Monday-
Opportunities- railroads make industries grow. Towns grew along the railroads, and new markets were being established. Gave opportunities to visionaries and profiteers. Not everyone liked the railroads . Many people opposed the smoke-belching into the air.
New towns and markets- railroads promoted trade and connected cities, towns, and settlements. Chicago became known for their stockyards. Minneapolis became known for the grain industry. Flagstaff, Arizona, Denver, Colorado, and Seattle, Washington owe their existence and prosperity to the railroad.
Pullman Car- George Pullman built a factory that made sleeper and luxury cars for trains. The factory was built in Illinois. He built a town for his employees. It had everything towns needed. It offered clean, well-constructed brick houses and apartment buildings. Downfalls of living in this town, the company thought they were in control of the people. No sittings on the front steps of your house, no drinking alcohol. Strikes broke out when Pullman lowered workers pay but would not lower rent.
Credit Mobilier- Union Pacific stockholders formed a construction company called Credit Mobilier. They paid the company 2 to 3 times the amount that it actual cost to lay railroad tracks. Union Pacific put the extra money in their pockets. An investigation of Credit Mobilier took place after reports in a newspaper. Union Pacific offers took up to $23 million in sock, bonds, and cash,
Grangers- wanted governmental control of the railroad industry. Farmers were mad at the railroads because railroads misused the land grants that the government gave them. The railroads sold land to other businesses instead of to the settlers. They charged a lot of money to the farmers which put the farmers in debt. Railroads used fixed pricing- when companies agree to charge the same price rather than compete.
Farmers took political action against the railroads- they sponsored state and local political candidates. They elected legislators. Pressed for laws to protect themselves from the railroad. Illinois passed a law for railroads to establish maximum rates and not discriminate against the grangers/ farmers. The railroads fought back. Mun v. Illinois was a court case between the grangers/farmers. The grangers won and gave the state the right to regulate the railroads. This was a big deal because it meant the state could control the railroads. There was another supreme court act that ruled that the state could not set rates on railroad traffic coming/going from another state.
Railroads were in trouble- Corporate abuse, Mismanagement, overbuilding, competition, Banks&businesses failed, Millions of people out of work, Many railroads were taken over by financial companies.
Tuesday-
Vocab-
Andrew Carnegie- expanded the American steel industry; a rags-to-riches story
Horizontal Integration- the merging of companies that make similar products
Vertical Integration- when a company takes over the suppliers, distributors, and transportation systems to gain total control over the quality and cost of its product
Social Darwinism- An economic and social philosophy saying that a system of the unrestrained competition will ensure the survival of the fittest
John D. Rockefeller- founder of the Standard Oil company, considered wealthiest American of all time; used trusts to gain total control of the oil industry in America.
Sherman Antitrust Act- a law that was intended to prevent the creation of monopolies by making it illegal to establish trust that interfered with free trade.
Samuel Gompers- a labor union leader and became president of the American Federation of Labor
American Federation of Labor an alliance of trade and craft unions.
Eugene Debs- wanted labor unions to include both skilled and unskilled workers
Industrial Workers of the World- a labor organization for unskilled workers
Mary Harris Jones- co-founder of the IWW, organized labor representative, helped coordinate major strikes
Carnegie- born to poor parents in Scotland. he gave working for the Pennsylvania railroad at the age of 18 as a secretary. He entered the steel business and manufactured more steel than all the factories in Great Britain. He constantly looked for ways to make better and cheaper products. He wanted talented people working for him so he offered them stock in the company. He encouraged his people to compete against each other. He wanted and attempted to control much of the steel industry. Vertical Integration-controlling of the raw materials, and transportation systems.
Horizontal Integration- buying out competing steel producers. When he sold his business in 1901, Carnegie's companies were producing the largest portion of the nation's steel.
Wednesday-
Social Darwinism- Carnegie's ways of business. Survival of the fittest. The weak will eventually weed themselves out. The theory came from the philosopher Charles Darwin and his idea on biological evolution.
"laissez faire" means allow to do. Companies were not being regulated by the government. The strong would survive. Success and failure in business were governed by natural law and that no one had to right to intervene.
