CHAPTER 18



CHAPTER 18

The Industrial Society, 1850–1901

Focus Questions

18.1 What enabled the United States to build an industrial economy?

18.2 What were the main characteristics of the new steel and oil industries?

18.3 Why were the new methods of advertising so important?

18.4 Who were the wage earners in the new economy?

18.5 How did wage earners organize in this period, and what demands did they make?

18.6 What characterized the labor movement in the United States from 1870 to 1900?

Chapter Outline

Introduction: A Machine Culture

18.1 Industrial Development

18.1.1 Past and Present: The Gig Economy

18.1.2 An Empire on Rails

18.1.3 Building the Empire

18.1.4 Linking the Nation via Trunk Lines

18.1.5 Rails Across the Continent

18.1.6 Problems of Growth

18.2 An Industrial Empire

18.2.1 Carnegie and Steel

18.2.2 Rockefeller and Oil

18.2.3 The Business of Invention

18.3 The Sellers

18.4 The Wage Earners

18.4.1 Working Men, Working Women, Working Children

18.5 Culture of Work

18.5.1 Labor Unions

18.5.2 Labor Unrest

18.6 Charting the Past: Labor Strikes and Disputes

18.6.1 Labor Strikes and Disputes

18.6.2 Capital’s Laws, Labor Wars: Gilded Age Industrialization

18.6.3 Labor, Radicalism, Conservatism, and Diversity at Century’s Turn

Conclusion: Industrialization’s Benefits and Costs

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION: A MACHINE CULTURE

THE GRAND CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION IN PHILADELPHIA IN 1876 ILLUSTRATES THAT WHILE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE COULD LOOK BACK ON A CENTURY OF NATIONAL HISTORY OF WHICH THEY WERE PROUD, THEY WERE MORE INTERESTED IN LOOKING TOWARD A FUTURE IN WHICH THE COUNTRY WOULD BE A POWERFUL INDUSTRIAL GIANT.

18.1 Industrial Development

WHAT ENABLED THE UNITED STATES TO BUILD AN INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY?

The United States offered ideal conditions for rapid industrial growth at the end of the nineteenth century. There was an abundance of cheap natural resources, large pools of labor, the largest domestic market in the world, new innovations, and capital and government support without government regulation. Industrial development was not always smooth and the Northeast tended to reap most of the rewards, but industry developed quickly between 1865 and 1914.

18.1.1 Past and Present: The Gig Economy: The industrial economy of the late nineteenth century represented a move away from an individual’s ability to have some measure of control over his or her work. However, the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, with their innovations in technology and communication, have allowed a type of “gig economy” to again allow workers choices about how they perform their work.

18.1.2 AN EMPIRE ON RAILS: THE RAILROAD WAS ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT INNOVATIONS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. RAIL ADDED GREATER SPEED AND SAFETY THAN OTHER FORMS OF LAND TRAVEL OFFERED, AND RAIL HELPED CREATE A NATIONAL MARKET THAT FOSTERED MASS PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. UNLIKE EUROPEAN RAILROADS LINKING TOWNS, AMERICAN NETWORKS OFTEN BROUGHT URBAN LIFE TO OUTLYING AREAS AND TRANSPORTED REGIONAL GOODS TO OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY WHERE THEY HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN UNAVAILABLE. RAILWAY COMPANIES OPERATED ON AN UNPRECEDENTED SCALE, ACTING AS BOTH HUGE CONSUMERS AND EMPLOYERS AND REQUIRING NEW FORMS OF BUSINESS ORGANIZATION.

18.1.3 Building the Empire: Between 1865 and 1916, the rail network in the United States grew from 35,000 miles of track to more than 250,000 miles. A great deal of the expense was met by local and state governments and, especially in the West, by the federal government. Even with all the fraud and waste connected with government grants, the railroads saved the federal government about one billion dollars between 1850 and 1945.

18.1.4 Linking the Nation via Trunk Lines: At first, railroads were built by and for local interests, with different schedules, depots, and rail gauges. During and after the Civil War, construction and consolidation of trunk lines proceeded rapidly, especially after the standardization of the rail gauge. The eastern seaboard was directly linked to the Great Lakes and the West. Consolidation in the southern railroad system took longer but grew at an exceptional rate in the 1880s and was integrated into the national network. At the same time, rail transportation became safer, speedier, and more reliable, and, in 1883, the country was divided into time zones to better organize schedules.

