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1800 - 1900
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1700s – Germans, Welsh, Scotch-Irish, & English
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1840s – Irish-Catholics (Philadelphia)
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Anti-Irish Riot of 1844 – persecuted for not being born in
the United States.
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Early 1900s – Italians, Poles, Russians, Czechs
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They couldn’t speak English & were taken advantage of with
low wages and poor working conditions.
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William Kelly – awarded the U.S. patent for the blast
furnace, a cheaper way of making steel. (Pittsburgh)
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By the 1870s, Pittsburgh had 18 steel mills & produced
nearly 2/3 of all U.S. steel.
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Andrew Carnegie – helped to change the steel industry &
eventually became one of the richest men in the world.
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Charles Martin Hall – discovered a cheap way to produce
aluminum by running electric current through molten
aluminum; after it cooled, solid pieces appeared.
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He joined with two other scientists to find a way to produce
large quantities.
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The company became known as the Aluminum Company of
America. (ALCOA)
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Oil and grease were needed for automobiles and airplanes.
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Refining – changes crude oil from the ground into gasoline
and motor oil.
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Gulf Oil Company (Pittsburgh)– became the largest refiner
of oil products in the world and opened the first service
station for automobiles. (William Mellon)
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Thomas Edison – discovered how to use electricity to light a
glass bulb.
1st Plant – Sunbury, PA
1st Building Lit – Sunbury City Hotel
George Westinghouse – used an alternating current(AC),
which carried up to 4 miles and lit as many as 400 lamps.
Invented the 1st electric motor
Westinghouse Electrical Company - Pittsburgh
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Factory and mine owners made changes to increase profits.
-Instituted (10-12) hour work days
-Instituted (6-7) day work weeks
-Lowered wages to pay for machinery
-Unsafe working conditions with no compensation
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Strike – refusal to work until demands are met.
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Knights of Labor – union founded in Philadelphia as a
secret organization.
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It grew under the leadership of Terrance Powderly.
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He offered memberships to skilled (trade) & unskilled
(mine & mill) workers as well as all races & genders.
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The union was damaged in the 1880s because of
participation in many strikes, even though the leadership
argued against them.
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The union eventually fell apart after Southern leaders
dropped membership because of women & blacks.
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Molly Maguires – secret group of Irish miners.
-They murdered their mine superintendents and managers
because of harsh treatment.
Great Railroad Strike of 1877 – blocked freight trains of the
Pennsylvania Railroad. (Pittsburgh)
-Looted, refused to work, & set part of the city on fire
-National Guard was called in; fought for 3 days
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Homestead Steel Strike (1892) – plant manager Henry Clay
Frick cuts wages and, when not accepted, hires scabs, or
strikebreakers, as replacements.
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Frick had a 12ft. high fence topped with barbed wire built
around the plant & added peepholes for rifles.
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He hired agents for protection and had them travel by barge
down the Monongahela River.
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As they approached, they were attacked by stones, bricks,
and bullets.
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It turned into a full-scale battle; Frick was shot in his office,
but only wounded.
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The public blamed the union for the violence & it broke up.
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Lattimer Massacre (1897)– 400 members of the United
Mine Workers protest against the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre
Coal Company.
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As they marched toward town, they were met by the sheriff
and 150 other men.
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After some pushing and shoving, the police fired into the
crowd. (19 miners dead; 39 injured)