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    Chapter 17 Notes 8.53.50 PM PDF

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    mae li
    This chapter discusses the rise of big businesses in America during the late 19th century and their social, economic, and political impacts. Key developments included the growth of large corporations like Carnegie Steel and Standard Oil, which came to dominate their industries. New technologies like the telegraph, the Bessemer process for steel production, and the telephone drove industrialization. However, big businesses also concentrated wealth, created monopolies that controlled prices, and faced opposition from labor unions and reformers who advocated for workers' rights and equality. Immigration continued to provide industrialization with low-cost labor but also faced some resentment.

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    Chapter 17 Notes 8.53.50 PM PDF

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    This chapter discusses the rise of big businesses in America during the late 19th century and their social, economic, and political impacts. Key developments included the growth of large corporations like Carnegie Steel and Standard Oil, which came to dominate their industries. New technologies like the telegraph, the Bessemer process for steel production, and the telephone drove industrialization. However, big businesses also concentrated wealth, created monopolies that controlled prices, and faced opposition from labor unions and reformers who advocated for workers' rights and equality. Immigration continued to provide industrialization with low-cost labor but also faced some resentment.

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    This chapter discusses the rise of big businesses in America during the late 19th century and their social, economic, and political impacts. Key developments included the growth of large corporations like Carnegie Steel and Standard Oil, which came to dominate their industries. New technologies like the telegraph, the Bessemer process for steel production, and the telephone drove industrialization. However, big businesses also concentrated wealth, created monopolies that controlled prices, and faced opposition from labor unions and reformers who advocated for workers' rights and equality. Immigration continued to provide industrialization with low-cost labor but also faced some resentment.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    44 views7 pages

    Chapter 17 Notes 8.53.50 PM PDF

    Uploaded by

    mae li
    This chapter discusses the rise of big businesses in America during the late 19th century and their social, economic, and political impacts. Key developments included the growth of large corporations like Carnegie Steel and Standard Oil, which came to dominate their industries. New technologies like the telegraph, the Bessemer process for steel production, and the telephone drove industrialization. However, big businesses also concentrated wealth, created monopolies that controlled prices, and faced opposition from labor unions and reformers who advocated for workers' rights and equality. Immigration continued to provide industrialization with low-cost labor but also faced some resentment.

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    of 7

    Chapter 17 Notes

    Tuesday, March 31, 2020 6:25 PM

    Chapter 17: Industrial Supremacy pg. 458-485


    Summary:
    This chapter discusses the rise of big businesses and its' social, economic, and
    political impact onto American society. It focuses on factors that led to this
    centralization of big businesses and the influence that it exerted over the
    government.

    Which themes are most relevant to this chapter and why? (see p. 484)
    I believe that "Identity" and "Work, Exchange, and Technology" are the most
    important themes in this chapter, since it focuses on the rise of big business and
    its ESP impact on American society. Without the working class and migrants,
    there would be no frequent progressions in technology or work- and without
    those, big businesses would not be as successful.

    Define Gilded Age


    The "Gilded Age" is defined as the period following the Reconstruction era. It was
    a period of transformation in the economy, technology, government, and social
    customs in America- these transformations forged a national industrial society
    out of what had initially been small regional communities. Many new
    corporations and businesses gave rise to ultra-rich individuals, which was
    highlighted by the American upper class's opulence, along with the rise of
    American philanthropy, which Andrew Carnegie referred to as the "Gospel of
    Wealth". During the Gilded Age, the wealthy provided private money to endow
    thousands of colleges, hospitals, museums, academies, schools, opera houses,
    public libraries, symphony orchestras, and charities. This period also is referred
    to as the “nadir of American race relations,” a time when racism in the country is
    deemed to have been worse than in any other period after the American Civil
    War.

