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Darwin – Survival of the Fitess
Social Darwinism – Survival of the Richest
People are poor because they are lazy or inferior
People are rich because it is a sign of God’s favor (natural law)
Positives and Negatives of the Industrial
Revolution
Pros
Cons
1. Inexpensive goods available
2. Many scientific technology
advances
3. Ability to settle the West
4. US transformed from a rural
to urban society
5. Beginning of US role at the
world level
1. Fraud with railroads
a. Railroads are not
regulated
b. Rates are farmers
biggest complaint
2. Problems with corporations
(monopolies)
a. Expansion followed by
concentration
b. Get rid of competition
Three ways to eliminate competition and still look good to the
public.
1. Gentlemen’s Agreement
a. Directors from large corporations meet in back
rooms to fix wages and prices
b. No written contracts
c. Fail when greed takes over
2. Trust Companies
a. Large company targets a smaller rival, prices cut
to force smaller company into bankruptcy
b. Larger company agrees to take over if they can
make all the administrative decisions
i. “we’ll let you survive. . .”
i.e. 1st Standard Oil—John D. Rockefeller
c. Fail
i. continual complaints
ii. anti-trust laws passed
3. Holding Companies
a. a main company holds a majority of voting shares in a
smaller company
b. Fail
i. continual complaints
ii. anti-trust laws passed
i.e. 1st US Steel, Charles Schwab, President
Alliance between government & corporations
1. Exists on three levels
a. Local, State, and Federal governments
1) provides tax breaks
2) use officers and federal troops as-strike
breakers
3) officers hired by corporations as police
4) state and federal laws favor corporations
5) national government provides protective
tariffs and land grants
6) insignificant regulations placed on big
business
THE ROBBER BARONS
Andrew Carnegie - Steel
•
John D. Rockefeller - Oil
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y7XbLri4ZE
Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt - Railroads
J. P. Morgan - finance
RESPONSES TO THE ROBBER BARONS
GOVERNMENT ACTION
Sherman Antitrust Act -1890
Attempt by government to keep competition in the
economic system
UNIONS
GOALS: Higher wages, fewer hours, safer working conditions, child labor laws
National Labor Union (NLU)
Refuse to admit African-Americans
Focus: Link together labor unions; 8-hour day proposed
Knights of Labor – Terence Powderly
Wanted to change the system
Strikes were a last resort, did not favor
American Federation of Labor
(AFL) – Samuel Gompers
Skilled workers
Collective bargaining & strikes
American Railway Union (ARU) – Eugene Debs
Skilled and semi-skilled labor
Later runs for President as a Socialist and received 1 million votes
Socialists Party wanted to overturn the capitalist system
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Wobblies – Bill Haywood
Radical unionists and socialists
Skilled and unskilled labor, included African-Americans
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
Railroads propose 4th wage cut in 4
years
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
* 1st spontaneous resistance of labor
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
Started in Wheeling, WV
Spread all over the US
Violence erupts – 100 die, 1,000 jailed
Half the freight on 75,000 miles of
railroads had stopped
The Haymarket Square Riot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OQxncb2ihQ
Homestead Strike
http://www.biography.com/video.do?name=businessfigures&bcpid=1740037439&bclid=1745181017&bctid=1726714586
•
PULLMAN STRIKE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPhLKARAve4