Sherman Anti - Trust Act

 

         

Sen. John Sherman (R—OH), the principal author of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

^{In 1890, the Sherman Antitrust Act made it illegal to form a trust that interfered with free trade between states or with other countries.}

Most Dangerous Woman in America

  

Mary Harris JonesIn 1903 , to expose the cruelties of child labor, she led  children (many with hideous injuries) on a march to the home of President Teddy Roosevelt. Their crusade influenced the passage of child labor laws.

Organized the United Mine Workers.

https://www.biography.com/video/mother-jones-labor-activist-26171459592

Strikes turn Violent

  Haymarket Square- May 4,1886, 3,000 people gathered at Chicago's Haymarket Square to protest Police Brutality. Someone tossed a bomb into the police line. police fired on the workers; seven police officers and several workers died.3 speakers and 5 radicals were charged with inciting a riot. All eight were convicted.

The Homestead Strike- June 29,1892 Carnegie steel plant. Frick announced plans to cut wages. Frick hired armed guards to protect the plant and hired scabs, or strikebreakers, to keep it operating.In a battle that left at least three guards and nine workers dead, the steelworkers forced out the guards and kept the plant closed till the National Guard arrived

SCAB

A strikebreaker (sometimes derogatorily called a scab, blackleg, or knobstick) is a person who works despite an ongoing strike.

Union Movements Diverge

  American Federation of Labor- Founded by Samuel Gompers. Between 1890 and 1915, the average weekly wages in unionized industries rose from $17.50 to $24.00, and the average work week fell from almost 54.5.hours to 49.

Knights of Labor- at its height in 1886, it had 700,000 members." An injury to one, is the concern of all"

American Railway Union- Founder Eugene Debbs.1894, 150,00 members.
 Skilled and unskilled workers.

Inventions Promote Change

   Electricity.

Thomas Edison- World's first research lab, perfected the lightbulb, and later invented an entire system for producing and distributing electrical power.

Alexander Graham Bell- inventor of the telephone

Patent

the exclusive right granted by a government to an inventor to manufacture, use, or sell an invention for a certain number of years.

Labor Unions Emerge

   Long hours and Danger

Sweatshop-  a shop or factory in which employees work for long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions

Pay- 27 cents for a child's 14-hour day.
In 1899, women earned an average $267.00 a year, nearly half of men's average pay of $498.00.
 Andrew Carnegie made 23 million- with no income tax.

Social Darwinism

   Herbert Spencer used Darwin's biological theories to explain the evolution of human society. Economists used the theory to justify the doctrine of laissez faire( French meaning " allow to do").

According to Social Darwinism, riches were a sign of God's favor, and therefore the poor must be lazy or inferior people who deserve their lot in life.

Robber Baron / Captains of Industry

   Robber Baron -Big Business owner who attempts to control a particular market

Captain of Industry-

 was a business leader whose means of amassing a personal fortune contributes positively to the country in some way.

Monopoly

A situation in which a single company or group owns all or nearly all of the market for a given type of product or service. By definition, monopoly is characterized by an absence of competition, which often results in high prices and inferior products.

An oligopoly is a market form in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of sellers (oligopolists). Oligopolies can result from various forms of collusion which reduce competition and lead to higher prices for consumers.

Cartel

In economics, a cartel is an agreement between competing firms to control prices or exclude entry of a new competitor in a market. It is a formal organization of sellers or buyers that agree to fix selling prices, purchase prices, or reduce production using a variety of tactics.

Political cartoon criticizing the "robber barons" of industry for profiting off of workers who were poorly paid and subjected to harsh conditions. Puck magazine, February 1883. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Horizontal and Vertical Consolodation

  

Vertical Consolidation =

controlling all aspects of a business:

1.acquiring resources,
        2 .manufacturing the goods

   3. distributing the goods

Horizontal Consolidation = buying out competitors to limit competition

Big Business - Rockefellar Carnegie and JP Morgan

   In what industry did John D Rockefellar make his money?

 OIL ( black gold, Texas TEA)

 Adjusting for inflation, his fortune upon his death in 1937 stood at $336 billion, accounting for more than 1.5% of the national economy, making him the richest person in history.

In what industry did Andrew Carnegie make his money?
STEEL

 Capitalized at US$1.4 billion at the time, U.S. Steel was the first billion dollar company in the world.

In what industry did J.P.Morgan make his $ ?

Finance and banking

3 Things Steel was used for

  Railroads

Bridges( Brooklyn Bridge)

Skyscrapers

Age of the Railroads

  Compare the pay for white and Asian workers who built the railroad

Whites- $ 40-60 a month plus meals
Asians- $ 35 per month and paid for their own meals

The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 is a United States federal law that was designed to regulate the railroad industry, particularly its monopolistic practices. The Act required that railroad rates be "reasonable and just," but did not empower the government to fix specific rates.

Munn vs Illinois

  The Grange was a farmers' organization.

They wanted more regulations on the railways.
Laws were put in to place to make rates more fair.
The railroads decided to test the constitutionality of these laws but lost their case in the Supreme Court which upheld the Granger laws.

The Expansion of Industry

  What is Black Gold and who made removing it practical?

Black Gold = OIL

Edwin Drake used a Steam Engine to drill for oil

What was oil used for?

At first the process was limited to transforming the oil into kerosene and throwing out the gasoline - a by- product of the process.

Bessemer Process

  Bessemer Process- Process of injecting air into iron to make it into steel(lighter, more flexible ,rust-resistant)