Warm Up Analyze..
1. What is this balloon
made of and what
does this
composition
suggest?
2. What features in this
cartoon might
suggest that the
Populist’s party is
NOT popular with
everyone?
POPULIST PARTY IS BORN
 Leaders of the farmers
organization realized
they needed to build a
base of political power
 Populism – the
movement of the
people – was born in
1892 with the founding
of the Populist, or
People’s Party
THIS POLITICAL CARTOON
SHOWS A POPULIST
CLUBBING A RAILROAD
CAR
What does this represent?
POPULIST REFORMS
 Proposed economic
reforms included;
increase of money
supply, a rise in crop
prices, lower taxes, a
federal loan program
 Proposed political
reforms included; direct
election of senators,
single terms for
presidents
 Populists also called for
an 8-hour workday and
reduced immigration
QUESTION…
What do you think about the
Populist Party’s ideas? Would you
have voted for them? Why or why
not?
POPULISTS MAKE GAINS
 In the 1892
Presidential
election, the
Populist candidate
won almost 10% of
the vote
 In the West, the
party elected 5
senators, 3
governors and
1,500 state
legislators
FRED AND PHIL VOTED FOR
THE PEOPLE’S PARTY
THE PANIC OF 1893
 Nationwide economic
problems took center
stage in America in
1893
 Railroads went
bankrupt, the stock
market lost value,
15,000 businesses
and 500 banks
collapsed,
 3 million people lost
their jobs – putting
THE STOCK MARKET
unemployment at 20%
CRASHED IN 1893
SILVER OR GOLD?
 The central issue of
the 1896
Presidential
campaign was
which metal would
be the basis of the
nation’s monetary
system
 Bimetallism (those
who favored using
both) vs. those that
favored the Gold
Standards alone
BRYAN AND THE
“CROSS OF GOLD”
BRYAN’S CROSS OF GOLD
SPEECH
 Republicans favored
the Gold standard
and nominated
William McKinley
 Democrats favored
Bimetallism and
nominated William
Jennings Bryan
 Despite Bryan’s
stirring words, “You
shall not crucify
mankind upon a
cross of gold,”
McKinley won the
1896 election
Question…
 Does the United States still use the Gold
Standard?
 What is our money’s worth based on?
1933 Ten Dollar Bill
THE END OF POPULISM
 With McKinley’s election
victory, Populism
collapsed, burying the
hopes of the farmer
 Populism left two important
legacies: 1) A message that
the downtrodden can
organize and be heard and
2) An agenda of reforms,
many of which would be
enacted in the 20th century
THE PEOPLE’S PARTY WAS
SHORT-LIVED BUT LEFT AN
IMPORTANT LEGACY
Question…
How could current politics be
different if the Populist Party still
existed? Would all of their ideas
still be necessary?
The Expansion of
American Industry-
Industrial Revolution
Definition:
The shift
from
making
goods by
hand to
making
them by
machine.
Industrial Revolution
Background Information
 The American Industrial
Revolution occurred
between 1790 and 1860.
 It began in England in
the 18th century and
spread to the United
States.
 The invention of steam
power allowed for use of
manufacturing
machines.
Industrial Revolution
Background Information
Irish Steerage - 1849
The machines
could produce
more products
faster.
The North used
cheap labor to
work in
factories.
Industrial Revolution Background
Information
 During this time, many
rural people moved to
urban areas.
 There was also a mass
migration of people from
other countries into the
U.S.
– Pull Factors for
migration:
• Political and
religious freedom
• Economic
opportunity
Setting the Scene
 In the years after the Civil War, the U.S.
developed into an industrial
powerhouse.
THE EXPANSION OF
INDUSTRY
 After the Civil War
(1865) the U.S. was still
largely agriculture
 By 1920, the U.S. was
the leading industrial
power in the world
 This enormous growth
was due to three
factors; 1) Natural
Resources 2)
Governmental support
3) Urbanization
BLACK GOLD
 In 1859, Edwin Drake used a
steam engine to drill for oil
 This breakthrough started
an oil boom in the Midwest
and later Texas
 At first the process was
limited to transforming the
oil into kerosene and
throwing out the gasoline -a by-product of the process
 Later, the gasoline was
used for cars
EDWIN DRAKE PICTURED
WITH BARRELS OF OIL
BESSEMER STEEL
PROCESS
 Oil was not the only
valuable natural resource
 Coal and iron were
plentiful within the U.S.
 When you removed the
carbon from iron, the
result was a lighter, more
flexible and rust resistant
compound – Steel
 The Bessemer process
did just that (Henry
Bessemer & William Kelly)
BESSEMER CONVERTOR
CIRCA 1880
NEW USES FOR STEEL
 The railroads, with
thousands of miles of
track, were the biggest
customers for steel
 Other uses emerged:
barbed wire, farm
equipment, bridge
construction (Brooklyn
Bridge- 1883),and the
first skyscrapers
BROOKLYN BRIDGE
SPANS 1595 FEET IN NYC
2nd Industrial Revolution
 Marked by three major interrelated
developments:
1. The creation of an interconnected
national transportation and
communication network.
2. Electricity- 1880’s
3. Scientific research/inventions
Changes in Daily Life
 Life in the 1860’s:
– No indoor electric lights
– No refrigeration
– Long-distance communication
Investing in New Technology

