Gilded Age

Managerial revolution examples

Carnegie learned the railroad business and applied it to steel making Streamlining- Fredrick W. Taylor

Businesses collectivize

Collectivize before workers Interest groups then begin to form. They needed to combine as well o Farmers, labor Led to conflict

Trusts

Firms or corporations that combine for the purpose of reducing competition and controlling prices (establishing a monopoly). There are anti-trust laws to prevent these monopolies. · Rockefeller created this because he thought pools sucked. Legal arrangement to combine companies. Very quickly made illegal. o Rockefeller persuaded some competitors to join one trust combination. Trust certificates could be bought or sold on the market (like stock but not stock). Well why didn't he just buy out his competitors? § Enjoyed economies of scale- drawbacks and rebates from the railroads. Pipelines- he stopped competitors because he parked railroad cars in front of their pipe

First minimum wage

First min wage passed in 1938? was 19 cents an hour? 25 cents? · Avg wages are deceptive · "Living wage"- not enough info for what it should've been at the time · Real wages went up? So what some historians say · Many heads of households could not earn a living wage however defined in late 19th century alone unless the worker was a highly skilled worker in his trade (ex: meat packing industry) · Americans consumption of exotic expensive fruit

Charles F. Adams

He was the son of John Quincy Adams and the grandson of John Adams. Believed that everyone who fought in the war were high minded men. But the years after the war was organized lawlessness and pointed to the heads of railroad companies as the worst of all. Large corporations are a threat to democracy because they aren't held accountable to voters § The railroad described as the octopus by some

The Prize- Oil, money and Power

Ida Tarbell leading an Investigation/biography into John D Rockefeller

Contradictions in Carnegies life

Moral positions and values and his actual behaviors- said he supported labor unions (friend to labor)

Political response to big corporations

Sherman anti-trust Act of 1890

Industrial statesmen

transformed from robber barons and villians to culture heros. Brought innovation and greater efficiency to industry which brought lower costs to consumers. Generous philanthropy of the robber barons- libraries, universities, contributed to education, medical research, art galleries, etc. seeking to pay back what he had gotten from his workers o Rosy view in 40's, 50s, and 60s- Rise in material standard of living. Widespread use of electricity. Efficient transportation. These were men who were willing to take great risks to give rise to progress

Media

· 1890s- people began to express fears that the large corporations were a threat to the public · Writers raising the spectre of what would happen to individuals if companies started price gouging · Portrayed big business as greedy

Fredrick W. Taylor

"Taylorism" but what he called scientific management of labor (Principles of Scientific Management). Grandfather of time motion studies (stopwatch and calculated how much time a particular step took). He observed a high degree of inefficiency ("Soldiering"- workers had informal agreements to maintain what to them was a good rate of production. First step on the path to forming labor unions) § In 19 out of 20 work establishments there's soldiering § Interest was to inform the business community and if you could do that, companies could create more profits (reduce labor costs by increasing output per worker, then have fewer workers). Also led to lower cost to consumers § Bethlehem Steel

Russel Conwell

)In a popular lecture (gave it over 600 times), "Acres of Diamonds," the Reverend Russell Conwell preached that everyone had a duty to become rich. Self-help, inspirational talk aimed at young men. o Said "americans didn't have to look far for their opportunity to rise, all they needed was to look down and they would see acres of diamonds strewn at their feet. If only they had the character and will to reach down, they could perhaps rise to wealth in America". Need energy, need hustle, not true protestant work ethic, but he is a protestant preacher? Andrew Carnegie's article "Wealth" argued that the wealthy had a God-given responsibility to carry out projects of civic philanthropy for the benefit of society (Man who died rich died disgraced). Practicing what he preached, Carnegie distributed over $350 million of his fortune to support the building of libraries, universities, and various public institutions

2 major views of work

1 - nobility of labor 2- agrarian ideal present before the civil war, but these 2 ideas about labor begin to fade

Gilded Age

1870s - 1890s; time period looked good on the outside, despite the corrupt politics & growing gap between the rich & poor Consumer culture Stereotyped era Labor conflicts

How the Other Half Lives

1890 work of photojournalism by Jacob Riis that examines the lives of the poor in New York City's tenements. Riis felt that the unsanitary and dangerous living conditions of the poor were a terrible injustice. Riis met and befriended police commissioner and future president Theodore Roosevelt. One of the first instances of casual photography Spread of disease, crime, overcrowding. Tenement buildings, child poverty and child labor

Annual income

1890 | 1910 Clerical $848 | $1,156 Industrial Worker $486 | $630 College Prof | $1,110 Mine workers .18 | .21 Iron workers .17 | .23

Henry Demarest Lloyd

1894- Chicago born and bred political journalist. Condemnation of Carnegie and big trusts. "Wealth against commonwealth". Feared what the companies would do once they get monopolies (victimize the public) and concentrated wealth would give companies more political power than the average citizen. minority have too much of everything to sell. liberty and monopoly cannot live together. A first mover of the criticism

Richard Hofstadter

A historian who wrote Age of Reform in 1955. This book proposed the concept that progressive leaders were not drawn from societies poor and downtrodden but were middle-class people threatened from above by the emerging power of new corporate elites and from below by a restless working class. US shaped by country life and moved to the city · 1870's you would hear rural traditional values which wouldn't help them in the future. Rapidly adopted by newly arriving immigrants

Protestant work ethic and ethic of hustle or energy blended well together because

America offered equal opportunity to all men of equal character (only 10% of the workforce was female and it was temporary occupations). Every man has the chance to rise o Hard work, sobriety, self control, thrift and savings, grooming would be rewarded with material success o Successful man would not be corrupted by the wealth but would continue those virtues (benevolent, pious) Every individual has their own success/fate in their own hands. Nothing else is responsible for their rising o When it came to failure, they blame the individual. It was only your fault, no one elses o Failed because they had weak characters (lacked 1 or more of the virtues that kept them from rising). Lazy, tendency to squander money, immorality, criminality, engage in vice (alcohol) o America's a classless society- how can you possibly fail in a place where there's abundant opportunity unless there's something wrong with you Exceptions

Robert Wiebe

American historian and bestselling author · Isolation and how independent they were o Up to the 1870s if you lived in an island community, they were very democratic. Small town problems that were handled locally. Wouldn't seem like there's much inequality (no easily detectible wealthy elite). Ladder of opportunity seemed very accessible (seemed like anyone could be successful- self taught, apprentice, etc.). Businesses very small scale, required little capital, and family owned and operated. o People brought the rural life to the cities (pigs, chickens, etc. roamed the streets, garden plots) § Led to reforms trying to get the country out of the city later

