The Growth of Industrial

Society in the Unites States of

America

Chapter 18

Does the industrial process create good or evil?

Post-Civil War America witnessed perhaps the

greatest industrial expansion in the

history of recorded events. It transformed

the United States of America into the most

powerful nation on earth.

Development of InfrastructureThe map to the left shows

U.S. railroad mileage in the 1850s. The two maps on the next frame show the rapid growth of the

American rail system from the year 1850 to 1860.

Most construction was in the industrial Northeast and the recently settled

Midwest.

U.S. rail mileage by 1925

The Transcontinental Railroad**

Completed May 10, 1869 The Railroads worked the

largest changes of all from the mid-19th century forward**

Commemoration of Completing the Transcontinental Railroad

What was it the engines said,Pilots touching,--head to headFacing on the single trackHalf a world behind each back

Bret Harte (1836-1902)

Standardization of the Rail System**

• Standard gauge (distance between rails) in 1866

• Adoption of standard schedules, signals, and equipment

• Creation of Time Zones

Difficulties and Problems with the Railroads

• Consolidation forced many companies into heavy debt

• Unfair Business Practices Implemented Rate wars—necessary to operate at a loss since capital was already paid for

• Illegal Practices

Illegal Practices • Rebate—discount on normal shipping

charge (if not offered equally to all customers, was illegal)**

• Pooling—agreement by managers of several companies to share in carrying certain %age of freight so all could remain in business**

• Bribery & promises not to cut rates = other illegal acts**

Celebration of the Achievements of the Railroad • Thy black cylindric body, golden

brass and silvery steel. . .• Thy great protruding head-light

fix’d in front,• Thy long, pale, floating vapor-

pennants, tinged with delicate purple

• Thy knitted frame, thy springs and valves, the tremulous twinkle of thy wheels,

• Thy train of cars behind, obedient, merrily following. . .

• Type of the modern—emblem of motion and power—pulse of the continent. . .

• Fierce-throated beauty!

Walt Whitman (right, 1819-1892)

The Raw Materials

Of National

Greatness

Rise of American Industry

COAL

TIMBER

IRON

Mesabi iron ore range in Minnesota

PETROLEUM

WATER

Manpower / LaborMassive immigration in the late-19th century helped create a large supply of labor to staff burgeoning U.S. industry—RQ15

The U.S. had ALL the resources necessary for

national greatness**

Emergence of the Steel Industry

In the 1850s, Sir Henry Bessemer (English, 1813-1898—right) and William Kelly (US, 1811-1888) independently discovered blasting cold air through iron heated in large furnace caused impurities to burn (“air boiling”). ** 17AThe first Bessemer steel was produced in 1864.

The Bessemer Process Made Steel**

• More cheaply (only needed 1 ton of coal where 7 were used to make 1 ton of steel)

• Stronger and more durable

• Less likely to rust

• The Bessemer process (left) increased production from 2,000 tons in 1864 to 7 millions tons by end of 19th century.

• Iron ore came in abundant supply in the American Midwest (see map to right). The Great Lakes proved to be an auspiciously located for the transportation of iron ore to the steel mills that would refine the ore into marketable products.

Brooklyn Bridge connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan Island used steel

The BackgroundColonel Edwin L. Drake, a former railroad conductor, became the

first man to drill on oil well (see “Drake #1,” above).** His discovery came in Titusville, Pennsylvania on August 28, 1859. Drake’s auspicious find proved to fuel the growth of one of the

most important industries in American history.

Spindletop—Beaumont, Texas, 1901

Uses for Petroleum Included

• Lubricating oil • Grease • Paint• Wax• Varnish• Naphtha• Paraffin

American Invention and Entrepreneurship

Thomas Alva Edison, 1847-1931

Edison’s incandescent light bulb—1879

Late-1800s: A time of incredible explosion of inventiveness. America becamethe home of invention

Refrigeration

Philip Armour** (1832-1901)—used refrigeration in meatpacking industry; Chicago converted into

railway hub between Great Plains farms and big Eastern cities. Beef slaughtered in Chicago

and stored in refrigerated warehouses, shipped in

refrigerated cars to East

Armour’s innovation affected Texas—Ft. Worth became major meatpacking center; Ft.

