Unit #2 PA History- Lesson #4- PA Economical History A Diversity of Industries

Transcription

1 Unit #2 PA History- Lesson #4- PA Economical History A Diversity of Industries The Edgar Thomson Steel Works, by William Rau, Braddock, PA, 1891 The Rustbelt runs right through Pennsylvania, the former heartland of American heavy industry. Throughout most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, coal, iron, steel, railroads, and petroleum formed the basis for giant industries that dominated the economic landscape of the state. However, in addition to these industries, Pennsylvania was home to a remarkable diversity of enterprises that served the commonwealth, the nation, and the world. This unusual feature of Pennsylvania industry was the result of many factors some of which dated back to the founding of the colony by William Penn, who promoted its rapid development by allowing settlers from many regions in Europe, especially Germany. By the mid-18th century Pennsylvania was perhaps the most diverse society in the world. What united most of these colonists was an enterprising spirit, which, when combined with a lot of hard work, made Pennsylvania into a prosperous place containing a large number of businesses that produced a wide variety of goods. The general pattern of the state's industrial development had been established by the Civil War, characterized by, "a great variety of manufactures well scattered." Since many firms served primarily local markets, Pennsylvania industry consisted of an unusually large number of companies. For example, in 1860, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts

2 had similar industrial employment and output, but Pennsylvania had three times as many establishments. Nearly a century later, two-thirds of all the varied types of industrial commodities manufactured in the United States were produced in some quantity in the Keystone State. It would be this industrial diversity that would sustain the state's economy when the formerly dominant industries declined in the latter part of the twentieth century. Canal boats under construction on the Susquehanna River at Highspire, PA. The distinctive industrial economy of Pennsylvania was in part shaped by the state's geography, resources, and early development. As settlers moved inland slow and expensive transportation by horse and wagon forced farmers to depend on locally produced goods. The many Appalachian mountain ridges that traverse the state made overland transport even more difficult, until the Transportation Revolution bringing steamboats, canals, and railroads in the first half of the nineteenth century began to connect the numerous regions of the state.

3 Improved transportation made it possible for many Pennsylvania manufactures to grow into industries that served regional if not national markets. To support the economic development of the state, the Pennsylvania government had in the 1820s and 1830s funded an extensive and expensive canal system. The coming of canals and railroads did much to integrate the state economically, but some areas were still by-passed. Lumber mill with log pond in Norwich, McKean County, PA, circa In addition to the influence of its mountainous topography, the waterways of Pennsylvania were also responsible for shaping the industrial geography of the state. The two major centers of production Philadelphia on the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers and Pittsburgh at the junction of the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio rivers had started as important transportation hubs and centers for trade. (The state's other major river, the Susquehanna, flowed south linking the central part of

4 the state to Baltimore.) As the population of these cities grew, they became home to manufacturers of goods for local, regional, and sometimes national and international markets. Urban skilled craftsmen provided the technical expertise upon which industry would later build. Fortunes made by artisans and merchants would in the nineteenth century provide the capital needed for industrial enterprises. Most of Pennsylvania's first industries developed from the state's natural resources. Grist and saw mills soon appeared in pioneer communities to grind grain and saw lumber. Pennsylvania was covered by mature forests that had grown on what turned out to be excellent farm land. Both milling and lumber would be significant industries in the state until the twentieth century. The abundance of timber near the ports of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia made both cities into centers of shipbuilding that prospered until the post-world War II era. The mineral resources of the state stimulated the development of other industries, usually located near mines or quarries or along major transportation routes. Textiles provided another essential industry in which Pennsylvania established an early position. The mechanization of textile spinning and weaving launched the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain in the 1770s, and Americans followed its lead several decades later. In the United States, the mass production of inexpensive cotton cloth became centered in Lowell, Massachusetts. Philadelphia textiles focused on woolen, silk, and hosiery markets. After 1840, farmers in the western part of the state began to raise sheep, whose wool was spun and woven in local mills. The absence of southern cotton during the Civil War led to a dramatic expansion of the state's woolen industry. By 1880 virtually every county had at least one mill and Pennsylvania surpassed Massachusetts to become the leading producer of woolen goods.

5 Carpet loom, Hardwick and Magee Company, Philadelphia, PA, September 17, The textile industry in Philadelphia consisted of a large number of mostly small establishments that produced a wide variety of fabrics. Carpet weaving started in Philadelphia in 1791, and by 1810 the city had a virtual monopoly. The introduction of the Markland power loom in 1868 helped Pennsylvania become the leader in carpet manufacture between 1870 and In cotton goods, Philadelphia concentrated on intricate and fancy fabrics, frequently woven on handlooms. By 1900, one-third of America's silk textiles were made in Pennsylvania, mostly in Philadelphia, Scranton, and Allentown. In that year, textiles were the number two industry in the state, and Pennsylvania was number two in the United States, not just in textiles but in manufacturing generally. Although the Pennsylvania textile industry had peaked, it remained a viable industry throughout most of the twentieth century. One major adjustment was a shift from fabric to apparel manufacture. By 1940, Pennsylvania was the number three state in apparel manufacture, and women's clothing was the state's fastest growing product. Between 1920 and 1940, nearly three-fourths of the state's forty leading manufacturing industries had declining shares in national markets. The most

6 pronounced declines occurred in the most established industries coal, iron and steel, railroads, and textiles. Hershey Chocolate Company In the twentieth century, Pennsylvania developed some of the newer, consumer-oriented industries. One example was processed food generally and snack foods specifically. Of course, there was Hershey in chocolate bars, but Pennsylvania also excelled in ice cream, pretzels, and potato chips. The Pittsburgh firms Alcoa and Westinghouse gave the state a major stake in the new aluminum and electrical industries, respectively. Having long been a center for the production of chemicals and pharmaceuticals, Pennsylvania shared in the rapid growth of this industrial sector in the twentieth century. The new textile fiber rayon was first manufactured in the United States in Marcus Hook in Although Michigan became the center of the automobile industry, Pennsylvania was home to Mack and Auto car truck manufacturers and to Harley Davidson motorcycles.