Flashcards for US History: Industrialization and Labor (1870-1900)

Introduction: The Growing Pains of Urbanization (1870–1900)

• Sadie Frown vignette: a 13-year-old Polish girl arriving in the United States; silhouettes of the Statue of Liberty symbolizing hope and danger; Sadie and her mother left Poland after her father’s death; Sadie must navigate New York, working in factories and snow; illustrates immigrant experiences amid urbanization (opportunity vs. hardship).
• Chapter framing: urbanization, 1870–1900, and the growth pains of America's cities and labor system; the era is tied to industrialization, big business, and social/economic upheaval.
• Chapter 18 context: industrialization and the rise of big business (1870–1900). The electric age and the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition are used to show optimism about machine power and economic growth, even as laborers faced severe challenges.
• The World’s Fair of 1893 (Chicago) as a symbol: celebrated electricity and its potential to transform everyday life; editorial perspectives highlighted electricity as a driver of efficiency and abundance, while also signaling the broader industrial transformation and labor tensions.
• Tension between technology and labor: a booming economy paired with the depression of the era, laying the groundwork for early labor movements.

18.1 Inventors of the Age

• Learning objectives: explain how invention fueled the rise of big business; show how late-19th-century inventions changed daily life.
• Invention boom and US patent activity:
  • 1790s: first decade of the Patent Office recorded 276 inventions.
  • 1860: total patents issued reached 60{,}000.
  • 1860–1890: patents exploded to nearly 450{,}000, with another 235{,}000 in the last decade of the century.
• Not all patents led to lasting products, but several became linchpins of industrial growth and modern life:
  • Corrugated rollers to crack hard wheat into flour.
  • Refrigerated train cars; garment sewing machines.
  • The typewriter (invented 1867), cash register (1879), adding machine (1885).
  • Vacuum cleaner; flush toilet (indoor water closets) improving sanitation.
  • Clarence Birdseye’s early frozen-food experiments influencing home food prep and shopping.
• Domestic life and work life transformed slowly:
  • The rise of electricity and machine power allowed factories to locate away from water power and enabled greater factory concentration in cities.
  • By century’s end, urban populations doubled; electricity complemented steam power in large factories.
• Steel as a transformative industrial material:
  • Bessemer process (Henry Bessemer) and open-hearth process enabled cheaper large-scale steel production.
  • Steel production growth: 13{,}000 tons (1860) → 1{,}000{,}000 tons (1879) → 10{,}000{,}000 tons (1900) → 24{,}000{,}000+ tons (circa 1910, top producer status).
  • Steel price fell by over 80 ext{%} as supply expanded; steel became the backbone of construction, ships, railroads, and eventually automobiles.
• Communications breakthroughs:
  • 1858: First transatlantic cables connected the U.S. and Europe; telegraph networks linked distant locations quickly.
  • Telephone (patented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876); Bell Telephone Company eventually became AT&T.
  • By 1880: roughly 50{,}000 telephones in use in the U.S.; by 1900: perhaps 1{,}350{,}000.
  • Western Union and Edison collaboration to improve telephone tech.
  • The Bell system consolidated control of communications; by the early 20th century, ubiquitous local service spread to many cities.
• Power and the AC/DC battle:
  • Edison championed direct current (DC); limited range (roughly two miles from source).
  • Westinghouse (AC) promoted alternating current for long-distance delivery; AC enabled nationwide distribution.
  • Public relations battles framed technology choices (including controversy around the electric chair as a public relations tactic to cast AC in a negative light).
• Communications and electricity collectively accelerated industrial growth and urban life.

