Mr. Pettit
APUSH
CHAPTER 16/17: RISE OF INDUSTRY
1. Business leaders in America.
2. “Social Darwinism” as a motivator/justification.
3. Andrew Carnegie’s, “Gospel of Wealth”
NAME:
BUSINESS:
SIGNIFICANCE:
Cornelius Vanderbilt:
Railroads
Controlled 4,500 mi. of
railroad connecting New
York to the Mid-west.
Jay Gould
Railroads
Controlled most
railroads to the
Southwest, usually sold
to other railroad
companies for profit.
Henry Villard
Railroads
Controlled railroads in
the Pacific northwest.
Petroleum/oil
Established Standard Oil
Company in Cleveland.
John D. Rockefeller
Andrew Carnegie
Steel
Founded Carnegie Steel,
sold to JP Morgan in
1901. (Pittsburgh)
Banking/finance
Bought up multiple steel
companies, example of
horizontal integration.
J.P. Morgan
2. Social Darwinism:
provided justification and motivation for big businessmen’s practices.
”the fittest” will always “survive” if allowed to exercise their capacities
without restriction.
Examples:
1. Horizontal integration
2. Vertical integration
3. Trusts
3. Andrew Carnegie’s, Gospel of Wealth:
-Somewhat of an “oddball” of the group.
-believed in philanthropy.
-you should not die a wealthy man.
“The rich man was merely a trustee for his “poorer brethren,”
“…bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability
to administer.”
REFORMERS AND REFORMS OF THE INDUSTRIAL AGE
How did reform minded men, such as Edward Bellamy and Henry Demarest Lloyd
conflict with the idea of Social Darwinism?
1. Edward Bellamy:
-author of Looking Backward 2000-1887
-describes a future socialist America.
-Included many reform minded ideas that were socialistic in nature.
2. Henry George:
-author of Progress and Poverty, 1879.
-criticized America’s unequal distribution of wealth.
-promoted a property tax, aimed at landholders in the West.
-“single tax” would replace all other taxes.
3. Henry Demarest Lloyd:
-author of Wealth Against Commonwealth, 1894.
-critical of monopolistic business practices.
-focused on Standard Oil Company.
-sometimes was outrageous in his criticisms.
MAJOR DECISIONS AND LAWS OF THE INDUSTRIAL AGE:
COURT CASE/ACT
Munn v. Illinois
YEAR
1877
Wabash, St. Louis, & Pacific 1886
Railroad v. Illinois
Interstate Commerce Act
1887
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
1890
United States v. E.C. Knight
1895
RESULTS/ SIGNFICANCE
State legislatures gain
power to regulate
corporate trusts.
State legislatures cannot
regulate interstate
commerce, only the
Federal Gov. can.
Federal Gov. can regulate
railroad rates and
practices.
Intended to be used to
break up labor unions,
eventually used to break
up large corporations and
their monopolies.
Protected large
corporations by allowing
them as long as they acted
fairly.
THE GROWTH OF LABOR UNIONS IN THE INDUSTRIAL AGE
Do the benefits of economic concentration outweigh its social and political costs?
List the benefits and costs of this argument.
BENEFITS?
COSTS?
1. The Knights of Labor:
-founded by garment workers in Philadelphia, 1869.
-headed by Uriah S. Stephens and Terrence V. Powderly
-A union of many different laborers of the working class.
-more interested in social reform than specific issues.
-membership rose to 700,000 by 1886.
-Lost credibility and support from the Haymarket Riot in Chicago,
1886.
2. The American Federation of Labor:
-established in 1886 by Adolph Strasser and Samuel Gompers.
-Was a combination of craft unions led by cigar makers union.
-Grew less interested in social reform and instead focused on more
practical issues. (wages, hours, conditions.)
-accepted and celebrated the life of a “wage earner.”
-avoided political allegiance.
-by 1901, had over 1 million members.
3. National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry:
-The Grange, Grangers.
-farmers organization, founded in 1867 by Oliver Kelley.
-supported legislation that regulated railroads and protected people
in small rural communities.
BIG BUSINESS VS. THE LABOR UNION
Actions taken by Corporations to limit worker’s rights:
1. “yellow dog” contracts: prohibited workers from joining unions when
taking a working class job.
2. Use of strikebreakers and federal troops. (Pinkertons)
3. Creation of “company towns” (Pullman, Illinois)
Actions taken by Unions to combat corporate power:
1. Strikes (Homestead Steel, 1892 Pullman strike, 1894)
2. “Closed shop” required workers to join a union to secure a job.