Worth stockyards opened in 1890

Chicago meatpacker Gustavus Swift (1839-1903) gave an additional boost to the meat

industry

Swift implemented the idea of distributing meat nationwide by use of refrigerated railcars

• Meatpacking goes from $65 million/year business in 1870 to

$500 million by 1890s. Refrigeration changed eating

habits of nation—it gave wider variety of meat to American public AND provided thousands of jobs

Air Brake for Railroad Cars

• George Westinghouse (left, 1846-1914)–enabled engineer to stop all cars himself instead of a brakeman on each car; made for

Passenger safety and comfort

• Longer, faster trains

Electrical InventionsElectricity was a far more flexible

source of power than water or wind. It allowed change in high-voltage

current traveling long distances on power lines into low-level current for use in homes, offices. People

initially feared electricity because they didn’t understand how it

worked

. . . To Edison

From Franklin. . .

Electricity—more flexible and effective than water or wind**

Typewriter Christopher Sholes (1819-1890) introduced it in 1867

This marvelous innovation eliminated handwritten business letters and created an new opportunity for women in the workplace**

Telephone (a.k.a., the “Speaking Telegraph”)

On March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell (left, 1847-1922) spoke the first sentence—“Mr. Watson, come here; I want you.”—over the telephone that he invented.

PhotographyIn 1879, George Eastman

(right, 1854-1932), developed a process

that laid the foundation for producing both celluloid film and moving pictures.

By1888, Eastman was marketing the Kodak

camera.

Cyrus Field (1819-1892) and the Trans-Atlantic Cable

• Field laid in the first cable in 1858 but it broke. He succeeded in 1876.

• Field’s accomplishment linked European and American telegraph networks.

The Philosophy of Laissez-faire** • Carnegie’s “Gospel of

Wealth”• Defended accumulation

of wealth• Asserted responsibility of

wealthy to spend properly

• Act as “trustee” for poorer brethren

• Donate money to worthy causes

The book expressed a paternalistic view, i.e., the poor are not capable of making their own (a.k.a., wise) decisions**

The “Self-Made Man”** 17B2

The Boot-strap Philosophy—Combination of hard work and good luck = fortune. . . How is this argument true?

The Horatio Alger stories (left) popularized the idea that hard work led to upward mobility.

Across the Atlantic, author Samuel Smiles (1832-1904, right) published an English

version of this philosophy

Social Darwinism and Survival of the Fittest 17B3

Charles Darwin (above, 1809-1882)

Darwin’s seminal work appeared in 1859

Survival of the Fittest

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) applied Darwinist principles to human society

William Graham Sumner (above, 1840-1910), was a Yale University political and social science professor -- arguments like his suggested that millionaires were the products of natural selection. In 1883, Sumner published What Social Classes Owe One Another. **

Government interference / regulation in business world went against natural law. Laissez-faire economic philosophy rejected government involvement in economy, planning over a free market economy. Free market forces were good since they eliminated weaker competitors from business. **

Social Critics and Dissenters 17B4

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892. left)—aging rural poet who critiqued the influence of urbanization and industrialization. At the Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1876, Whittier refused to view the exposition’s focal point—the powerful, giant Corliss steam engine—suggesting that this symbol of emerging American industry was like the serpent in the Garden of Eden.**

Business Organization Caricaturists of the day represented the overbearing power of industry—and, as the U.S. Capitol in the background suggests, its influence on Congressmen and other policy-makers—as both overwhelming and malevolent.

Vertical Integration**—New form of Organization

Carnegie realized fortunes of his steel plant depended on forces outside his own control, e.g., mining companies, ships and rail lines for transport, so he bought these entities.

Andrew Carnegie and Steel Industry(1835-1919)

He insured control of process from securing raw material through turning it into the finished product.He believed in value of competition, free enterprise--he opposed trusts since they violated laws of competition

“Andrew Carnegie emerged as the undisputed master of the [steel] industry.”