Munn v. Illinois 1877

Challenge to rate ceilings. Munn was owner of grain elevator company in Chicago and he and 13 others constituted a small grain storage trust (consortium) that was charging high rates. They were charged with violating the cap on storage rates. They lost. For the first time, the doctrine that business could be regulated was established. Said farmers and consumers were being hurt by this. Said these grain elevators were being renamed as public utilities § Farmers furious- organize and lobby at the federal level

holding companies

Companies that hold a majority of another company's stock in order to control the management of that company. Can be used to establish a monopoly. · New Jersey made it legal to buy stock in other companies. Not producing a product or service. You have it buy up stock (a majority of shares so you can sit on board of directors and you would have clout)

Thorstein Veblen

Conspicuous consumption- wearing things for their impact value to display your higher status. With men- unnecessary canes, unnecessary clothing, top hat. Working class usually wore things on their head but it was dirty little caps. With women- 20 yards of cloth, exquisite sewmanship, corset (sign of a family's status because no woman could do any meaningful labor in it) o Nobody was good- neither middle nor upper class

1908 Budget English Weaver 7 children

Income | Weeks Worked | Expenses Father $309 | 41 | Food $486 Dr 1 $276 | 41 | Rent $104 Dr 2 $253 | 43 | Clothing $210 Total $828 | | Fuel $32 Total $832

Main themes of the class

Individualism -> collectivity Autonomy (1860s) -> Interdependent -> Diversity increase Events driving the above events are the economic changes and rapid industrialization. Made life more complex (changed where people lived, what their work conditions were like, consumption habits) · Increased consumer culture · Artificial creation of desire? · This change is seen even among academics- helping animals (horses and cattle?)? Prevention of child cruelty o Even animals get some collectivization

Not pure laissez-faire but in a way also has laissez-faire.

Less free and open competition o Sometimes businesses applaud certain government interventions- subsidies (railroads with land), tax relief, grants, loans, tariffs (protected market, but prices don't increase) § Steel prices decreased o State also got involved to try to get people to come through their towns- loans and offering to buy stock

Ragged dick

Life of a poor fourteen year-old who rises to riches through hard work, exemplifies American dream, work by Horatio Alger. Looks towards materialistic forms of success Changing name from ragged dick to Richard Hunter Biggest turning point- becomes a guide? Cleaned his face- baptism? Rebirth into a different class? Wants to be respectable demonstrates Victorian characteristics: works hard, energetic, honest, starts going to church and Sunday school, starts taking school lessons from his roommate, gives up homelessness- gets a room for permanent boarding, stops spending his money on the theatre and opens a savings account (thriftiness- does not waste), Johnny noland- Irish and lazy boot black, Mickie McGuire is also Irish- gang leader and bully (native born or assimilated Irish immigrants- newcomers. Shows stereotypes of Irish- gang members, drink too much) Alger's background- born in MA

William Miller

Looked at how people rose (was rags to riches true?). Business owners and top management (187 men) and examined their background (where did they come from, who were these people). Over 90% were native born Americans. Over ¾ of the men were born in east (most born in New England). ¾ traced back to the colonial era. 10% were immigrants but all but 2 were brought over as infants. 90% were protestant and others were jewish or catholic. Class background of fathers- 56% had fathers that were in business. 80% had families in business. Usual trajectory was riches to riches. Less than 20% of these men had paid employment before 16 years of age (indicates that these men were not blue collar working class). Out of 180 executives 40% went to college?

Sherman anti-trust Act of 1890

Named after senator John Sherman of Ohio. Should've spelled the end of trusts and all other big business combinations. Businesses didn't do anything because they knew a good attorney could poke holes in it. Helpful for big business to help them be more efficient o "every contract in the combination of trusts or otherwise"- what's otherwise?! o Law didn't specify restraint of trade or illegal combination o Was supposed to support free open and vigorous competition. o What is reasonable and unreasonable ? Where's the line? 25% of stock in the company? 100%? o Case involving the sugar trust- US vs. EC Knight. What attracted the attention of the government was that EC Knight controlled 90% of the sugar production in the US. Case was quickly dismissed and basically overturns the Sherman Anti-trust act except for railroads. Only could apply to commerce (shipping). Congress does not have the right to regulate manufacturing o The people who were supposed to enforce the law weren't even in support of it o 1800-1900 only 18 companies were prosecuted under the Sherman anti-trust act and the majority of those were against railroads o Pace of mergers explodes. 1899- at least 1200 small businesses were consumed by large trusts

Andrew Carnegie and the Gospel of Wealth

Sees the whole thing unfold. "The Gospel of Wealth" 1900- describes the change: people used to work side by side with high priced materials, now we assemble thousands of things without social intercourse and lower priced materials

Exceptions for protestant work ethic and ethic of hustle or energy

Some people are out of the race to success · Women's destiny is getting married and starting and raising a family. · Irish- not coming over as middle class residents (potato famine) o Rowdy neirdowells and dirty · American born blacks- no amount of hustle or clean living would allow them to rise from rags to respectability o North and south o Nevermind that nobody would hire blacks, they had something wrong with them

Island communities

These widely separated cities and villages were linked together in the late 19th century by the quickly expanding railroad network. o If you needed communication, transportation, etc. you would need to use the outside world o followed seasons of nature - farming/ agrarian cycles o emphasis on family traditions o going to church on Sunday = major social activity

The Jungle

This 1906 work by Upton Sinclair pointed out the abuses of the meat packing industry. The book led to the passage of the 1906 Meat Inspection Act. Ona Lukoszaite and Jurgis Rudkus

Robber barons background

Those that rose to upper level management in these companies began as better off than Carnegie did § William Miller

Wabash v. Illinois 1886

Wabash railroad. Supreme court. Constitution violation- Only the federal government had the right to regulate interstate commerce, so the rate caps passed by states were illegal. By extension, the grain storage companies didn't follow the caps

Crop Statistics

Wheat | Cotton 1870-73 $1.06 | .15 1886-89 .75 | .08 1894-97 .63 | .06 Wheat and cotton grown west of the Mississippi river and extended a little into the south west

Production statistics

Wheat, Bushels | Cotton (bales) 1869 290 mil | 2.5 mil 1914 897 mil | 16 mil

Helen Campbell

Woman Wage Earner 1893- found the petty economies at the expense of women workers. Waitresses work 10 hour days 7 days a week, pay for uniforms at a greater price than on the open market and pay for laundering, pay for damages (like broken plates). Reflections/symptoms because of a huge surplus of labor Women making flowers were poisoned by the dyes in them. Places with bad lighting, they ran sewing needles through their hands. Large washer places (steam laundry) had no ventilation and had wood floors that would rot and have toxic mold causing respiratory illnesses. Mangles (pressing machines) at the steam laundry that were super hot and burns would result. Feather sorters/all workers in all materials that give off dust results in lung problems. Soap factories (hands raw and bleeding) (no protection of gloves given by company or themselves).