18.2 From Invention to Industrial Growth

• Vision for-industrial order: new technologies and abundant capital transformed the economy; entrepreneurs with backing and strategic acumen built vast fortunes.
• The era’s core players: Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Morgan as archetypes of the “new industrial order.”
• Railroads and the era of robber barons:
  • First transcontinental railroad and expansions spurred growth in iron, coal, wood; stimulated demand for related industries.
  • By 1890, railroad lines covered nearly all U.S. territory; miles of track grew from 35{,}000 (post-Civil War) to over 200{,}000 by century’s end.
  • Innovations like car couplers, air brakes, and modern passenger cars improved freight and passenger movement.
  • Financing came from a mix of private capital, federal/state loans, and land grants: 150{,}000{,}000 in cash loans and 185{,}000{,}000 acres of public land.
  • Rail lines were listed on the New York Stock Exchange, attracting domestic and foreign investors; rail consolidation surged.
  • By 1900, seven major railroad tycoons controlled more than 70 ext{%} of operating lines.
• Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Morgan as wealth magnates:
  • Vanderbilt’s wealth: over 1{,}00{,}000{,}000 at his 1877 death (top-tier wealth in American history).
  • Andrew Carnegie: Scottish immigrant who built a steel empire; J. Edgar Thomson Steel Works; Homestead Steel Works; aggressive expansion and consolidation; annual profits surpassing 40{,}000{,}000 in later years.
  • Carnegie’s philanthropy and the Gospel of Wealth: wealth should be used to benefit society; the “man of wealth” should administer surplus revenues as trust funds for public good; wealth should help those who can help themselves, not simply provide alms.
  • Social Darwinism: Herbert Spencer’s survival-of-the-fittest theory used to justify wealth concentration and philanthropy norms; promoted self-made man narratives popularized by Horatio Alger.
  • Rockefeller: built Standard Oil through horizontal integration (merging competitors) and then vertical integration (controlling all steps from refining to distribution).
  • The 1882 arrangement: 37 stockholders gave stock to nine trustees to control Standard Oil’s ventures.
  • Rockefeller’s efficiency lowered kerosene prices by as much as 80 ext{%} by century’s end, but the monopoly drew widespread criticism for anti-competitive practices.
  • By 1905, over 300 major mergers reshaped industry; ~80% of industries affected; federal responses (e.g., Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890) emerged in response to growing monopolistic power, though enforcement was inconsistent.
• J. Pierpont Morgan:
  • Born into wealth; moved to New York to manage family interests; formed J. P. Morgan & Co.; key banker for emerging giants.
  • Investment banking as a vehicle for industrial consolidation and stability in a hypercompetitive economy; Morgan’s role in organizing boards and financing growth.
  • Morgan’s defense of financial consolidation as a public service, despite critics; most notable act: acquiring Carnegie Steel (renamed U.S. Steel) in 1901 for $1.4 billion; first billion-dollar firm in U.S. history.
  • 1912 congressional committee findings: Morgan’s network held 341 directorships in 112 corporations; assets around 2.2{,}000{,}000{,}000 (i.e., 2.2 imes 10^{10}) — wealth and influence rivaled the value of public land and assets west of the Mississippi.

