CHAPTER 8

THE RISE OF INDUSTRY

8-1Industrialization Takes Hold

The North was virtually undamaged by the Civil War

-Factories intact

-Railroads intact

Civil war and Reconstruction had eliminated Southern planters as rivals to Northern Industrialists politically

Industrial growth proceeded at a very fast rate – protective tariffs increased

-exceptions to growth were 3 depressions

  • 1873-1878
  • 1882-1884
  • 1893-1896

Except for the above years the economy doubled industrial production every 12 years

By the 1880s the US had overtaken Great Britain as the world’s industrial leader

Resources

-Change from agricultural to industrial society was easy

-Possible because the US had the means for a changing and growing economy

  • Natural resources
  • Large available population

Wealth of Natural Resources

-Before the Civil War coal, iron ore and petroleum had scarcely been touched

-Methods of extracting mineral resources developed in the 1860s

-1840-1890 – coal mined doubled every decade

-1870s – large deposits mined in the Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania to Alabama

-1855 – Completion of Soo Canal between Lake Superior and Lake Huron allowed ships to move iron ore Mined in Michigan and Wisconsin to iron and steel mills on the lower Great Lakes

-American oil industry got its start

  • 1889
  • western Pennsylvania
  • by 1900 – oil production had risen
  • 1859 – 2000 barrels a year
  • 1890 – 64 million barrels a year

A Growing Labor Force

-Human resources (unskilled labor) were as important as mineral resources

-1860-1890

  • America’s population more than doubles
  • 31 million 1860
  • 75 million 1890

-Flood of immigration began in the 1840s

-14 million immigrants arrive between 1860-1890

  • twice the number in the previous 40 years
  • most immigrants were adult males looking for work
  • number of workers available kept industrial wages low

Public Policies and Private Investment

-American industry developed within a free enterprise system

-Americans embrace the philosophy of “laissez-faire”

  • Let sleeping dogs lie – leave alone -

-Am. Industry should be allowed to develop with little govt. restriction.

  • Major difference between the US and Europe

-Few government restraints placed upon business

-Entrepreneurs – business organizers who assume the risk of starting a business.

  • Sought and received special favors from Congress
  • Liberal immigration laws supply ample labor force
  • High protective tariffs kept out foreign goods

-Federal government sold public lands very cheap

-Federal government assumed 1/3 of the cost of the Western railroads

  • Gave grants of more than $700 million

-Americans see money making as a worthwhile goal

-Money to be made attracted investors

-Investors help build more factories and railroads

-Europe, especially Great Britain, invested heavily in US

  • $2.5 billion in railroad securities
  • Investment $ also came from the savings of New Englanders

Securities and Technology

-Important inventions helped increase America’s productive capacity

-Improved network of transportation and communications

-Vital to the nations growth

-American universities became important centers of scientific research

The Typewriter and Telephone

-C. Latham Sholes

  • Wisconsin printer
  • Invented the typewriter in 1868
  • Revolutionized business communications

-Alexander Graham Bell

  • Scottish immigrant
  • Profession – to teach deaf children to speak
  • Invented the telephone – 1876
  • “Mr. Watson, come here; I want you”
  • 1877 – Bell Telephone Co. was founded
  • 1886 – 250,000 phones were in use
  • Many jobs created
  • Operators – women

-By 1900 rates were lowered

-Phones began appearing in American homes

Edison’s Contribution

-Known as the “Wizard of Menlo Park”

-See old text for more info

-Thomas Alva Edison

-Invented the electric light and moving pictures

-He also redesigned Shole’s typewriter to type faster

-Improved upon Bell’s phone for greater distance of calls

-His work on improving the telegraph led to the invention of the phonograph

The incandescent light bulb

-Demonstrated in Britain in 1840

-1879

-Edison developed cheap methods of supplying power and wire

-Edison developed “filaments” that lasted more than a few minutes

-Made industrial production possible 24 / 7

The Canning Industry

-Soldiers in the Civil received food in tin cans

-By 1900 machines had been designed to make, fill and seal cans

-Large variety of canned foods began to appear on shelves in the nation’s stores.