Cyrus McCormick

created the reaper which could cut things down quicker in one day than a team of 50 men could. 1902- international harvester corporation. merger of McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and Deering Harvester Company. The business lines of the company included agricultural equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household equipment

Homestead Act of 1862

goal was to speed up development in the west. Homestead/settling on federal land o $1.25 an acre or free § Free had requirements- settle on the land and cultivate it for 5 years and once you've done that, you receive the title § $1.25 an acre would only require settling for 1 year § 160 acre plots o 12% of western land ended up in hands for those who farmed o Gov owned 207 million acres? o Fell short for homesteading because the vast amount of land was given to businesses (railroads get 2/3 of the land, 1/3 was purchased by private citizens) § Each head of household was entitled to a claim? Cattle ranchers. Would have employees go ask for land then hand it over to the employers § Railroads sell excess land to prospective settlers and they charge for than $1.25 an acre

Rural communities

high degree of independence o communities, food, and clothing made in the home, or close by most women supplied food/ clothes for families o female chores= making and baking bread every day o could buy a little from stores, but not much- production is mostly in the home

3rd theme of diversity

immigrants, but also gap between rural and city life and class differences · Produced conflict- violent and nonviolent · Productive organizations being formed · Disadvantage of farmers. Farmers are losing prestige and status. Offspring abandon farms and move to cities because of difficult times. Due to the trends, farmers form own organization (populist party) · Class differences and inequality became more visible. Miners, industrial workers also collectivized (labor unions). Pushed into the trends like farmers. Class conflict sometimes violent. Anxiety for an age for rising from rags to riches o Middle class feel between a rock and a hard place (precarious position) · African Americans · Women- late 19th century 1st successful women's suffrage movement

Bethlehem Steel Soldiering

looked at the men shoveling ore. Found the most efficient shoveling motion and best shovel. Went from 600 ore shovelers to 140 shovelers (moving the same amount). The ones that remained, they got higher wages

After civil war, the number of farms increased rapidly but the number of land-owners who farmed remains about the same over time

o 1860 and 1880 number of farms more than doubled and continued to increase o Other farmers are tenants and sharecroppers. By late 19th century this was becoming main features. 1880- 1/3 of southern farmers were tenants or sharecroppers, 1920- 2/3 § Cash scarce in the south so most farmers chose sharecropping rather than tenants. Paying when harvest comes in with share cropping. If you needed to borrow everything to get started, your share would be half of the crop § Results of this- entangled millions of southerners in a web of humiliation with the crop lean system at the middle of it

Lean years

o 1890s wheat dropped as low as 48 cents a bushel and it costs 65 cents to ship it (losing money). Go into debt and hope for better times. Try to compensate by buying more acres so that you can sell more to compensate for your losses

Increase in production

o 3 commodities (corn, wheat, and cotton?) output in manpower increased by 50% from the civil war to 1900 o Technology and science- farm equipment, fertilizers, mechanized seeders, mechanized mowers and reapers, recognized binder (for wheat). If you don't have these, you fail § Cyrus mccormick § Now farm hands that used to be needed are no longer needed, theyre going to go to the city o 1800- 2 agricultural magazines circulating in the US. By 1870, increased to over 65 and minimum of half a million figures (and it's a limited number because people could've shared with others). Post civil war magazines push fertilizers § 1870 and 1900 increase in fertilizer 8 to 10 times o "America has become the garden of the world" but farmers said something was wrong with the garden § Farmers outside of the east

How do we explain the rapid expansion?

o Abundant natural resources- but this doesn't guarantee expansion. There are other factors o Rapid and efficient transportation- railroad was independent of waterways. You could put them anywhere. Railroads appeared in 1830 o High level of investment to help you keep caught up to technological innovations (ex. Carnegie scrapping new things before they're even broken in) o Abundant mobile supply of cheap labor

economy industrializes, the workplace changes

o As these happen, we see conflict between labor and business increasing given that they're no longer intimate with one another it makes both sides see the other as an anonymous enemy o Andrew Carnegie o Before, ½ of workers were self-employed. By 1900, well over half of americans were employees and the prospect of upward mobility out of the working class were diminished and becoming your own boss was seemingly gone

High level of investment to help you keep caught up to technological innovations

o Biggest source- old money put to new uses (money from trading ventures invested in new ventures/ industries) o People who were involved in making war materials flowed their money in o Use of corporate structure- businesses to incorporate, now legally allowed to sell stock and bonds to the public (Carnegie didn't want to do that) o Foreign investment

Psychological and social problems

o By the 1870s the status and prestige of farmers in media, etc. is going down fast § Common to call them hicks and hay seeds o Contempt o General public became more aware of the hardships of farm life. Socially isolated and monotonous. o Worried about paying debt. Worried about hoping your crop is successful. o Very little left over for anything but necessities o Rural to urban movement for kids of farmers. o Bowled weavel- 1890. Destroyed crops o Droughts, o Massive grasshopper infestations would eat everything § 1873- ½ of the wheat grown in the US was consumed by grasshoppers o No newspapers. No outside world o Extreme isolation of farm wives- tied to the house o "The City"- a play. Farm girl voices her dream of going to the city

kids into the workforce

o Don't get an education, so when they become parents they wont have much to offer their kids and the cycle of child labor will continue. Limiting their offspring's rising in the world o 1900- only about ¼ of American children of high school age actually go t any high school education at all (huge numbers of communities that didn't even have high schools and no school busses to move people around) o High school regarded as absolute minimum education you needed for clerical work o Between 1870 and 1900- # of children in non-agricultural occupations tripled o cultural choices: do you want the money now or do you want your kids to get an education? Mechanization has reduced the skill level so much that little kids can do it. Parents would lie about a kids age. Wisconsin in early 1880s passed a child labor law that said kids under 12 could not be employed. Employers didn't care because they were cheap labor. Children worked very hard at their jobs (investigators in 1880s found in mills kids were putting in 11 hour work days, cigar factories- kids working 10 hours a day 6 days a week, bakeries- start work at 11pm to 4am). On an average school day ¾ of children were missing from grade school in the cities (work, truants, etc)

Abundant mobile supply of cheap labor

o European immigrants who came because of the promise of getting a job (southern, central, eastern europe) o Rural to urban migration o Blacks in the south, but they were never used - Racism as owners and other workers

Over Production

o Garden was too abundant o Growing more wheat corn and cotton than the national and international market could absorb o Other countries are also learning how to grow and are obtaining the machinery to do so (India, Egypt, China)

Carnegies Moral positions and values and his actual behaviors- said he supported labor unions (friend to labor)

o Homestead strike and the way it was handled. He was residing in Scotland during it. The previous labor agreement with the union ran out. There was a wage cut because it was linked to the price of steel. Carnegie knew the labor strikes would happen and he left Frick in charge of it (giving him the green light to get rid of the labor union). Pinkerton detectives. Putting up barbed wire and guns. o Tolerated the union. Waited it out when there were strikes. Said it was understandable that labor strikes would happen once in awhile o Public reputation deteriorated. o Gospel of Wealth o Having a democracy would eliminate social ills?

