Today we continued with presentations from chapters 5-8.
Chapter 6-
Expansion of the Industry -
The U.S changed from a farming country to an industrial country.
Black Gold -
While oil had been used by the Native Americans for years, Europeans had never really had a use for it. IN the 1800's the automobile was created. This greatly increased American's need for oil. In1849, Edwin L. Drake used a steam engine to drill for oil. A rush of people and companies came to the Midwest to find and refine oil.
Bessemer Steel Process -
Enormous iron and coal deposits were also found in the U.S. Steel did not rust, it was stronger, and more flexible than iron. Steel was difficult to make. Henry Bessemer created a process where air was injected into iron to remove carbon and create steel. This greatly increased the quantity of steel you could make. By the 1860's the Bessemer Steel Process was already replaced by the Open Hearth Process. The Open Hearth Process allowed people to make steel from scrap metal. Steel was strong and flexible, so it changed the way everything was built. Buildings could be built much higher, bridges could be built longer. Examples are the first skyscrapers and the Brooklyn Bridge. McCormick's and Deere's farm machines were also built using steel. These machines greatly changed how quickly and efficiently crops could be planted and harvested.
Power of Electricity -
In 1876, Thomas Alva Edison became a pioneer when he established the world's first research laboratory. In his lab, he perfected his incandescent light bulb. Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse worked together to make electricity safer and less expensive. The invention of electricity led to many different inventions and soon made its way into many houses. Christopher Sholes invented the typewriter in 1873. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson unveiled the telephone which opened a new way to communicate these two inventions affected office work and gave women a job. In 1910, women made up 40% of the work force.
Railroad -
In 1856, railroads extended to the Mississippi River, and just 3 years later they crossed the Missouri River. On May 10, 1869, a golden spike marked the spanning of the nation by the first transcontinental railroad. By the time of the Civil War, the United States had over 30,000 miles of track and was 6 times greater by 1890. Railroads brought dreams of land, adventure, and a fresh start that many Americans wanted. The Central Pacific Railroad employed thousands of Chinese immigrants along with desperate Americans. The work was very hard and dangerous. In 1888, the first railroad statistics were published and the casualties totaled more than 2,000 employees dead and 20,000 injured. The railroads made our country united. Each community operated on its own time. Noon to each community as when the sun was overhead, but noon is Boston was different than New York, and New York was different from the rest of the country. From California to Maine, one might reset their watch to 20 different times. Professor C. F. Dowd proposed that the earth's surface be divided into 24 time zones, one for each hour of the day. The united States would contain 4 time zones, Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific. The railroad companies used this method and so did many towns. On November 18, 1833 towns and railroads across the country synchronized their clocks and watches. This method wasn't officially standard for our country til 1918.
New Towns and Markets -
The railroads promoted trade and interdependence. Towns started specializing in certain things. Chicago was known for its stockyards, and Minneapolis for its grain industries. New towns grew up along the railroad lines. The railroad helped cities grow and branch out. In 1880, George M. Pullman built a factory for manufacturing sleepers and other railroad cars on the Illinois prairie. Pullman built a nearby town for his employees but had given them strict rules to abide by. These rules, the expensive rent, and the cutting of his employees pay led to a violent strike in 1894.
Credit Mobilier -
It was a scandal in 1867, made by the stock holders of the Union Pacific Railroad. The stock holders gave the company a contract to build the 667 more miles left, but the stock holders doubled or tripled their money and raised the cost from $7 million to $23 million.
Railroad Abuses -
The Grangers were upset with the government and misuse of land grants as the railroads sold to the businesses instead of selling it to the farmers. Government also gave customers different rates on hauls. The Grangers lost and went into political action as they sponsored and voted for their own political candidates to protect their way of life from the railroads. The railroads tried to fight back. In 1877, the Supreme Court went with the Granger laws by voting 7 to 2, giving farmers and consumers benefits from the railroads.
Interstate Commerce Act -
In 1877, Congress passed the I.C.A. which was the first true federal regulatory agency. It was designed to address issues of federal abuse. Examples are shipping rates had to be reasonable, and the rates had to be published. Not until 1906, when Teddy Roosevelt was president, did it become to its full effect.
Panic and Consolidation -
The panic in 1893 was the worst depression up to that point of time. By the end of 1893, 600 banks and 15,000 businesses had failed. By 1895, 4 million Americans were out of jobs. In 1894, a quarter of the railroads were owned by financial companies.
Early Labor Organization -
Early labor organizations were to maintain a price structure. Skill workers had formed small local unions. Equal pay equals equal work by men and women.
Union Movements Diverge -
Labor unions were when workers untied so they can get better wages and hours. The Craft Unionism is a labor union that required skilled workers. Industrial Unionism was when Eugene V. Debs wanted all skilled and unskilled workers to work in the same environment.
Workers refused to work when the Railroad unions cut their wages twice in two months. Many families didn't have enough income. Workers were getting smaller, since they didn't eat. Workers were bringing home $6 per week. Mary Harris Jones was the founder of the women's labor movement. Mary created this strike, because she wanted people to get treated fairly. She wanted better working conditions, equal pay for a specific job, and to end child labor. Many employers didn't want unions to form. They made employees sign a "yellow-dog contract", employees would sign this contract saying they wouldn't join a union. Labor unions were successful. People wanted better wages, safer working conditions, and fewer hours. People now get better wages with health care, laws against working children, and now free public education.
Class dismissed.
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