What is American Studies?

Cumberland (National Road), 1811

Conestoga Covered Wagons

Conestoga Trail, 1820sConestoga Trail, 1820s

Erie Canal System

Erie Canal, 1820s

Begun in 1817; completed in 1825Begun in 1817; completed in 1825

Robert Fulton & the Steamboat

1807: The 1807: The ClermontClermont

Principal Canals in 1840

Inland Freight Rates

Clipper Ships

TheRailroad

Revolution,1850s

Immigrant laborImmigrant laborbuilt the No. built the No. RRs.RRs.

Slave laborSlave laborbuilt the So. built the So. RRs. RRs.

Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin, 1791

Actually Actually invented by a invented by a

slave!slave!

Eli Whitney’s Gun Factory

Interchangeable Parts RifleInterchangeable Parts Rifle

OliverEvans

First prototype of the First prototype of the locomotivelocomotive

First automated flour millFirst automated flour mill

John Deere & the Steel Plow(1837)

Cyrus McCormick& the Mechanical Reaper:

1831

Samuel F. B. Morse

1840 – Telegraph1840 – Telegraph

Cyrus Field & the Transatlantic Cable,

1858

Elias Howe & Isaac Singer

1840s1840sSewing MachineSewing Machine

Boom/Bust Cycles: 1790-1860

The blue line shows, for comparison, the price of a The blue line shows, for comparison, the price of a year’s tuition at Harvard College. In 1790 it was $24, year’s tuition at Harvard College. In 1790 it was $24, but by 1860 had risen to $104.but by 1860 had risen to $104.

Distribution of Wealthv During the American During the American

Revolution,Revolution,45% of all wealth in the top 45% of all wealth in the top 10% of10% ofthe population.the population.v 1845 Boston 1845 Boston top 4% owned top 4% owned

overover 65% of the wealth. 65% of the wealth.v 1860 Philadelphia 1860 Philadelphia top 1% top 1% ownedowned over 50% of the wealth. over 50% of the wealth.v The gap between rich and poor The gap between rich and poor waswas widening! widening!

Polarization of Wealth in the 20c

Samuel Slater(“Father of the Factory

System”)

The Lowell/Waltham System:

First Dual-Purpose Textile Plant

Francis Cabot Lowell’s town - 1814Francis Cabot Lowell’s town - 1814

Lowell Mill

Early Textile Mill Loom Floor

Early Textile Loom

New EnglandTextile

Centers:

1830s

New England Dominance in Textiles

Early “Union” Newslett

er

American Population Centers in 1820

American Population Centers in 1860

National Origin of Immigrants:1820 - 1860

Why now?Why now?

Industrialization,

Urbanization, and

Immigration1865-1924

What is the Industrial Revolution about? ProductionTransportationImmigrationRise of CitiesDecline in pop from rural areasCorruptionUnion ActivismRacism/NativismReform- (Progressives- Fix the problems of industrial society)

When does the Industrial Revolution take place?

Various periods of American History1st Industrial Revolution 1800-1860 begins in early 1800’s with textile manufacturing and iron production2nd IR really takes off in the latter part of 1800’s, ca 1870-1915

Sources of Industrial Growth1. Raw materials2. Large Labor Supply3. Technological Innovation4. Entrepreneurs5. Federal Gov = eager to support

business6. Domestic Markets for goods7. Business Organization

Iron and Steel1870-1880s Iron Production soaredThen Steel= 40,000 miles of track

Aided by the Bessemer ProcessBlowing air and secret ingredients through

molten iron to burn out impurities Blast FurnaceOpen Hearth Furnace

I Beam allowed sky scrappersNew Furnaces 500 tons per week

Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Steel towns- Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, BirmighamMichigan, Minnesota, Birmingham AL (Iron Ore)

Rail Roads: B and O, Pennsylvania, Reading, Short Line, Southern Pacific, Central Pacific Railroad Industry

spurs developmentIron for Engines, and rails, later steel Farms, lumber, Buffalo HuntersEmployment- Chinese in West, and Irish in EastAids transportation, access to raw materials and markets, spurs construction

Land is granted to RR companies in exchange for building the RR- esp Transcontinental RRLater RR will own tremendous amount of land and sell it to people moving WEST

By 1880s there are 150,000 miles of Rail creating an national economy.

Rail Roads continuedStandard Time (4 zones)

Growth of Track1860- 52,000 miles1870- 93,000 miles1890- 163,000 miles1900- 193,000 miles

Chicago is a major rail hub-Government paid subsidies, $ to RR in order to complete and aid in Western railroad development

The Big 4 Famous RR executives Stanford, Huntington, Vanderbilt, Crocker

•Airplane- •Wright Bros•Orville and Wilbur •1903 Kitty Hawk, NC

Taylorism= Scientific ManagementProduction process should be Divided into specialized tasksEach task speeds up productionTrain all workers to do unskilled jobs “Makes workers interchangeable”

Captains of Industry or Robber Barons?

