Remember?

Brief Response
• What were the conditions of ordinary Americans and how was the
populist party hoping to change them for the better?
• Many felt cheated by big business
• Many could not get loans or pay them off if they could get them
• The populists promised political reforms to make government more
supportive and protective.
– Fight corruption
– Senators elected by people
– Create laws to protect people from predatory big businesses
• The populists wanted bimetallism so more people could have
access to cash and have a chance at being financially successful
The Expansion of Industry;
The Age of the Railroads
p. 230,
236
Today’s goal
• America’s industrial revolution jumped after and
as a result of the American Civil War.
• America had what it needed: abundant
resources, creative ideas, and growing markets.
• Railroads were crucial to economic activity, but
owners abused their power for higher profits.
• People demanded that their governments do
something to regulate the railroads.
Vocabulary
• Edwin L. Drake
• 1859, first to successfully use a steam drill to
access underground petroleum, in
Pennsylvania.
• Started an oil boom in Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois,
Indiana, and Texas.
• Petroleum is used for machine lubricants. It is
refined into kerosene and gasoline.
Bessemer Process
• UK method, started around the 1850s, to
inject air into molten iron.
– The technique removed carbon and other
impurities.
– Made stronger steel and in greater quantities.
– 90% of steel made this way after.
• Later replaced by the open-hearth process
– Could recycle scrap metal.
Thomas Alva Edison
• 1876, started his Menlo Park, NJ, research
laboratory.
• Developed:
– the incandescent lamp (light bulb).
– Power plant system for generating and
distributing electricity to businesses and homes.
– Many other electrical appliances.
– cinema
Christopher Sholes
• Developed the typewriter in 1867.
• Greatly affected the business community,
government, and the military.
• Created many new jobs
– Eventually for women
• Sholes typewriter (YT link)
Alexander Graham Bell
• Developed the telephone with Thomas
Watson, in 1876.
• Made world wide, instant voice
communication possible.
• Created many new jobs
– Eventually for women
• Revolutionized business and1892
government, as
AT&T
well as private homes.
Transcontinental railroad
• First rail line to go from coast to coast.
– Development had been encouraged and subsidized by
the Pacific Railway Act, signed by Abraham Lincoln.
• Created jobs for African Americans and
immigrants from Ireland and China.
• Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads met at
Promontory Point, UT, in 1869.
• Enabled westerner products to reach eastern
markets.
George M. Pullman
• Manufactured sleeper and other railroad cars
for passenger rail use.
• Created a factory town in Illinois: Pullman
• Many new jobs
• Homes/dormitories for workers
• Opportunities for businesses workers would
use.
• Included recreational and athletic facilities.
Remember?
• What were the immediate uses for petroleum
in the late 19th century?
• Kerosene
• Lubricants
• Gasolene
Credit Mobilier (Scandal)
• A “construction company”, set up by the Union Pacific
Railroad, that charged the federal government three
times the actual cost of its work for some eight years.
– Investors made great profits
• Key US Congress members were given stock and
bribes to facilitate things.
• 1872, an investigation began, spurred by the Sun
newspaper in New York.
– Penalties were weak, James Garfield would become a US
president anyway.
– The Republican Party was humiliated.
Munn v. Illinois
• Grangers had succeeded in electing politicians into
local and state governments to protect farmer
interests.
– Illinois authorized a commission to “establish maximum
freight and passenger rates and prohibit discrimination.”
• 1877, railroads feared more governments would do
this and sued Illinois, the case ended up the Supreme
Court.
• SCOTUS upheld the Granger Laws, encouraging other
states to do the same for their farmers and consumers
across the nation.
Interstate Commerce Act
• 1887, Congress established the right of the federal
government to supervise railroad activities
• A five-member Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)
was started to oversee the supervision.
– Legal process is long and, of course, businesses resist.
– Later, SCOTUS would rule that the ICC could not control
railroad rates.
– In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt would increase it
power, beyond railroads.
– It was dissolved by Congress in 1995
• Its supervisory powers were divided up among other government
agencies.
Remember?
• Railroad scandal involving much government
money being stolen by lying business people
helped by government officials.
• Credit Mobilier
hwk
p . 231, geography skillbuilder
•
•
•
•
•
1
Pennsylvania
2
An abundance of coal and iron ore
Access to a major river
Remember?
• What did the Bessemer method make
possible?
• Mass production of stronger steel
p. 232, summarizing
•
•
•
•
Oil
Coal
Iron ore
water
p. 233, analyzing effects
• It changed the nature of business
• Made possible the invention of new
appliances
• Helped cities and industries grow.
p. 233, 3, making inferences
yes
• Availability of products
• More leisure time
no
• Low wages
• Less skill and craft
p . 233, 4, hypothesizing
• Less wealth
• Less industry
• Slower growth
Remember?
• Communications device developed by Bell.
• telephoned
p. 233, 5, analyzing effects
• Electricity
– Changed business and home environments
• Telephone
– Sped up communication
– Faster service
– Faster growth
• Bessemer process
– Steel used for buildings, machines, factories,
bridges, railroads, etc.
p. 237, analyzing effects
• The growth of industries that could ship to
new markets
• Hazardous jobs for railroad workers
• Increase of immigration
• Increase of migration to the West.
p. 238, summarizing
• Railroads led to a growth of cities in the
Northeast and the Midwest
• Led to the development of new cities in the
West
Remember?
• What did Thomas Edison’s labs make possible?
• Electricity and electrical devices that made life
more simple and profitable.
p. 238, summarizing
• By charging too much for railroad construction
• paying off government officials
Remember?
• What federal agency was started to control
abuses by the railroads, and, later, other big
businesses?
• Interstate Commerce Commission
p. 239, geography skillbuilder
•
•
•
•
1.
Their location as railroad hubs.
2.
In 1869, the transcontinental railroad was
complete
– Spurred need for new, smaller rail lines across the
West
p. 239, analyzing issues
• The farmers took political action in one united
front
• They pressed for laws to protect them.
Remember?
• What SCOTUS decision made it possible for
state governments to deal with abuses by
railroads on farmers and other people?
• Munn v. Illinois
p. 240, analyzing political cartoons
• 1.
• The “Colossus of Rhodes” protected the harbor of
Rhodes, long ago.
• Criticism
– The business magnates controlled and protected the
railroads for their own gain.
• 2
• Controlling the tracks and station, and being the
largest figure, implies that Vanderbilt has total
control of the whole operation.
p. 240, 3, making inferences
Yes
• Consumer boycotts
• Munn v Illinois broke new
ground for regulation
– More regulation
• Better prosecution of
corrupt officials
No
• More regulation slowed
industrial growth
p. 240, 4, synthesizing
• Railroads:
• increased US settlement
• Built up US commerce
p. 240, 5, analyzing motives
• Pollution and social changes brought on by
railroads impeded rights and freedoms.
• Some feared change because of unknown
consequences.
EC Idea
• on a chart or PPT, make a graphic presentation
showing electric appliances invented between
1876 and 1900. (five max)
– Show their equivalent today. (five max)
• Ex. (telephone then and now.)
– Should have a large main topic title
– Each image should have a brief title
• Due in 7 school days from the day of this lesson.
– By written agreement.
– Total possible points = 40
EC Idea
• Make a graphic presentation on school-sized
paper of a modern idea or product that has great
promise, but also has caused social fears of
unknown side-effects.
– Title
– Picture
– ELA paragraph (ID idea/product, what it promises,
what some people fear about it)
• Due in 5 school days
• 10 possible points.
Brief Response
• What issues arose as a result of American
industrialization?