18.3 Building Industrial America on the Backs of Labor

• A paradox of rising living standards vs. harsh working conditions:
  • The Gospel of Wealth (Carnegie) asserted that rising living standards benefited workers through cheaper goods and expanded opportunity; yet many workers faced harsh conditions and low wages.
  • By 1900, urbanization produced urban wage-earning populations, but wages remained low; average factory wage around 0.20 per hour (~$600 per year).
  • About 20 ext{%} of people in industrialized cities lived at or below the poverty level.
  • The era’s typical factory week: about 60 hours; steel mills could run up to 12 hours per day, 7 days a week.
• Demographic and gender dynamics:
  • 1865: roughly 60 ext{%} of Americans lived on farms; by about 1900, roughly 40 ext{%} rural, with most people in urban or suburban settings.
  • Women’s labor: by 1900, about 5{,}000{,}000 American women were wage earners; roughly 25 ext{%} of women worked in factories; women worked mainly in textiles or clerical roles and were paid less than men.
  • Child labor: numbers grew, with child labor tripling between 1870 and 1900; children were often employed in factories due to their size and lower wages.
• Working conditions and labor organization:
  • Factory owners often prioritized efficiency and profits over safety; early attempts to regulate safety were limited and slow to pass, with significant injuries and deaths common.
  • Frederick Taylor’s scientific management (stopwatch efficiency) sought to break tasks into simple, repetitive components to maximize productivity; workers could be replaced by mechanization.
  • Labor force composition: immigrant workers (especially from Southeastern Europe) and women faced language, cultural barriers, and discrimination; anti-union sentiment persisted across the broader public.
• Early labor violence and responses:
  • Molly Maguires (1870s–1880s): secret organization among Irish coal miners; tactic included intimidation, kidnappings, and murders; 24 suspected members were convicted, 10 hanged (1877); demonstrated the potential consequences of labor unrest and the resolve of owners to suppress activism.
  • Public opinion skewed against violent labor tactics; railroad strikes and violence prompted government intervention and public sympathy shifts.
  • 1877–1880s: widespread strikes, vandalism, and violence; state militias and federal troops sometimes deployed to restore order; violence often undermined sympathy for labor movements.
• Rise and fate of labor organizations:
  • National Labor Union (NLU) formed in 1866; sought eight-hour day for federal workers, African American and women’s rights, currency reform; declined after the Panic of 1873 and founder’s death.
  • Knights of Labor (KOL): established during the 1870s–1880s; led by Terence V. Powderly; promoted “one big union” including workers across trades, including women, African Americans, and immigrants; excluded doctors, lawyers, and bankers. By 1886, >700{,}000 members.
  • Haymarket Affair (May 4, 1886, Chicago): a bomb killed a police officer; anarchist leaders tried and executed; the event damaged public support for the KOL and the labor movement; sensation driven by press opinions linked to the Knights of Labor and Powderly.
  • Split within organized labor: mass public backlash and political backlash contributed to decline in KOL’s influence; by 1886 membership collapsed to about 100{,}000.
  • American Federation of Labor (AFL): formed in 1886 as a federation of craft unions; led by Samuel Gompers (until 1924); focused on practical economic gains (wages, hours, working conditions) and avoided broad political reform;
  • AFL stance: represent unions in federal legislation affecting workers; avoid intramural interference; achieved substantive gains on the eight-hour day.
  • Growth: 500{,}000 members by 1900; 1{,}000{,}000 by 1914; 4{,}000{,}000 by 1920; still, craft unions excluded many factory workers and counted about 15% of nonfarm workers at their peak.
• Major strikes and public perception:
  • Haymarket rally (May Day) 1886: publicized as riot by the press; many workers killed or injured in the ensuing crackdown; later memorials to the Haymarket martyrs.
  • The Homestead Strike (1892): Carnegie Steel Co., Henry Clay Frick’s anti-union stance; lockout and Pinkerton guards; gunfight; militia intervention; end of the strike with workers’ defeat and layoffs.
  • The Pullman Strike (1894): George Pullman Company laid off 3,000 workers during economic depression; Eugene V. Debs and the American Railway Union called for a nationwide strike; federal troops and mail cars used to end the strike; Debs jailed for preventing mail delivery.
• Narrative of labor leaders and workers:
  • Personal testimonies (e.g., George Estes, telegraphers): illustrates the antagonistic dynamic between labor and capital; industry power and the difficulty of achieving gains without organized, broad-based action.
  • The period’s mood: capital and labor were deeply antagonistic; strikes, lockouts, and violence were common before more stable labor institutions could emerge.

18.4 A New American Consumer Culture

• Emergence of a mass consumer society:

  • Industrial growth and time-saving innovations produced a culture of consumption; people came to expect access to a wide variety of goods in stores or by mail order.
  • Department stores and chain stores (e.g., Macy’s in New York, Gimbel’s in Philadelphia) drew shoppers with large displays, better lighting, and window displays; urban retail transformed consumer experiences.

