The Rise of Industry and Progressive Reform Inventors and Inventions American History Mail-Order Catalogs Prior to the Industrial Revolution, there wasn’t much to buy. Shortly after it started you could get; chewing gum, coat hangers, fountain pens, brown paper bags. Also the big life changing type things like, steel, oil, and electricity. Steel Industry Iron was the old standby material – but it is brittle and expensive. William Kelly – Bessemer Process – blasting hot air into the formation of iron creates steel. The Process = stronger steel, and cheaper steel because it can be made quicker. Steel con’t. Pennsylvania and Ohio become steel centers in the U.S. Cleveland, Detroit, Birmingham and Pittsburgh become major steel cities. American Railroads First railroad began in England in 1825. They soon began to pop up everywhere, problem is that everyone built there own, and there was no standard. R.R. So the government steps in and says there must be a standard gauge. Gauge = width, so we are talking about the standard width of the railroad tracks. This way trains can go unobstructed from city to city. R.R. Other problems, faulty breaks, bad engineers. But the railroad kept growing anyway. Transcontinental Railroad – proposed by Lincoln – put in from Omaha to Sacramento. Joins Union Pacific to the Central Pacific Transcontinental Railroad Building the tracks is not cheap so the government pretty much gave away the land. Plus cheap workers help also, mainly Irish and Chinese. Chinese earned a whopping $1 day and tried to carve the Sierra Nevada Mts. = hard and dangerous. More than 1200 lost their lives. Golden Spike President Grant misses the first Spike so Leland Stanford finishes the job Transcontinental Railroad now complete There was 35,000 miles of track in 1865 and 193,000 in 1900. Train Improvements George Pullman – luxury sleeping car George Westinghouse – automatic air brake Trains become so efficient that goods end up going everywhere and people had to put in time zones. Oil and Electricity 1859 Oil is a problem for farmers – pollution Edwin Drake – first oil well Oil only used for burning and lighting until the internal combustion engine Joseph Henry and Michael Faraday invent dynamo – electric generator – run factories Thomas Alva Edison Patented 1093 items – just ask Homer Simpson Among those – electric power plant, phonograph, light bulb Telegraph and Telephone Samuel F.B. Morse – Telegraph Purpose not originally seen until as a device to communicate with – later used for - Indian troubles, railroad, newspapers etc… Alexander Graham Bell – Telephone, and the rest is history so to speak. Big Business American History FYI • Between the end of the Civil War and the end of the 1800s, industrialism replaced agriculture as the main source of economic growth. Section 2-9 Section 2-10 Section 2-11 Business Basics Corporations – government permission to sell shares of stock in a business to raise capital Dividends – stock owners profit from business profits http://www.nyse.com/ Section 2-12 Section 2-13 Corporations vs. Private Ownership Economies of scale = the more you produce the less each next one costs – M&Ms Limited Liability – stockholders only lose what they put in Stability – death in corporation doesn’t affect the stockholders Section 2-14 Section 2-15 Section 2-16 Andrew Carnegie Lives the ultimate American Dream – immigrant to extremely rich 1872 – visits Great Britain and steals the Bessemer Process, quits his job in the railroad and starts U.S. Steel Carnegie uses vertical integration to eliminate competition Vertical Integration Carnegie secures all phases of production to make sure he can produce the cheapest goods possible. So he buys up coal mines, iron mines, railroad and shipping lines, and all the steel mills he can afford. This way he can avoid the middle man and produce and sell the cheapest, highest quality steel in the world. Success in Steel By 1900 he earned $40 million in a year He also produced more steel in his mills than all of Great Britain combined. John D. Rockefeller Founder of Standard Oil Rockefeller used vertical integration – buys up oil fields, barrel making companies, pipelines, railroads, petroleum plants, refineries, and gas stations. He also uses horizontal integration to destroy his competition Horizontal Integration Bribed railroad officials not to ship any other company’s oil. Would set up gas stations across the street from existing ones – and because of vertical integration (he has cheaper gas) – he can undercut the other station’s prices and either buy them out or drive them out of business. J.P. Morgan Morgan is the first real monopoly player. Morgan is a banker whose genius lies in merging companies together. Convinces Carnegie to sell US Steel for $500 million (Carnegie becomes the richest man in the world). Then buys out the next 5 biggest companies also. Morgan becomes a billionaire overnight. Monopolies What Morgan did was technically illegal. The government did force the break-up of US Steel after +10 years. Monopoly