Chapter 24 AP Notes

Post Civil War Inventions Raw materials Growing population New sources of power Government policies Improved transportation and

communication Effects of the Civil War

Introduction of machinery and a factory system

New inventions and inventors◦ 1790- 1860 US Patent Office – 36,000

patents◦ 1860-1890 – U.S. Patent Office – 500,000

patents

Thomas Edison – “The Wizard of Menlo Park”

CoalOilIron

High birth rate Immigration

1800s – pop. doubled every 25 years1800 – 5 million1900 – 76 million

Provided sufficient labor and demand for consumer goods

ElectricityPetroleum

Granted land and cash subsidies to rail road builders

Levied high tariffs to protect manufacturing

Laissez-faire policies

RailroadsTelegraphTelephone

Industry prosperedEmergence of a millionaire class

Liquid capital –people had money to invest and spend

Increased mechanizationGovernment now in the hands of the Republican Party with pro-business policies

Key to industrial growthCreated a national marketAllowed people to settle the Great Plains

Maker of millionairesDemand for steel – spurred iron and steel industries

Creation of 4 time zones

Railroad production grewDeadlock over route for transcontinental railroad broken◦Union Pacific Railroad – west from Omaha

◦Central Pacific RR from California◦1869 – met at Odgen, Utah

Meeting at Promontory Point – Utah - 1869

Northern Pacific RR – L. Superior Puget Sound

Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe – through southwest

Southern Pacific – New Orleans San Francisco

Great Northern – Duluth Seattle

Westinghouse air brakeSteel railsUniform signaling system along track lines

Standard gauge = 4’8”Pullman Palace CarsTime zones

Subsidies Loans Land grants

◦155,504,994 acres◦along routes – alternate one-mile sq. sections

◦choicest sections closest to the rail lines

Railroads expensive to build West was thinly populated – risky

investment Military and postal needs Encourage population to move into

Great Plains Tie nation together economically

Nation united physically Raw materials from the West

transported East Manufactured goods from the East

transported West Stimulated mining and agriculture in

the West Stimulated growth of cities Stimulated immigration

Corruption – Credit Mobilier Scandal “Stock watering” Bribed judges and legislatures – free

passes Natural monopoly Pools Rebates Charge higher rates for short haul than

long

Being “railroaded” Farmers particularly at the mercy of railroads

Midwestern legislatures tried to regulate railroads – unconstitutional (Wabash case) – states can not regulate interstate commerce

Prohibited rebates Required the railroads to publish rates

openly Outlawed charging more for short haul Forbade discrimination against

shippers Established the Interstate Commerce

Commission to enforce law 1st attempt by Washington to regulate

big business in the public interest

Competition was wastefulVertical integration – Carnegie Steel

Horizontal integration – trusts – Rockefeller and Standard Oil Company

Interlocking directorates – J.P. Morgan and banking

Heavy industry – capital goods

Foundation for tall buildings railroad industry

Bessemer process made cheap steel possible

By 1900 U.S. producing as much as Great Britain and Germany combined

Carnegie Steel “Watch the costs

– profits will take care of themselves”

Vertical consolidation

1900 - $40 million profit

Philanthropist

Carnegie’s philosophy The wealthy are entrusted with the

public wealth and must use is wisely Gave away the bulk of his fortune -

$350 million ◦ Libraries◦ Church organs◦ Schools

“Banker’s Banker”

Wall Street banker – financed railroads, insurance cos., and banks

Bought Carnegie Steel for $0.5 billion

Created U.S. Steel – 1st $1 billion company

1870 – organized Standard Oil Company

1877 controlled 95% of nation’s oil

Forced competitors out of business –

Survival of the fittestThe wealthy are rich because they worked hard and are the product of natural selection

The poor need to work harder – pull themselves up by the “bootstraps”

Employed thousands of workers

Increased availability of goodsRaised the standard of livingBuilt factories, raised productivity, expanded markets

Philanthropists

Built fortunes stealing from the public Drained the country of natural

resources Corrupted public officials to interpret

laws in their favor Drove competition out of business Paid meager wages and forced workers

to work under dangerous and unhealthy conditions

Concern – monopolies could hurt the consumer and worker

Sherman Anti – Trust Act of 1890◦Outlawed trusts and other combinations in restraint of trade

◦Vague and not well enforced◦Supreme Court usually favored big business

1900 produced smaller % of nation’s manufactured goods than before C.W.

