Monday, October 6, 2008

U.S. History CH. 6 Notes

"Industrial Expansion"

Rural- Industrial Expansion


Abundant Natural Resources




  1. Iron ore, coal and oil are resources which particularly help big industries.
  2. 1859- Edwin L. Drake invents the steam engine drill to remove oil from the ground
  3. 1850- The Bessemer process turns iron ore into durable steel.
  4. Steel is used to make farm machinery, railroad tracks, barbed wire, bridges, and skyscrapers.

New Inventions

  1. 1879- Thomas A. Edison invents the electric light bulb and develops electric power plants.
  2. George Westinghouse invented ways to make electricity safer, less expensive and more useful.
  3. 1867- Christopher Sholes invents the typewriter.
  4. 1876- Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone.

Expanding Urban Populations

  1. Provide markets- they buy the new inventions and industrial goods.
  2. They provide the labor force to operate the new industries.

The New Age of Railroads

Transcontinental railroads unite the country

Help bring about a nationwide standardized time system

Corrupt industrialists influence the government and make huge profits

Munn v. Illinois- Supreme Court holds that States can regulate railroads to charge fair prices

Railroads promote travel, growth and trade between cities

Railroad workers suffer from dangerous working conditions and low pay

Interstate Commerce Act- The U.S. government can also regulate railroads

Railroads charge unfair and high prices

Panic of 1883- Railroads financial problems cause nationwide financial crisis.

Carnegie's Management and Business Strategies

POSITIVE +

  • New techniques and machinery to make better products more cheaply.
  • Hired talented people: chemists, metallurgists, good businessmen
  • Encouraged competition among his top employees to increase production and cut costs

NEGATIVE - Carnegie controlled and dominated the entire industry: VERTICAL INTEGRATION

COAL MINES

FREIGHTERS

IRON MINES

RAILROADS

  • CARNEGIE BOUGHT OUT EVERY BUSINESS THAT HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH WHAT WAS GOING IN AND COMING OUT OF HIS STEEL MILLS.

HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION

  • CARNEGIE BOUGHT OUT OTHER COMPANIES IN THE SAME INDUSTRY WHO MIGHT COMPETE WITH HIS STEEL MILLS.

Sherman Anti-Trust Act

Law passed by Congress that made it ILLEGAL to form a trust if it interferes with competition and free trade.

TRUST

DIVIDENDS

COMPANY A

STOCK

COMPANY B

STOCK

COMPANY C

STOCK

COMPANY D

STOCK

"We're all in this TOGETHER! NO COMPETITION. We'll charge people high prices and they won't have anyone else to buy from. We'll put other companies that try to get started OUT OF BUSINESS."

SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT WAS DIFFICULT TO ENFORCE!

In the beginning courts favored wealthy businesses with high paid lawyers and didn't enforce the Act.

Problems in the South

  • Southern economy remains primarily agricultural: NOT MUCH BIG INDUSTRY.
  • Still rebuilding from destruction after the Civil War
  • Railroad companies charge high rates $$ for shpping farmers' crops and for industries trying to get raw materials.

LABOR UNIONS

Reasons for Formation of Labor Unions

  1. Dangerous conditions
  2. Low pay
  3. Long hours- UNEQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK

Knights of Labor

  1. Uriah Stephens & Terrance V. Powderly
  2. All workers, regardless of race, gender, or skill

American Federation of Labor

  1. Samuel Gompers
  2. Skilled workers from different industries

Industrial Workers of the World

  1. William "Big Bill" Haywood
  2. Miners, lumberers, cannery, and dock workers
  3. Open to all workers including women, African-Americans
  4. Supported socialism

American Railway Union

  1. Eugene V. Debs
  2. Skilled and unskilled railway workers and engineers

Decline of Labor Unions

  1. Sherman Anti-Trust Act used against unions
  2. Strikers fired, blacklisted by owners
  3. Fear of Socialist Revolution
  4. Prejudice within the unions

*EC* UNIONS AND SOCIALISM

Social Darwinism and Free market Capitalism

  • OWNERS: Have money
  • A few very wealthy business owners

WORKERS: No money

  • Many very poor families where everyone needed to go work long hours just to get enough food

SOCIALISM:

OWNERS and WORKERS: Both have money

  • Profits were distributed equally between owners and workers so all get just as much as they need
  • The government controls the businesses and sitributes the profits
  • Some unions such as the IWW became socialist others did not go that far

STRIKES

Great Strike of 1877

  1. Cause: Pay cuts Railroad workers strike
  2. Strike spreads to many states
  3. Halted by President Hayes

Haymarket Riots, 1886

  1. Cause: Workers Protest killing of striker by police -- Bomb is thrown at police. Police fired on the strikers: killing several (at least four-many wounded)

Homestead, 1892

  1. Cause: Poor pay, unhealthy working conditions
  2. Carnegie steel workers strike resulting in violence
  3. National Guard called in- Strikers lose

Pullman, 1894

  1. Cause: Low wages and high rents in Pullman Town
  2. Violence, scabs
  3. Federal troops, strikers fired

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, 1911

  1. Cause: Unsafe building company locked all doors
  2. Many workers jump to their deaths when fire breaks out
  3. 146 killed
  4. BETTER CHILD LABOR AND FIRE LAWS AFTERWARDS

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