Positive stereotype of gilded age

o Ignored evidence of wasteful destructive side o Romance of progress o Virtuous hard work, discipline, self-sacrifice o "Character". If you didn't have this, then life wasn't going to be too great for you o Living up to the characteristics of the age o God rewards hard work and piety with success so what's with the critique of materialism?

Subtreasury Plan

o Involved getting the federal gov to act on behalf of farmers as a special interest group to help them be able to make what they thought of as a decent living. Liberate farmers from control of banks and middlemen. Also thought it would help alleviate the shortage of currency in the Midwest o Of all the farm proposals in terms of political sophistication, this was the most impressive o Introduced first in 1887, introduced 2 times more and failed all 3 times o Fed gov would build warehouses (subtreasuries) in every agricultural district. Where's the money going to come from? Fed tax money § Redistribution of wealth to some degree downward but also from some interest groups to others o Harvest time- farmers would store their products in the warehouses until they thought they wanted to sell. Farmers could wait until prices rose, don't have to sell right away. Farmers would receive a new type of paper money so that in the meantime they could get by called subtreasury notes (worth 80% of the price of the crop when you brought it in) § 2 major things accomplished

Mechanization and simplification

o More work came to be simpler jobs o Monotonous work "men become mere machines" o Skilled labor people are doomed. Trades rendered obsolete. Demand for skilled labor declines significantly. Unemployment § EX: Will Carnegie- making fine linen by hand and slid down the socioeconomic scale. Clothing factories- women would've bought textiles, cut them out then sew them but this is all done under one roof now (trousers broken down into 20 simple steps done on sewing machines). Boot and shoe industry- before, master craftsman/apprentice would do it, by 1860s, was broken down into 41 simplified steps most performed on machines. White collar clerical workers- 1880s and 1890s are found in large anonymous work rooms (only thing that sets them apart from blue collar is their neat attire) and different clerks have different parts of the task (one takes the dictation, one typing, and one taking it to the mail room) o Can be easily replaced

Rapid and efficient transportation

o Multiplier industry- railroads, steel - Coal use- heating and railroads

Interest rates on borrowed money were high

o Nebraska in 1890s it recorded over half a million cases of farmers with mortgages on everything (house, tools, animals, bedding) · Nebraska- corn, freight rates, and interest (people at their desks for the last two "farm the farmers")

wife's wage

o Only about 2% of white women would leave and go work in factories. In the north 25% of African American wives by 1900 worked for wages outside of the home. African americans did this because they wanted to keep their children out of work and keep them in school as long as possible o Wives frequently took in rent paying boarders o Part time work called "home work"/ piece work- light industries processes work that they could do at their kitchen table (shelling nuts, sewing buttons on clothing

Evolution/ways to combine to reduce competition

o Pools o Trusts o Holding Companies o Mergers

Pullman Palace Company & Pullman Strike 1894

o Pullman Palace Company- built a town that was supposed to be a model of how you could have mass industry without suffering (alcohol banned). Railroad car company/sleeping car, diversified with refrigerator cars. § Pullman Strike 1894- going into the depression newly made railroad cars werent being made as fast, werent selling as quickly. Pullman responded by saving on labor costs. 4500 people paired down to 1400. 1893 and 1894 wage cuts. Workers said their wages were cut but the foremans were not. April 1893- avg worker made $51 a month, April 1893- $36 month. Cuts and wages varied with what department you were in (sleeper cars required more skilled labor). Salaries slashed but rent stayed the same. Avg rent in Pullman was $14 a month but in Chicago, rates were going down and you could get the same for $7 a month. This was an embarrassment to Pullman because he was trying to show the best way. Ultimately shut down 1/3 of train traffic east of the Mississippi river. Federal government had to get involved and sent troops. Investigation into the causes of the strike. Pullman's workers called in to testify. Pullman had to testify and said the wage question was satisfied by the law of supply and demand alone.

Critical View of the Gilded Age by Ivy League Elite

o Rapid industrialization o Americans selling souls, virtue, principles of democracy all for a fast buck (greed, complacent, selfish, materialistic) o Civil war comes to an end. People running around trying to make money o Corruption, coarse o Keep classes from exploiting one another: "the rich will enslave the rest. They always have, they always will." o Robber barons- cornelious Vanderbilt? (railroad owner) o Didn't like rapid growth of big business (threat to politics, democracy) and politics had reached a historic low (there had never been such a bunch of bums in office).

Farmer's grievances with Railroads

o Rate discrimination- to a farmer there seemed to be arbitrary rate differentials for what they were charged to ship (short and long haul discrimination- if you ship a short distance, you would pay more per ton; smaller shippers paid more than larger shippers; where you live- in the west, the single railroad would charge as much as the market would bear because there was only one railroad line, but in the east the railroads were developed so the competition kept rates down) § Farmers in Kansas and Nebraska complained that it took 1 bushel of wheat to ship another bushel of wheat to Chicago (railroads taking half of their crop) § Kind of like airlines today o Railroads have a lot of clout with local and state governments- can hire very effective lobbyists whereas the farmers don't have enough money to do that. Railroads getting tax breaks whereas individuals were paying taxes. States competing to get as many railroads as possible because the future of the state depended on railroads. o Land issue- reference to the homestead act of 1862. Free/cheap lands taken by the railroads. It was land that they said should have been preserved for the people but the railroads take it and charge large rates. Disappearance of free lands; oppressive. § 1867 $2 an acre 1887 $15 an acre??? Land prices going up

Industrial expansion

o Readiness to invent and innovate- between 1790 to 1860 the patent office registered 3,500 inventions. But in one year, 1897, there were 22,000. o Managerial revolution- controlling cost, initial investors, creating metrics. Earlier it would've been very small with a small number of men who wear several hats/have several responsibilities/sharing tasks. Well educated managerial class with subspecialties (management structure became hierarchical with well trained specialists that aren't owners of the company). New attempts to rationalize and streamline production (taking away the work process from the actual workers).

