The Rise of Big Business

Andrew Carnagie

Steel Empire

• Andrew Carnagie- Scottish immigrant

• Made a fortune on steel mills

• Believed the rich had a duty to help the poor, called this the “Gospel of Wealth”

Rise of the Corporation

• A corporation is a business that is owned by investors

• A corporation sells stocks or shares in the business

John D. Rockefeller

Rockefeller’s Oil Empire

• Built oil refineries• Bought out all other

oil companies• Shrewd businessman• Created a monopoly

on oil

Immigration

Why Immigrants Came

• Land became scarce in Europe

• Political and religious persecution

• American factories needed labor

• The promise of freedom

Where Did They Come From?

• Northern and western Europe

• Southern and Eastern Europe

• Americas

• Asia– Chart on page 603

Becoming American

• Newcomers struggled to adjust

• Had to acculturate• Acculturation is the

process of holding onto older traditions while adjusting to new ones

Resistance

• Nativists sought to limit immigration

• Argued that their language, traditions, and religions were too different

• Threatened because they would work for a lower wage