U.S. History: Gilded Age

Immigration to the United States

11 million immigrants came to America between 1870-1899 to seek a better life.

Petroleum/oil

1850s kerosene was refined from petroleum. It was efficient fuel used in lamps-replaced whale oil. In 1859 the first oil well. Oil became the most fuel after the development of the internal combustion engine. Gasoline and diesel fuel are both refined from crude oil. Oil was also used as a lubricant for machines

5 year period that had the smallest increase in manufacturing

1860-1865

Standard oil company

1870. John Rockefeller and Henry Flagler standard oil company. By 1880 Rockefeller controlled almost all the country's oil refining business. They ran out other oil companies one by one and by 1897 the standard oil trust controlled 90-95% of the oil industry

Munn vs. Illinois

1877. Supreme Court Case where the Granger laws were upheld. The states won the right to regulate the railroads for the benefit of farmers and consumers

Government discrimination against Chinese

1879. New California state constitution discriminated against the Chinese and prohibited them from owning property and working some jobs. 1879. Congress passed a law to severely limit Chinese immigration. President Hayes vetoed the law but China made a verbal agreement to limit immigration. 1882. Chinese Exclusion Act

Chinese exclusion act

1882. Prohibited the immigration of Chinese workers and denied American citizenship to anyone born in China

Start of time zones worldwide

1884. An international conference set worldwide time zones that incorporated railroad time

Japanese immigrants

1884. Japanese government allowed Hawaiian planter to recruit Japanese workers. The United States' annexation of Hawaii in 1898 resulted in increased Japanese immigration to the West Coast. The wave peaked in 1907, when 30,000 left Japan for the United States. By 1920, more than 200,000 Japanese lived on the West Coast

5 year period that had the greatest increase in manufacturing

1885-1890

Restrictions on immigrants

1885. Congress repealed the contract labor law. 1917. Congress passed a "literacy test" bill, over President Wilson's veto, that denied entrance to any immigrant who could not read or write

Interstate Commerce Act

1887. This act reestablished the right of the federal government to supervise railroad activities

Decade that had the greatest increase in steel production

1890-1900

Sherman anti-trust act

1890. This law called monopolies and trusts "conspiracies in restraint of trade." This law made it illegal to make contracts that could result in trusts. However, the government lost seven of the first eight cases it brought against large trusts. With the support of courts monopolies and trusts grew even larger and stronger. Later other laws would be passed to bring trusts under control

Ellis Island

1892-1954. Immigration processing center in New York Harbor

First hydroelectric plant

1895. Niagara Falls. Produced electricity from water power

U.S. vs E.C. Knight Company

1895. Supreme Court decision that a monopoly was only illegal if it involved restraint of interstate trade. It made the Sherman anti-trust law almost meaningless

Angel Island

1910-1940. Immigration processing center in San Francisco Bay

How many time zones did the US have in railroad time? What were they?

4: Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific

Horizontal integration

A business grows and expands to control most of the market shares in an industry by buying companies or forcing competitors out of business

Steel production

A combination of several elements including iron and carbon, steel was used in small quantities for many years. The United States had plenty of the key raw materials. 1870:68,000 tons 1918:44,000,000

Exposition of the Crédit Mobilier

A congressional investigation of the country, spurred by reports in the New York Sun, found that the officers of the Union Pacific had taken up to $23 million in stocks, bonds, and cash. Testimony implicated some respected federal officials as vice-president Schuyler Colfax and congressman James Garfield. These public figures kept their profits, but tarnished the reputation of the Republican Party

Entrepreneur

A person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture

Dividend

A share of the profit of a company, distributed to its shareholders according to the number of shares held by them.

Time period of the gilded age

About 1865-1900

New immigrants

After 1890 many southern and eastern Europeans came to America. Their customs and languages were much different than the Western Europeans

Economic collapse

Although the ICC presented few problems for the railroads, corporate abuses, mismanagement, overbuilding, and competition pushed many railroads to the brink of bankruptcy. Their financial problems played a major role in a nationwide economic collapse. The panic of 1893 was the worst depression up to that time: by the end of 1893, around 600 banks and 15,000 businesses had failed, and by 1895, 4 million people had lost their jobs. By the middle of 1894, a quarter of the nation's railroads had been taken over by financial companies. Large investment firms such as J. P. Morgan & Company reorganized the railroads. As the 20th century dawned, seven powerful companies held sway over two-thirds of the nation's railroad tracks.