    List some of the technological developments discussed in this chapter


    1. Samuel Morse- Invented the telegraph
    a. Enabled people to communicate over distances
    War.

    List some of the technological developments discussed in this chapter


    1. Samuel Morse- Invented the telegraph
    a. Enabled people to communicate over distances
    2. Henry Bessemer- Produced large quantities of steel efficiently and affordable
    a. By pumping air through a converter filled with molten iron, the
    impurities within the iron were burnt out yielding high grade steel.
    b. Used to build railroads
    3. Alexander Graham Bell- Invented the telephone
    a. This allowed people to communicate faster and over distances.
    4. Thomas Edison- Invented the first electric light bulb.
    a. This cut down the use of expensive copper.
    b. He also invented the phonograph, early motion picture cameras and
    projectors, and the first commercial electric power system.

    How are these topics connected: Bessemer, Pennsylvania Railroad, George


    Bissell? Use arrows to connect ideas.
    Bessemer process- made stronger rails for constructing the railroads and helped
    to make stronger metal machines and innovative architectural structures like
    skyscrapers

    Pennsylvania Railroad- By 1882, the Pennsylvania Railroad had become the


    Bessemer process Pennsylvani
    largest railroad (by traffic and revenue), the largest transportation enterprise,
    and the largest corporation in the world

    George Bissell- an entrepreneur and industrialist who is often considered the


    father of the American oil industry

    George Bissell

    Discuss the successes of Carnegie and Rockefeller. What were some of the
    problems with monopolies?
    Successes:
    • "By the 1800s, Rockefeller had established such dominance within the
    petroleum industry that to much of the nation he served as the leading
    symbol of monopoly."
    • In steel, the central figure was Andrew Carnegie… who worked his way up
    from modest beginnings and in 1873 opened his own steelworks in
    Pittsburgh. Soon he dominated the industry."

    Supply can be restricted to keep prices high. This leads to scarcity. Thus,
    ia Railroad
    symbol of monopoly."
    • In steel, the central figure was Andrew Carnegie… who worked his way up
    from modest beginnings and in 1873 opened his own steelworks in
    Pittsburgh. Soon he dominated the industry."

    Supply can be restricted to keep prices high. This leads to scarcity. Thus,
    a monopoly can cause a lack of equilibrium between supply and demand.
    (Meaning that monopolies are able to control prices regardless of the scarcity of
    that product).

    Explain this: “America’s more rapid development in the 20th century is in part a
    product of the market’s success in harnessing knowledge from the academic
    world and elsewhere more effectively than the competitors abroad.”

    I believe that this statement is referring to the rise of education, and therefore a
    rise in technological advances. During the Gilded Age, the American upper class
    (wealthy because of the success of big businesses) provided private money to
    endow thousands of colleges, museums, academies, schools, and public libraries
    that aided in this rise of education. Because of this, more Americans were able to
    be harness knowledge from the academic world and apply it to industrialization.

    Define Capitalism. How did it relate to the “self made man?”


    Capitalism is an "economic and political system in which a country's trade and
    industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state".
    This relates to the "self made man" because the typical self-made man came
    from humble beginnings and eventually prospered through a successful business.
    Capitalism allows for the individuals of a country to work for themselves rather
    than for the government, allowing them to achieve this label of a "self made
    man".

    Define Social Darwinism and Gospel of Wealth? Who supported it and why?
    What is its significance in this chapter?
    Social Darwinism- Social Darwinists believe in “survival of the fittest”—the idea
    that certain people become powerful in society because they are innately
    better. Social Darwinism has been used to justify imperialism, racism, eugenics
    and social inequality at various times over the past century and a half.

    Gospel of Wealth- The Gospel of Wealth was an idea made popular by


    industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1889. Its main idea was that the rich should give
    their money to institutions or ideas that promote the poor to cultivate “better”
    habits. The Gospel of Wealth was significant because it challenged Social
    Darwinism in the idea that everyone in society should be financially stable.