is when there is no competition – Morgan bought the competition out. Democracy is competition – this ensures a cheaper, safer product. Ex > airplanes Kellogg, Post and the Cereal Wars Both invent and intend to sell cornflakes. Kellogg invents promotions (advertising) and takes the early lead. This advertising evolves into commercials etc… Making both extremely successful and rich. Isaac Singer Singer Sewing Machines – not the first sewing machine – but the first with only and up and down needle. This led to patent wars – everybody started to steal his invention – but the courts didn’t back him so he has to make money some other way. Installment Plan This is Singer’s way to make money. Installment Plan = payoff over time Singer also made stores, mechanics, and salespeople available for help – kind of the first people friendly warranty. Singer becomes quite rich. The Governments Response Will be covered in more detail later. Quickly though, the government saw that the American public was getting the short end of the stick in the business world and decides to take action. This brings about the idea on the next page. The Gilded Age Gilded Age – coined by Mark Twain – means “Gold covered” but what it covers is rotten Example – an apple with a worm The U.S. looks good on the outside but the real story is rotten. This is an extremely important idea that guides the U.S. for the next 30 years. Section 2-18 Section 2-19 Section 2-17 Working Conditions American History Working Conditions Labor – racism, sexism etc… - lots of people are coming to the city to live and work o small depression in late 1870’s-80’s - lots of extra workers, unemployed, for factories = owners could cut corners -Women went to work for ½ pay - Children also went to work Workday is usually 14 hours and at least 6 days a week Jacob Riis, Upton Sinclair Upton Sinclair “The Jungle” – meatpacking terrors Jacob Riis “How the Other Half Lives” – photos of inner city terrors Workplace has NONE OF THE FOLLOWING; Office of Housing and Urban Development, building codes, social services, child labor laws, 40 hr work week, unions, minimum wage, benefits, OSHA etc… Company town Especially with mining. Company owns the town – monopoly over the workers Workers paid in scrip (paper money good only at the company store) No place for workers to go (no money, argue=fired etc…) Knights of Labor Started in 1869 – Uriah Stephens 1st Union, originally for only white males, however when they included all skilled workers (men, women, blacks, etc…) membership and power flourished Great Upheaval - 1886 The Knights have successful strikes in ’77 ’84 and look to make their mark in ’86 = very violent and intense year for strikes 1500 strikes of 400,000 workers by end of year Haymarket Riot @ The McCormack Harvester Plant The most violent strike in 1886 May 1 – 40,000 workers in Chicago go on strike Anarchists (people who oppose all forms of government) take control over the riot May 3 – after a confrontation with police, 2 workers are killed continued May 4 – rioters out in full force in a peaceful protest, 200 police show up, a bomb explodes (planted by an anarchist) and police open fire 7 policemen and 1 worker died, 70 others wounded 8 anarchist arrested all 8 were guilty, four were hung list of Union supporters to prevent them from getting a job later on very popular in Hollywood and with McCarthyism Yellow-dog Contracts sign a contract when hired that says you will not join a union This never prevented the workers from striking anyway Lockouts if workers strike = lock them out and bring in new workers/strikebreakers Strikebreakers – a.k.a. Scab non-union workers brought in to break the strike think NFL/MLB or movies like The Replacements Company always won this way and union membership dropped American Federation of Labor Started in 1886 – Samuel Gompers sets up union only for skilled workers – this way they could look out for their own kind and join together Homestead Strike one of Carnegie's plants layoffs = strike = lockout enforced by 300 detectives violence breaks out, 16 die, militia called in to restore order Pullman Strike Pullman cuts wages, doesn’t lower rent etc…(company town) = strike Government steps in and ends the strike because this would hinder the delivery of mail = anyone who strikes put in jail Progressive Era American History Rise of Progressive Reform People need to combat the impact of industrialism, urbanization, and immigration. Reform begins in the middle class, especially with women. Government changes from being the oppressor to a protector. Darwinism Society is currently evolving, however survival of the fittest doesn’t apply to different groups of society. Idea changes from the bad in people to the potential for good. Society was still in bad shape though. Behaviorism The environment shapes the individual. Causes of evil/sin – living conditions, working conditions, bad parents, etc… Progressive Journalists Many books and magazines tackled social reform and social decay. McClure’s Magazine exposed the Tweed