Transcript chapter 6: a new industrial age

STANDARD(S) ADDRESSED:
11.2 Students analyze the relationship among the rise
of industrialization, large-scale rural to urban migration,
and massive immigration from Southern and Eastern
Europe.
LESSON OBJECTIVES/ GOALS/ SWBAT
1. Identify the role of the railroads in unifying the
country.
2. List positive and negative effects of railroads
on the nation’s economy.
3. Summarize reasons for and outcomes of the
demand for railroad reform.
Section 2
The Age of the Railroads
The growth and consolidation of railroads benefits
the nation but also leads to corruption and required
government regulation.
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SECTION
2
The Age of the Railroads
Railroads Span Time and Space
Railroads Encourage Growth
• Rails make local transit reliable, westward
expansion possible
• Government makes land grants, loans to railroads
- to help settle West
- to develop country
Continued . . .
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RAILROADS SPUR OTHER
INDUSTRIES
• The rapid growth
of the railroad
industry
influenced the
iron, coal, steel,
lumber, and
glass businesses
as they tried to
• The spread of the railroads
keep up with the
also led to the growth of
railroads
towns, new markets, and
demand for
opportunity for profiteers
materials
Railroads and Land Grants
• Realizing that railroads were critical to the
settlement of the West and the
development of the nation, the federal
government made huge land grants and
loans to the railroad companies.
Chapter 6; Section 2
• A – What were the effects of railroad
expansion?
– The growth of industries that could ship to
new market;
– Hazardous jobs for railroad workers;
– An increase of immigration and migration to
the West.
SECTION
2
The Age of the Railroads
Railroads Span Time and Space
A National Network
• 1859, railroads extend west of Missouri River
• 1869, first transcontinental railroad completed,
spans the nation
Continued . . .
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A NATIONAL NETWORK
• By 1869, tracks had been laid across the continent
(Golden Spike was placed at Promosory Point – Utah)
A NATIONAL NETWORK
• Immigrants from
China and Ireland
and out-of-work
Civil War vets
provided most of
the difficult labor
• Thousands lost
their lives and
tens of
thousands were
injured laying
track
IMMIGRANTS FROM CHINA
LAID TRACK
SECTION
2
continued
Railroads Span Time and Space
Romance and Reality
• Railroads offer land, adventure, fresh start to many
• People of diverse backgrounds build railroad under
harsh conditions:
- Central Pacific hires Chinese immigrants
- Union Pacific, Irish immigrants, Civil War vets
• Accidents, disease disable and kill thousands
every year
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BENEFITS
• The railroad companies built transcontinental
and local lines.
• The nation was transformed from a collection of
regions into a united nation.
• Railroad time became the nation’s standard,
linking Americans in one more way.
DRAWBACKS
• The unchecked
power and greed
of the railroad
companies led to
widespread
corruption and
abuse of power.
1. What problems did
employees of the railroad
companies face?
Life-threatening working conditions;
low pay;
discrimination by race or nationality
SECTION
2
continued
Railroads Span Time and Space
Railroad Time
• 1869, C. F. Dowd proposes dividing earth’s
surface into 24 time zones
• 1883, U.S. railroads, towns adopt time zones
• 1884, international conference sets world zones,
uses railroad time
- Congress adopts in 1918
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RAILROAD AND TIME
• Before 1883, each
community still operated on
its own time
• For example: Noon in
Boston was 12 minutes later
than noon in New York City
• Indiana had dozens of
different times
• No standard time reference
THE UNITED STATES IS DIVIDED INTO 4 TIME ZONES
THE WORLD IS DIVIDED INTO 24 TIME ZONES
SECTION
2
Opportunities and Opportunists
New Towns and Markets
• Railroads require great supply of materials, parts
• Iron, coal, steel, lumber, glass industries grow to
meet demand
• Railroads link isolated towns, promote trade,
interdependence
• Nationwide network of suppliers, markets develops
• Towns specialize, sell large quantities of their
product nationally
• New towns grow along railroad lines
Continued . . .
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RAILROADS LED TO GROWTH
OF CITIES
• Many of today’s
major cities owe
their legacy to the
railroad
• Chicago,
Minneapolis,
Denver, and
Seattle all grew
up thanks to the
railroad
Chapter 6; Section 2
• B – How did the
railroads affect cities?
– Railroads led to the
growth of cities in the
Northwest and Midwest
and led to the
development of new
cities in the West.