Rockefeller

o Robber baron who fought hard for success, followed protestant work ethic o extremely pious and he links piety to his work success o began his career in a commission house (clerk in business transactions) - made 3.50 a week - he donated 1.80 cents to his Baptist church every week o always taught Sunday school o didn't have a nice suit bc he was donating to his church o famous for modesty- never trumpeted wealth o never gloated- credits wealth to god o did not smoke or drink, ate graham crackers and milk

Historians up to the 2nd WW were critical of the 19th century

o Robber barons then referred to as industrial statesmen in late 40's and early 50's? o Raising US to first rank and world power, innovative and technologically advanced o Context of great depression, down with the gilded age. But after WWII, it swings to romanticism again o Saved up money and good times after WWII. Spending drove further advancement of further boom. Female workforce exploded because of new demands (clerk work, nurses, school teachers)- gave women confidence that they wouldn't have either had

Oversupply of unskilled workers

o Say to workers "take the wages or leave" o Can and would cut back wages whenever they wanted since they could be replaced easily o 2 sources: huge burst of immigration from southern eastern and central Europe and growing tidal wave of farmers o Pullman Palace Company & Pullman Strike 1894

Vernon Parrington

o Society had become crassly materialistic and utterly lacking in social responsibility o Called the era the great barbecue- glutonous wasteful feast. The few strong pushed the weak away from the table that was loaded with profits, favors, unclaimed lands, and natural resources o Loss of power from the common man o Attacked middle class Victorian furnishings o Romantic view of the past o Acknowledged the contrast between his work and the positive views of others -- Acknowledges Progress- technological advancement o said he remembers hearing the sound of corn popping when he was a kid. Heated home with the corn they grew because it declined so much in value. He has sympathy for farmers because of this experience

Small businesses

o Some workers were supposed to supply their own materials (pay for thread, needles, sewing machines, electricity bill) o If work was examined and seen as damaged or imperfect, they would dock pay (abused this) o Women didn't complain when their pay was less than they deserved o Minute thieves- manipulating the clock and would move it back to get a few more minutes of productivity out of the workers, or shorten lunch break (which was already only half an hour) o Delaying paychecks § Helen Campbell

Youth's companion- magazine

o The Youth's Companion, known in later years as simply The Companion—For All the Family, was an American children's magazine that existed for over one hundred years until it finally merged with The American Boy in 1929. o provided advice on seeking employment in white collar middle-class world o literature for young men by 1870s= encouraged to go work for somebody else in white-collar positions...bottom of the rung - do not become entrepreneurs or go out west o 1870: view business pursuits as the only honorable means to success and virtue o advice literature shows something in contrast to nobility of all labor

· Farmers don't understand that overproduction is the cause for their failures

o They didn't get why there were hungry people when food was so cheap. Prices to buy relative to an individual's income is increasing

"Nobility of All Labor"

o You are deserving of respect and dignity as long as you are working with all of your heart and doing the best you can o By 1870, the only people who invoke the "nobility of all labor" were manual laborers and farmers- to others, these had become less respectable classes o emblematic of the gulf that is growing between farmers and the working class o soap and water meaning- farmers are "unwashed" "dirty" o ideology shifts over time- in transition since the 1830s o made since when independent craftsmen rise, but then economy changes

Protestant work ethic

o a work ethic of the protestants that encouraged individual endeavors towards gaining wealth 1. stresses piety- always being mindful of God, figuring out your calling and dedicating yourself to your work 2. save- live thrifty life, not wasteful 3. sober a. can enjoy alcohol and dancing, but in a balanced way b. over-indulgence= deviant 4. restraint, self-control, persistence 5. treating others fairly 6. charity- supporting the poor in your community 7. if successful, not proud or boastful a. not buying material items b. more important= faithful obedience to god's will o Rockefeller

Idea that it is hard for a man to "fail" in a booming economy

o all a man requires is ambition and energy tempered by traditional moral values like sobriety, self-control, thrift, honesty, etc. o literature warns young men to avoid sins, drinking, o "false" women o excess and pride/ sin can lead you to ruin o honesty is always the best policy

Cities filth

o cities smell bad o trash is burned or given to chickens, ducks, swine sanitation is poor o indoor plumbing isn't implemented until turn of 20 century o on average, life expectancy = 45, but it varies so much b/c of class and location so the national average doesn't have much significance

Farmer's grievances with trusts

o complained about the fertilizer trusts, machine trusts, manufactured goods. Kept prices artificially high. Low income is going down

Characteristics of a "true man"

o didn't work for wages/salary for someone else · These days were pretty much gone because you couldn't afford the machinery and keep up with the carnegies of the world. · Middle class men felt like they had to settle for what the working class had to settle for- relying on someone else · Big business violated independence and the ability to achieve greatness/opportunity · Trusts became corporate greed

Farmer's grievances with wall street

o entire financial system. Vision was that the banks controlled everything (interest rates- ranged from 8% up to 24% but did sometimes go higher as far as 40%, etc.) § Rates high because extreme risk of lending the money. Farming is a risky business (weather, dropping prices, failed farmers, farmers picking up and leaving, etc.)

heating in homes

o heated by wood stoves first, then coal stoves, then gas and kerosene stoves by 20th century o heating and lighting devices create extra work for the housekeeper

Little bathing

o heating water on the stove- women's work. Pump water from yard and fill tins o some leaders said bathing was "impure" b/c naked and promiscuous o some states banned or limited bathing- face jail time for bathing more than 1x month

many Americans live in filth and die young

o high mortality rates in 1800s o by 1900s, mortality rates went down b/c western society accepted bathing o "cleanliness is next to godliness"- soap and water become associated with class and class standing o the middle class did not have bathrooms

The Ethic of Hustle/ Energy

o secular ideal o getting ahead in life for its own sake o climb the ladder o initiative, boldness, aggressiveness, competitiveness, forcefulness, manliness o after civil war= notion of the self-made man o upward mobility o rise in the world depends on the character of the individual

Farmer's grievances with middlemen

o they claim were stealing from them too- take it to a single grain elevator in the county (storage companies). Only one in an agricultural district because the railroads didn't want to have to make more stops for sake of efficiency. Railroads would choose one grain elevator company so the others got frozen out, so the middlemen were charging what the market could bear since no competition

agrarian myth/ideal

o writers (Thomas Jefferson) are drawn to the idea of the desirability of farm life o farm life is simple, uncomplicated, non-commercial, ruggedly independent and self-sufficient, produce abundance, spirit of equality o this agrarian ideal begins to change by the beginning of the gilded age (1870) o 1870= rapid change, the sense of nostalgia for the past (rural life is being replaced with urban and suburban life) o farming becomes romanticized by 1870 o hero of agrarian ideal= independent, land-owning farmer o flip side to America's nostalgic fondness for rural way of life= widespread anti-urbanism - distrust of cities o 2 different perspectives of city in 1870 - minority sees cities as creativity, highest achievement of culture, a place of possibilities and to develop - the dominant view in 1870 of cities in island communities = anti-urban - immoral -destructive -alienating -overwhelming -degrading -dangerous -social upheaval, moral collapse

2 different work ethics (middle class view)

protestant work ethic, ethic of hustle or energy o Both appear before the civil war but both merged by 1865 and 1870

Interstate Commerce Act 1887

set up an ongoing commission to police railroads and other means of conveyance that fell under the act and to prosecute if necessary. Forbade railroads and others involved in interstate commerce to keep prices up and it was impowered to determine whether rates were reasonable and just. § Railroads accepted the act quietly because they studied the act and it was a "paper tiger with no teeth"- the means of enforcement were fuzzy. Burden placed on the grieved party (shipper has to go to the ICC and it's expensive). If a railroad resisted and didn't obey the ICC, then the case would have to go to court and if you're a common farmer, you couldn't do this. Between 1887 and 1905, the supreme court decided against the act in 15/16 cases. § Farmers still coming up empty. Farmers cooperatives

what is the role of luck in Ragged Dick?

