Expanding Industry
Natural Resources
Oil reserves accessed via steam-drill Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and
Texas all have reserves Petroleum refineries emerge in Cleveland and
Pittsburgh – transform oil into kerosene Originally dispose of gasoline, byproduct of the refining
Iron also valuable Converted to steel via “Bessemer process”
Inject air into molten iron to remove carbon and impurities
Steel crucial to expanding railroads as well as other industrial uses
Also for city construction – bridges, invention of skyscraper
Inventions
Incandescent light bulb – Thomas A. EdisonElectricity – George Westinghouse (AC
power)Typewriter – Christopher SholesTelephone – Alexander Graham Bell
Phone and Typewriter are instrumental in bringing women into the workplace
Railroads
Transcontinental rail lines being constructedMany immigrants and desperate Civil War vets put their
lives on the line to build the rail lines Accidents, disease, treacherous terrain, and hostile natives
injure/kill thousandsWith fast travel now available, need to synchronize the
watches of people in various locations (so noon would no longer necessarily be exactly when the sun was directly overhead wherever you were) establish “railroad time” – current system of time zones
Expansion promotes trade and specialization – much like National Road and steamboat travel did previously
Promotes the growth of new communities/cities along the busy rail routes
Big Business
Andrew Carnegie – Steel Vertical integration – control each stage of the
industry (raw materials, manufacturing, distribution) Horizontal integration – control as many companies
in the same industry as youJohn D. Rockefeller – Oil
Standard Oil – operates as a trust – Standard Oil and other oil producers operate as a de facto corporation (without formal merger)
Frederick Weyerhaeuser – Timber I threw him in because I used to work at a lumber
yard, so he’s near and dear to my heart
Responses to big business
Sherman Antitrust Act – makes formation of trusts (like Rockefeller’s) illegal Interferes with fair trade Virtually impossible to enforce
Labor Unions Factory work = long hours, dangerous conditions, low
wages Workers only real power is in uniting together and
striking for better conditions