Chapter 4 revision handout
Industrial expansion in the 1870s and 1880s
The impact of the Civil War
• Mass production: war increased demand for manufactured goods; led to mass production
and improved distribution methods.
• Capital: raising money for war effort led to capital-raising system centred on Wall Street,
New York.
• Paper money: ‘greenbacks’ introduced.
• Banks: developed to meet government’s demand for loans; provided finance for industrial
expansion.
• Tariffs: introduced to gain money for the government and to protect US goods from
foreign imports.
Population growth
• Population of USA: rose from 31.5 million in 1860 to 76 million in 1900.
• Reduced death rates: due to improved incomes, better food and housing, advances in
public health.
• Immigration: provided a labour force and consumers for goods.
Availability of land
• US expansion in 1870s and 1880s: new land settled, much of it very fertile; more food
produced.
• Large-scale production of food: mass production methods required machines, which further
increased demand for manufactured foods; increased amount of food USA could export.
Transport
• Railways: provided employment and linked major cities; stimulated demand for iron, steel
and coal.
• Roads: developed to transport goods from railway centres to surrounding areas.
The role of the government
• Lack of regulation: state and federal governments did not interfere in the economy.
• Business interests: businessmen used money and influence to ensure there was no
regulation of their activities.
• Impact: no control over hours of work, working conditions, etc.; state and federal authorities
used force to put down strikes by trade unions.
Examples of innovation
• Andrew Carnegie: used new methods to produce steel; used repressive measures to prevent
workers forming unions to seek better pay and conditions.
• Thomas Edison: inventor; made electricity ‘commercial’.
Availability of capital
• Stock market: enabled money to be raised for industrial/transport developments; fortunes
could be made by wise investment in stocks and shares.
• Corporations: enabled growth of giant industries.
• Trusts: method of getting round old laws preventing a company owning property in more
than one state (e.g. John D. Rockefeller exploited Trust system to amass a large fortune).
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Cambridge International AS Level History / History of the USA / Chapter 4 revision handout
Examples of the growth in manufacturing
• Cigarettes: growth of American Tobacco Company made James Duke a multi-millionaire.
• Oil: Rockefeller and Henry Flagler made a fortune by controlling oil production
and distribution.
The economic and social consequences of rapid
industrialisation in the late 19th century
Reasons why agriculture did not do as well as industry
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Borrowing: for purchase of land and machinery led to debt.
Bad weather: could lead to poor output and profits.
Markets: over-reliance on unreliable overseas markets; high costs of transportation.
Deflation: led to rising debts and higher costs for credit.
Poor land: much of the new land settled on was poor for farming.
Tenancy farming: tenant farmers had no incentive to improve land they did not own.
Economic problems
• 1873: Jay Cooke (railway speculator) went bankrupt in 1873, owing over $100 million to
banks; led to collapse of other companies and some banks; New York Stock Exchange had
to close and unemployment temporarily soared.
• 1893: unexpected bankruptcies in industries and banks led to shortage of cash; prices and
output dropped, leading to unemployment.
• 1907: failure of a large Trust led to collapse of banks; action by Roosevelt prevented the
crisis spreading.
Immigration
• Scale: 1860–1900 = 14 million immigrants.
• Workforce: immigrants provided cheap workforce for industry and agriculture.
• Opposition to immigration: 1882 – Chinese Exclusion Act stopped immigration from
China; 1887 – American Protective Association formed to urge government to reduce
immigration; 1908 – immigration from Japan stopped.
Urbanisation
• Rapid urbanisation: growth of large cities (e.g. Chicago).
• Conditions: lack of regulation led to slums, overcrowding, bad sanitation and disease.
• The ‘Boss’ system: ‘Boss’ (usually the mayor) controlled all aspects of a city; leading to
corruption, etc.
The aims of the Progressive Movement 1890s–1910s
Reasons for the rise of the Progressive Movement
• Various aims: movement lacked a clear set of aims and had no obvious leader(s); it attracted
a variety of people with differing grievances.
• Recession and unemployment: 1893 recession led to unemployment and loss of savings as
small banks collapsed.
• Lack of welfare system: No unemployment or sick pay; no safety net for hard times.
• Bad living and working conditions: no regulation meant that employers could force
workers to work long hours in dangerous conditions; slums in city centres.
• Decline of agriculture in some areas: small farmers could not compete with large-scale
mechanised farming methods; many went bankrupt.
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Cambridge International AS Level History / History of the USA / Chapter 4 revision handout
• Failings of political parties: neither party seemed concerned about the poor; Republicans
seemed to be the party of big business and banks; Democrats seemed more concerned with
repressing African-Americans.
• Hostility to big business: big businessmen were making profits at the expense of the
masses; led to growing demand for government regulation of business and banks.