    Who were some of the “alternative philosophers” and what were their
    industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1889. Its main idea was that the rich should give
    their money to institutions or ideas that promote the poor to cultivate “better”
    habits. The Gospel of Wealth was significant because it challenged Social
    Darwinism in the idea that everyone in society should be financially stable.

    Who were some of the “alternative philosophers” and what were their
    philosophies?
    Lester Frank Ward- Ward supported the idea of equality of women as well as the
    equality of all classes and races in society. He believed in universal education as a
    means of achieving this equality.

    Henry George- Henry George is best remembered as a proponent of the “single


    tax” on land. The government should finance all of its projects, he argued, with
    proceeds from only one tax. This single tax would be on the unimproved value of
    land—the value that the land would have if it were in its natural state with no
    buildings, no landscaping, and so on.

    Explain the role of immigration throughout 1865-1900--The Industrial


    Revolution period.
    With the growth of factories and the demand for unskilled labor, immigrants,
    primarily young men in the working years, continued to be the ideal source of
    labor. Immigrants were generally more willing to accept lower wages and inferior
    working conditions than native born workers. Thus, immigrants were an essential
    factor to the development of businesses and American industrialization.

    Although the standard of living increased after the Civil War, list some of the
    challenges faced by workers.
    Immigrants also faced resentment from workers who saw them as competing for
    jobs. ... Native-born Americans blamed immigrants for everything from slums and
    crime to hard times. Fearing competition for jobs, many labor leaders stoked the
    fires of prejudice, especially against nonwhites.

    Why were unions organized? Who are the Knights of Labor and AFL?
    The Knights organized unskilled and skilled workers, campaigned for an eight
    hour workday, and aspired to form a cooperative society in which laborers
    owned the industries in which they worked.
    The AFL sought tangible economic gains, such as higher wages, shorter hours,
    and better conditions, in addition to staying out of politics.

    Event (What happened? + Effect)


    1. Great Railroad Strike- The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 started on July 14 in
    Martinsburg, West Virginia, in response to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O)
    cutting wages of workers for the third time in a year.
    - Effect: Striking workers would not allow any of the trains, mainly freight
    trains, to roll until this third wage cut was revoked. By the time
    Event (What happened? + Effect)
    1. Great Railroad Strike- The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 started on July 14 in
    Martinsburg, West Virginia, in response to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O)
    cutting wages of workers for the third time in a year.
    - Effect: Striking workers would not allow any of the trains, mainly freight
    trains, to roll until this third wage cut was revoked. By the time
    the strikes were over, about 1,000 people had gone to jail and some 100
    had been killed.
    2. Homestead Strike- The Homestead Strike of 1892 was one of the most bitterly
    fought industrial disputes in the history of U.S. labor. Management and labor of
    The Homestead Steel Works had been locked in negotiations for several months
    when plant general manager Henry C. Frick announced wage cuts of nearly 20
    percent. The union balked at the reductions and Frick closed the plant on June
    30.
    - Effect: The Homestead strike was a total defeat for the workers and
    unionism as a whole.
    3. Pullman Strike- Strike affected rail transportation nationwide, essentially bringing
    American business to a halt. Workers resented not only cut in wages, but
    management's intrusiveness into their personal lives. The federal government
    became involved, with federal troops being sent to open railroads.
    - Effect: The massive disruption of rail traffic and the violent confrontations
    convinced many Americans that class conflict between capital and
    labor had reached a crisis stage that needed a solution in the public
    interest. In the short term, the fear of more violence limited union activity,
    and the courts acted to suppress strikes.

    Write a thesis statement for one of the essay questions (pg. 485)
    Short Answer 6A.:
    As the expansion of factories and businesses became more prominent in
    the United States, the demand for unskilled labor increased, leaving
    immigrants to be viewed as the ideal source of labor as they were willing to
    accept inferior wages and working conditions than those native-born, thus
    proving that immigrants were an essential factor to the development of
    businesses and American industrialization

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