18.1.5 Rails Across the Continent: Congress chose two companies to build a transcontinental railroad in 1862 and 1864. The Union Pacific worked westward from Nebraska, using mostly ex-soldiers and Irish laborers. The Central Pacific worked eastward, using mostly Chinese immigrants. It became a race, each company vying for land, loans, and potential markets. On May 10, 1869, in Utah, the tracks met. Three more lines reached the Pacific in 1883.

18.1.6 Problems of Growth: If anything, too much track was put down in the United States. Competition between railroads became intense, with special rates being used to attract shippers. All efforts by railroad men to share freight in an orderly way failed, as did efforts to consolidate. After the Panic of 1893, bankers like J. P. Morgan gained control of the railroad corporations. Opposing “wasteful” competition and favoring efficiency, combination, and order, Morgan and other bankers refinanced ailing railroads and took control of the industry.

18.2 An Industrial Empire

WHAT WERE THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NEW STEEL AND OIL INDUSTRIES?

The Bessemer process of refining steel made mass production possible, and the use of steel caused great changes in manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, and architecture.

18.2.1 Carnegie and Steel: Because of the massive amounts of capital required to enter steel production, there were few major steel companies. Large-scale steel production required access to iron ore deposits, processing plants, research departments, and extensive transportation networks. In 1872, Andrew Carnegie entered the steel business and quickly grew his company, which produced the steel for the Brooklyn Bridge and the Washington Monument and for the growing cities. By 1901, Carnegie employed more than 20,000 people and produced more steel than Great Britain did. In that year he sold out to J. P. Morgan, who headed a group that incorporated the United States Steel Company, the nation’s first billion-dollar corporation.

18.2.2 Rockefeller and Oil: Long before Americans drove cars, oil became a big business; it was used to lubricate machinery and was distilled in the form of kerosene for lighting. The first oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859, and its success led to intense competition. In 1863, John D. Rockefeller began to consolidate the oil business when he organized the Standard Oil Company of Ohio. By meticulous attention to the smallest detail, Rockefeller lowered costs and improved quality. Rockefeller also used less ethical methods to beat his competitors. As his business spread beyond Ohio, Rockefeller maintained centralized control by creating a holding company, called the Standard Oil Trust, that owned and managed member companies. This managerial innovation was copied by other large companies, and the word trust became synonymous with monopoly.

18.2.3 The Business of Invention: American technology arose in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Gifted individuals such as Thomas Edison, as well as teams working in research laboratories, turned out a succession of inventions that made life easier: the telegraph, the camera, processed foods, the telephone, the phonograph, and the incandescent lamp. Electricity lit homes and factories and powered urban transportation systems.

18.3 The Sellers

WHY WERE THE NEW METHODS OF ADVERTISING SO IMPORTANT?

Marketing became a science in the late nineteenth century. Advertising became common, and new ways of selling products, such as the department store, chain store, brand names, and mail-order catalogs, became popular. Americans became a community of consumers, a community that to some degree overcame demographic differences.

18.4 The Wage Earners

WHO WERE THE WAGE EARNERS IN THE NEW ECONOMY?

The American labor force of the last quarter of the century, in general, benefited in many ways from the new industrial society, including enjoying a rise in real wages.

18.4.1 Working Men, Working Women, Working Children: The labor force was composed of many different people: skilled and unskilled, men and women, adults and children, native-born and immigrants, Protestants and Catholics, whites and blacks. Nearly always it was skilled, white males who received a greater share of America’s increasing prosperity. Still, for all workers, the workweek was a long one and working conditions remained poor.

18.5 Culture of Work

HOW DID WAGE EARNERS ORGANIZE IN THIS PERIOD, AND WHAT DEMANDS DID THEY MAKE?

Industrialization disrupted old patterns of work. Working primarily indoors, and by a clock, represented a dramatic shift for most. In addition, the workforce was mobile, with little stability of employment. At the same time, great social mobility was possible. The hope of upward mobility drove workers to accept the system.

18.5.1 Labor Unions: Early labor unions rarely included more than 10 percent of industrial workers. The Knights of Labor grew from a secret fraternal organization to a labor union open to all workers, skilled and unskilled. The Knights opposed strikes and worked for not just improving working conditions and pay but also for broad reforms. As the popularity of the Knights declined following the Haymarket Riot, the first modern union was beginning. Founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers, the American Federation of Labor recognized that the industrial system was permanent and concentrated on practical steps to improve wages and working conditions. The American Federation of Labor, however, organized only skilled workers while mostly ignoring women and African Americans.