Pool

An agreement between several companies to set high prices or divide the market into regions so that each company could do as they pleased in part of the country. They had no legal standing. In 1887 pools were declared illegal in interstate commerce and faded away

Crédit Mobilier

An infamous scheme formed in 1864 by stockholders in the Union Pacific Railroad. The stockholders gave this company a contract to lay track at 2-3 times the actual cost and pocketed the profits. They donated shares of stock to about 20 representatives of Congress in 1867.

Old immigrants

Before 1890 most immigrants came from northwestern Europe. These groups had the skills and ways of living that were like those of most Americans

Immigrants from the West Indies

Between 1880 and 1920, about 260,000 immigrants arrived in the eastern and southeastern United States from the West Indies. They came from Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other islands. Many West Indians left their homelands because jobs were scarce and the industrial boom in the United States seemed to promise work for everyone

George Pullman

Built the first sleeping railroad car in 1864. By 1900 his name was used for all sleeping cars

Trunk lines

By 1893 there were 6 separate transcontinental railroad routes to the West coast called trunk lines. Branch lines connected the trunk lines to all regions of the country

Immigrants' journey

By the 1870s, almost all immigrants traveled by steamship. The trip across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe took approximately one week, while the Pacific crossing from Asia took nearly three weeks. Many immigrants traveled in steerage, the cheapest accommodations in a ship's cargo holds. Rarely allowed on deck, immigrants were crowded together in the gloom, unable to exercise or catch a breath of fresh air. They often had to sleep in louse-infested bunks and share toilets with many other passengers. Under these conditions, disease spread quickly, and some immigrants died before they reached their destination

Abraham Gesner

Canadian geologist who discovered how to distill the fuel from oil or coal

Carnegie's end in steel business

Carnegie sold his steel property to the banker J. P. Morgan in 1990 for $447 million. In 1901 Morgan organized 11 steel companies into the United States Steel Corporation

Carnegie in the steel business

Carnegie, already a rich man, entered the steel industry in 1873 after meeting with Sir Henry Bessemer in England. Built a steel plant outside of Pittsburgh and found more uses for steel. He bought and built more steel plants. By 1900 he controlled most of the steel production in the world. In addition to the steel mills, Carnegie bought iron ore fields, coal mines, limestone quarries, railroads, and steamships.

Chinese immigrants

Chinese emigrated to the US to seek gold or work on the Central Pacific Railroad. The Depression of 1873 worried California workers because they feared the Chinese would take their jobs for lower wages

How did new inventions impact factory work?

Clothing could be mass produced in factories, freed factory workers from some backbreaking work, improved workers' standard of living, and by 1890 the average workweek was cut down by 10 hours

Coal production

Coal production skyrocketed from 33 million tons in 1870 to more than 250 million tons in 1900

Trust

Control of many corporations by one man or a few men called trustees. The trustees would convince the major shareholders of several corporations to give up control of their stock so that the trustees could run all the separate corporations as one large company. The shareholders gave up control of their stocks in return for the increased profits from a larger organization. Dividends were paid on these Trust Certificates. During the 1870s-1880s several trusts gained monopoly control in the oil, steel, sugar, and whiskey industries

Monopoly

Control of the production and sale of a product by a single person or company. Monopolies could undercut prices in certain regions to eliminate local competition

Vertical combustion

Controlling all the transportation and raw materials in an industry

Daniel Burnham

Designed the 285-foot Flatiron Building in New York in 1902

William Le Baron Jenney

Designed the first skyscraper with a steel frame-the Home Insurance Building in Chicago

Louis Sullivan

Designed the ten-story Wainwright Building in St. Louis in 1890-1891

Henry Bessemer and William Kelly

Discovered a new process to turn iron into steel for a low cost in the 1850s

Edwin Drake

Drilled the world's first oil well in 1859 near Titusville, PA

Developments in urban transportation

Electric trolley, subway, electric elevated train, elevators

Grange

Farmers organization founded in 1867

Patillo Higgins

First started the Texas Oil Boom with his discovery of oil at Spindletop

Samuel Morse

First telegraph, which moved across the country with the railroads, and Morse code in 1840