• Display and promotion: changes in store design and advertising

  • Innovations in construction and display (high ceilings, large glass windows, glass countertops) supported bigger, more visually appealing displays.
  • L. Frank Baum (later author of The Wizard of Oz) helped found the National Association of Window Trimmers in 1898 and published guidance on store window displays to optimize marketing.

• Mail-order and rural access:

  • Mail-order catalogs expanded options for rural Americans; Sears, Roebuck and Company became a major player following Montgomery Ward’s 1872 start; Sears catalogs reached over 300{,}000 catalogs annually by 1897 and surpassed 1{,}000{,}000 by 1907.
  • Sears targeted farmers and rural customers who faced higher prices in smaller, local markets; catalogs promised standardized pricing and a broad selection.

• Advertising and credit:

  • By 1900, advertising expenditures neared 100{,}000{,}000 annually, reflecting a new emphasis on consumer demand and brand competition.
  • Newspapers restructured to include full-page and agate-type ads; advertising agencies rose in the 1880s, competing for major accounts.
  • Advertising strategies emphasized luxury, safety, reliability and prestige of products (examples include household goods like typewriters, shaving products, books, and more).
  • Credit became a common mechanism for consumption: stores extended credit, allowing families to purchase goods before paying cash; this enabled mass consumerism but also risked debt.

• The culture of consumerism and its implications:

  • Roland Martian’s parable on the democracy of goods argued that access to products became more important than access to the means of production; people sought to live better lifestyles through consumption.
  • The era saw a slow rise of a middle class and a broader consumer base, partly due to the ready availability of products and the option to buy on credit.
  • Advertising and merchandising helped to normalize the purchase of new goods, while the spread of mail-order and department stores helped to reshape social and economic life.

• Practical, ethical, and philosophical implications across sections:

  • The era’s optimism about technology and growth coexists with harsh labor practices and inequality; the Gospel of Wealth and Social Darwinism rationalize wealth accumulation but raise questions about social responsibility and distributive justice.
  • The antitrust impulse (Sherman Act, 1890) sought to curb monopolies and protect competition, reflecting concerns about power concentrations in a rapidly modernizing economy.
  • The public’s support for labor activism fluctuated with incidents of violence and economic distress; the state’s responses (militia intervention, federal troops, legal measures) reveal the tensions between order and reform.
  • The consumer revolution reshaped daily life, gender roles, and household economics, enabling more time for public life and education for some women, while also reinforcing domestic labor expectations for others.

• Key dates to remember:

  • 1790s: Patent Office records 276 inventions in its first decade.
  • 1860: 60{,}000 patents issued.
  • 1860–1890: patents reach 450{,}000; last decade adds 235{,}000.
  • 1858: transatlantic telegraph cables laid.
  • 1876: Bell patents the telephone.
  • 1879: phonographic and electrical innovations proliferate; Edison’s light bulb later commercialized.
  • 1880: approx. 50{,}000 telephones in use; late 19th century: rapid expansion of telephone networks.
  • 1886: Knights of Labor peak; Haymarket Affair.
  • 1890: Sherman Antitrust Act signed into law.
  • 1892: Homestead Strike; 1894: Pullman Strike.
  • 1893: World’s Columbian Exposition (Chicago).
  • 1897: Sears catalogs reach 300{,}000; by 1907: 1{,}000{,}000 catalogs annually.
  • 1900: U.S. steel production up to 10{,}000{,}000 tons; almost all large cities have electricity; rail networks in heavy use.
  • 1901: Carnegie Steel is acquired by J. P. Morgan to form U.S. Steel; a landmark consolidation.
  • 1912: Morgan’s influence cited in congressional hearings; vast board memberships and assets.

• Connections to broader themes:

  • The transformation of the American economy from a commodity and artisanal base to a modern, corporate, interconnected system centered on steel, rail, electricity, and communications.
  • The role of government policy (antitrust, regulation, labor laws) in shaping the balance of power between labor, capital, and the public.
  • The tension between the promise of mass consumption and the realities of wage labor, working conditions, and inequality, shaping social reform movements and political debates in the 20th century.