Expansion of U.S. led to discovers of

deposits of coal, iron, lead, & copper

› Along with vast forests that could furnish

lumber

Land grants given by gov’t to railroads &

other businessesses

Tariffs were kept on imports

› Helped American industry grow by making

foreign goods more expensive

Technology spurred industrial growth as

well

› 1850s: Bessemer process was developed

Method of making steel stronger at lower costs

Steel quickly replaced iron as basic building

material

Pittsburgh became nation’s steel making

capital

Due to close coal mines & good transportation

1859

› Titusvill, PA

New source of energy found

1st oil strike

Methods to refine crude oil were developed

Made into lubricants for machines & later into

gasoline

Oil became known as black gold

Railroads fueled industrial growth

› Carried people & goods to the west & raw

materials to the east

› New services added (sleeping cars) & more tracks were laid down

› Big lines soon consolidated & bought up

smaller lines

Limited competition & kept prices high

Higher prices angered small farmers who relied on

railroads to get their goods to market

Late 1800s

› More patents issued than 10 years before

Civil War

› U.S. became known as a land of invention

› Inventions made business & life easier

1876› Thomas Edison created research lab in Menlo

Park, NJ

Here they created the light bulb, the phonograph, the motion picture camera, & other useful devices

1882› Edison opened 1st electrical power plant in New

York City; other soon followed all over the country

Supplied electricity that lit homes, powered streetcars, & replaced steam engines & electric ones in factories

1866 telegraph speed increased› Cyrus Field laid an underwater telegraph cable

from Europe

› Made communication faster

1876› Alexander Graham Bell sent the 1st telephone

message to his assistant in another room

› Patent for the telephone became the most valuable ever issued

› By 1885 300,000 phones were sold

› He later organized over 100 local companies into the giant American Telephone & Telegraphy Company

1868› Christopher Sholes invented the type writer

› Made writing letters much faster

1888› George Eastman introduced a lightweight camera

› Replaced heavy chemicals & equipment

› Sold for a low price, ordinary people could purchase it

Jan Matzeliger› African American; invented shoe sewing machine

Granville Woods› African American; invented telegraph between

moving trains

Late 1800s

› European engineers developed automobile

Only 8,000 Americans had one

› Era of freer & faster transportation followed

Henry Ford

› American manufacturer made automobile available to millions

› Created a system to mass produce cars & made them available

at a lower price

› 1913 Ford introduced the assembly line

Production time was cut in half

Lower costs to build = lower prices for consumers

1917 4.5 million owned cars

Cars changed the nation’s landscape

› Roads spread across country & new cities were developed

1903

› Wilbur & Orville Wright tested a gas powered

airplane @ Kitty Hawk, NC

› Stayed in the air for 12 seconds & flew 120 feet

› 1st flights attracted little interest

No use for a flying machine

Military did not starting using airplane until WWI

1920s

› Airplane started to alter the world by making

travel quicker & trade easier

Expansion led by entrepreneurs

› Someone who sets up new businesses to

make a profit

› To raise more money, entrepreneurs adopted new ways of organizing business

Corporations

› Businesses owned by many investors

› Raise money by selling stock or shares

› Stockholders get some of the profits & pick who runs the company

Limited risk of investors, only lost money they

invested

Huge loans were given to corporations

› Helped industry grow quickly

› Made huge profits for bankers

J. Pierpont Morgan

› Became powerful force in American economy

› Gained control of key industries (railroads &

steel)

Bought stock in troubled corporations

Ran companies by eliminating competition &

increasing profits

Congress did little to regulate business

practices

› Led to growth of “Big Business”

› Entrepreneurs formed monopolies or companies that control most or all business

in a particular industry

Poor Scottish immigrant that worked his

way up in the railroad business

Entered the steel industry

› Soon controlled every step of making steel

(owned iron mines, steel mills, railroads, &

shipping lines)

1892 formed Carnegie Steel Company;

produced more steel than all mills in England

Carnegie believed the rich had a duty to

improve society

› Called Gospel of Wealth

› Donated millions to build libraries & charities

› Set up a foundation that funded worthy

causes after his death

Son of a New York peddler

At 23 he invested in an oil refinery› Used profits to buy other oil companies

› Didn’t hesitate to crush competitors

1882 Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Trust› Trust: group of corporations run by a single

board of directors

1900› Trusts dominated many of nation’s key industries

Big Business good or bad?

