Jeremy Keeshin

Ch. 18. pp 511-536

Themes: Communication
& Competition

INDUSTRIALIZATION - SO
WHAT?
The competition created by the industrialization of American society in the later
part of the nineteenth century led to the expansion of communication throughout the
nation. The countless inventions of the time period coupled with the instinctive drive of
many of the elite businessmen provided for a constantly progressing society while
widening gap between employer and employee.
After the Civil War, railroads were the predominant way to move goods and ideas
across the continent. Since railroads were the dominant medium, entrepreneurs and
thinkers across the nation searched for ways to make them into a lucrative industry. The
amalgamation of the use of the Bessemer Process to refine steel along with the aspiration
for expansion led to the completion of the transcontinental railroad by the end of 1869.
This allowed the country an efficient way to transport goods to places where they would
not normally appear. The transcontinental railroad helped different societies around the
nation communicate, as it was the connection between meatpacking Chicago and fruitful
Florida as well as the St. Louis brewery.
The inventions of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell and the phonograph
by Thomas Alva Edison aided as well in the spread of ideas throughout the country. The
phonograph offered a way to record thought. The telegraph revolutionized the transfer of
ideas. However, after 1876, the telephone allowed communication like never before. The
country was finally catching up to Europe after lagging for quite a while.
Vital to the expansion of industry at this time was the abundance of natural
resources still on the continent. Currently, the availability of oil remains to be a pressing
issue, as President Bush addressed oil autonomy in his recent State of the Union speech.
At this time, the ubiquity of metals and petroleum throughout the states allowed for the
enormity of the steel and oil industries. Many hard-working capitalists seized on the
booming industries of steel and oil. Andrew Carnegie, the self made champion of the
steel industry was a prime example of the American industrialist. John D. Rockefeller,
another ambitious capitalist, was the epitome of the strong competition in the economy.
The founder of Standard Oil, he saw efficiency and the elimination of the competition
crucial to his success. His views were very similar to those of J.P Morgan, a banker
whose financial power allowed him to extend great control over both the steel and
railroad industries. These men made up a small percent of the companies in the nation;
however, they were responsible for much of the industrial output. It was competition that
fueled them and their callousness that set them apart from their employees.
Many large companies did not look out for their workers and this led to much
unrest within the unions. The Great Strike of 1877 in the railroads and the Haymarket
Riot and the Homestead Strike all were explicit examples of how discord between the
employer and the employee led to problems. The vertical integration made workers’
efforts even more feeble because they were dealing with a company who owned much of
that specific industry. American industry was forever changed.
 Jeremy Keeshin
Ch. 18. pp 511-536
Themes: Communication
& Competition

Trends/Ideas

Communication- transportation, telephone, telegraph

Growth/Expansion
Progress/Competition
Monopolies- Rockefeller, Morgan destroy competition

Important Events/Legislation – include date and then a brief definition, significance

And General Notes

Natural Resources abundant- coal, iron, timber, petroleum, waterpower (Current Events)
Railroads
Trunk Lines linking east and west
Transcontinental Railroad- unity, progress , 1869
Steel is the new stronger better metal of progress
Bessemer Process, late 1850s, blast of air through molten iron results in better steel
mass production of steel
vertical integration- almost sole ownership by one company
Oil
Trust-business organization
Standard Oil Trust 1881 to manage properties
Inventions: typewriter, calculator, camera
Advertising gets big helps out department stores, “chain stores” catalogs
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act prohibits immigration of Chinese for 10 years
Working conditions poor, wages low, unequal among gender, race and religion
Knights of Labor- union-like for “producers” against monopoly- IDEALISTIC
American Federation of Labor (1886) craft union alliance –PRACTICAL
Employee, employer unrest, lots of strikes: Great Railroad Strike of 1877, Haymarket
Riot (1886), Homestead Strike (1892)

“Who” – key personalities – a brief and compelling ID

JP Morgan- banker who helps out railroads, most powerful figure in American finance
Andrew Carnegie – master of the steel industry, sells to Morgan, company becomes US
Steel
John D. Rockefeller- builds Standard Oil
Alexander Graham Bell- invents telephone. Wow
Thomas Alva Edison- inventor, phonograph, light bulb
Samuel Gompers- AFL union leader, pragmatic,