If you had your own business, what kind of boss do you think you would be? Tell me what kind of business, what kind of boss, and why?

Warm-up:

Big Business

Social Darwinism- “survival of the fittest”◦Government should not be involved in business

affairs Laissez-faire attitude◦ Leave it alone◦Very friendly towards business◦Big industrialists practically controlled

government Then unfair business practices caused

government regulation in the Gilded Age Sherman Anti-Trust Act promoted fair

industrial competition

Government & Big Business

Wealth concentrated in the hands of a few industrialists—uneven distribution of wealth

Rockefeller and Carnegie did not practice fair industrial competition◦Railroad rebates-monetary kickbacks◦Corporations & Monopolies-killed competition

◦Abused natural resources◦Corrupted politicians◦Usurped and abused labor

Critics called them “robber barons”

Robber Barons

In 1860, 900,000 factory workers; in 1890, 3.2 million workers; 1900, 20 million

Working conditions grew increasingly worse Factory conditions were unhealthy and

dangerous Children were regularly employed; the

family structure was changed dramatically More and more women entered the work

force but in menial jobs Workers faced constant threats of pay cuts

and lay offs Led to the rise of labor unions

Labor

Knights of Labor: ◦Accepted skilled and unskilled workers ◦Became identified with violence and radicalism

◦Led by Terence Powderly American Federation of Labor (AFL)◦Accepted only skilled workers◦Led by Samuel Gompers

Fought for safer working conditions, shorter work days, better wages

Labor Unions

Railroad Strike of 1877Haymarket Riot of 1886Homestead Strike of 1892The Pullman Strike of 1894◦Led to government compromise with creation of Labor Day, first Monday in September

Labor Strikes

Look up the 4 strikes in the textbook and answer the following questions about each strike:

1) Who was part of the strike?2) Why did they strike?3) Where did they strike?4) What did the achieve?5) How did the government or the

owner respond to the strike?

Activity: