Industrialization and
Corporate Consolidation
By: Lorena Soria
McElhaney, APUSH
Period 3
Questions to Think About
1.
What was the main source of transportation during
this time period?
2.
Who should we associate with the steel industry?
3.
What was the Gospel of Wealth?
4.
What were the conditions like in the factories?
 Steel
Study Guide
Production
 Andrew Carnegie
 John Rockefeller
 Social Darwinism
 Survival of the Fittest
 Gospel of Wealth
 Conditions of workers
and workplace
 Knights of
 American
Labor
Federation of
Labor
 Haymarket
Bombing
 Homestead Strike
 Pullman Strike
Outline
A.
Industrial Growth
a. Railroads - Railroads were the main source of transportation during this time period.
They were a way of accessing markets and raw materials which is why whenever a
new railroad line was created in an area where there was a small population, new
farms and other industries were quick to develop along the route. (Brinkley 467-468)
b. Iron - The growth of the iron industry was correlated to the growth of the railroad
industry 40,000 new miles of railroad tracks were being made out of iron (which would
later be changed to steel). (Brinkley 464)
c. Steel - An Englishman by the name of Henry Bessemer, and an American by the
name of William Kelly discovered a new way of producing high-quality steel, which
was a metal, as was iron, but unlike iron, it was more durable. Andrew Carnegie, was
a Scottish immigrant who began to manufacture steel in the 1870’s and had soon
worked his way to the top of the steel industry. (Newman and Schmalbach 338)
d. Electricity - Because new corporations were emerging and new industrial technology
was being found General Electric, an electricity company, created one of the first
corporate laboratories. This allowed all the cities be lighted, and streetcars, subways,
and machinery that were powered by electricity to operate. (Brinkley 466-467)
e. Oil – An important person in the oil industry was Rockefeller. He controlled about 90%
of the oul refinery business and had a great success by the time he retied. Because
he did own a large part of the oil business he was able to keep the prices low for his
consumers to be able to afford them. (Brinkley 471)
A.
Laissez- faire conservatism
a.Gospel of Wealth – This book was written by Andrew Carnegie, the central figure in
the steel industry. In his book he stated that wealthy people were given the responsibility
of investing some of their wealth in philanthropic works that would benefit the entire
society. (Newman and Schmalbach 339)
b.Myth of the self-made man - Due to industrialization the amount of millionaires in
America had increased, but many of these millionaires considered themselves to be selfmade men, such as Andrew Carnegie who had worked as a bobbin boy in a Pittsburgh
cotton mill or John Rockefeller had begun as a clerk in a Cleveland commission house.
(Brinkley 472)
c.Social Darwinism – Social Darwinism was the theory presented by Herbert Spencer,
that Darwinism, the idea of natural selection and survival of the fittest, should be applied
to the industries and marketplace. In other words, people should not waste their time
helping the poor because that would not help them in their path in learning how to
survive on their own. (Newman and Schmalbach 339)
d.Social critics and dissenters – Farmers, workers, and people of the middle-class
criticized the rise of big businesses by saying that it threatened the republican society
and it created corruption in their businesses.
A.
Effects of technological development on worker/ workplace
a. The technological development had both a negative and positive
aspect on the workers. Because there were so many new cities and
more concerns, the standard of living had increased greatly. There
was also a massive migration into these cities because of the need for
workers in all the new factories, but these workers never had job
security. The working conditions were not very good either. They
were often unsafe, unhealthy, and the site of many severe accidents
where people had to spend long hours, with only low wages in return.
Soon even women and children were being hired, and being paid
much less then the men were. Women and children were forced to
work to help support their families and while their mothers worked in
the plants children were set to do dangerous jobs such as adjusting
the spindles by climbing on all the machinery. (Brinkley 478-480)
A.
Union Movement
a.Knights of Labor - The Knights of Labor began in 1869 and it was the second national
labor union. It was a secret society lead by Terence V. Powderly who did now was to be
detected by employers, until 1881 when they went public and opened their membership
to all workers. They were also very reform minded and did not want to resort to
strikes.(Newman and Schmalbach 344-345)
b.American Federation of Labor – This Labor union was lead by Samuel Gompers from
1886 – 1924 and went after the basics such as higher wages and improved working
conditions. Gompers suggested that they all walk out on their employers until they agreed
to negotiate a new contract. ( was the largest union by 1901) (Newman and Schmalbach
345)
c.Haymarket Bombing – The Haymarket Bombing took place in Chicago in 1886.
Chicago was the home of 80,000 Knights of Labor and 200 anarchists who wanted to
violently overthrow the government. What is now called the May Day labor movement
was when workers held a public meeting in Haymarket Square and when the police tried
to break up the meeting, someone threw a bomb which killed seven officers. This lead to
the sentenced death of 7 anarchists and the loss of popularity in the Knights of Labor.
(Newman and Schmalbach 345)
d.Homestead Strike - Henry Clay Frick managed Andrew Carnagie’s
Homestead Steel plant near Pittsburgh and he also manages to stop a strike in
1892 by using the weapons of the lockout, guards, and strikebreakers to defeat
the workers. The failure of this strike put a minor setback in the union
movements. (Newman and Schmalbach 345-346)
e.Pullman Strike - This was a strike of the workers living in George Pullman’s
model company town near Chicago. After Pullman cut the wages, he workers
were advised by the American Railroad Union leader, Eugene V. Debs, to no
handle any trains with Pullman Cars. Railroad owners began linking Pullman cars
to mail trains. The federal court then ruled that they were not allowed to interfere
with the operation of mails and had Debs and other arrested which ended the
strike and in turn lead only about 3% of the American workers belonging to
unions. (Newman and Schmalbach 346)
Timeline
1859- First oil well drilled in Pennsylvania
1866- William H. Sylvis founds National
Labor Union
1868- Open-hearth steelmaking begins in
America
1869-Knights of Labor Founded
1870- John D. Rockefeller
founds Standard Oil
1873- Carnegie Steel
founded
1873- Commercial and
financial panic disrupts
economy
1877- Railroad Workers Strike Nationwide
1879- Thomas A. Edison invents electric
lightbulb
1881- American
Federation of Labor
founded
1886- Haymarket
bombing blamed on
anarchists
1892- Workers stike
Homestead Plant
1893- Depression
Begins
1894- Workers strike
Pullman Company
1901- Spindletop oil
field discovered in
Texas