Chapter 16

Lecture Preview

• The Second Industrial Revolution• The Transformation of the West• Politics in a Gilded Age• Freedom in the Gilded Age• Labor and the Republic

The Second Industrial Revolution

Focus Question:

What factors combined to make the United States a mature industrial society after the Civil War?

The Second Industrial Revolution: Economy and

innovation

• The Industrial Economy

• The Spirit of Innovation

Rise of Industry

* By 1900, US gross national product (GNP) exceeded Germany & Great Britain combined

1. US vast natural resources - timber, coal, iron and copper, oil

2. Large workforce (large families & immigration)

3. New Inventions

a. Electricity (Thomas Edison) b. Lightbulb (work longer hourse) c. Alternating current (AC) -Westinghouse d. Communications (telephone) – Alexander G. Bell

e. Cameras, film, phonographs

4. Standard of Living increased - Refrigeration, typewriter, dishwasher, sewing machines

5. Mass-production lowers costs

6. Free Enterprisea. Entrepreneurs—investment in businesses

-- European banks (especially England) invested heavily

in American factories and RRsb. Laissez-faire—non-governmental interference.

- Allowed “supply and demand” to regulate wages and prices

c. Government Support- raised tariffs on foreign goods and provided support to RRs- land grants - farmers and overseas markets hurt by high tariffs

The Second Industrial Revolution: Railroads

• Railroads and the National Market- Private investment and huge grants of land and money by federal,

state, and local governments tripled the number of miles of rail

- Led to commercial farming and created a national market for manufactured goods.

--western mine, farm, ranch, and forest products to markets in the East, which in turn made factory goods for the West.

- National brands, national stores, and mail-order firms, such as Sears, Roebuck & Co., emerged

Competition and Consolidation - Growth of pools, trusts and monopolies

Railroad Building

A. In 1865, 35,000 miles of tracks, by 1900, 192,556 mi. of track

1. Government subsidized transcontinental RRs with land grants & cheap loans to RR companies.

2. Cities flourished where lines were

laid; bypassed cities became “ghost towns.”

RR tycoons, for a time, were the most POWERFUL people in America.a. Bribed judges & legislatures; hired lobbyists; elected their own men to office.b. Free passes to journalists & politicians.

RRs were an oligarchy (rule by a few); less competition....joined forces!)

a. “Pools” - agreed to divide market, set prices

b. Secret rebates to large corporations.

c. Hurt farmers with long haul-short haul rates (same $ for short hauls as long); charged farmers more!

Significance of America’s RR network:

1. Spurred industrialism post-Civil War (steel)

2. Sprawling nation became united physically

3. Created huge East-West domestic market for US raw materials & manufactured

goods.

4. Stimulated creation of three Western frontiers: mining, agriculture, & ranching.

5. Led to urbanization of late 19th century

6. Encouraged immigration

7. Spurred investment from abroad.

8. Creation of distinct “time zones” from coast to coast.

9. Millionaires created; new RR “aristocracy”

10. Native Americans displaced; herded into ever-shrinking reservations.

The Second Industrial Revolution: Carnegie and

Rockefeller

• The Rise of Andrew Carnegie (steel)– Vertical integration

• The Triumph of John D. Rockefeller (oil)– Horizontal integration

IV. The Trust Emerges -- Destruction ofCompetition

A. “Vertical integration” -- controlling every aspect of the production process

1. Pioneered by Andrew Carnegie: steel company mined ore in Mesabi Range; shipped ore to Great Lakes; railroaded to steel factories in Pittsburgh.

2. Improved efficiency; eliminated middlemen’s fees.

3. Not as detrimental to competition as horizontal integration.

B. “Horizontal integration” - Consolidating w/competitors to monopolize a given market.

1. John D. Rockefeller: pioneered “trust” to control competition of his Standard Oil Co.

2. Stockholders in smaller oil companies sold their stock & authority to Standard Oil.

a. Board of Trustees had full control of thebusiness.

b. Standard Oil eventually cornered theworld petroleum market.

c. Rockefeller worth $900 million when he retired in 1897.

