Ch17. The Rise of Industrial America, 1865-1900
~ By 1900, U.S. leading industrial power by a combination of factors : * Natural Resources (coal, iron ore, copper, lead..) * Labor Supplies (immigrants) * Advance transportation network * Capital (Americans funding the economic expansion) * Technologies increasing productivity * Friendly gov policies (tariffs, land grants, loans) * Talented entrepreneurs A. The Business of Railroads. ~ The nation’s first big business : railroads, which had greatest impact on Am economic life. - Created a market for goods & encouraged mass production, mass consumption, & economic specialization. - Resources used promoted growth of industries (coal & steel). - The American Railroad Association dividing nation into 4 time zones (1883) - Most important : Created modern stockholder corp. & development of complex structures in finance, business management, and the regulation of competition. a. Eastern Truck Lines ~ (1830-1860) building of dozens of separated local lines resulted in diff gauges (distance btwn tracks) & incompatible equipment, but after Civil War due to consolidation of competing railroads into integrated truck lines reduced. - “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt used $$ from steamboats business to merge local railroads into NY Central Railroad (1867). - Other truck lines (Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and PA Railroad) connected east seaports w/ Chicago & other Midwest cities & set standards of excellence and efficiency for the rest of the industry. b. Western Railroads ~ Their roles in the trans-Mississippi West : (1) promote settlement on Great Plains (2) link West & East to create one great national market. ( Federal land grants. ~ Seeing western railroads lead to settlements, federal gov provided railroad companies with loans & land grants. - Got more than 170mil acres of public land (given in alternate mile-sq sections), so they could sell the land to new settlers to finance construction. - Through railroad would increase both value of gov lands & provide preferred rates for carrying the mails & transporting troops. Neg consequences: (1) promoted hasty / poor construction (2) led to widespread corruption in gov. - Insiders used construction companies (Credit Mobilier) to pocket huge profits, while bribing gov officials and legislators. - In 1880s, protest on land grants b/c railroad companies controlled half lands in west states. ( Transcontinental Railroads. ~ During Civil War, Congress gave land grants/ loans to build first transcontinental railroad (finished in …show more content…
~ 1880s, rise of monopolistic trusts were big competition needed for natural regulation. ( Social Darwinism. - English social philosopher Herbert Spencer thought Darwin’s idea of natural selection & survival of the fittest should apply to marketplace b/c the concentration of wealthy in the hands of the “fit” was a benefit to the future of human race. - American social Darwinist, Professor William Graham Sumner of Yale argued that help for poor was misguiding b/c it interfered w/ laws of nature & would only weaken evolution of the species by preserving the unfit.
( Gospel of Wealth.
- Religion was more convincing b/c John D. Rockefeller used Protestant work ethic (hard work and material success are signs of God’s favor) to both his business and personal life & said “God gave me my riches”
- Popular lectures, “Acres of Diamonds” Reverend Russell Conwell, preached everyone had duty to become rich.
- Andrew Carnegie’s article “Wealthy” argued wealthy had a God-given responsibility to carry out projects of civic philanthropy to benefit society & he even gave out over $350 mil to support libraries, universities, & public …show more content…
- Increase of good-paying jobs = increase income of middle class.
c. Wage Earners.
( 1900, 2/3 of all workers’ wages 10hrs a day, 6days a week, which was not enough for family so used women and kids. - Wages determined by laws of supply & demand, since immigrants compete fir factory jobs, wages were barely above lvl needed. - Low wages were justified by David Ricardo (1772-1823) by “iron law of wages” argued raising wages would only increase working population & availability of workers which would cause wages to fall, thus creating cycle of misery & starvation. - Real wages rose steady (late 1800s), but still bad.
d. Working Women.
~ 1/5 women in 1900 worked for wages, who were young & single since 5% married worked outside home.
- 1900, men & women believed economically feasible for women to stay at home raising kids.
