Industrialization Unit Reading. The link below will provide a simple explanation on the differences between the two.

Transcription

1 Industrialization Unit Reading The 19 th Century in American history is directly connected with the industrialization of the United States. Industrialization was the process by which everyday goods changed from being crafted by the hands of artisans to being mass produced in factories by machines. The process of industrialization fundamentally transformed the American economy. The economy shifted from agrarian based to one focused on industry. The United States went through two separate Industrial Revolutions in the 1800s. The first involved inventions like the steam engine and the textile industry. The second, will be center around the growth of technology and the rise of large industries. The 2 nd Industrial Revolution will span from the development of the Bessemer process in the 1860 until Henry Ford develops the production line at the beginning of the 1900s. The link below will provide a simple explanation on the differences between the two. Key Changes during the Second Industrial Revolution Electrical Power Takes Over Factories Grew Larger More Goods Were Produced Transportation Was Faster The Bessemer process (american-historama.org) The Bessemer process was developed in 1855 when the Englishman Henry Bessemer invented a process to create steel from iron which produced steel cheaply and efficiently. The Bessemer process was an extremely important invention because it helped made stronger rails for constructing the railroads and helped to make stronger metal machines and innovative architectural structures like skyscrapers. The United States Industrial Revolution moved from the Age of Iron to the Age of Steel. Why Pittsburgh s Football Team is Called the Steelers Henry Bessemer-Creator of the Bessemer process

2 Impact of Steel The Bessemer process was able to produce steel at an unprecedented rate for less money. As a result, production dramatically increased in the United States from 115,000 tons in 1873 to 24,000,000 tons in America became the leading producer of steel. The steel industry was strongest in northern cities like Pittsburgh, PA. Below is a diagram of a blast furnace which is used for making steel in the Bessemer process.

3 One of the backbones of American society is oil. In 1859, oil was discovered in America which would forever change the way society function and increased development. Oil was a major discovery because it was a more efficient form of energy. By 1901, the oil industry would grow into one of the largest industries in the world at the time. Major oil companies like Exxon Mobil, Gulf Oil, & Texaco started in Texas right around the turn of the 20 th century. An unintended consequence of the discovery of oil was the end of the whaling industry. Whales had been killed for their oils, but due to the discovery of oil in the ground, that was no longer necessary. The Rise of the Oil in the United States Oil Explanation Video: Impact of Steel & Oil Both oil and steel would forever change America and led to the rapid industrialization of the United States. Steel would be the go to item in building and oil would greatly improve energy efficiency. Together, these would be the fuel to the growth of big business in America. Growth in Transportation During this time, westward expansion was a major focus of the United States. The government had passed the Pacific Railway Act which led to the development of the Transcontinental Railroad. Once the railway was finished in 1869, more railroads were built further connecting and expanding the country. Irish, German, English, African American, and Native American workers helped develop these railways. Development of Time Zones (History.com) The need for continental time zones stemmed directly from the problems of moving passengers and freight over the thousands of miles of rail line that covered North America by the 1880s. Since human beings had first begun keeping track of time, they set their clocks to the local movement of the sun. Even as late as the 1880s, most towns in the U.S. had their own local time, generally based on high noon, or the time when the sun was at its highest point in the sky. As railroads began to shrink the travel time between cities from days or months to mere hours, however, these local times became a scheduling nightmare. Railroad timetables in major cities listed dozens of different arrival and departure times for the same train, each linked to a different local time zone.

4 Efficient rail transportation demanded a more uniform time-keeping system. Rather than turning to the federal governments of the United States and Canada to create a North American system of time zones, the powerful railroad companies took it upon themselves to create a new time code system. The companies agreed to divide the continent into four time zones; the dividing lines adopted were very close to the ones we still use today. Most Americans and Canadians quickly embraced their new time zones, since railroads were often their lifeblood and main link with the rest of the world. However, it was not until 1918 that Congress officially adopted the railroad time zones and put them under the supervision of the Interstate Commerce Commission. The Rise of Big Business I m not a businessman, I m a business, man. Jay-Z The foundation had been set up for businesses to rise. Due to this, corporations run by powerful business leaders became a dominant force in the American economy. In the late 1800s, the United States was a favorable climate for business. Following the ideas behind the American Dream, the American ideal was one of self-reliant individualism. A strong work ethic made one successful, and this led many entrepreneurs to risk their money and talents in new ventures.

