Warm-up 9/30/2011

Warm-up

On your own make a list of companies you feel are successful. What do they specialize in? Why do you think they’re so successful.

In class

Read pages 416-418What is the purpose of the transcontinental rail

road. How was it built?Explain what is significant about the union

Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads. Who owned the railroads.

Why was the railroad important to the economy?

Land Grants

• Lincoln ordered the building of the transcontinental Rail Road

• The two companies to build it were the union and central pacific railroad companies.

• In order for the rail roads to gain money to build railroad the government would issue the companies land grants

• The companies could sell these land grants to virtually anyone at any price.

Land Grant Corruption

• Those in the railroads took notice how easy it was to make money off of land grants.

• The companies begin to bribe government officials for the grants.

Credit Mobile Scandal

• A construction company Credit Mobiler became a major investor in the Union Pacific Railroad.

• By doing so they were able to choose the construction company for the rail road.

• They charged a large construction knowing that the railroad would have to pay no matter what.

Read pages 422-424What are corporations and stock? How do they help

business’s grow?

What are pools? Why are they important to our study of companies at the time?

The Rise of Big Business

• Where there a lot of big businesses before the civil war?• No• Its during this industrial period that we find the rise of

industry• Corporations begin to take shape during this period• Corporation: An organization owned by many people but

treated by law as though it were one person.• Stock also develops at this period which allows people to

invest in a company• Why is stock important?• Stock allows a company to raise money while sharing the risk.

Pools

• Many large businesses did not like competing with each other.

• Businesses began to come together and develop the idea of pooling.

• Pools: Agreements to between companies to keep prices at a certain level

• When taken to court though pools were hard to defend.

• Read pages 424-426Who are the people that take advantage of this period of economic growth?

What kind of techniques do companies us to grow during this period?

What is a Monopoly? What is a trust? How are the two different?

Carnegie

• What was Carnegie’s background before he started his company

• Carnegie came to the U.S. with very little money.

• He slowly worked his way up to place of power in the Pennsylvania Railroad.

• He began to invest in companies that were part of the rail road industry

Carnegie’s efficiency idea

• As his wealth grew Carnegie began to trips to Europe where he found a way to make cheap steel.

• Using this idea Carnegie opened his own steel company, which grew strength through the use of vertical integration

• Vertical integration: The company owns all the different businesses that it depends on for its operation.

John D. Rockefeller

• What is Rockefeller known for?• Rockefeller founded standard oil the largest oil

refiner.• Rockefeller worked at making his company

efficient through horizontal integration• Horizontal integration: The idea of combining

firms in same business into one large corporation.• In other words he swallowed up his competition.

What happens when a company takes control

• Monopoly: • When a single company achieves control of an

entire market.• Why are people afraid of monopolies?• The company in control can charge whatever they

want.• How does the Government handle monopolies?• States made it illegal for companies to stock in

other businesses.

Warm-up 10/3/2011

1. Name two inventors we have spoken about during the industrial revolution. What are they known for making?

2. Name two major business men of the industrial revolution. What successful businesses were they behind?

3. What is vertical integration? What is Horizontal integration? Why are they important to our study of companies?

Warm-up 10/4/2011

• What are pools?

• Why did they not hold up over time?

• Why do we care about them?

Scenario #1• Your father works for a local steel mill in the area. He

leaves early in the morning and is gone most of the day. In total he works close to sixty hours a week. Though he works this long he makes just enough to feed the rest of the family and pay rent.

Answer the following questions on your own:1. What kind of issues might your father have with his

employer?2. What kind of ideas could your father put forth to his

employer to change working conditions?3. How might your father voice his concerns to his

employer?4. Could your father do anything if his employer said no to

his concerns?

Scenario #2

• Your brother has recently been hired by the textile industry. He is age 16 and he works around 52 hours a week. He has recently told you that he is having trouble keeping up with the pace of work and that some of the machines are rather dangerous. He also told you story about another young man who was fired for losing his finger in a machine.

1. What kind of issues might your brother have with his employer?

2. What kind of ideas could your brother put forth to his employer to change working conditions?

3. How might your father voice his concerns to his employer?4. Could your father do anything if his employer said no to his

concerns?5. Is what the company doing actually legal?

Scenario #3• Your mother has been working for a local weaver. Lately

she has been mentioning that the she has been feeling light headed at work. When you visited her work you noticed that they kept the windows closed and that there was only one door in the building. Around twenty people work in the building and certain chemicals are used to help bring out the color in certain fabrics.

• 1.What kind of concerns do you have concerning your mother’s job.

2. What do you think she should do about the different conditions?

3. Should the owner be allowed to have their employees work in such conditions even if he pays them well?

Scenario #4

• Your family has just come to America. You have very little money but your family has been offered a job from a local button plant. The employer offers lodging and decent wages for everyone in your family. Their only warning is that you must show up to work every day and they can’t keep you on if your injured.

1. Based on what you know do you think your family should take the job?

2. Could any problems arrise?

Mining conditions

Mining conditions

Manufacturing

Conditions

In Class

• Open your book to page 528• Read 428-431• What are the two types of unions emerging

during this period?• Why are they necessary?• How did companies try and stop unions?• What kind opposition did unions face?

Why do we need unions

• Poor working conditions.• Deflation: A rise in the value of money• Causes prices to fall.• Builds resentment between workers and

company owners

General Unions

• Split unions into two groups in the beginning• Trade Unions: consist of craft workers• Craft workers: Had special training and were

paid better then most workers.• Industrial Unions: All workers in a particular

industry• Which was feared more by employers?• Industrial

Company opposition

• How did companies oppose the formation of unions?

• Oaths and contracts not join unions• Those forming unions were black listed to

keep them from being hired• Lock outs: Actually keep union members out

of work to keep them from working. Companies would hire other workers.

Political Opposition

• Overall were companies successful in stopping unions? Why?

• Yes • Unions suffered from the aspect that they

were viewed as un-American• Some unions were painted as Marxists

New Union Development

• The Knights of Labor: Developed in 1869• The union itself did not believe in striking.• There belief was that they could achieve their

goals by boycotting items.• They also supported arbitration • Arbitration: Process in which a third party

helps workers and owners reach an agreement.

STRIKE

• For awhile we see rising success in the knight’s strikes

• What was the Homestead strike and who did it involve:

• Owner: Carnegie, and Henry k. Flick• Frick attempted to cut wages by twenty percent

and locked strikers out• Pinker tons and strike breakers were sent

leading to a number of deaths.

Strike

• Who was involved in the Pullman strikeand what was it about

• Owner George PullmanEugene V. Debs and the American Railway Union

strike to deal with the company store issue.Eventually an injunction is filed against the

union and Debs is sent to Prison.

AFL

• AFL: American Federation of Labor• Several trade unions come together to form it.• Who was Samuel Gompers?