Industrialization! &! the Gilded Age *** Go to Mrs. Lang s teacher page for the recorded lecture!!!
Essential Question How did industrialization bring both positive and negative changes?
Technological Advances New inventions and technologies helped fuel the great economic expansion of the late 1800s. Electricity 1876 A.G. Bell invented the telephone 1879 T. Edison produced the first effective light bulb
The Growth of Railroads After the Civil War, separate crews of engineers and laborers worked from California eastward and from the middle of the country westward. The Transcontinental Railroad was finally completed in 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah. The journey from coast to coast was instantly reduced from months to weeks.
Population Growth In 1850, there were 23 million Americans; by 1900, there were 76 million. Population growth created favorable conditions for business expansion. rising demand for goods plentiful cheap labor
Rise of Entrepreneurs With little to no government regulations on industry (free enterprise) businessmen were able to amass great fortunes Captains of Industry positive Robber Barons negative
Andrew Carnegie Carnegie Steel, 1892 His steel mills undercut the competition. Didn t treat his workers well 12 hr days low wages no labor unions Wrote Gospel of Wealth
John D. Rockefeller Made his fortune in the oil industry. Standard Oil Company, 1870. By 1879, his company controlled 90% of the oil refining in the U.S. 1911, the government forced Rockefeller to dissolve Standard Oil. divided into 20 smaller companies
BIG Business The Pros & Cons PROS Large businesses are more efficient, leading to lower prices. They can hire large numbers of workers. They can produce goods in large quantities. They have the resources to support expensive research and invent new items. CONS They have an unfair competitive advantage against smaller businesses. They sometimes exploit workers. They are less concerned with where they do business and pollute the area. They have an unfair influence over government policies affecting them.
New Laws Laissez-faire French for hands off Theory that the government should not interfere in the operation of the free market AT ALL. BIG business got so out of hand that reformers called for new legislation to increase competition. Interstate Commerce Act (1887) Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)
The Conditions of Labor Long hours and low wages 10-14 hour days; 6 days a week $3-$12 weekly, but immigrants, women and children would often work for far less Poor conditions, boring & repetitive tasks take it or leave it jobs offered dangerous work conditions Thousands of workers were injured/killed in industrial accidents each year
Child Labor Children might be used to move, clean or fix large machines since they were small enough to fit between the parts. 1/5 of all American children under the age of 15 worked outside the home in 1910. Injuries were common.
Growth of Labor Unions Eugene Debs and Samuel Gompers organized the first labor unions which used a tactic called collective bargaining Under collective bargaining a group of workers would threaten to walk off a job (strike) and shutdown production unless their demands were met Unions were successful in increasing workers pay, shortening work hours, and providing benefits. Several worker strikes failed however because business owners would hire new workers (usually immigrants) called scabs above, workers in New York City march in the first labor day parade
Knights of Labor Formed in 1869, hoped to create a single national union by joining together all skilled and unskilled laborers. They opposed child labor and supported equal pay for women.
American Federation of Labor (AFL) Consisted of separate unions of skilled workers joined together into a federation. Craft unions limited their memberships to skilled workers. carpenters cigar makers Samuel Gompers, founder
Government s Attitude Government leaders favored business and opposed unions: the greater influence of business protector of the economy public opinion