CH 18 The Machine Age 1877-1920
Factors leading to this rapid industrial growth:
- Civil War and war demand
- Abundant natural resources (coal, iron, copper, oil, lumber)
- Growth of the domestic market stimulated by territorial expansion, increase of the American population, and improvement of transport and communications systems
- Immigration providing a cheap labor force
- American values of hard work, thrift and an emphasis on material achievement
1 Technology and the triumph of industrialism:
main characteristic of the end of the 19th century
2 examples (names and inventions)
Henry Ford’s major innovation in the car industry and scheme:
Name of the company:
1908:
1913:
Ford's actions to achieve his aim:
Major industries developing in the South thanks the development of industrialization:
two examples of innovations and their consequences:
Frederick Taylor’s invention and its consequences:
2 Mechanization and the Changing Status of Labor
Four main consequences of mechanization:
kinds of jobs held by women:
Industries in which children were mostly employed:
also see page 381 (ch 21)
causes of industrial accidents:
two arguments against increased safety regulations
One example of a Supreme Court decision preventing labor Reform (1905):
3 Labor Violence and the Union Movement
What happened in 1877?
(for each union main characteristic(s) and major demand(s))
The Knights of Labor:
At fist it was a secret organization (which explains the reference to “Grand Master”); they dropped secrecy in the mid 1880s, which helped them attract new members
name of a railroad magnate: ; what happened in 1886?
1886 Haymarket Riot
consequences of the Haymarket incident and railraod strikes:
The AFL
which groups were excluded from unions? Why?
1892 The Homestead Strike
The Pinkerton Detective Agency was specialized in countering labor unrest. A Pinkerton agent would infiltrate the inner council of the organization and secure evidence to help the conviction of union members. Used in 1873 by mine owners to stop a series of coal strikes, 300 Pinkerton Detectives were later called by the Homestead plant manager to break the strike, resulting in violence.
1894 The Pullman Strike (+ name of the leader of the union)
The Industrial Workers of the World
The reason why union membership remained relatively low between 1900 and 1920:
The mixed benefits of the industrial age:
4 Standards of Living
Positive and negative aspects of the overall period:
5 The Corporate Consolidation Movement
aim of consolidation:
why were companies protected from government interference?
Consolidation represented the main economic trend of the period; leading to the formation of (brief definition)pools:
trusts:
holdings (main example):
7 The Gospel of Wealth and its critics
Origin and main tenets of the doctrine:
1880 Sherman Anti-Trust Act
1895 US v E. C. Knights Co.
Virtually invalidated the Sherman Act and consolidation went on.
See "regulation of trusts" in ch. 21 (page 390): 1904 Supreme Court decision and Hepburn Act (1906), "Wilson's policy on Business regulation" page 393: 1941 Clayton Anti-trust Act