1790-1900 saw growth in many new ideas and
inventions.

Inventions: Typewriter, telephone, and
phonograph
–
-Many new patents given.

The combination of investments and ingenuity
helped to create new industries and expand
old ones.

Productivity increases.

By 1900, America’s standard of living was
among the highest in the world.
People Develop New Forms of Energy
Edwin L. Drake
Struck oil in Pennsylvania in 1859. New uses for oil grew
rapidly. Oil refineries sprang up around the country as oil
became a big business.
Thomas A.
Edison
An inventor from New Jersey who experimented with
electric light. Developed a workable filament for the light
bulb and the idea of a central power station to make
electric power widely available.
Lewis Latimer
Worked in Edison’s lab and patented an improved method
for producing the filament in light bulbs
George
Westinghouse
Experimented with a form of electricity called alternating
current, which was less expensive and more practical than
direct current, which Edison had used. By using a
transformer, he improved the capabilities of power stations
to make home use of electricity more practical.
You do not have to write this slide! 
INVENTIONS SPUR
INDUSTRY
ELECTRICITY
 1876- Thomas Alva
Edison established
the world’s first
research lab in New
Jersey
 There Edison
perfected the
incandescent light
bulb in 1880
 Later he invented an
entire system for
producing and
distributing electricity
 By 1890, electricity
powered numerous
machines
EDISON
THE TYPEWRITER
 Christopher Sholes
invented the
typewriter in 1867
 His invention forever
affected office work
and paperwork
 It also opened many
new jobs for women
 1870: Women made
up less than 5% of
workforce 1910:
They made up 40%
THE TELEPHONE
 Another important
invention of the late
19th century was the
telephone
 Alexander Graham
Bell and Thomas
Watson unveiled
their invention in
1876
BELL AND HIS PHONE
RAILROADS:
Corruption & Scandal!
 The unchecked power of
the railroad companies led
to widespread abuses and
then reforms.
PULLMAN: A FACTORY &
TOWN
 In 1880, George Pullman built
THE TOWN
GEORGE
PULLMAN
a factory for manufacturing
sleepers and other railroad
cars in Illinois
 The nearby town Pullman built
for his employees was
modeled after early industrial
European towns
 Pullman workers felt his
puritanical town was too strict
 When he lowered wages but
not rent – it led to a violent
strike in 1894
CREDIT MOBILIER
SCANDAL
 Stockholders of Union
Pacific Railroad formed
a construction
company in 1864
 Stockholders then gave
contracts to the
company to lay track at
3 times the actual costs
and pocketed the
difference
 They donated shares of
the stock to 20
Republican members of
Congress in 1867
POSTER FOR BOGUS
CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
INTERSTATE COMMERCE
ACT
 In 1887, the Federal
government reestablished their
control over railroad
activities
 Congress passed the
Interstate Commerce
Act and established
a 5-member
Interstate Commerce
Commission (ICC)
 The ICC struggled to
gain power until 1906
1887 – CONGRESS
PASSED THE ICA
DEPRESSION
The depression of 1893 and 1894
changed the industry.
Many railroads failed, and a few
survivors seized many of the rest.
By 1900, seven companies owned
most of the nation’s railways.