Interstate Commerce Commission

Five member commission established for the purpose of supervising railroad activities. It was difficult for them because of the long legal process and resistance from the railroads. In 1897 the Supreme Court ruled that it could not set maximum railroad rates. In 1906, under President Theodore Roosevelt, the ICC gained the power it needed to be effective

Amelia Earheart

Flew alone across the Atlantic Ocean

Wilbur Wright

Flew the first successful airplane

Examples of chain stores

Great Atlantic and Pacific Company (A & P): founded in 1859 Frank Woolworth's: bought goods in large quantities at low prices and sold cheap, started in 1879

Carnegie's start

He immigrated to America when he was 13 and worked at a cotton mill for $1.20/week. At 16 he worked as a telegraph operator and at 17 became the private secretary for the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad. During the Civil War, Carnegie helped the Union by setting up the army's telegraph system and by moving troops along the railroads.

Granger laws

In 1871 Illinois authorized a commission "to establish maximum freight and passenger rates and prohibit discrimination." Laws like this were passed throughout the West, Midwest, and Southeast. They helped establish an important principle-the federal government's right to regulate private industry to serve the public interest

Iron deposits in the US

In 1887 large iron deposits - more than 100 miles long and 3 miles wide - were discovered in the Mesabi Range of Minnesota

Thomas Edison

Invented the light bulb. Built the first power plant in New York City in 1882. His generators were driven by steam engines.

Guglielmo Marconi

Invented the radio

Alexander Graham Bell

Invented the telephone in 1876. His company American Telephone and Telegraph Co. (AT&T) organized in 1885

Christopher Sholes

Invented the typewriter in 1867

Ida Tarbell

Investigative journalist who exposed the unfair business practices of Rockefeller in her series for McClure's magazine, "A History of Standard Oil"

Key raw materials for steel

Iron, coal, and limestone

Examples of department stores

John Wanamaker's: Philadelphia, 1876 Marshall Field: Chicago, 1881

Cyrus W. Field

Laid the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean that provided instantaneous communication with the rest of the world in 1866

Advertising

Large scale professional advertising encouraged mass purchasing by the national market

New sources of energy

Late 1700s-late 1800s the steam engine powered by wood/coal was the most important source of energy. In the late 1800s two new energy sources, electricity and oil, were developed

What percentage of work officers were women in 1870? 1910?

Less than 5% in 1870 Nearly 40% in 1910

Problems of immigration

Many left their homelands to escape famine or oppression. The journey across the Atlantic was expensive, long, and dangerous. Immigrants competed for the hardest and lowest paying jobs, which reduced wages. Many Americans resented the new arrivals and pushed for immigration restrictions.

Grangers

Members of the Grange who demanded government control over the railroad industry. They were angry with railroad companies for misusing government land grants, entering formal agreements to fix prices that kept farmers in debt, charging different customers different prices

Mexican immigrants

Mexicans immigrated to the United States to find work, as well as to flee political turmoil. The 1902 National Reclamation Act, which encouraged the irrigation of arid land, created new farmland in Western states and drew Mexican farm workers northward. After 1910, political and social upheavals in Mexico prompted even more immigration. About 700,000 people—7 percent of the population of Mexico at the time—came to the U.S. over the next 20 years

John D. Rockefeller

Millionaire who had a monopoly on the oil market in the late 1880s. Started the standard oil company. He was at one point the richest man in the country. Later on in life he became a philanthropist and gave away millions of dollars

Examples of mail catalogs

Montgomery Ward Sears, Roebuck, & Co.

Change of annual value of manufacturing output from 1860-1900?