18.5.2 Labor Unrest: Employers and employees responded to different imperatives and often came into violent conflict. Employees tried to humanize the factory by setting the tone of the workplace, helping each other, and joining organizations. Employers tried to apply the strict laws of the market, where workers’ welfare was not as important. The result was an era of strikes. In 1877 the rail system was practically shut down, and from 1880 to 1900 there were 23,000 strikes. Many of them turned violent. The worst incident took place in Chicago in 1886. In this Haymarket “incident,” some policemen were killed, and fears of an anarchist uprising spread. The Homestead Strike in 1892 pitted Andrew Carnegie against steel workers and resulted in the governor sending in state militia to end the violence.

18.6 Charting the Past: Labor Strikes and Disputes

What characterized the labor movement in the United States from 1870 to 1900?

The labor movement of the late nineteenth century focused on improving working conditions through the formation of labor organizations. Strikes and protests sometimes led to the outbreak of violence.

18.6.1 Labor Strikes and Disputes: As industrialization changed economic development in the United States, laborers faced poor working and living conditions. Workers attempted to address these issues, including calling for an eight-hour workday. In the late nineteenth century, railroad workers, facing wage cuts in the midst of an economic depression, protested more actively, and labor unions formed to advocate for improved conditions.

18.6.2 Capital’s Laws, Labor Wars: Gilded Age Industrialization: American laborers did not have a specific political party to advocate for their rights and were therefore forced to advocate for themselves. The Haymarket Riot was a labor protest that turned violent, with supposed perpetrators sentenced to death for their role in the violence. The Homestead Strike also led to violence as private security forces were used to stop striking workers. The government used anti-trust legislation to stop labor unions.

18.6.3 Labor, Radicalism, Conservatism, and Diversity at Century’s Turn: Continuing to face resistance to their demands from employers and the government, laborers sought more radical solutions to their problems. When the railroad was shut down in support of a labor strike, the president stepped in and the leader of the railway union was jailed. A new labor union, the American Federation of Labor (AFL), rose to fill the gap left by the demise of the Knights of Labor. The AFL focused on the needs of skilled laborers and excluded women, African Americans, and Chinese immigrants. Women working in the garment industry of New York formed their own union in the early twentieth century.

Conclusion: Industrialization’s Benefits and Costs

IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY, DESPITE THE UNQUESTIONABLE BENEFITS OF RAPID INDUSTRIALIZATION— NATIONAL POWER AND WEALTH AND EVEN AN IMPROVED STANDARD OF LIVING—MANY AMERICANS FACED EXPLOITATION, SOCIAL UNREST, THE GROWING DISPARITY BETWEEN RICH AND POOR, AND THE INCREASING POWER OF THE GIANT CORPORATIONS.

Key Terms

18.1

o trunk lines: Four major railroad networks that emerged after the Civil War to connect the eastern seaports to the Great Lakes and western rivers. They reflected the growing integration of transportation across the country that helped spur large-scale industrialization.

18.2

o trust: A device to centralize and make more efficient the management of diverse and far-flung business operations. It allowed stockholders to exchange their stock certificates for trust certificates, on which dividends were paid. John D. Rockefeller organized the first major trust, the Standard Oil Trust, in 1882.

18.4

o Chinese Exclusion Act: Legislation passed in 1882 that excluded Chinese immigrants for ten years and denied U.S. citizenship to Chinese nationals. It was the first U.S. exclusionary law aimed at a specific racial group.

18.5

o Knights of Labor: Founded in 1869, this labor organization pursued broad reform and practical issues such as improved wages and hours. The Knights welcomed all laborers regardless of race, gender, or skill.

o American Federation of Labor (AFL): Founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886, the AFL organized skilled workers by craft and pursued specific practical objectives, such as higher wages, shorter hours, and better working conditions. The AFL avoided politics, and while it did not expressly forbid blacks and women from joining, it used exclusionary practices to keep them out.

o Homestead Strike: In July 1892, wage-cutting at Andrew Carnegie’s Homestead Steel Plant in Pittsburgh provoked a violent strike in which three company-hired detectives and ten workers died. Using ruthless force and strikebreakers, company officials broke the strike and destroyed the union.

Shared Writing and Journal Prompts

18.1 Industrial Development

WHAT ENABLED THE UNITED STATES TO BUILD AN INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY?

The United States had an abundance of natural resources, plentiful labor from Europe and rural America, numerous inventions, a national market, prolific capital, favorable government policies, and entrepreneurs who saw the possibilities in developing a national economy.