Horizontal Integration**—New form of Organization

John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) and Standard Oil Trust

Rockefeller believed competition was wasteful--he ruthlessly eliminated the competition through price cutting to capture competitor’s business (he thereafter raised prices). By 1879, he controlled 90% of U. S. refining capacity.Below—Standard Oil Company stock certificate signed by Rockefeller

The “Trust”The “Trust”—stockholders of independent companies exchange shares of stock for trust certificates issued by large firms like Standard Oil.

“Dividends” -- %ages of company’s profits issued to holders of trust certificates; to receive, holder gave up right to help manage the firm

Rockefeller took control of entire refining industry (necessary to turn raw petroleum into saleable product). In time, Standard Oil used vertical integration as well to form a monopoly (complete control over every aspect of an industry).

Ida Tarbell’s History of Standard Oil, 1904**

Tarbell exposed his cut-throat tactics, ruthlessness. Rockefeller had driven Tarbell’s father out of the refinery business.Tarbell (1857-1944) is pictured on a commemorative stamp show to the left.

Materialism and the Origins of Our Consumer Society

Mail Order Catalogs. . .

brought modern products to customers far and wide**

The Rotary Press and the Rise of Advertising

Rise of Department Stores

R. H. Macy in New York

Marshall Field in Chicago

They enabled 19th century Americans the relatively new opportunity to leisurely browse and buy while they shopped**

Chain Stores

A&P Grocery Store

F. W. Woolworth and the “Five and Ten Cent Store”

Department Stores

Richard W. Sears Alvah C.

Roebuck

The mail-order option brought modern products to unseen

customers far and wide, both in urban and rural settings. In the department stores themselves, people could leisurely browse

and/or buy.**

Robber Barons or Industrial Statesmen / Captains of Industry?**• Robber Barons—focus on the acquisitive

• Sought own advantage

• Lost sight of public interest

• Drove smaller competitors out of business undermining healthy competition

• Took advantage of workers; created extra poverty and hardship

Industrial Statesmen—focus on the creative**

• Developed new, effective business methods

• Helped American economy to grow

Bottom Line: by 1900, Americans had highest

standard of living in world

The Working Class In spite of some positive

developments—a rise in real wages, improved working

conditions, and an increase in the working man’s influence in

national affairs—work conditions, a grueling and

impersonal routine, and poor safety standards in the work

place prompted the growth of unions to improve conditions.

Who Worked: Mostly White Males (vs. Women and Blacks)

• Discrimination--policy or attitude denying certain rights to a certain group

• Often resulted in receiving less desirable jobs, less pay for same work

Immigrant Work Force RQ15

• Slavs--steel mills in Gary, Indiana

• Jews--New York City’s garment industry

• 13.5 million emigrants came to U. S. between 1865-1900--they sped the pace of industrialization

By 1870, about a third of America’s factory work force were foreign-born. Coming out of low

standard of living in Europe, they were willing to take low paying jobs.

Work Conditions

• Poorly lighted—strain on eyes • Poorly ventilated—especially a problem where

textile workers • Hazardous— high-speed machines very dangerous

or, danger of explosions or cave-ins in mines, or sparks of hot metal in steel mills—accidents frequently happened

Most factories were difficult work places for the worker because they were :

• Over-work--e.g., swing shifts of 24 straight hours in steel mills

• Deafening noise--screech of steel saws, constant vibrations

• Low wages

• Periodic unemployment -- no unemployment insurance

• No buffer against illness

• Child labor

In face of stiff competition, owners didn’t want to pay for

expensive safety features. By the late-1800s, some 35,000 died in

industrial accidents. Firing could be result of complaining or

refusing to work overtime (even without pay). There was no one to

protect the workers.

Rise of Unions 17D

• Formed 1869 as secret brotherhood • Skilled workers only • Main aims were 8 hour work day and

equal pay for men and women • lected Terence V. Powderly as leader

in 1879

Knights of Labor**

17D

Terence V. Powderly (1849-1924

Powderly’s Contributions

Lifted veil of secrecy Opened ranks to women, Blacks,

immigrants, unskilled laborers—goal = unify ALL workers

Opposed strikes (work stoppage) as tool Wanted 8 hour work day Wanted safety in factories Wanted compensation for on-the-job injury

Strike of 1885 against Jay Gould (1836-1892)