C. “Interlocking directorates” mastered by J.P. Morgan

1. Depression of 1890s drove many struggling businessmen into Morgan’s arms.

2. To merge rival businesses; placed officers of his banking empire on their boards of directors.

3. Eventually, holding companies were formed to escape anti-trust laws.

* Bought controlling shares of stock in companies instead of buying companies outright.

The Second Industrial Revolution: Workers

• Workers’ Freedom in an Industrial Age– Skilled vs Unskilled workers’ power

• Class divisions– Growth of middle class– Rich vs poor

Class distinctions

1. New class of super-wealthy: nouveau riche

2. Wealthy = 10% of families; 90% of wealth

* Traveled to Europe as children, attended college or academies, owned more than

one house, boats, carriages, & later…autos

* Employed several servants

Vanderbilt mansion in NYC(He built one just like it next door

for his daughter.)

3. Middle class

a. Lower end: salesmen, clerks governmentworkers, teachers

b. Upper end: lawyers & doctors

c. Mostly WASP

d. Had fairly large homes; atleast one domestic servant

e. “Respectable” women didn’t debate public issues or draw attention

to themselves.

4. Working class

a. Usually Catholic (esp. Irish), foreign(esp. E. & S. Europe), or black

b. Between 23% & 30% out of work forsome period every year

c. By 1900 - nearly 20% of children under age 15

labored in non-agricultural work

d. 20% of women worked; most were young – between school & marriage

Child LaborNo time for school or play.

Cities had deplorable conditions!

- Crime, violence, fire, disease, & pollution.

- Native-born Americans blamed immigrants (NATIVISM).

- Alcohol - contributed to violent crime.

Epidemics were a Constant Threat

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871There was often insufficient equipment to fight

fires; no building codes for safety.

Dirty cities....... Pollution

Dangerous and Unhealthy Working ConditionsNo rules for workers’ safety; no help if they were injured.

The Transformation of the West

Focus Question:

How was the West transformed economically and socially in this period?

Manifest Destiny

The Transformation of the West: Diversity

• A Diverse Region– Growth of transcontinental railroads– Indians lost most of their land– Movement West by families– Creation of large corporations– Government intervention critical

Impact of the Transcontinental RR on the Frontier

* Established three western frontiers:

1. Mining

2. Cattle

3. Farming (largely made possible by homesteading or RR land sales

Prospecting

Mining in the West (first of three frontiers)

Significance of mining

1. Attracted population & wealth to Wild West “Boomtowns”

2. Leads to statehood (CO, ND, SD, MT, AZ, NV, NM)

3. Growth of RRs to move ore, miners and supplies

4. Changes to the Land (environmental concerns)

5. Intensified conflict between whites & Indians

The Transformation of the West: Corporate

West• Cattle Ranching and the Corporate West

– Cattle drives, railroads and growth of cities– Farmers, barb wire and end of “Open Range”– Drought and blizzards hurt small ranchers– Rise of large corporate cattle ranches

Cattle Raising (second of the three frontiers)

Transcontinental RR transportation of meat to cities

1. “Open Range” --free federal land use by ranchers 2. Cattle Drives to major stockyards or stations

3. Pullman refrigerator cars transported meat Eastern cities.

The Cattle Trails

End of the “Open Range”

1. Homesteaders built barbed-wire (Joseph Glidden) fences; were too hard for cowboys to cut down

2. Blizzards & droughts killed thousands of herds of cattle

3. Overgrazing and over-expansion also took their toll.

The Transformation of the West: Farming

• Farming on the Middle Border– Homestead Act– Women’s toil

• Bonanza Farms– Competed with small farmers

• Farmers hurt by lower prices; borrowed from banks

• Large-Scale Agriculture in California– Immigrant labor (non-land owners)

Farming (third western frontier)

A. Homestead Act of 1862

1. Settler could acquire as much as 160 acres of free land by living on it & improving it for 5 yrs.

B. Departure from previous federal land policy(selling land for revenue)

-- Now, given away to encourage settlement of the West & as a stimulus to the family farm.