5 America s Economy The United States is a capitalist society in which all businesses participate in a free market where competition determines the prices of goods and the wages of workers. In a free market economy (Capitalism=Free Market Economy), almost all businesses are privately owned for profit. This set up was very favorable because during the 1800s, business leaders and the government believed in laissez-faire capitalism with no government intervention. They believed government regulation would destroy selfreliance, reduce profits, and harm the economy. The business world was set up like the Wild West with practically no rules. Social Darwinism One of the popular philosophies in America during the late 1800s was social Darwinism. It was the theory that individuals, groups, and peoples are subject to the same Darwinian laws of natural selection as plants and animals. This was used to justify political conservatism, imperialism, and racism and to discourage intervention and reform. Social Darwinism would be greatly influential in dictating domestic and foreign policies in the United States through the early 1900s. Business leaders applied Darwin s ideas to society and business, stronger people, businesses, and nations would prosper, and weaker ones would fail in a survival of the fittest. Amazon before Amazon..wait, what? An impact of the 2 nd Industrial Revolution was the rise of more goods available for purchase. Many businesses had new goods that they needed consumers to purchase in order to make a profit. This led to the first written advertisements and the use of ad agencies. This would help brand new startup companies grow. Mail Order Catalogs Sears, Roebuck, and Co. and other companies also started a mail-order business. Ordering by catalog became very convenient for people living in rural areas far away from towns or cities. The expansion of the railroads and the establishment of the parcel-post system further enhanced this method of sales. The innovative mail-order approach greatly expanded the market for manufactured goods by allowing American consumers to purchase items from around the country and have them delivered to their doorsteps.

6 Department Stores In major cities, department stores began to spring up. Stores like Macy s began selling brand name goods and merchandise that included clothing, accessories, kitchen appliances, furniture, and often food The demand for everyday items as well as luxury products from recognizable brands contributed to industrialization by driving the increased production of manufactured goods. John D. Rockefeller One of the world first major business tycoons was John D. Rockefeller. The fortune he made was from the oil industry. He controlled the refining and transportation of oil processes to make it cheaper for his company to produce. Under his guidance, he created Standard Oil, which became a business trust that at one point controlled 95% of US oil production. The Rockefeller center in New York is named after his family and the wealth he produced for his family has made the Rockefellers one of the wealthiest families in America today. The Monopoly Men Andrew Carnegie In America, anyone can become anything they want because the United States is the land of opportunity. No one embodies this more than Andrew Carnegie. A Scottish immigrant who began working in factories at the age of 12, Andrew Carnegie would one day be the richest man in America! Carnegie invested his money in the steel industry at the age of 38. In 1901, he sold Carnegie Steel to JP Morgan for 400,000,000 dollars. A man greatly influenced to help other, Carnegie gave hundreds of millions of dollars to charities. The Gospel of Wealth In 1889, Carnegie wrote the Gospel of Wealth which covered his ideas why there was a justifiable need for big business. His book highlighted the ideas of social Darwinism. His key points & ideas included: Distance between rich & poor was a measure of civilization s progress Wealthy were public benefactors Rich had a moral responsibility to reinvest wealth into the larger society

7 Andrew Carnegie (Left), JP Morgan (Center), Cornelius Vanderbilt (Right) J. P. Morgan Founder of one of the largest banks in the US today, JP Morgan made his fortune in the banking industry, He financed many startup businesses during the late 1800s and made great profits from the loans his bank made. He also purchased and reorganized many bankrupt businesses and made profits from them. In 1901, when Andrew Carnegie retired, Morgan purchased Carnegie Steel and reorganized the company into U.S. Steel. Cornelius Vanderbilt Making his fortune by investing in railroads, Cornelius Vanderbilt was one of the world s wealthiest men at the time. Vanderbilt owned the New York Central Railroad. At the height of his career he controlled 4,500 miles of track. He supported few charities, but gave money to what would come to be Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. He died leaving an estate of $100 million.