John D. RockefellerStandard OilBought out competition1881 Standard Oil Trust controlled 90% of oil refinery businessUsed horizontal integration to ruthlessly control and conquer the Oil industryJim Fisk and Jay Gould

Corrupt business practicesInvestments

Andrew Carnegie (1873)Pennsylvania Steel WorksCut costsMade deals with RRsBought rival copmaniesHenry Clay Frick managerOwned coal minesIron minesShipsControlled from mine to marketUsed vertical integrationCarnegie Steel 1901 (sold to J.P. Morgan$450 MillionUS Steel later worth $1.4 Billion)

Rise of Big BusinessBy 1900 the American economy was dominated by business monopolies or trusts, huge business empiresTrusts in sugar, cotton, tobacco, meat, flour, and even whiskeyNumber of industrial combinations rose from 12 to 305 between 1887 and 1903

2,600 smaller firms disappearedBy 1900, 1 % of all companies produced 40%

of the manufacturing outputGAPE saw the rise of the modern corporation

Used 14th Amendment to gain “personhood” and rights

Immigration Statistics1860-1920 -- aprox. 30 million European immigrants1880-1920 -- appox. 27 million European immigrants2 “Waves” of immigrants

1860-1890 -- (approx. 10mil) Britain, Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Holland

1890-1920 -- (approx. 20mil) Italy, Greece, Austro-Hungary, Russia, Romania, Turkey

Chinese Immigrants

In 1851, a racist from NC named Hinton Helper left his home state to get away from what he referred to as the “diversity of color” in America’s more settled regions.

He traveled to California and was shocked to find Chinese people living there—so much so that he wondered out loud if the “copper” of the Pacific would cause as much discord and dissension as the “ebony” had on the Atlantic.

Between 1850 and 1882 the Chinese pop in the U.S. soared from 7,520 to 300,000. Chinese comprised 8.6 percent of California’s total pop and an impressive 25% of its wage earners.

Chinese ExclusionIn calling for Chinese exclusion, one San Francisco paper referred to them as morally inferior heathen savages who were overly lustful and sensual. Chinese women were condemned as a depraved class, which was attributed in large part to their physical appearance. Critics thought they looked like Africans. Chinese men were portrayed as a sexual threat to white women.

Chinese also compared to Indians and referred to as the “new barbarians.”

CICERO © 2011

How does this painting explain the attitude of Americans in the mid-1800s?

Spirit of the Frontier/American Progress, 1872 by John Gast

CICERO © 2011

CICERO © 2011

How does this painting explain the attitude of Americans in the mid-1800s?

Spirit of the Frontier/American Progress, 1872 by John Gast

CICERO © 2011

The “Benevolent The “Benevolent Empire”Empire”

““Burned-Over” Burned-Over” DistrictDistrict

in Upstate New in Upstate New YorkYork

Steel Production

Vertical IntegrationCarnegie acquired all aspects of steel productionLimited competition, maximized profits, lowered prices

Steel and CitiesBuildings

SkyscrapersSteel beams

InfrastructureRailroadsBridges

Brooklyn BridgeUrban Innovation

Mass TransitElevated railsSubways

ElevatorsCentral steam-heating systems

Home Insurance BuildingChicago1885

Flatiron Building/Fuller BuildingNew York1902

Urban Problems• Overcrowding

• Tenement Living• Pollution• Crime• Sanitation/Water

Treatment• Disease

Urban and Social Reforms

Municipal servicesSocial GospelSettlement Houses

Jane Addams and Hull HouseYMCASalvation Army

Working ConditionsTypical 12 hour days, 6 days a weekConditions

Average of 675 workers killed each weekInjured = fired

No benefits, such as vacation days, sick leave, health insurance, workers’ compensation, pensionsWomen

Earned half of what men earned in comparable or same jobs

Child LaborAs young as 5 years old12-14 hours for $.27 ($6.65)

Unions vs. Management

National Labor Union (NLU) Founded in 1866 as the

first national labor unionPlatform

8-hour workdayMonetary reform, cooperativesRacial and gender equality

Impact8-hour workday for federal employees

Knights of Labor

Founded in 1869Open to blacks, women, most immigrants, Catholics, unskilled and semi-skilled workersCooperatives and anti-trusts8-hour workday, child labor lawsPreferred arbitration over strikes

DeclineAFL

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Skilled workersSamuel Gompers“Bread and Butter” Unionism

Higher wagesShorter working hoursBetter working conditions

TacticsUsed arbitration and strikesAvoided political radicalism and extremism

Captains of Industry OR Robber Barons:John D. Rockefeller and Oil

Horizontal IntegrationStandard Oil

Trusts and monopoliesSherman Anti-trust Act (1890)Gilded Age SocietySocial DarwinismGospel of Wealth

Standard OilRockefeller established Standard Oil in 1870Uses for Oil

Kerosene lampsFuel for railroads

Used vertical integration to control oil industry then horizontal integration to control oil marketEventually controlled 95% of oil refining