Textile, Clothing and Shoes

-America’s textile industry had long depended on machines to turn fibers into cloth

-1893- Northrup automatic loom invented

-allowed faster cloth making

-Bobbins now automatically changed by the machine without stopping the loom

-Standard sizes came about as a result of fitting soldiers o

-f the Civil War

-Power driven sewing machines and cloth cutters

-Clothing business moved from small tailors to large factories

-Similar changes took place in the shoe industry

-Economies of scale possible because of new processes and inventions – enabled large factories to produce goods cheaper than smaller factories.

  • Large factories could mass produce shoes more cheaply and efficiently than smaller companies
  • Pass savings on to their customers with lower prices
  • By the end of the century local cobblers had nearly disappeared

Steel, Oil, and Trains

-Industrial growth was tied to advances in specific industries

-1700s

-The Bessemer process revolutionized American steel making

  • Allowed railroad companies to replace iron rails with steel
  • Held up better
  • Could carry heavier loads

-The open hearth process made steel stronger

-Steel used for many things

  • Machines
  • Rails
  • Building beams

-Boom in the oil industry

  • Development of oil lubricated machine tools, metal lathes, punches and drill presses
  • Brought tremendous growth in industrial capability

-New technology stimulated the growth of the railroad industry

-Westinghouse air brake for trains

  • Allowed train cars to stop all at the same time
  • Allowed longer trains, faster speeds, and heavier loads

-Kerosene lamps and later electric lights provided better head lights for nighttime travel

RAILROADBUILDING

-No other single factor was more responsible for the growth of industry than the expansion of the nation’s railroads

-At the end of the Civil War there were 35,000 miles of track in the US

-Tracks were of different gauges or widths between the 2 rails

Standardization and Consolidation

-mid 1870s

-Amount of track had doubled

-By 1890 it doubled again

-1900

  • Passenger and freight trains had 200,000 miles of track

-Track laid according to a standard gauge

  • 4 feet 8 ½ inches wide
  • No need to change loads to another train to continue
  • Bound all tracks throughout the nation
  • 1860
  • railroads carry less than ½ of inland waterways
  • by 1890 they carried 5 times as much

-Railroads were industry’s best customers

  • 1880 – rails were the single most important product of the steel companies
  • Large amounts of coal were necessary to power trains
  • Lumber was needed for ties
  • Iron for bridges
  • Petroleum product for lubrication

-Consolidation of smaller lines was an important development

  • Many railroads were only 40 miles long
  • Set up to serve only a specific area
  • Eastern capitalists faced the challenge of connecting all the lines together
  • Proceeded rapidly after the Civil War
  • Penn railroad connects 73 smaller companies – 5000 miles of track
  • Southern Pacific pieced together 8500 miles of track

-Eventually most rail traffic was controlled by 7 giant systems

  • Terminals in major cities
  • Branches reaching into the country side

Getting a “Share of the Business”

-Many railroad builders became tough, ruthless, and unethical competitors

-Amassed huge fortunes on the backs of others

-Jay Gould

  • Railroad consolidator
  • Sold small lines that he owned to large railroads
  • He controlled the large railroad companies

-Collis Huntington

  • “It takes money to fix things”
  • the “fixing” was bribing government officials

-Charles Adams Jr.

  • Quote from page 272

Cornelius Vanderbilt

-One of the most successful railroad tycoon consolidators –“The Commodore”

-Built the New York Central system

-1855 – he had the largest steamboat fleet in America

-At age 73 he merged 3 short NY railroads

-They ran from NY City to Buffalo

-Within 4 years he controlled lines all the way to Chicago

-Brought many railroads under one management

-Make many great improvements

  • First to use Westinghouse airbrakes
  • First to use a 4 track line
  • 2 for freight – 2 for passengers

Benefits

-Standardized track size

-Standardized time zones

  • Help simplify scheduling

-Improved equipment

  • Allowed moving cars around the country for seasonal needs
  • Speed up long distance transportation
  • Made more efficient
  • Lowered shipping costs
  • Average rate 1860 = 2 cents per mile per ton
  • Average rate 1900 = less than 1 cent per mile per ton

Photo page 266

Photo page 267

Footnote to history page 267

Did you know page 267

Photo page 268 visualizing history

Linking the Past and Present page 269

Sidelight: Computers page 269

Did You Know page 270

Using Maps page 270

Cultural Perspectives page 270

History and Art page 271

Sidelight: Trunks and Carpetbags page 271

History and Geography page 273

Did You Know page 273