Alternative transcript:

combat economic injustice Farmers protested in 1870s ■ Midwest tried to legislate railroad regulations ■ Wabash case - Supreme Court ruled states had no power to regulate interstate commerce 1 > O O O O Miracles of Mechanization O O O O O The Trust Titan Emerges O Carnegie pioneered vertical integration: combining all phases of manufacturing into one organization O O O O ● Used "trust" to drive out competitors and bring Standard Oil to the top Morgan used interlocking directorates: his bankers on other companies' brands The Supremacy of Steel O Bessemer process - good technique for purifying steel O Had the resources and labor for mass steel production Carnegie and Other Sultans of Steel O Interstate Commerce Act passed by Congress in 1887 Resolve business conflicts peacefully O The beginning of government large-scale regulation O O U.S. becomes #1 industrial nation by 1894 Liquid capital was more abundant Supply of natural resources (coil, oil, iron) Massive immigration American inventiveness Telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell ■ Thomas Alva Edison perfected electric light bulb O Improved efficiency and eliminated middleman fees horizontal integration: allying with competitors to monopolize a market Rockefeller was master of this Rockefeller Grows an American Beauty Rose O Kerosene (derived from petrol) was the first major product of infant oil industry O New electrical industry (Edison's light bulb) made Kerosene unnecessary Invention of automobile ■ By 1900 Carnegie produced 14 of U.S. steel J. Pierpont Morgan was a very wealthy banker Carnegie wanted to sell his company for a good price... negotiated fiercely with Morgan's agents Sold for $400+ million Morgan launched United States Steel Corporation First billion-dollar corporation in America ■ Made oil more prominent than steam and electricity John D. Rockefeller organized the Standard Oil Company of Ohio in 1872 Rule or ruin, showed little mercy Other trusts boomed alongside oil A new arrogant rich class The Gospel of Wealth O Some capitalists credited God for their fortune Others believed in Social Darwinism: millionaires are a product of natural selection Believed the poor were lazy and it's their fault ■ 2 O O Government Tackles the Trust Evil O O O O O Unsuccessful prosecution of trusts The South in the Age of Industry O O O O O Plutocrats favored a lack of regulation Incorporate in easy states O ■ Cheap labor attracted northern investors The Impact of the New Industrial Revolution on America Standard of living rose Failure to control trusts through state legislation Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890: prohibited activities regulating interstate commerce Ineffective and had loopholes Used to curb labor unions O ■ O ■ O Less emphasis on industry but more on agriculture still Tobacco consumption increased Region remained rural Obstacles to southern industrialization O Transformation to a wage-earning society O More foreign trade In Unions There is Strength O New cotton mills in the South Northern-dominated railroads Jeffersonian concepts of free enterprise fading New factory schedule, time and discipline New economic and social opportunities for women Class divisions Exploitation of laborers after Civil War ■ Labor Limps Along O National Labor Union (1866) Middle class ignored the outcry of workers Individuals were powerless vs. corporation ■ Agitated for 8 hour workday Colored National Labor Union ■ Did not work with NLU for racial reasons Knights of Labor ■ Secret society, sought to include all workers Campaigned for economic and social reform. Successful strikes ➤ Unhorsing the Knights of Labor Haymarket Square: laborers vs. police confrontation + bomb Anarchists convicted O Knights of Labor's reputation tarnished; thought to be associated with anarchists Skilled workers left the Knights, joined American Federation of Labor 3 The AF of L to the Fore O O Samuel Gompers led American Federation of Labor ■ ■ Demanded a fairer share of labor: better wages, hours, and working conditions Goal: "closed shop" or all-union labor Weapons: walkout and boycott Public beginning to recognize rights of workers Labor Day made a holiday in 1894 Majority of employers continued to fight unions ■ 4