8 Sherman Anti-Trust Act In response to the monopolies that were being formed by the tycoons and the limited competition that it created, the US Government passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890). It was designed to block and limit the concentrations of power and control one company had over an industry. For example, if McDonalds tried to buy all other fast food restaurants, the government would block this from happening because McDonalds would control the entire market or too much of the food market and therefore have control of prices which is bad for consumers, competition, and capitalism. The act also made it illegal to form monopolies in any part of trade or commerce. This was the first time that the United States Government had ever truly been involved in regulating business. This would set a precedent that many presidents would follow and would also influence the Progressive Era. During the Progressive Era, the government would add further legislation to support this Act. We re going on strike. SpongeBob SquarePants Labor Organizations & Strikes With the rise of big businesses and factories, workers began to organize and fight for better rights, wages, hours, and more. Labor organizations developed and there would be a fight between these groups and the business owners which many times turned violent. Much of this caused people to be blacklisted, people who were not to be hired because of their involvement with the strikes. National Labor Organizations While groups of workers sometimes had different goals and preferred different strategies, as the workers became more active in demanding better conditions, it became clear that there were some changes that would benefit most workers. As a result, the labor movement that began during the early formation of trade unions gradually transformed into a national labor movement. Two large-scale assemblies of workers led the fight for better working conditions: the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor (AFL). While both of these groups represented the interests of working people, each had its own set of goals and its own preferred strategies for achieving those goals. Knights of Labor The Knights of Labor was founded in 1869 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a small organization of local tailors. Unlike a craft union, the Knights of Labor welcomed workers of any occupation, skilled and unskilled, including machinists, cutters, shopkeepers, and farmers. At its height in the mid-1880s, the group had more than 700,000 members across the nation. This was in part due to the leadership of Terence Powderly. A lawyer from Scranton, Pennsylvania, Powderly was elected to chair the Knights of Labor in Under Powderly s leadership, the Knights developed its goal of a cooperative commonwealth of workers from all industries and skills. The organization sought to include everyone in the development of its goals, regardless of gender, race, job skills, or social status. The Knights of Labor's causes included an eight-hour workday, safer work conditions, payment for work injuries, and an end to child labor. To achieve these goals, the union s leadership emphasized reform,

9 cooperation, and compromise with company leaders, rather than strikes and boycotts. The Knights wanted industrial workshops and stores to be collectively owned by members of the union, meaning that rather than profits being paid to shareholders, they would be divided among the workers. To unite workers all across the nation, the Knights of Labor held the first Labor Day celebration in Many goals of the Knights of Labor were ambitious and considered by some to be unrealistic. Powderly wanted to present a united front of laborers demanding extensive reforms. However, dissent among members about the organization s goals and priorities reduced the size and influence of the organization across the nation. Skilled and unskilled workers, for instance, had different needs and wants. Similarly, the tensions among ethnic groups of immigrants and nativists proved too difficult to overcome. On the other hand, the organization met with some success, such as leading a national strike against Jay Gould s railroad system. This strike resulted in an agreement that promised striking workers would be rehired, paid their previous wages, would receive notification of pay reductions, and would be compensated for overtime. Despite some initial triumphs, membership in the Knights of Labor declined rapidly after several people were killed during a violent confrontation known as the Haymarket Riot. The Knights of Labor was gradually replaced by a collection of trade unions for skilled workers known as the American Federation of Labor. American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was established in 1886 with Samuel Gompers as president. This group was a collection of trade unions. Gompers did not want to strive for major societal reforms as the Knights of Labor had. Gompers s disagreement with the Knights s approach and goals was so strong that he refused to join an alliance with them. Instead of supporting national societal change, Gompers wanted unions to focus on day-to-day problems in their specific industries, which he called bread-and-butter issues. Samuel Gompers, AFL President

10 The AFL expected each trade union to come to its own agreements about work hours, wages, and ways to handle complaints between workers and bosses. These individual groups would then stand up in support of one another in making demands. For instance, if the electricians needed to strike, the plumbers, carpenters and others also would strike. The AFL was successful because it pushed for reforms that specific unions demanded rather than broad national change. Despite this concentrated focus, the AFL also had success on the national level through the Clayton Antitrust Act in 1914, which allowed union activities against practices that harmed consumers, such as trusts and monopolies. Because the AFL leaders believed that skilled workers had more power to cause change, the AFL excluded from its membership all unskilled workers. Many of these workers were European immigrants or African Americans. These populations provided a steady stream of unskilled workers, and, in response, racism and nativism prevented unity among all workers in many cases. Despite these barriers, The AFL was the leading national labor organization until the late 1920s and the Great Depression. Backlash Against Labor Many Americans objected to labor unions. They believed organized labor threatened popular ideas about individualism and free enterprise. Some saw labor unions as un-american. Those who objected to labor unions believed that individual workers should be responsible for advancing their own careers through hard work. They also felt that workers wages should be established by the free market and not through collective bargaining between workers and their employers. As a result, the American public sometimes did not sympathize with workers during labor confrontations. The Haymarket Riot Beginning on May 1, 1886, members of several local Knights of Labor branches went on strike in Chicago, demanding an eight-hour workday for all. Approximately 80,000 workers marched together peacefully in downtown Chicago, carrying their union banners. However, as the strike continued on May 3, violent confrontations between workers and the police occurred, leaving one person dead and several injured. The next day, between two and three thousand workers met at Chicago s Haymarket Square to protest the violence and to continue the call for a shorter workday. Initially, the gathering was peaceful. After most demonstrators had already left, some 200 police officers moved in to make sure the crowd dispersed. At that point, an unknown person threw a bomb. The police responded with gunfire. At least seven police officers and four laborers died, and there were more than 100 injuries. Although it was not clear who had thrown the bomb, the media, business leaders, and the government all blamed the protesters. Today, the event is referred to as the Haymarket Riot, the Haymarket Affair, the Haymarket Incident, or the Haymarket Massacre, depending on one s perspective. Because authorities and most news sources blamed the Knights of Labor, the event led to a backlash against organized labor. People began to see unions as violent agitators. The loss of public trust in unions hindered any possibility of progress on major workplace reforms such as a shortened workday. Knights leader Terence Powderly condemned the violence. Nonetheless, many workers gave up their membership in the Knights after the incidents on Haymarket Square. Many switched their allegiance to Gompers and the AFL.

