Development of the industrial U.S. Almanac PDF
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Development of the Industrial U.S. Almanac Development of the Industrial U.S. Almanac SoniaG.Benson JenniferYorkStock, ProjectEditor DevelopmentoftheIndustrialU.S:Almanac SoniaG.Benson ProjectEditor ImagingandMultimedia Composition JenniferYorkStock RandyBassett,LezlieLight, EviSeoud DanielNewell,DenayWilding Editorial Manufacturing SarahHermsen ProductDesign RitaWimberly PamelaA.E.Galbreath RightsAcquisitionsandManagement ShaliceShah-Caldwell,KimSmilay ª2006ThomsonGale,apartof Forpermissiontousematerialfrom Whileeveryefforthasbeenmadeto TheThomsonCorporation. thisproduct,submityourrequestvia ensurethereliabilityoftheinformation Webathttp://www.gale-edit.com/ presentedinthispublication,Thomson ThomsonandStarLogoaretrademarks permissions,oryoumaydownloadour Galedoesnotguaranteetheaccuracyof andGaleisaregisteredtrademark PermissionsRequestformandsubmit thedatacontainedherein.Thomson usedhereinunderlicense. yourrequestbyfaxormailto: Galeacceptsnopaymentforlisting;and Formoreinformation,contact: inclusioninthepublicationofany PermissionsDepartment ThomsonGale organization,agency,institution, ThomsonGale 27500DrakeRd. publication,service,orindividualdoes 27500DrakeRd. 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Industries–United States–History–Juvenile literature. 2. Industrial revolution– United States–History–Juvenile literature. [1. United States–Economic conditions– To1865–Juvenileliterature.] I.Stock,JenniferYork,1974-II.Title. HC105.B4542006 330.973’05–dc22 2005015915 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica 10987654321 Table of Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii Reader’sGuide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii TimelineofEvents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii WordstoKnow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxv ResearchandActivityIdeas. . . . . . . . . . xxxv Chapter1:IndustrialismTakesRoot intheUnitedStates . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Chapter2:Transportationand CommunicationSystemsin theNewNation . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Chatper3:TheMachineMakers . . . . . . 28 Chapter4:TheFirstFactories . . . . . . . 42 Chapter5:TheGildedAge . . . . . . . . 56 Chapter6:Railroads: TheFirstBigBusiness . . . . . . . . . . 68 Chapter7:TheRobberBarons . . . . . . . 84 Chapter8:Urbanization . . . . . . . . . 100 v Chapter9:WorkersintheIndustrialAge . . . 117 Chapter10:TheAmerican LaborMovement . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Chapter11:TheNewSouth. . . . . . . . 152 Chapter12:TheEffectsof IndustrialismonFarmingand RanchingintheWest. . . . . . . . . . 166 Chapter13:ReformersTakeon Industry:TheProgressiveEra . . . . . . . 182 Chapter14:Industrialisminthe TwentiethCentury. . . . . . . . . . . 197 WheretoLearnMore . . . . . . . . . . . . . xli Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xliii vi DevelopmentoftheIndustrialU.S.:Almanac Introduction Industrialization is the widespread development of profit- making businesses that manufacture products on a large scale, using labor-saving machinery. Understanding the his- tory of the development of industrialization in the United States,whichtookplaceovertwocenturies,involveslearning aboutsomeofitstechnicalelements,suchastechnologyand the economy. But the history of U.S. industrialism is also a dramatic story of people rising and falling from power or struggling desperately to make the world a better place. Industrialization fueled the national culture, economy, daily life, and politics, creating such tremendous social changes that it is impossible to imagine what life in the UnitedStateswouldbelikewithoutit. ThoughtheIndustrial Revolution,aperiodofrapidindus- trialgrowthcausingashiftinfocusfromagriculturetoindustry, first began in England and Europe in the middle of the eight- eenthcentury,industrializationdidnotbegintotakerootinthe United States until after the American Revolution (1775–83). Even then American industrialization had a slow start, due to overwhelming obstacles. At the time, the vast majority of vii Americans lived independent lives as farmers in remote areas. For the mostpart, they had little connection with anyone but neighboringfarmers,sincetherewerefewgoodroadsorsystems ofcommunication.Mostpeopledidnotevenownclocks;time wasdeterminedbytheseasonsandtherisingandsettingofthe sun. Few people worked for wages, and those manufactured goods Americans could afford generally came from Europe. Thenewnationhadvastnaturalresources,suchasland,timber, metals,minerals,waterpower,andports,butwithouttranspor- tationormanufacturingitwasnearlyimpossibletomakeindus- trialuseofthem. Once begun, the American Industrial Revolution took on its own character, differing from that of other countries. This wasprimarilybecauseAmericansthemselveshadbeenshaped and selected by a unique set of forces. After fighting hard to gain independence from England, most Americans were pas- sionateabouttheidealsoflibertyandequalityforall(although tomanyAmericansatthetimethismeantonlywhitemales), and they were determined to create a society in which any individual could rise and prosper through his or her own efforts. They were also driven by the desire for wealth. Though many Europeans immigrated to America to find reli- gious or social freedom, the majority came seeking riches. Many had faced bitter hardships and were prepared to take major risks to obtain wealth. Another