HIST 106 2nd Edition Lecture 8 Outline of Last Lecture I The lure of the city II Tenements and unwashed masses III Strangers in a strange land IV Social and cultural change V Manners and Mores Outline of Current Lecture I II III IV V The innovative model T The burgeoning Trusts Managing the machines Part 2 the spirit of progressivism Part 3 Reform in the cities Current Lecture Introduction The innovative model T o Intro context o Ford The man Began making luxury racing cars and set the record for the fastest land time o Ford s epiphany tin lizzie Made the model T idea and made the tin lizzie of cars that cost 850 20 horsepower and only available in black That year 11 000 were sold o The people s car Made democracy for the cars and used the meatpacking industries method to make cars Made smaller units and had an assembly line this was really efficient Down the road Ford industries was making a new car every 10 seconds o Blue highways Federal Aid Roads act removed control from county government it would call for every state to build and fund highways The burgeoning Trusts o Intro context As more companies like Ford s began to pop up it was the beginning of trusts in the US These trusts wiped out smaller businesses o Oligopolies Def the control of a large industry by a few people o Greed going global Giant businesses reached abroad for materials and raw markets These business men exploited many countries and would fix the price of the materials so they would keep being the biggest trust o Morgan et al Were able to help mergers and made interlocking directories to help others control many other businesses o What to do Set off a decade long debate about what governments should do about trusts Some people wanted to break them up and some wanted to keep them as they symbolized a time of prosperity Managing the machines o Intro context Mass production changed the way of how goods were produced for the rest of the history of the US Size system organization and marketing were fundamental ideas in the workplace Managers focused on the product and how the product came out over the workers themselves Uniformity was now the key not being able to surpass the previous competition s product o Research and development R D As the new ideas of technology the labs made the new ideas of the workplace Very successful and every industry wanted an R D department to help them build more successful products o Sheer numbers o Nonstop Oil and steel products that were made to make other products would work nonstop The glass industry wiped out many skilled and well paid glass makers as the glass was now made cheaper and by machine Workers lost control of the workplace and managers would speed up the conveyor belt so the production would increase o Signed the Management This gave way to scientific labor and labor management Fredrick Winslow Taylor strove to extract maximum work from each worker and made 2 reforms Management should control the workplace through enforced standardization of workplace and cooperation Management must take responsibility of their part of the workplace o Far and wide reaching consequences Workers became part of the machinery Workers often lost pride in workmanship and the jobs became monotonous and very dangerous Meat cutters locked off fingers and cut off hands due to not paying attention while working Accidents injuries and deaths were part of the job and were part of the evil of the workplace o So you think OHSA s unneeded eh A company in New York focused on unhealthy and dangerous conditions in the workplace A seamstress company in New York crammed a bunch of women into sweatshop like conditions when a fire broke out there was only one fires escape and many died This company strove to make workplaces safer and healthier environments Part 2 the spirit of progressivism o Introduction Sources There leadership in this era were young men and women and had good professions These people were genuine and wanted to help the people working the workplace Ideology Wanted progression and did not like waste Did not all have the same ideology to be concerned about and they were democrats and republicans Progressives stressed individual morality and action and the scientific method of inquiry and the value of expression They valued systematization by all levels of the workplace and predictability o Reform and efficiency o The rise of the professions Intro context White collar America Many of the higher and educated people were the leaders of the organizations that made policies about the workplace These professions attracted young and educated men and women More people working in administrative and professional jobs the managers of industries Self made individuals These people were not defined from where in the social ladder they were born like it was in previous generation o They worked hard to be where they were and were proud in their work o Thought of themselves as experts and to use their knowledge to benefit society America accredited All professionals had to get certified in order to give people the peace of mind that they were going to someone who knew what they were doing The American medical association AMA was formed in order to set standards for medical professionals o The social justice movement Intro context Made laws for tenement housing child labor laws and better working environments for women Changing focus Work that mattered to millions Lawrence Veiller put together a tenement housing exhibition that included photographs maps of slum districts and graphic cardboard depictions of tenement flocks New York state tenement house conditions act was passed by governor Theodore Roosevelt Veiller s Legacy Made reform for minimum wages maximum hours and workers compensation Part 3 Reform in the cities o Introduction o Interest group and popular politics decline Intro context Voter apathy Voter turnout dropped in 1900 and hasn t really gone up ever since Less and less people voted From 1876 1900 the average president elect s voter turnout was 77 In the 1920s the average president elect s voter turnout was 50 Causation Who to blame People had found another way to achieve what they wanted from presidential candidates
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