Critics› Trusts threatened free enterprise (system in which

privately owned businesses compete freely)

› Business leaders were “robber barons” & used their money to influence politicians

Others› Bold “captains of industry”

› Built up economy & created jobs

› Made goods & services affordable for American consumers

Supported trend toward trusts

Survival of the fittest applied to human

affairs

Business leaders used to justify efforts to

limit competition & harsh working

conditions

Close relationships between owners &

workers ended as industries grew

Most new workers were immigrants,

others were African Americans who left

southern farms

Outnumbered men in most industries

Many work in sweatshops (workshops

with long hours & poor working

conditions with low pay)

Children had hazardous jobs as well

Most children did not go to school &

could not improve their lives

Lung diseases by textile workers & miners› From breathing fibers & dusts

Burns & death by steelworkers

Employers were not required to pay compensation for injuries› Social Darwinists: harsh conditions necessary

to cut costs, increase production, & ensure survival of business

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory› Fire broke out

› Within 15 minutes, upper stories were ablaze

› Workers raced to exits to find them locked

Doors locked to keep workers at their jobs

› Fire truck ladders were too short to reach the fire

Workers leaped to their deaths

150 people, mostly young women, died

New York & other states approved safety

Factory workers made attempts to

organize in early days of Industrial

Revolution

› Security guards were hired by companies to attack strikers or union organizers

› Laws made it illegal to strike

› Workers formed unions in secret

Sought safer working conditions, higher wages,

& shorter hours

Philadelphia clothing workers

› 1st was small & secret

1879

› Terence Powderly elected president of KOL

Held public rallies

Women, African Americans, immigrants, &

unskilled workers were admitted

Became biggest union in the country

Violent labor disputes soon took

place

May 4th, 1886

› Strike took place in Haymarket Square in

Chicago

› Bomb exploded killing seven policemen

› Police opened fire on the crowd

› KOL lost their influence as a result of

protest

1886› Samuel Gompers formed new union in Columbus,

OH American Federation of Labor

Replaced KOL as leading union in the country

AFL only admitted skilled workers› Costly & more difficult to train replacements

› Believed in collective bargaining (unions negotiate with management for workers as a group)

› Used strikes only when all else failed

1904› AFL had more than a million members› Only included a fraction of American workers

Played leading roles in building unions

Mary Harris Jones

› Traveled the country campaigning for unions

› Called attention to hard lives of children

Called Mother Jones by many people

1893› Severe economic depression

› Owners cut production, fired workers, & slashed wages Violent strikes swept the country

George Pullman› Cut workers pay by 25% & did not lower rent on company

housing

› Workers walked off their jobs

› By July rail lines were shut down from coast to coast

› President Grover Cleveland sent federal troops to Chicago to end the strike Shots were fired into the crowd, killing 2

Public generally sided with owners in violent labor disputes› Striking unions were seen as radical or violent

› By 1900 only 3% of American workers belonged to a union

Urbanization› Rapid growth of city populations

1890› 1 in 3 Americans lived in a city

› U.S. had cities the sizes of London & Paris

Reasons for urbanization› Cities attracted industry & industry attracted

people

Moved in search of jobs & excitement

Many were near waterways, provided easier transport of goods

Technology

› Aided in growth of cities

Elevated trains, electric streetcar, & electric

subway

Public Transportation

› Help create suburbs

Didn’t have to live in the cities to work there

› Steel bridges also allowed suburbs to grow

Cities expanded upward

› 1885 1st 10 story building constructed

› 1900 skyscrapers reached 30 stories

Electric elevators allowed people to move up

& down the building

Cities grew outward from old downtown

sections

› Poor families crowded into these areas

Fire

› Constant threat to tightly packed

neighborhoods

› 1871

Chicago fire leveled 3 square

miles of downtown killing 300

people & leaving 18,000 homeless

Downtown slums› Poor living conditions

› Tenements: buildings divided into many tiny apartments

No windows (usually), heat, or indoor plumbing

10 people lived in a single room & several families shared a single bathroom

› Streets were littered w/ garbage

› Diseases were common

› Babies ran the greatest risk of death

In one Chicago slum, half of all babies died by one

1880s

› Streetlights, fire stations, police departments,

& sanitation stations were set up

› Public health officials waged war on disease

› Religious groups served the poor

Hospitals & clinics were set up for those who

could not afford a doctor

› Salvation Army was founded & gave food, clothing & shelter to the homeless

Jane Addams› 1889 opened Hull House (settlement house)

in Chicago

A center offering help to the urban poor

At settlement houses› Taught English to immigrants, sponsored

music & sports for young people, & provided nurseries for children of working women

Addams & other house leaders fought to outlaw child labor

Attractions available in the city

› Electric lights, elevated railroads, & tall

buildings

Department stores

› Developed to meet the needs of shoppers

Could buy everything they needed in one

store (use to buy shirts in one, shoes in one,

pants in one)

Goods were separated on different floors

Entertainment provided to people in cities› Museums, orchestras, art galleries, & theaters

› Circuses drew large audiences

1850s› Frederick Law Olmsted planned Central Park in NY Others cities built parks, zoos, & gardens

Sports› Pro teams developed in cities after the Civil War

› Baseball was the most popular Cincinnati Red Stockings 1st pro team in 1869 7 years later 8 cities had teams & formed the National

League of Professional Baseball Clubs w/ crowds of 5,000 people

1891

› James Naismith nailed two peach baskets to

the walls of a gym in Springfield, MA

› Basketball was the new game he created

Used a soccer ball

Football also became popular

› Very dangerous, no equipment

› 1 season 44 college players died of injuries

1865-1915› 25 million immigrants entered U.S.