11 The Homestead Strike Another major setback to the labor movement occurred as a result of the Homestead Strike in Homestead, Pennsylvania, was the headquarters of the Carnegie Steel Company. Homestead employed about 3,800 workers at the time. With steel prices dropping and the union at Homestead growing in strength, negotiations over wages between the union workers and the company broke down in early June. Henry Frick, chairman of the company, locked out the union workers by building a gated fence with barbed wire around the mill. Both Frick and his boss Andrew Carnegie believed the workers would abandon their union in order to keep their jobs. Frick hired temporary unskilled workers, known as scabs, to replace the workers and keep the factory productive in an attempt to break the union. Union workers protested outside of the mill. Frick responded by hiring 300 guards from the Pinkerton detective agency. The guards were to protect the scabs from the protesting union workers. The Pinkerton guards arrived in early July, and a crowd of workers met them at the river. A fierce gun battle ensued. By the end of the day, the guards had surrendered, and at least 10 people were dead. Many more were injured. The governor sent in thousands of state troops to prevent further violence. A few weeks later, Frick was gravely injured in an assassination attempt. Authorities were successful in putting the blame on the strikers. Several influential union leaders were blacklisted, unable to work in their skilled trade again. Many other skilled workers who went on strike were permanently replaced. The event also left a lasting impression on workers. The steel industry would remain without strong union representation until the 1930s. The Pullman Strike The Pullman Strike in 1894 and its violent conclusion were another major setback to the national labor movement that added to the public s negative perception of labor unions. In 1893, the country was in an economic depression. The Pullman Palace Car Company, the leading manufacturer of railroad sleeping cars, needed to maintain profits by lowering labor costs. The company slashed wages by about 25 percent and laid off about 2,000 workers. However, rents and prices for goods in the company town of Pullman remained high, despite the slash in workers salaries. Eugene V. Debs In May 1894, the Pullman workers went on strike. President of the American Railway Union (ARU) Eugene Debs called for railroads to stop running trains with Pullman cars attached. Soon, around 250,000 other railroad employees had joined the Pullman workers protest against the company. Local labor unions held sympathy strikes in more than two dozen states and territories around the nation from Ohio to California. The ARU told railroads they could operate without Pullman cars. However, most

12 railroad companies had contracts requiring them to pull the sleeper cars. Passenger train activity was severely disrupted, particularly around Chicago, which was the largest railroad center in the Midwest. The strike had a nationwide impact because the trains also carried mail and freight containing meat and grains. The Illinois governor sympathized with the laborers, but the issue went to federal court. Federal judges ruled the strike disrupted a government service (the U.S. Mail) and interstate commerce. They said the strikers violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. Federal troops were sent to Chicago to end the strike and order the strikers back to work. Until the troops arrived, the strike had been relatively peaceful. However, in Chicago, the soldiers opened fire into a crowd of nearly 10,000 people. Many were killed or injured before the ARU ended its boycott. Union leader Debs and hundreds of others went to jail. The Pullman workers continued their strike for a short time to no avail. By the time the strike ended, it was clear that federal power would be used against organized labor. He was number one! SpongeBob SquarePants EDISON, Thomas Alva (History.com) The Greatest Inventor Ever! In his 84 years, Thomas Edison acquired a record number of 1,093 patents (singly or jointly) and was the driving force behind such innovations as the phonograph, the incandescent light bulb and one of the earliest motion picture cameras. He also created the world s first industrial research laboratory. Known as the Wizard of Menlo Park, for the New Jersey town where he did some of his best-known work, Edison had become one of the most famous men in the world by the time he was in his 30s. In addition to his talent for invention, Edison was also a successful manufacturer and businessman who was highly skilled at marketing his inventions and himself to the public. Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio. He was the seventh and last child born to Samuel Edison Jr. and Nancy Elliott Edison, and would be one of four to survive to adulthood. Thomas Edison received little formal education, and left school in 1859 to being working on the railroad between Detroit and Port Huron, Michigan, where his family then lived. Did You Know? By the time he died on October 18, 1931, Thomas Edison had amassed a record 1,093 patents: 389 for electric light and power, 195 for the phonograph, 150 for the telegraph, 141 for storage batteries and 34 for the telephone. During the Civil War, Edison learned the emerging technology of telegraphy, and traveled around the country working as a telegrapher. He had developed serious hearing problems, which were variously attributed to scarlet fever, mastoiditis or a blow to the head. With the development of auditory signals for the telegraph, Edison was at a disadvantage, and he began to work on inventing devices that would help make things possible for him despite his deafness (including a printer that would convert the electrical signals to letters). In early 1869, he quit telegraphy to pursue invention full time.

