of men
– Hundreds of kids worked
– There were child labor laws but no one
obeyed
Section 4 cont’d
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Growth of labor union
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Unhappy workers organize union
Unions promise better pay and conditions
Skilled workers formed for specialized jobs
1800’s conditions worsened labor leaders looked to expand
unions
1869 garment cutters in Philadelphia founded Noble and Holy
Order of the Knights of Labor
If employees found out about union would be fired
Group created secret handshakes
Knights of Labor grew, allowed Women, African Americans,
Immigrants and Unskilled Laborers
1886 members grew to 700,000
Strikes turned public opinion against unions and they lost power
Section 4 cont’d
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Growth of labor union cont’d
– 1881 a national trade union for formed American
Federation of Labor (AFL)
– AFL led by Samuel Gompers (tough minded president
from cigar makers union)
– Fought for higher pay, shorter hours, better
conditions and right to collective bargaining
 Collective bargaining – when unions represent workers and
talk with management
– Even with strikes – AFL grew to 1.6 million by 1908
Section 4 cont’d
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Women and the Unions
– Many didn’t admit women, so they founded their own
– Mary Harris Jones (Mother Jones) fought 50 years for worker’s
rights
– 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist company – sweatshop in New York
– Fire broke out, workers couldn’t get out (mostly immigrant
women)
– 150 died
– This pushed the ILGWU (International Ladies Garment Workers
Union) to push for safer working environment
Section 4 cont’d
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The Unions Act
– 1870 – 1890 Economic depressions forced wages to
drop and fire employees
– This triggered strikes and sometimes violence
– When depression hit – to cut cost companies forced
pay cuts
– People went on strike and violence and damage
occurred
– Companies hired “strikebreakers” and Federal troops
to maintain order
Section 4 cont’d
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Haymarket Square – 1886 - Chicago
– McCormick Harvester Company gathered to
protest the four dead who were killed the
previous day
– When police came to break up crowd,
someone threw a bomb and killed a police
officer
– After this, public associated the labor
movement with terrorism and disorder
Section 4 cont’d
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Homestead, PA – 1892
– To weaken steelworkers union, company lowered
wages
– Union called strike, managers hired nonunion workers
and brought in 300 armed guards
– Battle left 10 dead
– Governor sent in state militia to restore order
– After this, steelworker union member numbers
dwindled
Section 4 cont’d
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Pullman Strike – 1894
– Union went on strike due to lowering of wages
– Pullman closed plants
– Railroad union supported strikers, refused to handle Pullman
cars
– This stopped all rail traffic
– Pullman fought back with US Attorney General Richard Olney
– Obtained an “injunction”, a court order, to stop union from
obstructing the railways
– Union Leader Eugene V. Debs refused to end strike and went to
jail
– President Cleveland sent Federal troops to end strike
– This dealt another blow to unions
– Still unions organize for better pay and working conditions
Section 4 cont’d
Sect 4 cont’d
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Essay Question #4
What were the working conditions of workers in the late 1800’s
and early 1900’s?
Noisy.
Unhealthy.
Steelworkers – suffered burns.
Coal miners – cave-ins
Gases.
Coal dust.
Garment Workers – damaged lungs. (Airborne dust)
Crowded factories (sweatshops)
Poor lighting
Buildings that were firetraps.