HIST 2112 1st Edition Lecture 5Outline of Last LectureI. The Southerners attempt to preserve slaverII. The IndiansOutline of Current Lecture I. The Current Time and WhyII. Industrialism – the most important development in U.S. history after reconstructionIII. American Business Before 1870IV. The Benefits of Industrialism vs. The Dark Side of Industrialism The Benefits The Dark SideV. The Benefits of Industrialism vs. The Dark Side of IndustrialismVI. Important Business Techniques Techniques Other Helpful DevelopmentsVII. The Gilded Age – late 1880’s-90sCurrent Lecture I. The Current Time and Why The railroad and even other big companies are the ones that created time zone. Before time zones time was decided by the local people based on local conditions. They would usually have noon as the time when the sun was directly over city hall. So time was slightly off in every town. It was irrelevant to know what time it was in New York City if you were living in Atlanta. However, when the railroads were created the people needed to know the exact time when the train came into the station and when it left especially if you went from one train to another. II. Industrialism – the most important development in U.S. history after reconstruction The most important thing in America at this time was industrialism Industrialism the birth of big business, the rise of high finance Industrialism changes o Where the people liveo Where the people worko Wealth on an unimagined scale and with that wealth came powero Employers had a lot of power over their employees What is the nature of democracy? What will democracy look like in the new industrialized American?III. American Business Before 1870 In the 1830s we had textile mills in Massachusetts We have always been a business oriented country American businesses were small and independently known (single proprietorship)o Employed relatively small numbers of people The vast majority of workers labored on farms In 1850 the largest employer in America had 800 employees, a typical company had 10-15 employees 50 years later in 1900, Carnegie Steel employed 20,000 peopleIV. The Benefits of Industrialism vs. The Dark Side of Industrialism The Benefitso Famine was very rareo Raises peoples wageso Offers the people opportunities The Dark Sideo Pollutiono Young kids working in the factorieso Dangerous work, no safety regulationsV. A case Study – Andrew Carnegie Born in Scotland – migrates to Pittsburgh 1848 His father was a weaver so he started working at the bottom and moved up He became the steel man He created the system to make steel cheap and fast Ambitious, clever, driven, talented, and sees a future in steel He is obsessed with efficiency He doesn’t just want to be rich he wanted to create an empire and have power. He looked up to the founders of the railroad and he wanted to be like them He doesn’t have the money when he started his company off so he went to his friends who were rich and got them to invest in his ideas A Fortuitous Combination of Developmentso Technological developmentso The rise of railroads The railroads buy a lot of Carnegies steelo New resources from the Westo Cheap labor in the form of immigrationo The Invention of corporate business techniques Carnegie had to structure his company so he would have corporate efficiency Having stock holders who invested in your company Having a CEO to help run the companyVI. Important Business Techniques Techniqueso Integration of Production Push the edge of legalityo Monopolization, trusts, “price fixing” (not so much Carnegie as others) Monopoly- If there is only one company making steel than that is amonopoly, no competition- If you are businessman you want Monopoly- John D. Rockefeller was notorious for taking over oil companies at this time Trusts- Where the companies worked together, it was monopoly by a committee They would fix the price they would agree to all raise or lower the price. The companies would determine the price instead ofthe market Other helpful Developmentso A pro-industrial US government and Republican Party The government helps the industry as much as they can The Republican party was opposed to slavery because they knew the economy could make more money. The Republican party was extremely pro-industry o Pro-industrial law Was industrial friendly Santa Clara Company vs. Southern Pacific Railroad- The essence of the ruling was that the 14th amendmentapplied to corporations- The Supreme Court ruled that corporations have the same rights as humanso This gave them more lead way to do what they wanted- Regulation was seen as unfair when it came to corporationso “Social Darwinism” – the misguided application of “survival of the finest” to economics A blueprint for how people can treat each other Carnegie was an example because he started out at the bottom but he rose up because of his talent. The rise of the fittesto Retires and sells to JP MorganVII. The Gilded Age – late 1880’s-90s American’s ambivalence about “Robert Barons”o Robert Baron is a phrase for someone who is nervous of the implications of the gilded age Threats to democracy? – so powerful that they might take overthe country Threats to free enterprise? – if they are so powerful they might be able to run all small companies out of business Threats to jobs? – They might pay the people so little and control them completely because they will be in charge of all jobs Edward Bellamy and Look Backward (1887) – a book Carnegie’s Social Conscienceo He gave every penny of his to help support higher educationo Carnegie is aware that there are implications to wealth A lingering question – Was the development of American Industrialism worth the costs? The answers will vary…stay
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