13 EDISON S EMERGENCE AS A LEADING INVENTOR From 1870 to 1875, Edison worked out of Newark, New Jersey, where he developed telegraph-related products for both Western Union Telegraph Company (then the industry leader) and its rivals. Edison s mother died in 1871, and that same year he married 16-year-old Mary Stillwell. Despite his prolific telegraph work, Edison encountered financial difficulties by late 1875, but with the help of his father was able to build a laboratory and machine shop in Menlo Park, New Jersey, 12 miles south of Newark. In 1877, Edison developed the carbon transmitter, a device that improved the audibility of the telephone by making it possible to transmit voices at higher volume and with more clarity. That same year, his work with the telegraph and telephone led him to invent the phonograph, which recorded sound as indentations on a sheet of paraffin-coated paper; when the paper was moved beneath a stylus, the sounds were reproduced. The device made an immediate splash, though it took years before it could be produced and sold commercially, and the press dubbed Edison the Wizard of Menlo Park. EDISON S INNOVATIONS WITH ELECTRIC LIGHT In 1878, Edison focused on inventing a safe, inexpensive electric light to replace the gaslight a challenge that scientists had been grappling with for the last 50 years. With the help of prominent financial backers like J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt family, Edison set up the Edison Electric Light Company and began research and development. He made a breakthrough in October 1879 with a bulb that used a platinum filament, and in the summer of 1880 hit on carbonized bamboo as a viable alternative for the filament, which proved to be the key to a long-lasting and affordable light bulb. In 1881, he set up an electric light company in Newark, and the following year moved his family (which by now included three children) to New York. Though Edison s early incandescent lighting systems had their problems, they were used in such acclaimed events as the Paris Lighting Exhibition in 1881 and the Crystal Palace in London in Competitors soon emerged, notably George Westinghouse, a proponent of alternating or AC current (as opposed to Edison s direct or DC current). By 1889, AC current would come to dominate the field, and the Edison General Electric Co. merged with another company in 1892 to become General Electric Co. EDISON S LATER YEARS AND INVENTIONS Edison s wife, Mary, died in August 1884, and in February 1886 he remarried Mirna Miller; they would have three children together. He built a large estate and research laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, with facilities including a machine shop, a library and buildings for metallurgy, chemistry and woodworking. Spurred on by others work on improving the phonograph, he began working toward producing a commercial model. He also had the idea of linking the phonograph to a zoetrope, a device that strung together a series of photographs in such a way that the images appeared to be moving. Working with William K.L. Dickson, Edison succeeded in constructing a working motion picture camera, the Kinetograph, and a viewing instrument, the Kinetoscope, which he patented in 1891.

14 After years of heated legal battles with his competitors in the fledgling motion-picture industry, Edison had stopped working with moving film by In the interim, he had had success developing an alkaline storage battery, which he originally worked on as a power source for the phonograph but later supplied for submarines and electric vehicles. In 1912, automaker Henry Ford asked Edison to design a battery for the self-starter, which would be introduced on the iconic Model T. The collaboration began a continuing relationship between the two great American entrepreneurs. Despite the relatively limited success of his later inventions (including his long struggle to perfect a magnetic ore-separator), Edison continued working into his 80s. His rise from poor, uneducated railroad worker to one of the most famous men in the world made him a folk hero. More than any other individual, he was credited with building the framework for modern technology and society in the age of electricity.