Monday-
Each town had there own time
In 1969 professor C.F. Dowd divided the earth into 24 time zones
Opportunities
Business grow
-iron
-coal
-steel
-lumber
-glass
Towns grew
New Markets were established
-Not everyone likes the railroad and the change it brought
New towns and markets
Promoted trade
Chicago became known for stalk yards
MInneapolis became known for grain
Flagstaff, Arizona, Denver, colorado, Seattle Washington. Are in existence due to the train
George M Pullman built sleeper cars
The factory was located in Prairie in Illinois
Pullman built a town for his employees
Basic needs were provided in Pullman, doctors offices, shops, and an athletic field`
Clean, well-constructed brick houses and apartment buildings
Downfall of living in Pullman= the company was controlling what they could or could not do
-No sitting of the front steps
-No alcohol
-broke out when Pullman lowered workers pay but would not lower rent
Credit Mobilier
Union Pacific stockholders formed a construction company
They paid this company 2-3 times the amount that it actually cost to lay tracks
Union Pacific put the extra money back into their pockets
They also gave some of the profits to 20 members of Congress
An investigation took place in a newspaper
Union Pacific officers took up to $23 million in stock, bonds, and cash
Not much came out of the investigation but the reputation of the Republican Party was hut
Tuesday-
Railroads charges the farmers a lot of money to transport their grain, leaving the farmers in debt
Railroads used price fixing= when companies agree to charge the same price rather than compete against each other
What did the Grangers do in response to the railroad abuses?
They took political action
The sponsored state and local political candidates
Elected legislators
Pressed for laws to protect themselves from the railroad rates and not discriminate against the farmers
Throughout the rest of the country farmers convinced their state legislators to pass similar laws= granger laws
The railroads fight back
Munn v. Illinois was a court between the farmers and the railroads
Farmers won and gave the state the right to control the railroads
This was a big deal because it meant that the federal government could control private industry to help the general public
Railroads pushed back and the supreme court ruled that the state could not set rates on railroad traffic coming/going from another state.
The public was outraged and congress passed the interstate commerce act in 1887
Federal Government now had the right to supervise railroad activities
The interstate commerce commission had 5 members to make sure this happened
Railroads still resisted and caused a long legal battle
1897 supreme court ruled that the ICC could not set maximum railroad rates
Railroads in trouble
Corporate abuse
Mismanagement
Overbuilding
Competition
All these things pushed many railroads into debt playing a major role in the nationwide economic failure
Banks and businesses failed
Millions of people out of work
Many railroads were taken over by financial companies
Vocab
Andrew Carnegie- expanded the american steel industry; a rags-to-riches story
Horizontal integration-the merging of companies that makes similar products
Vertical integration- when a company takes over the suppliers, distributors, and transportation systems to gain total control over the quality and cost
Social Darwinism- an economic and social philosophy saying that a system us unrestrained competition will ensure the survival of the fittest
John D. Rockefeller- founded 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 trusts 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's innovations
Born to poor parents in scotland
At 28 he was working for the pennsylvania railroad as a private secretary
Later he would enter the steel business
By 1899 the carnegie steel company was manufacturing more steel than all the factories in Great Britain
Other people soon followed how he built his business
We was constantly looking for ways to save money
He wanted talented people working for him so he offered them stock in the company
He also encouraged his people to compete against each other
Social Darwinism Business
ANdrew Carnegie's business ways were described as Social Darwinism
Natural selection-to weed out the less able to make room for the better abled to survive
This theory came from Charles Darwin and his idea on biological evolution
“Laissez faire” means to allow to do
COmpanies and businesses were not being regulated or ruled by the government, so they were said to be “laissez faire” and only the strong survived
The way businesses were being ran during this time:
Success and failure in business were governed by natural law and that no one had the right to intervene
Thursday-
Mergers “if you can't beat em join em”
One cooperation would buy out the stock of another
How monopolies formed
Taking complete control of the industries production, wages, and prices
This is what j.p. Morgan did 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
Trust agreements turned their stock offer 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”
Both controlled 90% of their industry
Paid their workers extremely low wages
Drove their competitors out of businesses
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 philanthropist
Philanthropist- One who seeks to promote the welfare of others, generous donations of money- Good samaritan, do good,
Rockefeller gave away $500 million, established a foundation, and created a medical institution that helped find a cure for yellow fever
Carnegie donated 90% of his money and still supports the arts and learning today
Sherman Antitrust 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
Hard for government to control them
These companies would reorganize into a single corporation
Eventually, the government stopped trying to fight the businesses
Labor Union
Northern wages were higher than in the south
Working conditions were unsafe and the workers were treated poorly
This made all kinds of workers to join together to improve their conditions
Workers warned under
7 days a week
12+hours a day
No vacation, sick, unemployment compensation,
Injuries were common
Dirty, poorly ventilated factories
Repetitive work with dangerous or faulty equipment
675 workers died a week
Whole family worked
Children were paid .27 per 14 hour day
People began to organize labor unions
The national labor union was formed in 1866 but refused to allow African Americans join
Colored national labor Union the 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-
Union Movements
As onions spread throughout the country, two major types formed
Craft union- includes skilled workers
Samuel Gompers led cigar makers to join the craft union forming the american Federation of Labor
Industrial Union-both skilled and unskilled
Eugene V. debs formed an industrial union known as the american railway
Membership of 150,000
Went on strike for higher wages and won
Socialism and Unions
Socialism-an economic system in which the government owns most of the means of production and distribution
Socialism is used to reduce inequality and meet people's needs
The industrial workers of the world used socialism
The IWW included miners, limber, cannery and dock workers, and african americans
Gave workers a sense of support
Other groups also fought for better working conditions
Japanese and mexican workers organized a successful strike in the sugar-beet fields in California
In Wyoming, chinese and japanese miners were supported by the state federation of labor
Even though these unions were small, they strengthened the labor movement
Strikes turn Violent
The great strike of 1877 involved workers at the baltimore and ohio railroad-wages cut twice in 2 months
Other railroad worker followed their lead
Railroad traffic was stopped for a week
Federal troops had to put an end to the strike
They hay marker affair-1886 3,000 people gathered in chicago to protest the death of a striker by a police office
Someone threw a bomb and the police fired on the people
7 officers and several workers died
8 people were convicted for inciting a riot
After this, some people turned against the labor movement
The 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 protest the “scabs” so the company could keep running
3 guards and 9 workers died
Lasted 5 months
The Pullman strike- 1893
Company laid off 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 Organized
Banned from most unions
Railled behind strong leaders fighting for equal pay for equal work and to end child labor
Mary Harris Jones- nickname was Mother Jones- organised strikes
SHe led 80 children with horrible injuries on a march to the President(Roosevelt) THis helped get child labor laws passed
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Pauline Newman-16, organized the international ladies garment workers union
She was a garment workers since the age of 8
She supported the “Uprising of the 20,00” in support of seamstresses; this improved working conditions
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Triangle shirtwaist factory in NYC
Fire broke out and spread very quickly with all the oil-soaked machines and likes of cloth
As workers were trying to escape, they discovered all the doors were locked
146 women died
In response, the state of NY investigated factory working conditions
Business and Government responded to Unions
As unions became powerful, businesses began to fear them
Many companies would not allow union meetings
Fired union members
Made new workers sign an agreement that they would not join a union
Federal government got involved when the companies would tell them that strikes were hurting interstate trade
Legal limitations made it difficult for unions or are addictive
By by 1904, the AFL had almost 2 million members
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