socially smart/ aware enough to place himself in positions where he "gets lucky" he works hard, has good virtues and eventually gets his break in light of significant urban suffering/ crime, there is a positive view of the city and the elite money and family origins are not sources of respect

Henry Adams

well connected and socially prominent historian who feared modern trends and sought relief in the beauty and culture of the past o novelist, philosopher. "Politics were poor in purpose and barren in results" § Ulyses S Grant- not experienced. Confused. Scandals § Before the civil war, politicians were impressive, pure, but those in office beginning with grant are among those worthy of criticism § No editor, political writer, or public administrator achieved for 20 years § You would find little but damaged reputation in those 25 years § Said the average citizen thought of themselves as ingenious, always awake and always trying to get ahead of others

Consumer Confidence

what the public thought about the business and the economy had important implications in business o Mainstream Americans were extremely optimistic, pleased, and impressed with the direction of the economy. Believed growth and prosperity was unlimited. Despite the depressions they believed this and created a favorable climate for businesses

Robert Slayton

§ "Back at the Yards". Neighborhoods in west Chicago. He found early 20th century records from health clinics that had been recorded at 2 giant meat packing companies. (1920) Swifton company- treated almost 2400 cases (treatment of disease or injury). Armor corporation- ½ of its workers were out sick or injured during any point in working at the company. · 19% of patients had knife would injuries · 16% falling objects · 7% being caught between objects (iron carts) · 5% objects in the eyes (chemical, bones, etc) · 6% burn cases · 5% puncture wounds (nails) o Total 58% of Swift Company clinic injuries · Rest were people who were sick with various things o Tuberculosis was common (animals had it, some got it outside of the plant) o Inflamed irritation of the hands (pickle hands/extreme eczema)

Unforeseen circumstances of Homestead Act in 1862

§ Poor men (working in unskilled paid labor making $1 a day) couldn't take the advantage of free land in the west because it cost too much (setup costs were too high for them) § Inhabitants of New York city/any cities don't know how to farm o Those who had the means to go west (knew the trade and had money) would go west

What was the south improvement company and what does it do?

· "blind tiger" · Aimed to stop price wars between railroad companies · Corporation formed by Rockefeller and merged competitors

1870s- farm life was the norm

· (7/10 americans lived either on a farm, village, or town with less that 2500 individuals) o Stayed this way until 1920 when more than half didn't live in rural places o Depended on the rest of the world for news, materials, money, transportation

Labor Organization

· 1860 2% of American workers were in labor unions, 1900 3% were, 1910 10%

pools

· 1870s by railroads. Earliest, most primitive, most stable form of business cooperation. Informal gentleman's agreements among competing companies. Coordinate prices and accepted formula on how to divide prices. Not legally enforceable- if anyone violated it, there's nothing you could do. Generally didn't work o Carnegie joined one just to get the cost and pricing info in order to find ways to undercut the competition

Springfield street car companies

· 1890 they were introduced · 3 lines operating in town- 3 competing tracks (duplication of services). None of them were prospering very well. Rate wars. All 3 were then consolidated in 1893 and created a monopoly · Springfield? Wealthy part of town o This happened in railroads too. East/North East they over-developed. Shippers could choose between 20 competitive routes. Rebates to secure the traffic of big shippers, then overcharged where they had no competition. o Manufacturing- unpredictability and occasional crises of overproduction meant occasional factory shut downs or factories running with a skeletal crew · Businesses thought it was more rational to combine, therefore controlling the market and make it predictable

Furnishing merchant practices

· 30-40% interest on sharecropper purchases. High because high risk loans o Confederate paper money was worthless (123 counties in Georgia didn't have a bank), so they're calculating their own interest · The farmers can't read what it says and they trust the furnishing merchant to give them an honest bill · If you bought on cash you'd get a low price, but if they bought on credit the furnishing merchant would charge more (inflation equal to 1/3 to as much as 100% more + interest)

exotic expensive fruit

· Americans consumed oranges (exotic expensive fruit) at the rate of 100 crates per every thousand citizens o And bananas o Candy o Newspapers o Entertainment venues o Alcohol o Cigarettes/cigars § "this is a suffering working class? They can spend all this money on extra things?" but then you look at the English weaver example

Farmer's grievances/expressed views of what's wrong with farming

· Blamed railroads (midwestern and western farmers), trusts, wall street, middlemen

Late history of standard oil

· Broken up · Transition because gas could now be used to create new industries · Big new oil fields in the southwest · Standard oil went international

Farmers Cooperative

· Collectivism · Farmers envisioned they would replace private capitalism (hayseed socialism) · Farmer owned and operated businesses were designed to cut out the expensive middleman · Pool their money to set up storage companies, stores, banks, insurance companies o Whatever you put in your store youre buying at wholesale so you make a profit and get cheaper stuff · Pool money and buy from the manufacturer big ticket items at wholesale prices (reaper) · "competition was the American way, not cooperation"

Agricultural trends

· Commodity crops (wheat and corn and cotton) · Era of great expansion · For the first time, farming became commercialized, no longer semi-subsistant · Farmers became increasingly dependent on national and world markets. Usually they would've sold their surplus locally but because of railroads they plug in nationally · 1898?- farmers in distress economically and socially. o City populations were exploding (1870 to 1910 the population grew 400%), percentage of americans were falling (dropped down to 40% farming) and possibility of marketing crops rapidly and efficiently seemed appealing so it seemed like farmers would be benefitting o 1870-1900, more new land put into cultivation than those put into cultivation in the past 250 years

South farm situation is a little different

· Cotton is the cash crop · Laboring under high levels of debt, claimed they were being victimized by trusts like the north o Cotton farmers still operating by hand, so no complaints about machine trusts · After civil war, the number of farms increased rapidly but the number of land-owners who farmed remains about the same over time · Cash hard to get in the south so if you want to buy, you put it on credit. You deal with a furnishing merchant that has everything you need. Instead of growing the food they needed, they would buy it from the furnishing merchant, and you would agree to give them a lean (a claim on the share of the crop when it comes in) and then the furnishing merchant has a legal claim on parts of that crop. Not unusual if the share cropper still owed debts at the end of the year · Also criticized wall street ("money-trust")- banks and furnishing merchants charging large interests

Another Source of unemployment

· Dangers of the workplace o Steel and Coal mining- furnaces blowing up, etc. o Meat packing- gov investigation in 1904 (revealed even more filth, disease, etc. than even Sinclair uncovered). - Robert Slayton o Mainstream middle class americans were usually unaware of these problems