C. Results of Homestead Act

1. About 500,000 families migrated to West

2. Approx. 2/3 forced to give up because of inadequate 160 acre plots, drought, hail, & insects (locusts!!!)

3. Corporations used “dummy” homesteaders to grab best properties w/ lumber, minerals, oil.

4. Federal trend of “free land” lasted until 1934.

D. Development of the “Great American Desert”

1. Black sod of prairies (ex: Kansas) could now be developed w/ steel plows (John Deere)

2. Improved irrigation techniques helped deserts to bloom

(ex: Mormons in Utah were great farmers!)

3. Tough strains of cold- resistant wheat imported from Russia.

4. Flour-milling process by John S. Pillsbury increased demand for grain.

5. Barbed-wire gave farmers protection against trespassing cattle.

Homesteaders posingoutside their house madeof sod (“soddie”). Therewas very little wood available on the Plains, so they used the materialthat was most abundant-- tough, black sod.

The Transformation of the West: Indians

• Consolidation and Reservation Policy– Peace treaties; then forced movement

• The Subjugation of the Plains Indians– Destruction of villages, horses and buffalo

• Indians fight back– Plains, Mountain and Southwest regions

I. “Great West” or the “Great American Desert”

A. Inhabited by Plains Indians B. Nomadic-buffalo-huntersC. Concentration-reservationsD. Whites broke treaty boundaries 1) Railroads killed

buffalo-hides/food 2) miners-gold/silver

E. Warfare

1. 1868-1890, constant warfare raged in western areas between Indians & whites.

a. US troops were largely made up of Civil War veterans

* 1/5 of all soldiers assigned to frontier were black (“BuffaloSoldiers”)

2. Sioux War of 1876-1877

a. Began when miners rushed to Black Hills of S. Dakota in 1875 gold rush.

b. Sitting Bull and warriors went on warpath after treaties were violated

c. Federal forces led by George A. Custer pursued Sioux

d. Battle of Little Bighorn

* Custer’s forces attacked Sioux led by Crazy Horse; Custer & men wiped out!

Sitting Bull

George Armstrong Custer

Crazy Horse

Chief Joseph I will fight no more forever!

Nez Percé tribal

retreat (1877)

4. Apache

a. Apache led by Geronimo (AZ & NM)

b. Pursued by US Army into Mexico &finally forced to surrender.

c. Many Apache became successful farmersin OK, where they also raised cattle.

Geronimo

5. Battle of Wounded Knee (1890) - last major clash between US troops & Indians.

a. Issue: Army sent to end sacred “Ghost Dance” (ceremony to encourage Indians to fight whites).

* Believers of cult expected buffalo to return & God’s wrath to wipe out white

man.

* US government made Ghost Dance illegal.

b. 300 Sioux men, women, & childrenmassacred in SD; 60 US soldiers killed.

The Transformation of the West: Indian Life

• Remaking Indian Life– Assimilation

• The Dawes Act– End of Treaty system; dividing up land

• Indian Citizenship– 14/15th amendments didn’t apply

• Had to accept land allotments– WWI vets (1919); all Indians (1924)

The Transformation of the West: Societies

• The Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee– Religious ceremony see as Indian uprising– Men, women and children killed; last major battle

• Settler Societies and Global Wests– “settler societies” displaced original inhabitants

F. Results of Indian Wars

1. 1890, almost all tribes were in reservations

2. What were the causes of Indians’ defeat?

a. Buffalo’s virtual elimination; Indians losttheir food supply, skins, etc.

* Orig. 50 million; approx. 1,000 by 1885.

b. RRs: transported troops, farmers, ranchers,sheepherders, & settlers.

c. White diseases & alcohol ravaged Indians.

d. Intertribal distrust/competition kept Indians from uniting against whites.

G. National sentiment began to urge reform toward Native Americans

1. Helen Hunt Jackson: A Century of Dishonor (1881)

a. Record of governmentruthlessness & deceit toward Indians.

b. Had similar emotionalimpact of Stowe’sUncle Tom’s Cabin.

c. Inspired movement to assimilate Indians

“for their own good.”

2. Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 (aka: Allotment Act) -- during Cleveland’s first term

a. Reflected a “force Indians to civilize” view of reformers (and western land speculators)

b. Provisions:

* Wiped out tribal ownership of land.

* Set up individual Indian family heads w/ allotment of 160 free acres.