Past and Present: The Gig Economy

HOW DOES THE MODERN GIG ECONOMY DIFFER FROM THE INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY OF THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES?

The industrial economy was characterized by workers who punched time clocks and followed the rules and procedures established by their employers. The gig economy, supported by technology and communication innovations, returns some control over working conditions, such as when, where, and how, to workers.

Shared Writing

Would you prefer a job in the gig economy or in the traditional industrial economy?

Answers will vary, but here is one possible response: Although the gig economy offers a measure of independence, it also requires more planning and organizing on the part of the worker and blurs the line between work time and leisure time. The traditional industrial economy keeps the two aspects of a worker’s life separate and places a lot of the responsibility for making the business a success on employers.

18.2 An Industrial Empire

WHAT WERE THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NEW STEEL AND OIL INDUSTRIES?

In the late nineteenth century, an industrial empire took shape, centered around steel and oil. The result was larger and more complex business organizations and greater concentrations of wealth, capital, and control by a relatively few individuals and companies.

18.3 The Sellers

WHY WERE THE NEW METHODS OF ADVERTISING SO IMPORTANT?

Advertising, a relatively new industry, helped to sell the goods of the new industrial economy. Americans learned to buy goods they did not even know they wanted. When bored or troubled, they went to the store—today’s mall—to shop.

18.4 The Wage Earners

WHO WERE THE WAGE EARNERS IN THE NEW ECONOMY?

The hard work of millions of men and women built the new factory society. Their work was grueling and often dangerous. Men, women, and children often worked for low wages in unsafe conditions.

18.5 Culture of Work

HOW DID WAGE EARNERS ORGANIZE IN THIS PERIOD, AND WHAT DEMANDS DID THEY MAKE?

Laborers faced many challenges in the new economy, including work that followed the clock, bigger industries, new machines, and low wages. Unions formed, including the American Federation of Labor (AFL), which still exists. Labor unrest for better wages and safer working conditions took peaceful forms but also resulted in violence that disturbed other Americans.

18.6 Charting the Past: Labor Strikes and Disputes

What characterized the labor movement in the United States from 1870 to 1900?

Improved working conditions were the prime goal of labor unions in the late nineteenth century. Unions varied in membership, with some representing unskilled workers and allowing minority groups and women to join, while others accepted only skilled workers and excluded certain segments of society. Unions used strikes and protests to achieve their goals, but these methods sometimes turned violent. The government did not support unions.

Class Activities

1. INVENTION ADVERTISEMENTS: ASSIGN EACH STUDENT ONE NEW INVENTION FROM THE TIME PERIOD. STUDENTS SHOULD RESEARCH THE INVENTION AND PREPARE AN ADVERTISEMENT THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN PLACED IN A MAGAZINE READ BY BUSINESS OWNERS. THEY SHOULD INCLUDE INFORMATION IN THE AD THAT WOULD PERSUADE THE OWNERS TO PURCHASE THE PRODUCT, SUCH AS SHOWCASING HOW THE PRODUCT WOULD IMPROVE PROFITS.

2. LAISSEZ-FAIRE REBUTTAL: THE GILDED AGE IS OFTEN ADVERTISED AS AN AGE OF LITTLE GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE IN BUSINESS. TO REBUT THIS CLAIM, HAVE STUDENTS RESEARCH THE SPECIFIC ACTIONS GOVERNMENT TOOK IN SUPPORT OF BUSINESS DURING THIS PERIOD. THEN HAVE THE CLASS DISCUSS WHICH ACTIONS WERE MOST SUPPORTIVE OF THE ERA’S LARGE GROWTH IN INDUSTRY.

3. LABOR ACTIONS: HAVE STUDENTS MOVE INTO SMALL GROUPS. THEN ASSIGN EACH GROUP ONE OF THE MAJOR LABOR STRIKES AND DISPUTES OF THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY FOUND IN CHARTING THE PAST: LABOR STRIKES AND DISPUTES, WHICH APPEARS ONLY IN REVEL. AFTER COMPLETING RESEARCH ABOUT THE ASSIGNED LABOR EVENT, HAVE STUDENT GROUPS CREATE A CHART OF THEIR FINDINGS THAT INCLUDES INFORMATION ABOUT WHERE IT HAPPENED, WHEN IT HAPPENED, WHICH INDUSTRIES WERE INVOLVED, CAUSES, DESCRIPTION OF EVENT, AND THE OUTCOME. ALLOW TIME FOR GROUPS TO PRESENT THEIR CHARTS TO THE CLASS.

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