Working class neighborhoods

· Despite the dirt in neighborhoods, there were vigorous family and social lives · Saloon on all 4 corners of a city block o A lot of them never got drunk going in there. It was like a club for working class men. Information centers

Laissez-faire economy? - let do or leave alone

· Don't want any intervention by government. · Some would say that any government intervention is dangerous because evolution depended on a competitive struggle out of which would emerge the fittest business (social Darwinism) (turn back the wheels of progress) · Not pure laissez-faire but in a way also has laissez-faire. Don't think that the government was uninvolved because they are involved with labor unions. Pass laws but also they aren't enforced, just passed to satisfy certain interest groups. · By 1900 businessmen are moving away from free and open vigorous competition. Became unpopular. Age of competition 1865-1880 to age of cooperation/combination (moving to mergers, pools, trusts, international combination, etc.) o Moving from individualism and autonomy to collectivism and interdependence

Implied Contract & Fellow Servant doctrine

· Employer liability is hard to prove. An employee when hired accepted all of the dangers of the job · Could in principle sue for criminal negligence (but evidence had to be ironclad) o Procedure was lengthy, abused by lawyers, and highly uncertain o Baltimore and Ohio Railroad- took on average 10-12 years to get your lawsuit completed in court. · Lawsuits 1906-1912: o US Steel Corporation- lost only 6 cases of lawsuits against them for injury or death (keep in mind there are typically 400 steel worker deaths in Allegheny county per year). o Illinois cases that prof found- 1870s man crippled and sued for $10,000 and got $47.66 · 50+ companies said they'd paid over $119,000 for livestock killed by the locomotive and $26,000 for property set on fire by locomotives vs. $36,000 in compensation to families/individuals

Mainstream middle class americans entered the 19th century with individualistic, small town life virtues

· Experienced massive change in the gilded age · Thought that the industrializing order was destroying status as an equal opportunity · Idea of becoming your own boss (idea of masculinity) possibility waned rapidly o Might have to accept being permanent dependent wage and salary earners with someone else in charge (no more individualism and autonomy. Now collectivity and interdependence)

Farmers Cooperatives failure

· Failed because Cash only basis but farmers don't have much cash and the cash they have is being used to pay off their debts · Also failed because Farmers were farmers and they didn't go to business school in order to make these businesses work o Didn't know what price to set o Didn't have enough cash to buy experienced managers · Cooperatives found it almost impossible to compete with privately owned businesses (local merchants tried to get rid of cooperatives by undercutting prices). Also when cooperatives went to go buy things from manufacturers the manufacturers would sometimes refuse to sell to them

Danbury Hatters Strike 1908

· Hat makers were trying to unionize. Went on strike, called for a boycott for Danbury hats to put pressure on the company to recognize the union and raise wages · Court ruled that the boycott was an illegal restraint of trade. Assessed triple damages ($250,000), but the union didn't have that much money to begin with, so the court seized their homes and bank accounts o Would become legally responsible for what the union leaders did as an individual

Carnegie- through what ways does he achieve the American dream

· He is held up and used as a reference point · Consistantly finds ways of moving up in the world · Figuring out who's important · Went to business school · Never really satisfied · Carnegies father- bad husbandry? His mother made the money. He wanted to be the business owner, not someone else's employee. Insists on still weaving by hand and clings to the old mode of production (stubborn) o What lesson does Carnegie learn? § He learns drive, always staying on the cutting edge of technology

Employer Demands/complaints

· Hours and Wages · Monotony and Fatigue · Impact on family lives and health · Workplace had become depersonalized. Management became disheartened. Employees might not have seen any upper management ever. · Downward mobility cause by technological changes (mechanization) · Petty cheating by management · Oversupply of labor (stagnated wages, but also gave managers more leverage over workers) · Intermittent labor/seasonal labor and unemployment

General Issues & question of how good and bad workers had it

· Ideological polarization · 1860- 18% of labor force was engaged in manufacturing industry. By 1910- almost 30%. o Growth of farming cant keep up with growth of manufacturing. After civil war- 2/3 were farmers, by 1910 30% · How many people in manufacturing 1860- 885,000. 1890- over 3 million. Including extractive industries and transportation, by 1890- at least 5 million. o Creation of wage earning dependent workforce o By 1920- blue collar workforce constituted 48% o Birth of blue collar working class · Workers collectivize · Mainstream middleclass americans- didn't express much sympathy for the new rapidly growing working class · No records. No labor bureaus. No ongoing effort to calculate anything such as an unemployment rate o If you were trying to paint a rosy picture- look at wages and standard of living, rise of real wage (30%) o 1870 to 1890- 8 to 10%

Lack of info of day to day working class lives

· Illiteracy- lack of diaries · Civil war letters contain little bits and scraps of info though. Also tell us about farming.

Workers problems

· Late 19th century- as economy industrializes, the workplace changes. Congealing of a blue collar working class. Workplace becoming more impersonal. Signaled loss of independence and self-sufficiency · Mechanization and simplification · Increased division of labor · Oversupply of unskilled workers- stagnate wages, and made it really easy to cut wages · Small businesses- owners engage in petty cheating of workers out of their pay

Loss of attractiveness of farming as an occupation

· Many boys and girls are worked so hard on the land that the thought of farming is distasteful to them · Long days of work

Growth Statistics

· More railroad trackage than almost the whole word combined by 1900s · 1860- 4th in the world for manufacturing 1890s- 1st · GNP- increased from 1874 to 1884 by 45% · Manufacturing between civil war and WWI increased 12x · Production in basic industries 1870 pig iron- from 1870 to 1890 multiplied 10x. Steel 1870 68000 tons 1890 4.5 million tons · Average workers per firm 1860 1920 Shoes 12 164 Cement 53 246 Iron and Steel 27 675 Leather 5 117 · Work environments- more competitive, divisions of labor?, getting a little anonymous? · Capital invested in each company grew- 1850 and 1900 capital went from a little under $700,000 to almost $2 million · Number of businesses increases, scale of operations increase dramatically- before civil war, typical big business was financed by 1 or 2 partners · Startup costs were very low at first but grew · Economies of scale- dropping unit costs by buying more and more effective machinery o Cutting deals with other businesses (railroads) that increase profits whereas competitors had to pay the regular railroad rate. Cheaper transportation

Most blue collar workers werent starving in underheated holes

· Most achieved some respectability and success in their terms (buying a house) o 46% of people owned their own houses in Chicago

Late 1860's- farmers organizing in order to have any impact on the targets of their grievances

· Movement towards collectivity · Special interest group Patrons of Husbandry (the Grange or Grangers)

Killed/injured workers

· No public unemployment insurance until the 1930s (well some states by the nineteen teens were passing laws) · Fell entirely on the family · No disability insurance · No pensions (only available for middle class/upper middle class workers)

