Monday-
Opportunities, The railroads were making industries and businesses grow
Towns grew because of railroad- Railroads promoted trade and connected cities, towns, and settlements
Chicago became known for their stockyards, Minneapolis became known for their grain industry
Flagstaff, Arizona, Denver, Seattle owe their existence to the railroad
New markets were established
Gave opportunities to visionaries and profiteers
Not everyone was in favor of the railroads
Many people opposed the smoke-belching iron horse
Plus they opposed the thought of change it set in motion
George Pullman built a factory that made sleeper and luxury cars for trains
The factory was on a prairie in Illinois
Pullman built a town for his employees
Clean well constructed brick houses and apartment buildings for his workers
The Pullman Car-Very Luxurious
Downfall of living in Pullman= the company was controlling what the people could or could not do
No sitting on the front steps
No alcohol
Strikes when Pullman lowered worker's pay but would not lower rent
Credit Mobilier-Union Pacific stockholders formed a construction company called Credit Mobilier
They paid this company 2 to 3 times the amount that it actually cost to lay railroad tracks
They also gave profits to 20 members of Congress
An investigation of Credit Mobilier took place after reports in newspaper
Union Pacific officers took up to 23 million in stocks bonds and cash
Not much came out of the investigation but the reputation of the Republican Party was hurt
The Grange and the Railroads
The Grange-a farmer's organization, They took political action
they sposered state and local polititions
Elected legislators
Pressed for laws to protect themselves from the railroads
Illinois passed a law for railroads to establish maximum rates and not discriminate against the grangers
Throughout the rest of the country Grangers convinced their state legislators to pass similar laws
The Grangers demanded governmental control of the railroad industry
The railroads fight back
Munn v. Illinois was a court case between the grangers and railroads
Grangers won and gave the state the right to regulate 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 from another
As a result the public was outraged and congressed pass the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887
Fed Gov now had the right to supervise railroad activities
The interstate commerce Commision had five members to make sure this happened
but the railroads still resisted and coused a long legal battle
1897 supreme court ruled that the ICC could not set maximum railroad rates
Corporate abuse
Mismanagement
Overbuilding
Competition
All these things pushed many railraods 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
Farmers were mad at the railroads because:
The railroads misused the land grants that the government gave them. The railroads sold the land grants to other businesses instead of to the settlers
Railroads charged 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
Tuesday-
Andrew Carnegie-expanded the American steel industry; a rags-to-riches story, born to poor parents in Scotland
At the age of 18 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
Carnegie's business management practices soon spread to other businesses
He was constantly looking for ways to make better products cheaper
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
Carnegie wanted and attempted to control much of the steel industry
He did this by:
Vertical Integration- controling of raw materials
Horizontal Integration-buying out competing steel producers
By the time he sold his business in 1901 his companies were producing the largest portion of the nation's steel
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 it's product
Social Darwinism- an economic and social philosophy saying that a system of unrestrained competition will ensure the survival of the fittest
John D. Rockefeller- founder of the standard Oil Company, considered the 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 (AFL)- an alliance of trade and craft unions
Eugene Debs- wanted labor unions to include both skilled and unskilled workers
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) - a labor organization for unskilled workers
Mary Harris Jones- co-founder of the IWW, organized labor representative, helped coordinate major strikes
Wednesday:
laissez faire means allow to do
Companies and businesses were not being regulated or ruled by the government, they were said to be laissez faire and only the strong survive
Success and failure in business were governed by natural law and that no one had the right to intervene
Thursday:
The Sherman Antitrust Act was the government's way to portect competition between businesses
This Act made it illegal to form a trust that interfered with free trade between states or with other countries
But it was still hared for 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 kinds of workers to join together to improve their conditions
Worked 7 days a week
12 or more hours a day
No vacations or sick leave, no unemployment compensation, no payment for injuries on the job
Injuries were common
Dirty, poorly ventilated factories
Repetitive work with dangerous equipment
675 workers died a week
Whole family worked, men woman, children, Children were paid .27 per 14 hour day
People began to organize labor unions
The National Labor union was formed in 1866
groups wanted an 8 hour work day and equal pay for equal work for men and woman
They tried to get what they wanted by telling a judge what they wanted
Friday:
As unions spread throughout the country, two major types formed
Craft Unions-included skill workers
strike to get what they wanted
Industrial unions- both skilled and unskilled
It included unskilled workers to engineers and firemen
Membership was 150,000 workers
Socialism and Unions
Socialism- an economic system in which the government owns most of the means of productions and distribution
used to reduce inequality and meet people's needs
Gave workers a sense of support
Other groups also fought for better working conditions
Japanese and Mexican workers organized a successful strike
Strikes Turn Violent
The great strike of 1877- Baltimore and 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
In Wyoming, Chinese and Japanese miners were supported by the State Federation of Labor
The Hay market Affair- 1886 3000 people gathered in CHicago to protest the death of a striker by a police officer
Someone through a bomb, police fired on people
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
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
The Pullman Company strike
Company laid off over 3000 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 strike breakers
The strike turned violent and many workers could never be hired by the railroads again
Women were banned from most unions
They rallied behind strong leaders fighting for equal pay
led 80 children with horrible injuies on a march to the President's house; this helped get child labor laws passed
Pauline Newman- 16 organized the international Ladies' Garment Workers' union
She was a garment worker since the age of 8
She supported the uprising of the 20000 in support of seamstresses; this improved working conditions
Triangle Shirt waist Factory in NYC
A fire broke out and spread very quickly with all the oil soaked machines and piles of cloth
As workers tried to escape they discovered the doors were locked
In response the state of New York investigated factory working conditions
Business and Government respond 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 told them the strikes were hurting interstate trade
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