Antitrust MovementSherman Antitrust Act (1890)

Prohibits any “contract, combination, in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce”

United States v. E.C. Knight Co. (1895)Sugar refining monopoly tested Sherman Antitrust ActRegulation applied to commerce and not manufacturing

ImmigrationPushes

Mechanization removing jobs, esp. in rural areasOverpopulationPersecution

PullsPolitical and economic freedoms and opportunities

Old ImmigrantsNorthern and Western Europe

New ImmigrantsSouthern and Eastern Europe; AsiaCatholics, Jews

Immigrant IssuesSociopolitical Enemies

NativistsJosiah Strong - Our Country

LegislationPage Act of 1875

Forbade forced labor Asians, prostitutes, convicts

Immigration Acts of 1882, 1891$0.50 taxForbid convicts, lunatics, idiots, diseased, disabled

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)Chinese immigration ban for 10 yearsChinese prevented from becoming citizens

United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898)All people born in U.S. are citizens

Political MachinesEmployment, housing, social services for votes

Ethnic NeighborhoodsLittle ItalyChinatown

Ellis Island

“…Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore…”

Emma Lazarus - The New Colossus, 1883

Laissez-Faire and Social DarwinismLaissez-Faire Economics

Economy driven by the “invisible hand” of market forces (supply and demand)Government should refrain from regulation or interference

Social DarwinismHerbert Spencer

“Survival of the fittest”Wealth a result of hard work and brilliancePoor and unfortunate were lazy

William Graham SumnerAbsolute freedom to struggle, succeed, or failState intervention is futile

Gospel of WealthAndrew CarnegieGuardians of the nation’s wealth“All revenue generated beyond your own needs should be used for the good of the community.”

Horatio Alger Myth“Rags to riches” stories

Young American men, through hard work and virtue, will succeedAlso used a supporting wealthy philanthropic character

Seemingly propaganda of the American Dream under free enterprise and capitalism

MorganizationJ.P. Morgan and Co.

Financial capital and investmentDirectly and indirectly pursued inventions and innovations

Mergers and Consolidations

Railroad industryInterlocking directorates

Corporate board of directors sitting on boards of multiple corporations

ElectricityThomas Edison

The Wizard of Menlo ParkIncandescent light bulb

Safer than kerosene lampsNew York City

Direct current (DC)Edison developed system of power stations

Nicola TeslaAlternate current (AC)

Transfer of electricity faster and farther

Gilded Age InnovationSewing Machine (1855)

Isaac SingerTransatlantic cable (1866)

Cyrus FieldDynamite (1866)

Alfred NobelTypewriter (1867)

Christopher ScholesAir brakes (1868)

George WestinghouseMail-order catalog (1872)

A.M. WardBlue jeans (1873)

Levi StraussBarbed wire (1873)

Joseph GliddenTelephone (1876)

Alexander Graham Bell*Phonograph (1877)

Thomas EdisonLight bulb (1879)

Thomas Edison*Cash register (1879)

James Ritty

Universal stock ticker (1885)Thomas Edison

Transformer (1885)Nikola Tesla

Gasoline automobile (1885)Karl F. Benz

Skyscraper (1885)William Le Baron Jenney

Film roll and Kodak camera (1889)George Eastman*

Motion picture camera (1891)Thomas Edison*

Radio (1895)Guglielmo Marconi

Subway (U.S.) (1895)X-ray (1895)

Wilhelm C. RontgenPowered flight (1903)

George and Wilbur WrightAlkaline battery (1906)

Thomas EdisonModel T (1908)

Henry Ford

Number of Patents Issued

CorporationsAmerican Telephone and Telegraph Co. (1885)

J.P. Morgan Co. financed merger of Bell and communication companies

General Electric (1892)J.P. Morgan merged Edison General Electric and Thomas-Houston Electric Company

U.S. Steel (1901)J.P. Morgan bought Carnegie Steel and merged with other steel companiesBecomes first billion dollar company in world

Corporate Mergers - 1895-1910

ConsumerismWide variety of mass produced goods led to new marketing and salesBrand names and logosDepartment stores

R.H. Macy’sChain stores

Woolworth’sGrocery storesMail order catalogs

Montgomery WardSears, Roebuck, Co.

Realism and NaturalismRealism

Objective realityDepict accurate and true characters and settingsAbsent of emotional embellishment

NaturalismDepiction of objects in natural settingsTime and place accuracy

Brooklyn Bridge at NightEdward Willis Redfield1909

Gilded Age ArtAshcan School

Depiction of New York City urban lifeGeorge Bellows

James M. WhistlerWinslow HomerMary Cassatt

Both Members of This ClubGeorge Bellows1909

Winslow Homer’s Breezing Up

George Bellow’s New York

James Whistler’s Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (Whistler’s Mother) (1871)

Mary Cassat’s The Child’s Bath (1893)