http wwwhistorycomshowsmenwhobuiltamericavideosthemenwhobuiltamericatraitsofatitan A Brassy Flamboyant Age The Gilded Age the period between the end of Radical Reconstruction 1877 ID: 460167
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Slide1
Big BusinessSlide2
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www.history.com/shows/men-who-built-america/videos/the-men-who-built-america-traits-of-a-titanSlide3
A Brassy, Flamboyant Age
The Gilded Age, the period between the end of Radical Reconstruction (1877)
and the beginning of the Progressive Era (1901), was
a brassy, flamboyant age dominated by big business values, political corruption, and extremes of wealth and poverty
. During the Gilded Age, the United States changed from a predominantly rural agrarian nation to an urban industrial one.Slide4
From Agriculture to IndustrySlide5
The Way We Were in The Gilded Age: 1877-1901
Who We Were
How We Lived
1880
1890
1900
1880
1890
1900
Population (millions)
50.2
63.0
76.0
Gallon of milk
$0.16$0.17$0.30Pop. per sq. mile16.921.225.6Loaf of bread$0.02$0.02$0.03Percent rural71.8%64.9%60.4%New autoN/AN/A$500Percent urban28.2%35.1%39.6%Gallon of gasN/AN/A$0.05Percent native born94.4%87.1%84.4%New house$4,500$5,800$4,000Percent immigrant5.6%12.9%15.6%Average income$480$660$637
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The Role of Corporations
Corporation
:
an organization owned by many people but treated by law as though it were a single person.
Stockholders:
people who own the corporation because they own shares of ownership called stock. This raises large amounts of money for big projects while spreading out financial risk. Slide7
The Role of Corporations
By the 1830s, states began passing general incorporation laws, allowing companies to become corporations and issue stocks.
With money raised from selling stock, corporations would invest in new technologies, hire a large workforce, and purchase many machines.
This greatly hurt small businesses with high operating costs—forcing many out of business.
Corporations were criticized for cutting prices and negotiating rebates. Slide8
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www.history.com/topics/andrew-carnegie/videos/the-men-who-built-america-andrew-carnegieSlide9
Andrew Carnegie
Scottish immigrant who started small and became the owner of a steel company in Pittsburg.
Began
vertical integration
- owns all of the different businesses on which it depends for its operation.
Ex) Instead of buying coal from a company, Carnegie bought the actual coal mine. Slide10
Vertical Integration Slide11
The Consolidation of Industry
Business leaders also pushed for
horizontal integration
- combining many firms engaged in the same type of business into one, large corporation.
This happened often and when a company began to lose market share, it would sell to its competitors and create a large organization. Slide12
Horizontal IntegrationSlide13
http://
www.history.com/shows/men-who-built-america/videosSlide14
John D. Rockefeller
U.S. industrialist who made a fortune in the oil business.
By 1880, Standard Oil controlled almost 90% of the oil refining industry in the U.S.
When a single company achieves control of an entire market, this is called a
monopoly. Slide15
The Consolidation of Industry
By the late 1800s, Americans grew suspicious of large corporations and monopolies.
To preserve competition, many states made it illegal for one company to own stock in another without permission from state legislature. Slide16
Trusts
To preserve competition, many states made it illegal for one company to own stock in another without permission from state legislature.
In
1882 Standard Oil formed the first trust—a new way of merging businesses without violating the law of owning other companies.
Trust
: a legal concept that allows one person to manage another person’s property (called a trustee). Ex) Standard Oil trustees were able to control a group of companies as if they were one large merged company. Slide17
Alexander Graham Bell
Scottish inventor.
He invented
the harmonic telegraph, an instrument that makes it possible to send multiple telegraphs on one line
.
TelephoneSlide18
Thomas Edison
American inventor.
He is credited for holding 1,093 patents
.
Best known for perfecting the incandescent light bulb.Slide19
Cornelius Vanderbilt
American Railroad baron.
Baron:
An
important or powerful
person in a specified business or industryWealthiest man in the United States during the nineteenth century. Self-made man.Name sake of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.Slide20
Robber Barons
Don’t write all of this.
The great wealth many railroad entrepreneurs acquired in the late 1800s led to accusations that they built their fortunes by swindling investors and taxpayers, bribing government officials, and cheating on their contracts and debts.
Corruption in the railroad industry became public and created the impression that all railroad entrepreneurs were
“robber barons.”Slide21
Captains of Industry or Robber Barons?
Robber
Barons
: people who loot an industry and give nothing back.
By 1900, big business dominated the economy, operating vast complexes of factories, warehouses, offices, and distribution facilities. Slide22
J.P. Morgan
American
business leader, financier and banker.
He was criticized for creating monopolies by making it difficult for any business to compete against his.
Morgan dominated two industries in particular
He helped consolidate railroad industry in the East. Formed the United States Steel Corporation in 1901.Slide23