MACHINERY HALL AND THE
RISE OF THE INDUSTRIAL
METROPOLIS
Week Three
Philadelphia Centennial Exposition (1876)
Machinery Hall
A “type machine” in Machinery Hall
Corliss Steam Engine
Centennial City
I. Rise of Industry
A. Revolution in
technology
Explosion in patents: nearly
half a million filed between
1865 and 1882
 Edison and electricity
 Electricity and the
transformation of industry and
culture

I. Rise of Industry
B. Mechanization


Mass production: from
skilled artisans and
small shops to large
factories
Cigarette machine: from
raw materials to
packaging
I. Rise of Industry
C. Transportation




Bulk and speed
Efficiency
Mail order
Department stores
From Florida to NJ
I. Rise of Industry
D. Incorporation of
America
1. Vertical integration
 Control production and
distribution at every
step
 Swift Meats
2. Horizontal integration
 Merging of competing
companies in the same
industry
 Standard Oil
3. Consequences:
concentration and size;
global stature of the U.S.
I. Rise of Industry
E. Era of Self-Initiative
 Human
factor
 Horatio Alger
 The World Before Him
(1880)
II. The Rise of Discontent
A. Cultural discontent
 From
romanticism: emotion,
imagination, possibilities
realism: loss of innocence; “nothing
more and nothing less than the truthful
treatment of material”
 To
Leutze, Washington Crossing the Delaware
(1851)
A Laundry Maid Ironing (1770s)
Gettysburg (1863)
Crane, “War Is Kind” (1899)
Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind,
Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky
And the affrighted steed ran on alone,
Do not weep.
War is kind.
Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,
Little souls who thirst for fight,
These men were born to drill and die.
The unexplained glory flies above them.
Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom-A field where a thousand corpses lie.
Crane, “War Is Kind” (1899)
Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.
Because your father tumbles in the yellow trenches,
Raged at his breast, gulped and died,
Do not weep.
War is kind.
Swift blazing flag of the regiment,
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die.
Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.
Mother whose heart hung humble as a button
On the bright splendid shroud of your son,
Do not weep.
War is kind!
The Gross Clinic (1875)
The Ironworkers—Noontime (1880)
The Ironworkers—Noontime (1880)
II. The Rise of Discontent
B. Political discontent



Corrupt politics: lawmakers
often invested heavily in
large corporations
Monopolies
Sherman Antitrust Act
(1890): designed to
prevent mergers that
would stifle competition.
But it backfires.
II. Rise of Discontent
C. Labor discontent
1. Knights of Labor



Established in 1869 in
Philadelphia for a “great
brotherhood”
Structural reform
Haymarket riot
2. American Federation of
Labor (AFL)

Did not challenge wage
labor; instead fought more
conservatively for better
hours and pay
Haymarket Riot, 1886
II. Rise of Discontent
3. Industrial Workers of
the World (IWW)
Return to radicalism:
“Between these two classes
a struggle must go on until
the workers of the world
unite as a class, take
possession of the earth and
the machinery of production,
and abolish the wage
system.”
 Return to brotherhood

Quiz 1
Define and discuss the significance of one of the
following two terms:
 “Bottom rail”
 Vertical integration
Napoleon Hill