• Fear of revolution: middle classes were afraid that socialism and radicalism would lead
to revolution.
• Desire for women’s rights: many women wanted the right to vote.
• Economists: many economists argued that government should regulate business.
• Writers: ‘muckrakers’ used the press and books to describe social and economic problems
of USA (e.g. Lincoln Steffens, Jacob Riis, Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell).
• Immigration: many people wanted to restrict numbers of immigrants.
• Politicians: some politicians made real effort to improve their areas (e.g. Robert La Follette
in Wisconsin, Tom Johnson in Cleveland).
Aims of the progressive movement
• Wide-ranging: different people had different aims, some very specific some wide-ranging.
• Constitutional changes: desire for women to get the vote, for senators to be directly elected
to make them more accountable; some wanted tariffs replaced by income tax as a way for
government to get money.
• Reform of federal government: desire for government to regulate economic issues.
• Reform in the management of cities and states: desire to end corruption by a more
democratic system for electing public officials.
• Reform of political parties: desire to prevent political parties being controlled by money
and influence of big business; desire for more open elections (e.g. primary system).
• Regulation by government: regulation of working hours and conditions; recognition
of trade unions by employers; compensation for injury at work; insurance schemes for
unemployment, sickness and old age; regulation of banks and stock market; regulation to
improve conditions in towns.
• Abolition of the manufacture and sale of alcohol: Anti-Saloon League founded 1893.
• African-American rights: wanting to improve and protect their rights.
The Populist Party
• 1890s: Populist Party developed in South and West USA.
• 1892 election: party asked for government regulation of railways, monopolies, prices
income tax to replace tariffs, direct election of senators.
The Progressive Movement – success or failure?
President Theodore Roosevelt 1901–08
• Northern Securities Company: Roosevelt used Sherman Anti-Trust Act to declare company
illegal; struck a blow against Trusts, which were exploiting monopolies to gain big profits.
• Trade unions: in coal miners’ strike of 1902, Roosevelt acted as arbitrator – first president
not to take side of employers.
• Expedition Act 1903: led to government taking more action under Sherman Anti-Trust Act;
44 Trusts prosecuted by 1908.
• Elkins Act 1903: began process of regulating railways.
• Pure Food and Drug Act 1906: began process of ending adulteration.
• Department of Commerce and Labor Act 1903: created new government Department of
Commerce to regulate businesses acting in several states.
• Newlands Reclamation Act 1902: established plans for conservation.
• Roosevelt’s other aims: limitation in working hours; injury-at-work compensation; railway
safety measures; child labour restrictions; factory inspections; slum-clearance measures;
postal savings banks; regulation of stock market.
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Cambridge International AS Level History / History of the USA / Chapter 4 revision handout
President William Howard Taft 1908–12
• Conservative: less committed to Progressive Movement than Roosevelt.
• Tax: initiated federal corporation and income tax.
• Trusts: continued to prosecute Trusts under Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
President Woodrow Wilson 1913–21
• Federal Reserve Act 1913: set up board to oversee banking system.
• Underwood Tariff Act 1913: reduced tariffs; seen as an attack on big business, aiding
smaller businesses and farmers.
• Introduction of income tax: tax on incomes over $4000.
• Clayton Act 1914: to help government break up monopolies and Trusts.
• Federal Trade Commission Act 1914: to regulate businesses.
• First Federal Child Labor Act 1916: aimed to prevent employment of children (struck
down by Supreme Court).
• Department of Labor: former miner William Wilson appointed secretary; helped resolve
disputes between capital and labour.
• Reorganisation of Department of Agriculture: to help farmers.
• More federal intervention in industrial disputes: government no longer automatically
took side of employers.
• Revenue Act 1916: taxation of business profits.
• Seamen’s Act: regulated working conditions in merchant navy.
• Adamson’s Act 1916: imposed eight-hour day for railway workers.
• 17th Amendment: direct election of senators 1913: senators now directly elected by
the people.
• 18th Amendment: prohibition of alcoholic beverages 1919: sale and transport of alcohol
banned in USA.
• 19th Amendment: votes for women 1920: women given right to vote.
Republicans in power 1920–33
• No new measures: no new progressive measures brought in; most existing measures
maintained.
• Prohibition: led to ‘speakeasies’, illegal manufacturing and selling, corrupt police, etc.;
1933 – Prohibition ended.
• Immigration: Emergency Quota Act 1921 and Immigration Act 1924 limited immigrant
numbers and excluded certain racial types.
• Race relations: racial discrimination remained high (e.g. Ku Klux Klan).
Causes of the First World War
• Triple Alliance v. Triple Entente: implications.
• Disputes in the Balkans: rivalry.
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