The Second Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Economy - extension of the economic growth

of the Market Rev. prior to the Civil War
Market Rev. - textile & advent of mechanized agriculture
Gilded Age - mining, steel, oil, transportation, etc.
Last generation of the 19th century - Rise as the worlds
leading Industrial Power - (30%+ of World Wide Manufactured Goods)
Ushers in MODERN AMERICA
so rapid, so extensive, so complete
Rapid Economic Growth due to:
-Resources -Labor Class
-Population demand for goods
Tariffs - (pushed by Republicans,
favored by Big Business) protected
American Co. from foreign competition

The Second Industrial Revolution

Railroads & the National Market (1st Transcontinental RR -1869)

Railroad Companies were given Federal Land - necessitated

the Removal of Indians

Railroads were the principle reason for extensive expansion

and settlement Westward. (introduces commercial farming)

WEST = Resources >>> <<< Markets/Manufactured Goods = EAST

Allowed for fast, relatively cheap means of

transporting resources, goods and
people across the continent.

Perpetuates the need for

time zones - Continentality

Growth of Cities

Chicago (6x growth in 30 years)

Angel Island & Ellis Island

Map 16.1 The Rail Road Network, 1880

Give Me Liberty!: An American History, 4th Edition

Copyright 2013 W.W. Norton & Company

Table 16.1 Indicators of Economic Change, 18701920

Give Me Liberty!: An American History, 4th Edition
Copyright 2013 W.W. Norton & Company

The Second Industrial Revolution

The Spirit of Innovation - efficient travel & communication become

globalized. (i.e.- Atlantic Cable Co.)

Edison and Tesla - mechanized luxury goods

Competition and Consolidation - Federal involvement (greenbacks/

inflation) & steep increase in supply dropped prices for goods, driving
up competition. (bad news for farmers & labor class, great news for
Big Business)

Mergers of Companies lead to dominant Corporations

Monopolization - Vertical Integration > Andrew Carnegie

- Horizontal Integration > John D. Rockefeller

The Second Industrial Revolution

The Rise of Andrew Carnegie

- Standard Steel Co.
- Gospel of Wealth
The Triumph of John D. Rockefeller
- Standard Oil Co.
- controlled 90% of Americas Oil Industry
Both Against Labor Unions >
Captains of Industry or Robber Barons
Labor Unions - Miners Freedom
Argued for fair labor standards-
-fixed quotas -hours/days
- safety regulations, etc.
Factory Conditions
-Dangerous -Low Wages
- Child Labor

Social Darwinism - Survival of the business Savvy

-Deserving Poor vs. Undeserving Poor

American Aristocracy -Conspicuous

Consumption

Jacob A Riis - How the Other Half Lives

Tenement housing & the Plight of the labor class

Next!, a cartoon from the magazine Puck

Give Me Liberty!: An American History, 4th Edition

Copyright 2013 W.W. Norton & Company

The Transformation of the West

A Diverse Region - Middle Border

(Corn Belt)
The Cowboy and Bonanza Farms
- Cattle Kingdom & Corporate Farming
Large-Scale Agriculture in California
-migrant labor
Federal Land Allotments to Railroad Co.
-Railroad Co. sell land to farmers
-Homestead Act (1862)
*more land settled &
cultivated in 30 yrs.
than previous 250 yrs.

The Transformation of the West

The Subjugation of the Plains Indians

Let Me Be a Free Man - Chief Joseph

Buffalo - +30 mill. 1800 - nearly extinct 1890

1871 -Fed. Govt. eliminated treaty system

1884-Elk v. Wilkins (citizenry) *1924

Dawes Act of 1887 - 138 sq/m to 5.2 sq/m

- selling off of Indian Territory

1890 -Ghost Dance & Wounded Knee

Politics in a Gilded Age

The Corruption of Politics - Party Divisions and the Spoils System

Spoils System - Nepotism / Elevating thru Personal Connections

Democrats - Southern & Irish Catholics

Republicans - North, Mid-West, Cities, Protestants

Corporate lobbyists - sway political decisions for economic advantage

Political Machines - William Boss Tweed

Tammany Hall & Private Welfare to buy votes

Forgettable Presidents ( Johnson-Cleveland)

Small Govt - no regulation

Laissez-Faire - Big Business Rule

1887 - Interstate Commerce Commission

Lochner v. New York

- Supreme Court sides with Corporations

Freedom in the Gilded Age

Labor and the Republic

Rise of Labor Unions, Strikes and Boycotts

Reaction: Fears of anarchy and communism
The Knights of Labor and
the American Federation of Labor
nearly a million members by 1886
Haymarket Square - Chicago
Homestead Strike - Penn.
Great Railroad Strike - Pittsburg
*foreign immigrants accused of
instigating each event

A cartoon from the 1880s depicts radicals as foreigners

attempting to destroy the foundations of American society.

Give Me Liberty!: An American History, 4th Edition

Copyright 2013 W.W. Norton & Company