SECTION
2
continued
Opportunities and Opportunists
Pullman
• 1880, George M. Pullman builds railcar factory
on Illinois prairie
• Pullman provides for workers: housing, doctors,
shops, sports field
• Company tightly controls residents to ensure
stable work force
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PULLMAN: FACTORY & TOWN
• In 1880, George Pullman built a factory for
manufacturing sleepers and other railroad cars in
Illinois
• The nearby town Pullman built for his employees
was modeled after early industrial European towns
PULLMAN: FACTORY & TOWN
• Pullman workers felt his puritanical town was too
strict
• When he lowered wages but not rent – it led to a
violent strike in 1894
2. What was it like to live as a
Pullman employee in the town of
Pullman?
clean and safe environment, but too
controlling,
residents had no say in the town rules
their daily life was strictly controlled
SECTION
2
continued
Opportunities and Opportunists
Crédit Mobilier
• Wish for control, profit leads some railroad
magnates to corruption
• Union Pacific stockholders form construction
company, Crédit Mobilier
- overpay for laying track, pocket profits
• Republican politicians implicated; reputation of
party tarnished
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CREDIT MOBILIER SCANDAL
• Stockholders of Union
Pacific Railroad
formed a construction
company in 1864
• Stockholders then
gave contracts to the
company to lay track
at 3 times the actual
costs and pocketed
the difference
• They donated shares
of the stock to 20
members of Congress
in 1867
POSTER FOR BOGUS
CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
• Credit Mobilier, and what was made up of
Railroads magnates, stockholders in the
Union Pacific Railroad, & federal officials.
• The goal was to siphon off railroad profits
for themselves.
3. Who was involved in Crédit
Mobilier, and what was the
purpose of this company?
Who: Railroad magnates,
stockholders in the Union Pacific
Railroad, federal officials;
What: to steal railroad profits for
themselves
Chapter 6; Section 2
• C – How did railroad owners use Credit
Mobilier to make huge, undeserved
profits?
– By charging too much for railroad construction
and paying off govt officials.
4. In what ways did the railroad
companies use their power to hurt
farmers?
Sold grant lands to other businesses,
instead of to settlers;
fixed prices to keep farmers in debt to them;
practiced rate discrimination
SECTION
2
The Grange and the Railroads
Railroad Abuses
• Farmers angry over perceived railroad corruption
- railroads sell government lands to businesses,
not settlers
- fix prices, keep farmers in debt
- charge different customers different rates
Continued . . .
NEXT
Shipping Goods
Farmers
were
especially
affected
by
corruption
in the
railroad
industry
SECTION
2
The Grange and the Railroads
Granger Laws
• Grangers sponsor state, local political
candidates
• Press for laws to protect farmers’ interests
• Munn v. Illinois—Supreme Court upholds
states’ right to regulate RR
• Sets principle that federal government can
regulate private industry
Continued . . .
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THE GRANGE & THE RAILROADS
• Grangers - a farmers
organization
• protested land deals,
price fixing, and charging
different rates to different
customers
• Granger Laws were then
passed protecting
farmers
• States were given
regulation control of
railroads by the Courts
GRANGERS PUT A
STOP TO RAILROAD
CORRUPTION
– Munn v. Illinois—Supreme
Court upholds states’ right to
regulate RR
5. Why didn’t the decision in the
Munn v. Illinois case succeed in
checking the power of the railroads?
The Supreme Court later reversed the
Munn decision, ruling that a state
could not set rates on interstate
commerce.
Chapter 6; Section 2
• D – How did the Grangers, who were
largely poor farmers, do battle with the
giant railroad companies?
– The farmers took political action in one united
front.
– They pressed legislators to pass laws to
protect them
SECTION
2
continued
The Grange and the Railroads
Interstate Commerce Act
• 1886, Supreme Court: states cannot set rates on
interstate commerce
• Public outrage leads to Interstate Commerce Act
of 1887
- federal government can supervise railroads
- establishes Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)
• Legal battle with railroads; difficult for ICC to take action
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INTERSTATE COMMERCE
ACT
• In 1887, the Federal
government reestablished their
control over railroad
activities
• Congress passed the
Interstate Commerce
Act and established a
5-member Interstate
Commerce
Commission (ICC)
• The ICC struggled to
gain power until 1906
1887 – CONGRESS
PASSED THE ICA
6. Why didn’t the Interstate Commerce
Act immediately limit the power of the
railroads?
The ICC's efforts were hampered by:
-long legal processes,
-the resistance of the railroads, and
-a Supreme Court ruling that the ICC
couldn't set maximum railroad rates.
SECTION
2
continued
The Grange and the Railroads
Panic and Consolidation
• Abuses, mismanagement, competition almost
bankrupt many railroads
• Railroad problems contribute to panic of 1893,
depression
• By mid-1894, 25% of railroads taken over by
financial companies
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The Panic of 1893
• A serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893.
• Similar to the Panic of 1873, it was marked by the overbuilding and shaky
financing of railroads, resulting in a series of bank failures.
• Compounding market overbuilding and the railroad bubble was a run on
the gold supply.
• Next worse to Great Depression.
Explain the importance to the United States of
the transcontinental railroad.
Then, describe who George M. Pullman was
and why he is a significant historical figure