Ring and Standard Oil Jack London wrote The Iron Heel – about a bloody revolution coming without changes to society Others like Jacob Riis, and Upton Sinclair Teddy Roosevelt calls these journalists Muckrakers Birth of Social Work Russell Sage Foundation – 1908-1914 – six volume work on the urban cycle Poor children were likely to grow up to be poor themselves, not because of heredity but because of deprivation. Jane Addams – Hull House – Chicago – kids Margaret Sanger – N.Y. – chronic pregnancy – birth control Progressive Demands Better working conditions for children Better hours and pay for everyone else Workplace safety After the Shirtwaist tragedy the courts had to respond. Courts Response At first the courts were not willing to change. Freedom contracts – can’t limit work hours Life, liberty, … social change would limit this for business. Changes with the “Brandies Brief” a 102 page legal document with facts about the workplace. Brings about the 10 hour workday. City Reform Clean-up of the city is job one = city sanitation. Lawrence Veiller – housing reform New buildings need a courtyard for light and air One bathroom per apartment or per three rooms Jane Addams – playgrounds, parks, hospitals Daniel Burnham – city planning (like D.C.) Urban Moral Reform Two chief outcomes of unemployment = crime, break-up of families Theory – prohibit alcohol those things decrease. Alcohol is the downfall of society. By 1900 avg. person consumed over 2 gallons of alcohol a year. +50% of Chicago and Boston visited a bar at least once a day. Anti-Saloon League and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union pushed for reform. (This is a male vs. female thing) By 1917 ¾ of the population live in dry counties and 2/3 of states prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol. 18th Amendment - Prohibition Passes in 1917 ratified by states in 1919 Saloons were the social center of town, this didn’t change. Why? Why? Answered. Bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, and organized crime all increased due to prohibition. Prostitution – social evil of the cities Chicago had almost 15,000 Birth of the “red-light” district Poverty causes prostitution Movies Movies were forced to clean up their act. No kissing on TV till the 50’s, twin beds etc… Women’s Suffrage Suffrage = voting rights Began in the west where women were seen as equals. 19th Amendment proposed in 1919, ratified in 1920. Limits of Progressivism The U.S. is still extremely racist. Help the poor usually only applied to help the white poor. Eugenics – immigrants were biologically inferior. Nativism – a preference for native born citizens. Madison Grant wrote and popularized the idea of the “lesser breeds” are threatening to “mongolize” America. Very popular idea, convinced Margaret Sanger. Jane Addams wasn’t quite convinced = Melting Pot = America. Education the only key to helping people. Native Americans Progressives supported the Dawes Act of 1887. This act was to help Native Americans become private land owners and end reservation life. The act was a failure for Native Americans. The next step was just as bad…assimilation – try to mold into a different culture. Immigration Split the progressives…to help or not. After all the immigrants were the ones causing the social problems. (drinking, gambling, gangs, political machines) Americanization was the answer – viewed as similar to breaking a horse…painful but necessary Progressivism in the States Rural states felt like they couldn’t help reform. Robert Lafollette Gov. of WI comes up with the “Wisconsin Idea” – regulate RR’s, control corruption, expand civil service, and a direct primary. This leads to state income tax, a commission of safety and sanitation. Also leads to the 17th Amendment – the direct election of Senators. Progressivism goes to Washington 9/6/1901 – President McKinley was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz who was unemployed and upset. The two bullets took 8 days to kill the President. Teddy Roosevelt takes over, although a conservative he supports reform. FYI – Lincoln 1865, Garfield 1881, McKinley 1901, TR 1912 – but he finished his speech. Teddy Roosevelt Wealthy family in NY. Born very sick = became physically fit Rodeo, judo, Mt. climber, hunter, explorer etc.. Rough Rider hero of the Spanish-American War Named the White House, the first Prez. to ride in a car, fly, and be in a submarine. Environmentalist Trustbuster – “Speak softly and carry a big stick” Teddy Bear Square Deal Regulate Big Business – not destroy it, just clean it up. Government job is to mediate and find solutions Anthracite Coal Strike – workers agreed with owners, owners change mind. TR leaks info to Wall St. that he’d have the army take over…owners caved right away. Conservation TR sets up National Parks – Yellowstone and many others. This is mainly because of his love of nature and because of John Muir John Muir- Sierra Club – Yosemite National Park Miracle Drug of the early 1900’s
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