This rail strike occurred when Gould

(dominating caricature to left) cut railroad workers salary— strikers won back

salary and membership in union rose to 700,000

by mid-1886

Haymarket Riot and Decline of Knights of Labor** 17D2

• 80,000 Chicago workers struck for 8-hour day in 1886

• Police killed several strikers near McCormick Harvester Works

• Anarchists (who opposed all forms of government)

staged rally for May 4

• 100,000 met in Haymarket Square to hear anarchist speakers denounce police and industrialists (below right)

• Police moved in • Someone threw a bomb

killing 1 policeman (above right)

• Riot ensued with 7 police and 4 civilians dying

Spies (lower right) was convicted of murder and

executed for his role in the Haymarket Square riot. At his trial, he uttered the following

indictment against society: “Let the world know that in A.D. 1886, in the state of Illinois, eight men were sentenced to

death because they believed in a better future; because they had

not lost their faith in the ultimate victory of liberty and

justice!” Anarchist

August Spies

The riot turned public against labor organizations since Knights were lumped together with anarchists; membership dropped to 100,000 by 1890.

American Federation of Labor**17D1

• Founded 1881 with Samuel Gompers as 1st president

• Membership open to skilled workers only

• Members joined through local craft unions and then the local union associated with the AFL

Samuel Gompers (1850-1924) RQ 14

AFL’s limited goals**:

• 8 hour workday• Right to collective

bargaining (right of unions to represent workers as a group)

• Did not seek to reorganize society

• Considered strikes a legitimate tool

AFL Membership Figures

• 1886— 150,000

• 1900— 500,000

• 1904—1 million

Management vs. LaborSuspicion and Distrust Existed on

Both Sides• Management’s position—Unions interfered

with management’s right to bargain with individuals

Carnegie’s Homestead Steel Plant Strike**— 1892 17D2

Smoke rising from the

Homestead Steel Plant.

Above left, plant manager Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919) and above to the right, plant

owner Andrew Carnegie

Armed Suppression of the Strike:• Workers angered by

unexpected wage cut• Strike threatened• Henry Clay Frick,

plant manager, closed plant

• Frick hired 300 armed Pinkerton guards

•Angry union workers attacked

•Seven Pinkerton men and 9 workers killed

Was a stunning defeat for the

union**

Pullman Strike of May-July 1894—the First National Strike in U.S.**

History 17D2

George Pullman,

1831-1897

President Grover

Cleveland, 1837-1908

Closure of the Pullman

Plant

• Eugene Debs’ American Railway Union boycotted the rolling stock of the Pullman Palace Car Company

• The boycott was in protest of the company’s wage cuts and victimization of union representatives

• The company obtained a federal injunction and used federal troops to break the strike

Eugene Debs, 1855-1926—the strike brought Debs to

national attention

The outcome was a major setback for the American labor movement

Opposition to Unions—Supreme Court Decisions

• In re Debs, 1895--The Supreme Court upheld the injunction that helped to break the Pullman Strike of 1894**

• Holden v. Hardy, 1898—The Court upheld a law that limited working hours for miners on the grounds that work in the mines was dangerous and long hours might increase the risk of on-the-job injury**

• Lochner v. New York, 1905—The Court struck down a law limiting bakery workers to a sixty-hour workweek and a ten-hour day**

Opposition Continued• Press usually sided with employers—

publishers depending on advertising revenue from local businesses, and were employers themselves

• Public generally opposed unions—People considered them radical organizations

• Collective bargaining was foreign to American traditions of individualism

The Socialist View• Government should make decisions

representing society as a whole

• Profits gained from making products, providing services should be distributed evenly among workers

• 1877—Socialist Labor Party founded— was small with limited influence

Eugene Debs stirred railway

workers to strike against the Pullman Company in

1894

For his trouble—specifically his refusal to honor the injunction issued against striking workers—Debs went to jail. Not only did these events put Debs in the national spotlight; his experiences moved him further to the political left and eventually to support American socialism. Debs would later run as the 1912 and 1920 Socialist Party presidential candidate

Socialist campaign poster

Who Won?• Nobody wins: workers lose wages and

employers lose profits

• Was “unfortunate byproduct of competitive pressures in the new Industrial Age”