United States History Chapter 19: The Industrial Age

1. Chapter 19: The Industrial Age
1876-1900

2. Section 1: The Second industrial revolution
• When? -- The late 1800’s
• What? -- Period of rapid rise in manufacturing in the U.S.
• Why is it important? – It caused many financial, political, and social changes
in the U.S.
• How? – keep listening and reading to find out!
Interesting Fact…by the 1890s,
the U.S. had become
the world’s leader in industry

3. The Steel Industry: cause
& Effect
1850: the Bessemer
process makes it easy
to make steel quickly
and for a low cost
1+ Day  10-20
minutes
Building railroads
becomes more affordable
because steel is cheaper
- More people were able to
travel
- Products were sent quicker
- Cities that had major
railroad crossings (like
Chicago!) grew quickly

5. Break! Comprehension check
• How did the Bessemer process
change the steel industry?
It made changing iron ore into steel
much fast. This led to an increase in
steel production.
• How did the Bessemer process
affect industry in the United
States?
The increase in steel production
caused steel prices to drop. Lower
prices led to more railroads and
shipping.

6. Power Sources: Oil and electricity
• In the 1850s, chemists discovered ways to turn
unprocessed (crude) oil into usable kerosene, that
could be used for cooking, heating, and lighting
• 1859, Edwin Drake proves that oil can be pumped
from the ground
• Easy to access + more useful = increased demand,
oil drilling and refining becomes big business

7. Power Sources: Oil and electricity
• Electricity also becomes a source of light and
power during this time period
• Inventors like Thomas Edison use electricity in
their inventions.
– 1879 - Light bulb anyone?
• He had to build a power plant to send people
electricity to use their light bulbs! (1882)

8. Inventions!
Alexander Graham Bell
1876, he patents the
“talking telegram”
(the telephone!)
Advance in Communication
1880- 55,000 telephones
1900 – 1.5 million!
Henry Ford
1908, he introduces the Model T.
The assembly line makes cars
more affordable.
Wilbur and Orville
Wright
The bros. fly the first piloted,
gas-powered plane in 1903
Would change the way
Americans travel and increase
our demand for oil

9. Break! Comprehension check
• What advances were made in
communication and
transportation?
Telegraphs connected the U.S. and
Britain.
The telephone and automobiles were
invented.
The first piloted, gas-powered airplane
was made
• How do you think telephones
and automobiles changed the
lives of people who used
them?
They made life easier because
people could communicate over
long-distances and travel from
place to place quickly.

10. Section 2: Big Business
Because of the rapid advances in technology,
businesses grew larger.
Many entrepreneurs formed corporations and
were widely respected in the late 1800s– they
represented American hard work, talent, and
success.

11. Corporations & the Stock Exchange
Individuals are able to invest in corporations.
They buy stock in the company--making them stockholders–
and usually get a percentage of the corporation’s profits.

12. Corporations generate wealth
The Positives..
• Stockholders are not responsible for
the company’s debt
• Stockholders can sell their stock to
anyone they want
• Leads more people to invest in
businesses

13. Break! Comprehension check
• What role do stockholders play
in corporations?
Individuals purchase stocks and
invest money.
• Why are corporations
advantageous for
stockholders?
They can only lose the money
they’ve invested and can sell the
stock to whomever they want.

14. Who’s in charge Here?!?
Andrew
Carnegie
Steel Industry
John D.
Rockefeller
Standard Oil Company
Leland Stanford
Mining Equipment,
railroads
Founded Stanford
University

15. Business Strategies
Andrew Carnegie
Bought the mines, coalfields, and
railroads to cut production costs
John D. Rockefeller
Owned most the businesses in his field
In 1880, he owned 90% of the U.S. oil refining business
Formed a trust, that grouped all his companies under a
single board of directors

16. Due Tuesday, 12/3
1. Finish reading Chapter 19 – book notes and section
?s
2. “Writing Thesis Statements” practice sheet
Tuesday: Notes Day
Thursday: Field Trip
Friday: Review Day for Test

17. Tuesday, 12/3
1. Finish Ch. 19 notes
2. Begin Review
Assignment
Thursday: Field Trip
Friday: Review Day for Test
HW: Section Quizzes and
Review Sheet

18. Corporations generate Wealth
The Negatives…
• Relied on…
– Child labor
– Low wages
– Poor working conditions
By the late 1800s, some viewed big
businesses as a problem

19. Social Darwinism
• Adapted Charles
Darwin’s theory of
natural selection /
“survival of the fittest”
• Social Darwinists
argued that humans
who were meant to
succeed in business and
life in general would
This sounds oddly
familiar…but really
inhumane for
humans…

20. The Antitrust movement
Large corporations
drive small ones out
of business
Corporations/trusts
gain a monopoly
and can control the
prices
Some worry about
the economic and
political power of
the wealthy trusts
Congress passes the
Sherman Antitrust
Act, making trust
monopolies illegal
The law doesn’t
define “trusts,” so
the gov. can’t
enforce the law
FAIL

21. Section 3: Industrial Workers
“Bibb Mill No. 1, Macon, Ga.
Many youngsters here. Some
boys and girls were so small
they had to climb up on to the
spinning frame to mend broken
threads and to put back the
empty bobbins”
By Lewis Hine, January 19, 1909

22. Section 3: Industrial Workers
“View of the Ewen Breaker
of the Pa. Coal Co.
The dust was so dense at
times as to obscure the
view. The dust penetrated
the utmost recesses of the
boy’s lungs.
A kind of slave-driver
sometimes stands over the
boys, prodding or kicking
them in obedience.
- S. Pittston, Pa.”

23. What happens to workers during this time of rapid
growth?
• Having low-paid, unskilled workers
doing the same task all day makes
them tired, bored, and more likely to
be injured.
• Frederick W. Taylor (author of The
Principles of Scientific Management)
tells managers to think of their workers
as interchangeable parts of the factory

24. How do Workers React?
Workers begin to organize and demand better working conditions and pay
• Knights of Labor- 1st national labor
union. They wanted:
– 8-hour workdays
– Equal pay for equal work
– End to child labor
• American Federation of Labor (AFL)
– Organized individual labor unions
(miners, steelworkers, etc.)
– Limited to skilled workers

25. Labor Strikes
Major worker strikes sweep the country in
late 1800’s
• Haymarket Riot (Chicago, 1886) – eight
killed and many wounded when a bomb
is detonated. The police open fire
• Homestead Strike (Pennsylvania, 1892)
14 hour battle, the state militia has to
restore order. Unions lose
• Pullman Strike (1894) – Railroad workers
stop traffic, federal courts and troops
order workers to go back to work

26. Chapter 19: Summary