RR gave favorable rates to northern industry in competition with southern

Textile mills◦ Close to the source of raw materials◦ Cheap labor

Economy dominated by a few large companies – Standard Oil, U.S. Steel, General Electric, Swift and Armour, AT&T, Westinghouse, and DuPont

Strains on the economy pressure for foreign trade search for markets imperialism

1900 1/10 of the population owned 9/10 of the wealth

Custom made/small workshop unskilled/impersonal factory work

Controlled own situation/set hours, pace, output impersonal, routine work on a set schedule

12 hrs/day 6 days/week Child labor Unsafe conditions – accidents were a

normal risk in working Management fought safety and health

standards

1890 – Richest 9% owned 75% of the nation’s wealth

Average working family only earned a few hundred dollars/ year

In working class family, it was necessary for most members to work for survival

Wealthy lived ostentatiously

A political and economic theory of collective government ownership of factories and property

Goal – fair distribution of wealth◦ Equality

Never a strong movement in US

Karl Marx ◦ Criticized capitalist economic system and

predicted its eventual overthrow by the working class

Contrary to American ideals of free enterprise and private property

Most Americans did not support socialism However, growing discontent among the

workers fueled socialist rhetoric Union movement was an alternative

Organized by trade Helped members during hard times Became a voice for worker demands

◦ Shorter workdays◦ Higher wages◦ Better conditions

◦ Weak in the beginning

Immigration – cheap laborEthnic and racial divisionsReligious divisionsSkilled vs. unskilledDivided by craftsMiddle class fears of radicalism

Organized all wage earners Goals:

◦Equal pay for equal work◦Graduated income tax◦End to child labor◦Cooperative ownership of factories

Strategies – restrict immigration and strikes

Success: ◦Won strike against Jay Gould’s Wabash RR

◦600,000 joined Failure:

◦Too big and diverse◦Political goals◦Later strikes unsuccessful

Leadership: Terence Powderly

Loose federation of skilled trades Goals:

◦ Bread and butter issues – wages, hours, safety

◦ Union recognition and closed shop◦ Collective bargaining

Leadership: Samuel Gompers Success: Steady – conservative – still

exists today

Great Railroad Strike of 1877◦Baltimore and Ohio RR◦RR wages cut 10% and workers cut◦Riot in Pittsburgh state militia called in 10 people killed Strikers fought back

◦President Hayes sent in federal troops to put down the strike

◦Set precedent – govt represses labor unrest

Haymarket Square -1886◦ Workers wanted 8 hour day◦ Strike breakers were brought in and a fight ensued◦ Police broke up fight and several were injured◦ Anarchists held protest rally where a bomb was thrown

Police were killed/wounded and fired into crowd Dozens of deaths

Homestead Strike – 1892◦ Union negotiated a new labor contract with Carnegie

Steel, Carnegie went to Europe.◦ Carnegie’s partner (Frick) cut wages and a strike ensued◦ Frick called in Pinkertons, strikers fired on them◦ Governor called in troops to end violence◦ Union acknowledges loss

Pullman Strike – 1894◦ Pullman built a company town (owned everything)◦ During Depression, Pullman cut wages but did not reduce

living costs◦ Workers protested and were then fired◦ Workers went on strike◦ Pullman shut down plant, RR union refused to haul any

Pullman cars and strike spread (interrupted mail) ◦ Govt sends in troops (cites Anti-Trust law – restraint of

trade) Middle class Americans saw violence,

radicalism, unions and immigration as all related.