* Designed to eradicate Indian culture

(“for their own good”)

c. Results of Dawes Act:

* Accelerated the already advanced decay of traditional Indian culture. ASSIMILATION

--Army-style boarding schools set up where Indians were prohibited from exercising their culture.

--2/3 of Indians’ remaining land lost.

* Remained government’s official policy until 1934.

d. Indians finally received full citizenship in 1924.

e. Today, two million Native Americans live in US.

Carlisle Indian School (PA)

End of the Frontier

A. Incredible growth from 1870s to 1890s

B. Oklahoma Land Rush, April 22, 1889

1. Settlers offered vast stretches of land formerly occupied by Creeks & Seminoles

2. Nearly 100,000 “boomers” poured in

a. By day’s end, nearly 2 million acres hadbeen settled.

b. “Sooners” -- land grabbers who claimedland illegally before land rush began

3. In 1907, Oklahoma became “the Sooner State.”

Oklahoma “Boomers” waiting for the starting gun to race for land.

C. 1890 census showed that for the first time in US history, a frontier line was no longer discernible.

1. All unsettled areas now broken into by isolated bodies of settlement.

2. Once frontier was gone, farmers could not move west in significant numbers.

* Had to stay and fight to improve their lot by

organizing for political

purposes.

Politics in a Gilded Age

Focus Question:

Was the Gilded Age political system effective in meeting goals?

Politics in a Gilded Age: Corruption

• The Corruption of Politics– Mark Twain: “Gilded Age” –covered in gold

• Corrupt Political Machines– Tammany Hall: Boss Tweed

• National Political Corruption– Grants administration: Credit Mobilier and

Whiskey Ring Scandals

Why is this called the “Gilded Age”?

• Mark Twain – Satirical novel written with Charles Warner,

The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873), Twain engages in social commentary concerning the state of our fast changing cities.

– Twain refers to this as a “Gilded,” not Golden, Age...prosperity and culture that is seen is only on the surface.

– Major problems lurk beneath the surface!

Boss Tweed

• Corruption in political machine/boss system:

- Graft - getting $$$ through dishonest or questionable means.

- Fraud - bosses accepted bribes from contractors, etc.,

who in exchange got prized contracts for doing city work (ex: roads, garbage collection, etc.) or for city

permits.

• Tammany Hall - New York City Democrat machine.

Boss – William Marcy Tweed – corrupt!! Had control of NYC government.

The Political Machine

A. Political machines catered to new immigrants

1. “Bosses” traded jobs & services for votes = created powerful voting blocs for their own purposes

-- Provided jobs on city payroll; found them housing; gave food& clothing; helped with legal counseling; built schools, parks,& hospitals.

2. Reformers infuriated by these practices; wanted to curb power of political machines.

How did political machines work?

• The “Political Machine” mobilized the voters to get their candidates elected.

• The “Political Machine” ran on “patronage/spoils system

-- securing jobs for supporters. “Spoils system”

Definition: Gov’t ’jobs for votes Gov’t employment expanded

significantly (ex: postal service)

-- Reforms of civil service (govt) jobs attempted to take take power away from political leaders and city bosses

Politics in a Gilded Age: Economy

• Government and the Economy– Laissez faire– High Tariffs– Currency issues (Gold Standard)

• Reform Legislation– Civil Service Act (“Pendleton Act”)– Interstate Commerce Commission– Sherman Antitrust Act

Politics in a Gilded Age: Conflict

• Political Conflict in the States– Greenback Party

• Currency “greenback” issues

– Patrons of Husbandry (“The Grange”)• Railroad rates• Eight-hour day

Rise of the Civil Service System

• Assassination of President Garfield in 1881 by a disappointed office seeker opened the door to reform.

• In 1883, Congress passed the Pendleton Act setting up the civil service system for employing rank and file bureaucrats.

After Garfield’s death, President Chester Arthur helped to get the civil service bill passed.

Elements of the Civil Service System

• The Civil Service System puts the emphasis on merit as the basis for hiring—instead of party loyalty.

• Merit is to be demonstrated: By examination (test)...or... By credentials.

• Civil servants are protected against dismissal for political reasons.

Why was this considered a “reform”?

