HIST 106 2nd Edition Lecture 4Outline of Last Lecture I. CowboysII. End of RangeIII. FarmingIV. Challenges in the WestV. End of the “WestOutline of Current LectureI. US behind in IndustrializationII. Reasons why Industrial growth began in the USIII. RailroadsIV. Cornelius Vanderbilt and his legacyV. John D. RockefellerCurrent Lecture- The US is way behind in industrial growtho Slavery in the south pushed the industrial growth behind because people in the south would rather use people than machines to help them with agricultureo The US had just gone through a war Wars are really bad for an economy because things are not progressing during the war, they progress before the war because you are making materials for the war (newer technologies for the war)- Reasons why industrial growth began in the USo Booming population A lot of the people (young men) were killed and there was a gender imbalance (more women than men) and the birth rate drops dramatically When there was an increase in the birth rate, that means that there were more people to work and help industrial growtho Technological development The beginning of the steel, oil, and railroad industries as well as the invention of electricityo Government subsidies Without government subsidies, there would not be a railway in the US Expanding the railway industry was extremely important to many people becausethe railroads helped transport goods all across the country for saleo Captains of industry/barons Individuals that made it their goal and put all of their money into an industry in order to help that industry boomo Monopoly Monopolies really helped with industrialization, which is weird because now we do not allow monopolies because they push out innovation During industrialization, there was no industry so the monopolies helped the industrial growth however there is a tipping point which is a monopoly is bad because no one can get into the industry because the monopoly is so large- Railroadso Railroads made it easy to sell product and get product to producers and allowed people to live closer to where their supplies are This is the beginning of large corporations that span the country because communication was a lot better The steel, coal and wood industries because they were made out of these products and could deliver these products o 1865-35,000 miles of track All of these miles of track was mostly in the east of the US One of the projects that the government had after the civil war was to get a transcontinental railroad across the USo 1916-254,037 mileso First transcontinental railroad, 1869 Railroad was built mainly by Chinese workers The government will grant free land to the railroads and will pay the railroad companies for the tracks that they build- This was a HUGE incentive to build railroads because they got a lot of land forbuilding the railroad- Railroads were extremely profitable because they got free land and were ableto sell the land around the railroad for a 100% profito Credit Mobilier scandal of 1872 Credit Mobilier was the company that was building the railroad for the US Anes was trying to get support for the railroads and will give stock in Credit Mobilier to other congressmen for a really discounted price and will bribe the congressmen to take his side There was a lot of bribery going on and the Sun newspaper covered it and made it public - There were no arrests and most of the congressmen involved in the scandal will get off spot free Consequences- The creation of a civil service, which was an exam to make sure that the government official can do things that government officials are supposed to do - The employees of the civil service will be administering the tests as well as the sub secretaries will be appointed by the civil service- Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilto 1794-1877o Pioneer in steamship industry Made this before the Civil War and made a fortune on this industryo By 1864, he sold all of his steamships and concentrated on the railroads He will end up owning most of the railway network in the northeast of the US Will pour tons and tons of money into developing in the railroad system and will become a shareholder in a lot of other railroad companieso From 1867-1877 he controlled 4500 miles of rail He makes most of his money back and will die one of the richest men in the US - Vanderbilt Legacyo Vanderbilt University Donated $1 million to building the universityo Grand central terminal In New Yorko Many, many houses He lived in relative modesty in New York but when he left his money to his children, they went and bought and made homes that were grand in size and in architecture- John D. Rockefellero Founded standard oil in 1863o By 1879, he controlled 90% of US oil production in 1897o Rockefeller retired worth $900
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