Thursday-
Mergers- "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" one cooperation would buy out the stock of another. This is how monopolies formed. Taking complete control of the industries production, wages, and prices. J.P. Morgan did this when he bought Carnegie steel in 1901.
John D. Rockefeller was the founder of the standard Oil company Instead of mergers, he used trust agreements turned their stock over to a group of trustees. These trustees ran the companies as one large corporation. Each company then could take the money earned by this trust. They were not legal, but it is how Rockefeller took control of the oil industry.
Rockefeller and Carnegie were called "robber barons" They controlled 90% of their industry (oil & steel) They paid their workers really low wages. They drove their competitors out of business. They would sell their product for less than it could be produced and then hiked the prices once they controlled the market
Others called Rockefeller and Carnegie philanthropists. A philanthropist is a person who seeks to promote the welfare of other, generous donations of money. Rockefeller gave away $500 million, established a foundation, and created a medical institute that helped find a cure for yellow fever. Carnegie donated 90% of his money and still supports the arts and learning today.
The Sherman Act was the government's way to protect competition between businesses. This Act made it illegal to form a trust that interfered with free trade between states or with other countries. It was still hard for the government to control these companies. The companies would reorganize into a single corporation. Eventually, the government stopped trying to fight the businesses.
Labor Unions- Northern wages were higher than in the south. Working conditions were unsafe and the workers were treated poorly. This made all kids of workers to join together i=to improve their conditions. Work 7 days a week, 12 or more hours a day, no vacation, sick leave, unemployment compensation, payment for injuries on the job, injuries were common, dirty, poorly ventilated factories, repetitive work with dangerous of faulty equipment, 675 workers died a week, whole family worked, men, women, and children. Children were paid .37 per 14 hour day.
People began to organize labor unions. National Labor union formed in 1866 but refused to allow African Americans join. Colored National Labor Union then formed. Both groups wanted an 8 hour work day and "equal pay for equal work" for men and women. They tried to get what they wanted by telling a judge what they wanted.
Friday-
Unions spread throughout the country, two major types formed
Craft Unions- included skill workers. Samuel Gompers led cigar makers to join the craft union forming the American Federation of Labor. He would negotiate with the companies for better wages,hours, and working conditions. They had strikes to get what they wanted.
Industrial Unions- both skilled and unskilled workers. Eugene Debs formed an industrial union known as the American Railway Union. 150,000 workers.
Socialism and Unions- Socialism- an economic system in which the government owns most of the means of production and distribution.
Industrial workers used socialism. IWW included miners, lumberers,cannery, dock workers, and African Americans, Gave workers support.
Other groups fought for better working conditions. Japanese and Mexican workers organized a strike in the sugar-beet fields in California. Wyoming, the Chinese and Japanese miners were supported by the state Federation of Labor.
The strikes turned violent- the Great Strike of 1877- Baltimore & Ohio Railroad went on strike to protest their second wage cut in two months. Other railroad workers followed their lead. Railroad traffic was stopped for a week. Federal troops had to put an end to the strike.
The Hay-market Affair- 1886 3,000 people gathered in Chicago to protest the death of a striker by a police officer. Someone through a bomb and the police fired on the people. Eight people were convicted for inciting a riot. After this, some people turned against the labor movement.
Homestead strike- 1892 at the Carnegie Steel Company in Homestead, Pennsylvania. Company said they were going to cut wages. Carnegie Steel hired armed guards to protect the "scabs" so the company could keep running. 3 guards and 9 workers died. The strike lasted 5 months.
Pullman Company strike- 1893. The company laid off over 3,000 employees and cut the remaining employees wages. But they did not lower rent on their housing, so after paying the rent the workers only had $6 left for the week. Pullman refused any negotiations and hired strikebreakers. The strike turned violent and many workers could never be hired by the railroads again.
Women Organize- women were banned from most unions, but they rallied behind strong leaders fighting for equal pay for equal work and to end child labor. Marry Harris Jones- organized strikes. She led 80 children with horrible injuries on a march to the President's house; this helped get child labor laws passed. Pauline Newman- 16, she organized the international Ladies' garment Workers' union. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. A fire broke out and spread very quickly with all the oil-soaked machines and piles of cloth. As workers were trying to escape, they discovered all the doors were locked 146 women died.
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