- Factory working women restricted to industries that perceived as an extension of the home (textile, garment, food processing
~ By 1900, U.S. leading industrial power by a combination of factors : * Natural Resources (coal, iron ore, copper, lead..) * Labor Supplies (immigrants) * Advance transportation network * Capital (Americans funding the economic expansion) * Technologies increasing productivity * Friendly gov policies (tariffs, land grants, loans) * Talented entrepreneurs A. The Business of Railroads. ~ The nation’s first big business : railroads, which had greatest impact on Am economic life. - Created a market for goods & encouraged mass production, mass consumption, & economic specialization. - Resources used promoted growth of industries (coal & steel). - The American Railroad Association dividing nation into 4 time zones (1883) - Most important : Created modern stockholder corp. & development of complex structures in finance, business management, and the regulation of competition. a. Eastern Truck Lines ~ (1830-1860) building of dozens of separated local lines resulted in diff gauges (distance btwn tracks) & incompatible equipment, but after Civil War due to consolidation of competing railroads into integrated truck lines reduced. - “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt used $$ from steamboats business to merge local railroads into NY Central Railroad (1867). - Other truck lines (Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and PA Railroad) connected east seaports w/ Chicago & other Midwest cities & set standards of excellence and efficiency for the rest of the industry. b. Western Railroads ~ Their roles in the trans-Mississippi West : (1) promote settlement on Great Plains (2) link West & East to create one great national market. ( Federal land grants. ~ Seeing western railroads lead to settlements, federal gov provided railroad companies with loans & land grants. - Got more than 170mil acres of public land (given in alternate mile-sq sections), so they could sell the land to new settlers to finance construction. - Through railroad would increase both value of gov lands & provide preferred rates for carrying the mails & transporting troops. Neg consequences: (1) promoted hasty / poor construction (2) led to widespread corruption in gov. - Insiders used construction companies (Credit Mobilier) to pocket huge profits, while bribing gov officials and legislators. - In 1880s, protest on land grants b/c railroad companies controlled half lands in west states. ( Transcontinental Railroads. ~ During Civil War, Congress gave land grants/ loans to build first transcontinental railroad (finished in …show more content…
~ 1880s, rise of monopolistic trusts were big competition needed for natural regulation. ( Social Darwinism. - English social philosopher Herbert Spencer thought Darwin’s idea of natural selection & survival of the fittest should apply to marketplace b/c the concentration of wealthy in the hands of the “fit” was a benefit to the future of human race. - American social Darwinist, Professor William Graham Sumner of Yale argued that help for poor was misguiding b/c it interfered w/ laws of nature & would only weaken evolution of the species by preserving the unfit.
( Gospel of Wealth.
- Religion was more convincing b/c John D. Rockefeller used Protestant work ethic (hard work and material success are signs of God’s favor) to both his business and personal life & said “God gave me my riches”
- Popular lectures, “Acres of Diamonds” Reverend Russell Conwell, preached everyone had duty to become rich.
- Andrew Carnegie’s article “Wealthy” argued wealthy had a God-given responsibility to carry out projects of civic philanthropy to benefit society & he even gave out over $350 mil to support libraries, universities, & public …show more content…
- Increase of good-paying jobs = increase income of middle class.
c. Wage Earners.
( 1900, 2/3 of all workers’ wages 10hrs a day, 6days a week, which was not enough for family so used women and kids. - Wages determined by laws of supply & demand, since immigrants compete fir factory jobs, wages were barely above lvl needed. - Low wages were justified by David Ricardo (1772-1823) by “iron law of wages” argued raising wages would only increase working population & availability of workers which would cause wages to fall, thus creating cycle of misery & starvation. - Real wages rose steady (late 1800s), but still bad.
d. Working Women.
~ 1/5 women in 1900 worked for wages, who were young & single since 5% married worked outside home.
- 1900, men & women believed economically feasible for women to stay at home raising kids.
- Factory working women restricted to industries that perceived as an extension of the home (textile, garment, food processing