Government regulations of “Robber Baron” RR tycoons

1. Americans slow to react to excesses of RRs

a. Jeffersonian ideals were hostile to government interference with business.

b. Dedicated to free enterprise – believed anyone could become a millionaire (the

“American dream”)“Remember what I saidabout life, liberty, and property? Government should NOT mess with a man’s property!”

2. Supreme Court Decisions

a. 1870s Depression farmers protested unfair RR policies

-- Groups such as the Grange pressured state legislatures

to regulate the RR monopoly.

b. Slaughterhouse Cases

* Court ruled protection of “labor” was a state responsibility

* Protected business from federal regulation if it engaged only in

intrastate commerce (within a state)

c. Munn v. Illinois (1877) - (One of the so-called “Granger Laws”)

-- Decision: Public has the right to regulate business; ruled against RRs.

d. Wabash case (1886) – Overturned Munn v. Illinois

* Supreme Court ruled that federal government, not

states, must regulate interstate commerce.

3. Interstate Commerce Act passed in 1887

a. Set up Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to enforce & administer new law.

b. Prohibited rebates & pools & required RRs to publish their rates openly.

c. The ICC did not effectively regulate RRs; but, it was at least the first large-scale attempt by feds to regulate business in the interest of society. Set a precedent for future regulatory commissions in the 20th century.

Government Regulation of Trusts

Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 1. Public demand for curbing excesses of trusts

2. Stop mergers which restrained trade

3. Ineffective: no strong enforcement

Why? Conservative Supreme Court; 5th amendment “private property” issue

BUT… public interests now eclipsing private enterprise in political power due to such acts as the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 & the Sherman Antitrust Act.

* Public wanted government protection from “bad” business.

Freedom in the Gilded Age

Focus Question:

How did the economic development of the Gilded Age affect American freedom?

Freedom in the Gilded Age: Social Darwinism

• Social Darwinism in America– Darwin’s On the Origins of Species

• Plants and animals best able to adapt to their environment supplanted those less adaptable; “survival of fittest?”

– Social Darwinists: Herbert Spencer and William Sumner• Government should not intervene in society• Wealthy better adapted to changing conditions of society• Poverty was caused by a lack of character or absence of

self-reliance

Debate: Should success be only the result of individualism (survival of the fittest - Social Darwinism)

or should the government help?

Some argued that Divine Providence was responsible for winners & losers in society

1. God had granted wealth just as He had given grace for spiritual salvation to a select few.

2. Resembled “Divine Right of Kings” in justifying their power

3. Those who stayed poor must be lazy & lacking

ambition

* Many new rich had succeeded from

modest beginnings (ex: Carnegie): “self-made” men.

Gospel of Wealth – justified uneven distribution of wealth by industrialists

Andrew Carnegie made this idea famous

Theory that wealth was God’s will; should be given away for public good PHILANTHROPY* Donated million$ of his fortune. * Libraries, scholarships, etc…

Freedom in the Gilded Age: Courts

• Liberty of Contract– The idea liberty of contract was central to this definition of

freedom. Labor contracts reconciled freedom and authority in the workplace, and as long as independent individuals freely contracted with each other, neither government nor unions had a right to interfere with working conditions.

• The Courts and Freedom– State and federal courts regularly struck down state laws that

regulated business, such as maximum-hour laws, as an illegal interference with the rights of employers to use their property as they saw fit and the rights of employees to choose the conditions of their work.

Labor and the Republic

Focus Question:

How did reformers of the period approach the problems of an industrial society?

Labor and the Republic: Labor question

• Labor Movement– Knights of Labor– American Federation of Labor

• Protestants and Moral Reform

• A Social Gospel

Rise of the Labor Movement

Low-skilled jobs made workers expendable

* Strikes often failed; used “scab” workers

* Courts often ruled for industrialists.

* Corporations could ask states to call in troops to end strikes

* Employers could lock-out rebellious workers & starve them into submission.

* Forced many workers to sign “yellow dog contracts” (agreements not to join a labor union)* Also blacklisted noncompliant workers.