Historians view of the farmers problem

· Over production (Farmers didn't understand that overproduction is the cause for their failures) · Competition in wheat growing (Argentina, Canada, Russia) · Vernon Parrington · Lean years as well · Interest rates on borrowed money were high. If you could get a loan at 8% you were lucky. Rates were usually 12-20% but could run as high as 40% · Great deflation · Psychological and social problems that farmers had to endure

Patrons of Husbandry (the Grange or Grangers)

· Peak years 1867-70s. Largest followings in cotton growing south and gain growing west. At its strongest- 21,000 local granges with a following of almost 1 million members. Grange's practices would be picked up. Social club to provide entertainment (picnics, dances, dinners, speakers) to otherwise isolated farmers. Very quickly by 1770s they begin to voice political and ideological positions (special interest group pursing interests over trusts and downward distribution to farmers from local, state, or federal gov). Collective action around issue of railroads and rate discrimination. Operated mostly on the state level (lobbied state legislatures) and have leverage because there were huge numbers of farmers (we'll throw you out if you don't give us what we want. 14 northern state legislatures convinced to pass laws that set max freight rates, max passenger, and regulatory commission rates for railroads and cap on grain elevators) o Rate ceilings lessen the railroads profits and these are downwardly distributed to farmers. o Railroads and grain elevators o Munn v. Illinois 1877 o Wabash v. Illinois 1886 o Interstate Commerce Act 1887

Western settlement

· People settling in the west- native born in the north east or second or third generation of immigrants o Can sell their land on the east coast high and then buy land cheap · Homestead Act in 1862 · Production increases on average 200% · Increase in production because more land is put into cultivation (more land and more people, science and technology have an impact (especially with wheat)

Working class strategies

· Pressure to put kids into the workforce. Common as a way to achieve family goals (keep roof overhead, have extra money for fun expenses) · Helpful to have offspring if you're looking at periods of layoffs- spreads the risk around o No systematic data but can point to child labor · Avg working class wife's wage made the difference between being able to have the extras

Why did American workers not favorite socialism?

· Radical ideas a foreign import so less attracted to it (would be labeled as unamerican) · Immigrants came over for the American dream? · New tidal of immigration- solidarity between workers was very hard to enforce · -immigrants introduce socialism/ anarchism...but unions don't make waves · -conservative labor union among workers need ethnic/ racial unity · need solidarity, but diversity makes it hard (not speaking the same languages) o Used as a weapon against labor unions because they could bring in blacks and replace them if there was a strike

Age of competition 1865-1880

· Ruthless, vigorous competition drove down costs for consumers, less waste, unnecessary duplication of products/services, unpredictable occasional crises of overproduction of a good/service o Price drops. Everything seemed erratic? o 1859-$50 a barrel 1860-10 cents a barrel. "The bottom fell out of the market" o Businessmen blamed unbridled competition as a source of the unpredictability? · Robber barons- Rockefeller, Carnegie (after the homestead strike), Vanderbilt, Swift? (founder of mechanized meat packing industry),

Why were workers so slow to organize? On the other hand, when workers did organize or strikes broke out, why was so much violence involved? (National Labor Union?) CONSERVATIVE AND LIMITED IN THEIR GOALS

· Strikes are backward looking. (wages lowered so they strike to restore wages to their previous levels) · Stated goals were limited- shorter work day · Causes of strikes simple- wage cut, speed up (not being compensated for it), firing of an employee who had complained about work conditions · Rarely see a questioning of the larger economic system- asking for reforms within the existing system

Legal and political climate in the US

· Supporting and nurturing for businesses · Sherman antitrust act was ineffective. Interstate commerce act · Journalists critical? · Law and the gov- very favorable and lenient · State and fed governments helped business by not regulating (over the 70s, 80s, and 90s). Helped Consumer confidence · Strikes- states lent their power to controlling strikes and disciplining and destroying labor unions o Keeps wages lower than they would have been o Subsidy to businesses · Courts- employers went to courts for suing labor unions. Cease and desist handed down from courts to labor unions o Another subsidy to business that had monetary value o If they failed to stop they could go to jail

Pride expressed by employees in dangerous trades

· The fact that they took on that work, they were viewed as very masculine (admired value)

Literature written for farmers

· Theme about how farm parents could persuade offspring to stay on the farm · By 1880s- agrarian myth is dead for farmers and ideal of nobility of all labor? · Cities described as evil · Expense of living are so high in the city · Boys should be taught that farming is an honorable occupation · Girls should be taught to respect farming and be required to help their mothers. Girl who marries a farmer does fully as well as one who marries a lawyer o Unhappy sons and daughters and possibly wives (theres a problem which is why this advice is being given)

Abundance of resources?

· Timber industry- deforestation (Michigan) o Stumps and other things left behind- consequences could be disastrous if it caught on fire (Minnesota)

Unexpected consequence of Sherman Anti-trust Act

· Used as a weapon against organized labor · Courts chose to define labor union strike activities (stopping production and boycotts) as illegal conspiracy and restraint of trade

Larger issue of how good/bad workers had it in late 19th century

· Wages and standards of living look pretty good over time but in order for blue collar working class families to consume non-necessities, it had to be done by having other sources of income than just the prime wage earners · Real wages, cash wages, non-necessities all going up, but a lot of families resorting to child labor

Farmers alliances

· pick up where the granges left off. Both northern and Southern alliances try to create an economy through cooperatives · Plan created by Texas physician named Charles McCune (one of the founders of the southern farmers alliance) · Farmers wanted an expanded currency because they believed it would raise crop prices all by itself and reduce the cost of their debts (pay back debt in dollars worth less than the dollar- the furnishing merchant or banker is left holding the bag) · Subtreasuries/warehouses will take over the private grain elevators and warehouse companies o Would sell their products at a higher price then would have to pay a tax (like 1%) and pay back the 80% extended to them o Goal to eliminate expensive middlemen o Higher prices, cheaper debt, eliminate middlemen § If you see higher prices, youre going to expand production leading to more overproduction o If business is subsidized by the fed gov, why wouldn't gov subsidize something like this? o City workers would probably not like this plan because they depend on farmers for food and cotton and they'll have to pay higher prices (urban congressmen dead set against this) (Hayseed socialism) o Failure of this plan helped radicalize farmers by the 1880s o Distressed farmers that they traced to trusts, exploitation by wall street, etc. As individual farmers they felt helpless to do anything, so they organized to advance their interests. What they didn't see was that over production was the problem and that was the problem with being in a cash crop international market § Subsistence farming to · Said gov favored business and werent interested in farmers. Sherman anti-trust act was ineffective, subtreasury bill fails, etc. Perceived resistance to farmers goals radicalized farmers. Conspiracy to keep them down to syphon money to the big interests in the country

Mergers

· turn of the 20th century. 1889 and 1903- 300 large mergers were formed in the US. Neared monopoly control levels, rubber, sugar, US steel