APUSH Unit 8 Gilded Age & Populism- Chapter Guide/Lecture Notes
Chapter 24
I. The rise of Big Business
A. Overview of factors propelling growth
B. Second Industrial Revolution- began in mid-19th century, centering around the
U.S. and Germany
1. Spurred by innovation and invention
a. transportation and communication networks
b. electricity
c. application of scientific research to industry
II. The railroads
A. Growth of railroads B. The transcontinental railroads 1. Pacific Railway Act (1862) Lincoln signed into law authorizing transcontinental line on north-­‐central route a. Union Pacific Railroad-­‐ westward from Omaha, NE b. Central Pacific Railroad-­‐ eastward from Sacramento, CA 2. Chinese labor-­‐ courageous, disciplined workers lured first to America by the CA gold rush; economic opportunities led this group of workers to be the largest on the rail lines 3. First transcontinental railroad completed at Promontory Point, Utah, 1869 4. Other transcontinental railroads will follow C. Financing the railroads 1. Role of the federal government a. federal land grants and cash make roads possible 2. Role of the robber barons a. Crédit Mobilier b. Jay Gould c. Cornelius Vanderbilt 3. Railroad corruption a. “stock watering” and bribing gov’t. officials b. Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway Company v. Illinois (1886)-­‐ limited the state’s rights to control interstate commerce; led to the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission III. Manufacturing and inventions
A. The growth of new industries and the transformation of old ones B. Two technological advances involving electricity 1. Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone, 1876 2. Thomas Alva Edison and the electric light, 1879 IV. Entrepreneurs
A. John D. Rockefeller 1. The Pennsylvania oil rush of 1859-­‐ led to the PA oil rush of the 1860s 2. Rockefeller as oil refiner-­‐ brought order and rationality to a chaotic oil industry by developing a passion for systematic organization and self-­‐
discipline 3. Growth of Standard Oil Company of Ohio-­‐ largest refiner, yet wanted to weed out the competition a. By 1879, controlled 90 to 95 percent of the oil refining in the U.S. 4. Rockefeller's organization of Standard Oil a. Horizontal integration B. Andrew Carnegie 1. Early ventures-­‐ telegraphy, railroading, bridge building, and then to steel making and investing 2. Carnegie and steel-­‐ aided by Henry Bessemer’s innovation a. Vertical integration 3. "The Gospel of Wealth" (1889)-­‐ he argued in his essay the that the evolution of society that the difference between a millionaire and a laborer measures the distance society has come; “Not evil, but good, has come to the race from the accumulation of wealth by those who have the ability and energy that produces it.” And the law of human competition is “best for the trade, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department.” C. J. Pierpont Morgan 1. Morgan and investment banking a. Interlocking directorates 2. Morgan and railroads 3. Morgan and U.S. Steel D. Sears and Roebuck 1. Problem of distribution solved by mail order a. Traveling salesman from Chicago, Aaron Montgomery Ward reached people first b. By the end of the century, Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck transformed the lives of millions 2. Opens truly national markets E. Government’s attempt to regulate industry 1. Sherman Anti-Trust Act- forbade contracts or any combinations in
restraint of trade or in the effort to establish monopolies in interstate or
foreign commerce
2. Intestate Commerce Act (1887)-­‐ attempted the regulate the railroad industry by breaking up monopolistic practices IV. The New South in the Age of Industry A. Textile mills B. Tobacco 1. The Dukes and the American Tobacco Company C. Coal and iron ore D. Lumber E. Miscellaneous industries V. Labor conditions and organization
A. Social trends 1. Continued inequalities-­‐ women, immigrants, and children 2. Upward social mobility B. Working conditions 1. Wages earned and hours worked 2. Poor safety and health conditions in factories C. The change from personal working conditions to impersonal, contractual relationships D. Child labor 1. Southern and New England textile mills VI. Early worker protest
A. Reasons for the slow growth of unions 1. Spoke different languages, ethnic animosities and violent, disorganized protests B. The Molly Maguires-­‐ attempted to right the wrongs of the owners towards the Irish workers C. The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 1. Reduction of wages was immediate cause 2. The strikes spread across the country 3. Failure of the strikes D. The Sand-­‐lot incident, San Francisco, CA 1. Chinese were handy scapegoats for frustrated white laborers who believed the Asians had taken their jobs 2. Denis Kearney and the Workingmen's party of California push for Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882 VII. The rise of unions
A. Unions in the 1850s and 1860s-­‐ the demand for skilled labor helped unions grow in strength and numbers 1. “yellow-­‐dog contracts” B. The National Labor Union (1866) 1. The first federation of unions convened in Baltimore, MD 2. Limitations and achievements a. Supported ideas of eight-­‐hour workday, “greenbackism”, and equal rights for women and African Americans b. 1872-­‐ head off the union died, support falters quickly, and disbands VIII. The Knights of Labor
A. Founded in 1869 by Uriah S. Stephens B. Success under Terrence V. Powderly 1. Growth in membership-­‐ 1880s saw growth from 100,000 to 700,000 C. Decline of the Knights of Labor 1. Anarchism 2. The Haymarket Affair a. Riot in Haymarket Square b. Trial and sentencing of anarchists c. Effects on Knights of Labor D. Achievements of Knights of Labor 1. Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (1884) 2. Foran Act (1885)-­‐ similar to colonial indentured servitude 3. creation of the idea of industrial unions-­‐ an industrywide union of skilled and unskilled workers IX. The American Federation of Labor
A. Structure of the AFL 1. Craft unions (skilled workers)-­‐ federation of national organizations, each of which retained a degree of autonomy B. Samuel Gompers 1. Concern for concrete economic gains 2. Gompers's leadership in the AFL C. Membership growth in the AFL-­‐ except for unskilled workers, especially women and blacks