Collective bargaining emerged as standard union practice. -- Unions and companies negotiated for equal treatment -- arbitration: sometimes third party used to settle disputes

National Labor Union1. Skilled craft workers

2. Fought for goals such as 8-hr workday

3. Blacks formed their own national labor union in 1869 (no longer welcome in NLU…why?)

* Molly Maguires (formed 1875 by Irish coal miners in PA)

- used intimidation, arson, & violence to protest owners

Great Railroad Strike -1877

First nationwide strikePres. Hayes called in federal troops in PA; set precedent for future federal intervention; 100 deaths

Knights of Labor seized torch of the now-defunct NLU

1. Led by Terence Powderly - moderate, not a radical

2. Much of leadership & membership was Irish

3. Included both skilled & unskilled workers

4. Campaigned for economic & social reform

a. Codes for safety & health; end to child labor b. 8-hour workday, higher wages, & equal pay for women c. Government regulation of railroads d. Arbitration rather than strikes.

5. Haymarket Square Riot in Chicago

a. Alleged anarchists joined in strike b. Bomb killed 8 policemen; 60 injured c. Public starts to associate KOL w/ anarchy

backlash against labor movement

6. Some employers begin to require employees to sign “yellow dog” contracts (agreement not to join unions)

7. Inclusion of both skilled & unskilled workers proved a fatal handicap

a. Unskilled labor: easily be replaced w/ scabs b. Craft unionists: superior bargaining position

8. KOL dead by turn of 20th century

LABOR MOVEMENT

• The Rise of the American Federation of Labor (AFL)– Skilled workers– Bargain with employers for higher wages and

better working conditions

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

1. 1886; leader – Samuel Gompers

2. Skilled Union Workers

3. Closed shop - all workers in a unionized industry had to belong to union

-- Provided necessary funds to ride out prolonged strikes.

4. Strategies of AFL: walk-out and boycott

a. By 1900, about 500,000 members b. Shortcomings: did not represent unskilled

labor, especially women & blacks.

BRICKLAYERS

MACHINISTS

WELDERS

MINERS

ARTISANS

PLUMBERS

TEAMSTERS

DOCKWORKERS

A F L

G. Major strikes in the 1890s

1. Homestead Strike (1892) - Carnegie’s steel plant near Pittsburgh

a. Demonstrated that a strong employer could break a union if it hired a mercenary police force & gained government & court protection (injunctions)

b. PA governor brought in 8,000 state militia; scabs replaced workers

c. The union was broken.

2. Pullman Strike 1884

a. Pullman cut wages by 1/3 but kept rent prices high in the company town

b. Eugene Debs helped organize the American Railway Union;

workers went on strike

c. Pullman arranged to have mail cars attached to each train w/

Pullman cars

d. Federal troops sent in to charge strikers w/ interfering

w/ delivery of US mail (felony!)

e. Strike crushed & ARU destroyed

3. Between 1881-1900 - 23,000 strikes involving 6.6 million workers….but….

a. Biggest weakness: only represented about 3% of all working people

b. Public finally began to accept workers’ right to organize, bargain collectively, & strike.

-- Labor Day made a legal holiday by

Congress in 1894.

Social Crusaders attempted to improve the “shame of the cities” (i.e. Lincoln Steffans)

1. Motivation: feared working class revolution

2. Social Gospel advocates emerged

a. “Christianity should improve life on earth rather than waiting for the afterlife.”

* Wanted less alcoholism, unemployment.

* Mediated between management & unions

b. Salvation Army: To US in 1879

* Appealed to poor; soup kitchens most obvious contribution.

3. Settlement House Movement

a. Primarily a women’s movement (college-educated & prosperous women)

* Teaching or volunteerism - permissible occupations for young women of that social class.

* Women prohibited from involvement in politics (Victorian ideals & “cult of domesticity”)

b. Jane Addams

* One of the first generation of college-educated women

* Established Hull House in Chicago

- Immigrants were taught English - Nutrition, health, child care classes - Discussed current events - Social activities - Helped immigrants cope with American big city life; provided childcare. - Model for other settlement houses.

* Addams – Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.

4. American Red Cross launched in 1881- led by Clara Barton.

5. YWCA founded in 1858 - help for young urban women.

C. Anti-foreignism or “nativism”? ....

Clara Barton

"MELTING POT" OR "SALAD BOWL?"