Reasons for Migration› Farmland in Europe was shrinking w/ increasing

population & machines were replacing farmhands

› Religious freedom

› Political unrest

› Job opportunities Steamships & railroads (profited from immigration) sent

agents to Asia & Europe advertising cheap land & plentiful jobs

› Promise of freedom drew people from lands w/o democracy & liberty

Came from southern & eastern Europe (Italy, Poland, Russia, & Greece), Asia, & the Pacific

Most were Catholic or Jewish

Few understood English or experience living in a democracy or a city

Difficult decision to emigrate

› Leave home, family, & friends to start a

strange new life

Coming to America

› Miserable journey

› Crammed below decks in steerage

(large compartments that usually held

cattle)

› Diseases & rough seas sickened

travelers

› Europeans landed at Ellis Island in NY &

Most settled into cities after being

admitted to U.S.

› Near people from the same country

Helped people feel less isolated

Celebrated familiar holidays & cooked foods

from homeland

Social groups were started (Sons of Italy)

Storefronts became places of worship

Immigrant Aid Societies

› Helped cloth, house, & teach immigrants

Assimilation

› Immigrants kept traditional modes of worship, family life, & community

› Worked hard to also assimilate (process of

becoming part of another culture)

Children assimilated faster than parents;

learned English faster, played baseball &

dressed like native-born Americans Pained parents to see children change, but dreamed

of the next generations would be better off

Labor of immigrants was essential to new American economy› Took whatever job they could find (steel

mills, meatpacking plants, mines, garment sweatshops, built subways, skyscrapers, & bridges)

› Chinese, Irish, & Mexican workers laid hundreds of miles of railroad track

Hard work & saving allowed many to advance economically› Sometimes opened small businesses to serve

their community

Customers expanded beyond neighborhood

Individual Immigrants who contributed

› Andrew Carnegie, Alexander Graham Bell,

Samuel Goldwyn & Louis Mayer (started

motion picture industry), Arturo Toscanini (famous orchestra conductor), Leo

Baekeland (invented 1st plastic)

1840s› Increased immigration led to nativism Nativists sought to preserve U.S. for native born

Americans Immigrants wouldn’t assimilate because their

languages, religions, & customs were too different

Took away jobs from Americans Immigrants were associated w/ violence, crime, &

anarchy

› West Coast Chinese were drove from mining camps & cities &

sometimes killed by angry mobs

1882› Congress passed Chinese Exclusion Act to

exclude Chinese laborers from U.S. 1st law limiting immigration based on race;

repealed in 1943

1917

Before 1870

› ½ American children attended school

› All age levels w/ one teacher

Industry Growth

› Nation needed educated workforce

› States improved public schools @ all levels

1852› Compulsory education law passed Requirement that children attend school up to a certain

point

› Most states passed minimum of 10th grade

› Schools for whites & black were built in the South More reluctant to pass compulsory education laws

1918› Every state required children to attend school

Higher education also expanded› Colleges for men & women opened

› Universities offering free or low-cost education opened

Elementary School› 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

› Learned reading, writing, & arithmetic

› Moral values & the Christian religion

Education for Adults› Libraries were built Offered not only books & magazines, but also

speakers on important topics

› 1874 Methodist minister opened summer bible

school along Lake Chautauqua Camp later opened to the public

Chautauqua Society later began & traveling lectures were sent out

Americans began to read more

› Bestsellers were dime novels

› Told rags-to-riches stories

Realism

› Writers who try to show life as it is

› Emphasized the harsh side

› Stephen Crane, Jack London, Kate Chopin, & Paul Laurence Dunbar

Mark Twain

› Pen name of Samuel Clemens

› Made stories realistic by capturing the

speech patterns of southerners who lived & worked along the Mississippi River

Huckleberry Finn

Late 1800s› Newspapers grew dramatically

1900› Half the newspapers in the world were

printed in the U.S.

Causes of newspaper boom› Spread of education

More could read, more newspapers & magazines were bought

› Urbanization

News was shared face to face

People needed newspapers to stay informed

Joseph Pulitzer

› Created 1st modern mass circulation

newspaper

› 1883

Bought New York World

Cut the price so more people could afford it

Added crowd pleasing features

Color comics (the Yellow Kid a sweet slum boy), crime & scandalous headlines

Critics called it yellow journalism