Multiplied 6-7 times or 625% increase

Start of time zones in the US

November 18, 1883. Railroad crews and town across the country synchronized their watches. The US Congress adapted railroad time as the standard for the nation in 1918

Texas oil boom origin

Oil is first noticed in the springs around Spindletop, a hill in southeastern Texas. In autumn of 1900 drilling began at Spindletop. On January 10, 1901 oil came from the well and the oil boom began

Mail catalogs

Order catalogs aimed at the rural market

George Westinghouse

Patented the air brake, which replaced hand brakes, in 1869

Contract labor law

Permitted American employers to recruit foreign workers to man the factories during the Civil War. European workers signed a contract for a specified period of time. This near slave labor system provided unfair cheap labor competition for American workers

Trustee

Person who has control of many corporations.

Where did petroleum-refining industries arise?

Pittsburgh, PA and Cleveland, OH

Professor C. F. Dowd

Proposed the earth's surface be divided into 24 time zones, one for each hour of the day, to fix the problem people were having with different times in different locations.

Improvements of railroads

Railway mileage multiplied 4 times between 1870-1900, double sets of tracks, iron rails were replaced by steel rails, wooden bridges were replaced by iron or steel constructions, and coal replaced wood as the locomotive fuel

Laissez faire

Relationship between government and businesses where businesses are allowed to act freely without much government interference

First city to electrify its urban transit

Richmond, Virginia in 1888

Rockefeller's business methods

Rockefeller became an expert in all parts of the oil refining business, lowered production costs, kept his prices high, and planned ahead. He was ruthless in gaining control of competing oil companies. Forced railroads to give him special rates and rebates

Tenements

Run-down crowded rented housing in the slum areas of the cities

Boat improvements

Sailing ships were replaced by steam-powered ocean liners steel-hulled freighters. These sleek passenger liners carried millions of immigrants to the United States from Europe and the rest of the world. Bulk cargoes were carried on large steamships on the Great Lakes

Andrew Carnegie

Scottish immigrant who built a large fortune from steel production. He became the richest man in the country.

Pricefixing

Setting prices as high as people can afford to pay

Social Darwinism

Society is competitive and it evolves from lower to higher. Those who are "higher" will "win" because of natural selection. It is wrong to interfere with this process.

Specialty store

Sold a single type of product

Department store

Sold many kinds of goods under one roof

Frederick Law Olmsted

Spearheaded the movement for planned urban parks. 1857. With Calvert Vaux they drew up plans for "Greensward" which became Central Park 1870s. Planned landscaping for Washington D.C. and St. Louis. Drew the initial designs for the "Emerald Necklace" which was Boston's parks system

Where did the oil boom spread to?

Started in Pennsylvania. Then spread to Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Texas

Chain stores

Stores with branches in many cities

"Air boiling" method/Bessemer Process

Technique developed in 1850. It was used to burn out impurities in iron with a blast of air. By 1880 more than 90% of the nation's steel was manufactured using this method

What was one structure that was built because of steel?

The Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883. It spanned 1,595 feet of the East River in NYC.

Captain Anthony F. Lucas

The first investor for the oil at Spindletop

Native American use for oil

They used crude oil for fuel and medicine

Paper sons

Those who took advantage of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, which destroyed birth records, and gained entry to the US despite the Chinese exclusion act

Sand lotters

Unemployed California workers who gathered on street corners and sand lots. They attacked Chinese workers and destroyed property

Railroads in the US

Union Pacific, Central Pacific, Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Southern Pacific, Texas & Pacific, Illinois Central, New York Central, Pennsylvania, Baltimore & Ohio, Southern, Atlantic Coast Line, and Seaboard Air Line

Railroad standard time

Used because movements of trains in different parts of the country needed to be coordinated

Standard gauge

Used to make sure that railroad tracks were the same width throughout the country

Philanthropist

a person who seeks to promote the welfare of others through the donation of money

Americanization movement

designed to assimilate people of wide-ranging cultures into the dominant culture. This social campaign was sponsored by the government and by concerned citizens. Schools and voluntary associations provided programs to teach immi- grants skills needed for citizenship, such as English literacy and American history and government. Subjects such as cooking and social etiquette were included in the curriculum to help the newcomers learn the ways of native-born Americans. Despite these efforts, many immigrants did not wish to abandon their traditions. Ethnic communities provided the social support of other immigrants from the same country. This enabled them to speak their own language and practice their customs and religion. However, these neighborhoods soon became overcrowded, a problem that was intensified by the arrival of new transplants from America's rural areas