Business and Labor in the Industrial Era

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What sparked the era of unprecedented industrialization?

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  • the Union army’s need of uniforms, supplies, boots, food, wagons, railroads, etc.

  • extreme population growth between 1860-1900, many immigrants too

  • expansion of transportation systems: canals, steamboats, railroad, etc.

  • improved communication: telegraph and later telephone

  • big business tycoons who created large enterprises, improved efficiency, bought politicians, etc.

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What 3 developments sparked the Second Industrial Revolution?

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  1. creation of modern transportation that gave factory and farm owners access to national and international markets

  2. creation of electrical power increased the efficiency of machinery and accelerated urban growth by spawning technologies needed to enable trolleys, subways, streetlights, and elevators for taller buildings

  3. the systemic application of scientific research to industrial processes expanded the scope and scale of industrial organizations (ex. refining kerosene and gasoline from crude oil) (industrialists often paid/funded this research)

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14 Terms

1
New cards

What sparked the era of unprecedented industrialization?

  • the Union army’s need of uniforms, supplies, boots, food, wagons, railroads, etc.

  • extreme population growth between 1860-1900, many immigrants too

  • expansion of transportation systems: canals, steamboats, railroad, etc.

  • improved communication: telegraph and later telephone

  • big business tycoons who created large enterprises, improved efficiency, bought politicians, etc.

2
New cards

What 3 developments sparked the Second Industrial Revolution?

  1. creation of modern transportation that gave factory and farm owners access to national and international markets

  2. creation of electrical power increased the efficiency of machinery and accelerated urban growth by spawning technologies needed to enable trolleys, subways, streetlights, and elevators for taller buildings

  3. the systemic application of scientific research to industrial processes expanded the scope and scale of industrial organizations (ex. refining kerosene and gasoline from crude oil) (industrialists often paid/funded this research)

3
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Capital-intensive industries

  • required specialized equipment for mass production

  • ex. tobacco, processed food, steel, oil

  • served customers across the nation and around the world

  • required advanced marketing and advertising

4
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Bonanza Farms

  • spread across the West

  • were run like factories under strict supervision

  • machinery to harvest crops was often operated by migrant workers

    • Mexicans, Scandinavians, Europeans

    • they were housed in strict military bunker-like houses

    • worked 10-13 hrs a day

    • women would clean, wash, etc.

  • most popular crops were wheat and corn destined for eastern or foreign markets

5
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Oliver Dalrymple (Wheat King of MN)

  • first to see the potential of bonanza farming

  • owned/managed many farms

  • developed a system for maximizing profit of wheat bonanza farms:

    • purchased the most efficient machinery

    • employed workers only when needed

    • developed systems of feeding and housing workers and livestock at the lowest possible price

6
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What was the connection between the urban industrial sector and agribusiness?

  • they stimulated each other

  • agribusinesses used new technologies and scientific methods and became famous for their productivity

  • Chicago: meatpacking and slaughterhouse capital of the world

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Economies of Scale

  • large business enterprises and huge commercial farms could afford advanced technologies that would increase their productivity

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Alexander Graham Bell’s Telephone

  • 1876

  • started AT&T

  • by 1881, he had mastered long distance communication via telephone

  • it was a success

9
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Typewriters and Sewing Machines

  • because men thought that women had more dexterity in their fingers and were cheap labor, they put them to work on typewriters and sewing machines

  • working at sewing machines was often exploitive, sweatshops

  • clerical jobs became the most popular jobs for women outside of the house

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Thomas Edison

  • poor background, no formal education

  • founded 100+ companies

  • with 40 assistants, he invented many things

    • lightbulb

    • rock crusher

    • improved telephone

    • projector

    • and more

11
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What company controlled many other light bulb companies in 1882?

  • Edison General Electric Company, later known as General Electric

12
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What was America’s first big business?

  • railroads

  • first on wall street

  • moved things faster and cheaper, spurred the development of cities on the way

  • created time zones and wristwatches became popular

  • railroads would transport:

    • raw materials and finished goods

    • immigrants looking for homesteads

    • federal workers sent to suppress Native resistance

  • building railroads was expensive, so many railroad companies built contracts with investors and gained capital by selling shares of stock to investors

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Why was building transcontinental railroads very expensive?

  • a lot of the West was unpopulated and materials needed to be transported to the remote locations (usually by ship then train)

  • Congress helped fund the transcontinental railroads through the Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864

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Pacific Railway Act (1862)

  • context: original construction was delayed bcz of southern and northern congressmen disagreeing on routes

  • but after they seceded, the pacific railway act 1862 allowed the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad to build the railroad coming from opposite sides

  • workers often cut corners and built stuff cheaply because Congress promised the company that laid the most track in the shortest time would be rewarded more money