key trait of Americans was a spirit of innovation; it had been a necessary attribute foremigrantswholeftEuropeintheseventeenthcentury,for they would have to reinvent the most basic aspects of their dailylivesintheNewWorld.Thecombinedspiritofindividu- alism, greed, and innovation came to characterize U.S. industrialism. In the years between the American Revolution and the American Civil War (1861–65), innovation and invention werehighlyesteemedbytheAmericanpublic.Mostindustrial designs and ideas came initially from Europe, but once they reachedthemachinemakers,or‘‘mechanicians,’’ofAmerican shops, they were improved until they became distinctly American, suited to the land and its people. The times pro- duced an extremely talented group of inventors and innova- tors,andfromtheirworkshops,whichweremainlylocatedin the northeastern United States, the ‘‘American System,’’ or mass production and the use of interchangeable parts, viii DevelopmentoftheIndustrialU.S.:Almanac emerged.Itwouldforeverchangethenatureofmanufacturing worldwide. Withnewadvancesintechnology,someenterprisingbusi- ness people built the first U.S. factories, and most of them flourished.However,fromthestartthestarkdivisioninwealth andpositionbetweenindustryownersandtheirworkerswasat oddswiththepopularbeliefinAmericanlibertyandequality. Despiteearlyfactoryowners’effortstohumanizefactorywork, workers faced low wages and poor working conditions. Many claimedtheywereslavestowagelabor.Itwasnotlongafterthe firstindustrialworkforceswerehiredthatthefirstlaborstrikes took place. The conflict between employers and employees continued, and the factory owners’ early attempts to create idealcircumstancesforworkerswereabandoned.Professional managerswerehiredtogetasmuchworkfromtheworkforce aspossible.AhugeinfluxofimmigrantsfromEuropeandAsia fromthe1840suntilthe1920ssuppliedinexpensivelabor,but laborstrikescontinued. After a slow beginning in the Northeast industrialization begantospreadatarapidpacewiththenationwidebuildingof transportation and communications systems. The construc- tion of the transcontinental railroad spanning the nation from one coast to the other—a mammoth undertaking— signaled the start of a new way of life for all Americans. Where railroads went, towns and cities with bustling new commerce arose. The construction of the railroads spawned giantnewindustriesinsteel,iron,andcoal.Railroadsbrought farmers’ crops to distant markets and were instrumental in bringingtheindustrialsocietytotheWest. Fortherailroadstobebuiltandindustrytoadvance,capi- tal,orvastquantitiesofmoney,wasrequired.Theartofraising largeamountsofcapitalandapplyingittoindustrywasmainly accomplishedbyagenerationofextremelycapableindustrial- ists who built the gigantic industries that dominated the nationandruleditseconomy.Theselegendarymen,admired as the ‘‘captains of industry’’ by some and loathed as ruthless crooks,or‘‘robberbarons,’’byothers,includedrailroadowner Cornelius Vanderbilt, steel empire founder Andrew Carnegie, StandardOiltycoonJohnD.Rockefeller,investmentbankerJ. P. Morgan, and many others. Though some of them came from wealthy backgrounds, many were born in humble Introduction ix circumstancesandrosetowealthandpowerthroughtheirown efforts.Theseindustrialistscreatednewsystemsofdoingbusi- ness that are still in place today. Their tactics almost always included creating monopolies, huge corporations that domi- natedtheirindustrynationwideandlimitedattemptsatcom- petitionbyothers.Astheindustrialistsprospered,mostofthe wealthofthenationfellintotheirhands.Thisperiodbecame knownastheGildedAge,theeraofindustrializationfromthe early1860stotheturnofthecenturyinwhichafewwealthy individuals gained tremendous power and influence. During the Gilded Age the power of industrialists and their corpora- tionsseemedunstoppable. The number of U.S. companies dwindled from thousands tohundredsasthemostpowerfulindustrialistsboughtoutor crushed their competitors. Once again, the national spirit of libertyandequalitywasaroused.Farmers,laborers,poorimmi- grants, and labor unions as well as middle class reformers sought relief from the power of the corporations, giving rise totheProgressiveEra,ortheperiodoftheAmericanIndustrial Revolution that spanned roughly from the 1890s to about 1920, in which reformers worked together in the interest of distributing political power and wealth more equally. It was during this time that the strong hand of the federal govern- mentwasfinallyfeltinAmericanindustry,asitbegantoleave behinditslaissez-faire,ornon-interference,policiesinorderto regulatebusinesses,curbmonopolies,andprotectworkers. Bythetwentiethcentury,theUnitedStateswastherichest and most powerful industrial nation in the world, but the process of industrialization continued. During the twentieth century industry was shaped by scientists like Frederick WinslowTaylor,whodevisedmeasurablemethodsofbusiness managementdesignedtoproducetoplevelsofefficiency.The best-known follower of ‘‘Taylorism’’ was Henry Ford, who began to mass produce affordable automobiles in 1909. The GreatDepression(1929–41)andWorldWarII(1939–45)both hadprofoundeffectsonAmericanindustrialism,causinggov- ernmentcontrolsandassistancetoindividualstoincreaseeven more. In recent decades, computers and globalism have been theactiveagentsofchangeinU.S.industrialism. Finally, it is worthwhile to note that the development of U.S. industrialization is not finished. It took more than one x DevelopmentoftheIndustrialU.S.:Almanac
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