Period 6 (1865-1898)

Industrialisation and the Rise of Big Business

The Second Industrial Revolution

The period from 1865 to 1898 witnessed a dramatic transformation of the American economy, driven by technological innovation, the rise of large corporations, and the expansion of railroads.

Key Technologies

Steel: Bessemer process (1850s) made steel production cheaper and faster, enabling skyscrapers, bridges, and railroads
Railroads: Transcontinental Railroad completed (1869) at Promontory Summit, Utah; by 1900 there were nearly 200,000 miles of track. Railroads created a national market, stimulated settlement of the West, and standardised time zones (1883)
Communication: Telegraph (Morse, 1844) and telephone (Bell, 1876) revolutionised long-distance communication
Electricity: Thomas Edison’s light bulb (1879) and power generation systems transformed industry and daily life

Rise of Big Business

Horizontal integration: Combining competing companies into one corporation to monopolise an industry. John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil (1870) used this strategy to control 90% of US oil refining by 1880
Vertical integration: Controlling all stages of production from raw materials to distribution. Andrew Carnegie’s Carnegie Steel controlled iron mines, railroads, and steel mills
Holding companies and trusts: J.P. Morgan used holding companies to consolidate industries (banking, steel, railroads); created U.S. Steel (1901), the first billion-dollar corporation
Corporations: Limited liability, access to capital through stock, and professional management enabled businesses to grow beyond family-owned enterprises

Labour and Labour Movements

Working conditions: Long hours (10-12 hours/day, 6 days/week), low wages, dangerous conditions, child labour, no job security
Early unions: Knights of Labor (1869) welcomed all workers regardless of skill, gender, or race; peaked in the 1880s; declined after the Haymarket Affair (1886)
American Federation of Labor (AFL): Founded 1886 by Samuel Gompers; focused on “bread and butter” issues (wages, hours, conditions); accepted capitalism; represented skilled workers only
Key strikes: Great Railroad Strike (1877), Haymarket Affair (1886), Homestead Strike (1892), Pullman Strike (1894)
Government response: Courts generally sided with business, issuing injunctions against strikes; the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) was initially used more against unions than monopolies

Urbanisation

City Growth

By 1900, nearly 40% of Americans lived in cities (up from 20% in 1860)
Cities grew outward (streetcars, elevated railways, subways) and upward (steel-frame skyscrapers)
Megacities: New York (3.4 million), Chicago (1.7 million), Philadelphia (1.3 million)

Urban Problems

Overcrowded tenement housing (Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives, 1890, documented conditions)
Inadequate sanitation, clean water, and waste disposal led to disease outbreaks
Crime, poverty, and political corruption
Traffic congestion and pollution

Machine Politics

Urban political machines (e.g., Tammany Hall in New York, Boss Tweed) provided services to immigrants in exchange for votes
Corruption: Graft, kickbacks, and embezzlement were widespread; Tweed Ring stole an estimated $200 million from New York City
Positive side: Machines provided social services, jobs, and assistance that formal government did not

Immigration

Old vs New Immigration

Factor	Old Immigration (pre-1880)	New Immigration (1880-1920)
Origin	Northern and Western Europe	Southern and Eastern Europe
Countries	Britain, Ireland, Germany	Italy, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Poland
Religion	Protestant	Catholic, Jewish, Orthodox
Reason	Economic opportunity, religious freedom	Economic opportunity, escaping persecution
Settlement	Rural areas, small towns	Urban industrial centres

Nativism and Restriction

Nativists feared that immigrants would take jobs, lower wages, and threaten American culture
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882): First major immigration restriction; barred Chinese labourers for 10 years (later extended and made permanent)
American Protective Association (1887): Anti-Catholic organisation
Literacy tests proposed but repeatedly vetoed by presidents until 1917

The Gilded Age

The term “Gilded Age,” coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner (1873), describes a period of superficial wealth and prosperity masking underlying social problems: extreme inequality, corruption, and political stagnation.

Politics

Presidential elections were closely contested but ideologically similar (the “Forgettable Presidents”: Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison)
Patronage and the spoils system dominated; civil service reform began with the Pendleton Act (1883)
Issues: Tariffs (Republicans favoured high tariffs; Democrats favoured lower tariffs), currency (gold vs silver/bimetallism), civil service reform, regulation of railroads

Social Darwinism: Applied Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” to society; justified wealth inequality and laissez-faire government (Herbert Spencer, William Graham Sumner)
Gospel of Wealth: Andrew Carnegie argued that the wealthy had a moral obligation to redistribute their wealth through philanthropy (libraries, universities, foundations)
Social Gospel: Walter Rauschenbusch and others applied Christian ethics to social problems, advocating for workers’ rights and social reform

The West

Settlement

Homestead Act (1862): 160 acres of free land to settlers who improved the land for five years
Morrill Land-Grant Act (1862): Granted federal land to states for agricultural and mechanical colleges
Oklahoma Land Rush (1889): Former Indian Territory opened to white settlement

Native American Policy

Reservation system: Tribes confined to specific areas, often on poor land
Dawes Act (1887): Broke up tribal lands into individual allotments (160 acres per family); “surplus” land sold to white settlers; undermined tribal sovereignty and community
Assimilation: Boarding schools forced Native American children to abandon their language and culture (Carlisle Indian School, founded 1879)
Wounded Knee Massacre (1890): US Army killed nearly 300 Lakota Sioux, including women and children; ended the Indian Wars era

Populism and the Farmers’ Revolt

Causes of Agrarian Discontent

Falling crop prices and rising debt
High railroad shipping rates and monopolistic practices
Inadequate currency supply (favoured bimetallism — adding silver to the money supply to create inflation and ease debt burdens)
Feeling of political powerlessness

The Farmers’ Alliance and the Populist Party

Farmers’ Alliance (1870s-1880s): Organised cooperatives and lobbied for reform
Populist (People’s) Party (1892): Nominated James B. Weaver for president; platform included free silver (16:1 ratio), a graduated income tax, government ownership of railroads, direct election of senators, and an eight-hour workday
Election of 1896: William Jennings Bryan (Democrat/Populist fusion) endorsed free silver (“Cross of Gold” speech); lost to William McKinley; the Populist movement declined after the election but many of its reforms were later adopted (income tax, direct election of senators, railroad regulation)

Imperialism and the Spanish-American War

Causes

Yellow journalism: William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer sensationalised Spanish atrocities in Cuba to sell newspapers
De Lome Letter: Spanish ambassador’s letter criticising McKinley was intercepted and published
USS Maine explosion (February 1898): 266 American sailors killed; “Remember the Maine” became a rallying cry
Humanitarian concerns: Reports of Spanish mistreatment of Cuban civilians

The War

Teller Amendment (April 1898): US promised not to annex Cuba
War lasted approximately 10 weeks (“a splendid little war”)
Fighting in Cuba (Rough Riders, San Juan Hill), Puerto Rico, and the Philippines (Admiral Dewey destroyed the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay)

Treaty of Paris (1898)

Spain ceded Puerto Rico and Guam to the US
Spain sold the Philippines to the US for $20 million
Cuba gained independence (but the US maintained influence through the Platt Amendment, 1901)

Debate Over Imperialism

Anti-Imperialist League (1898): Opposed annexation of the Philippines; included Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie, Jane Addams; argued imperialism violated American democratic ideals
Pro-imperialists: Argued for economic opportunities, naval power (Alfred T. Mahan, The Influence of Sea Power upon History), and the “white man’s burden” (Rudyard Kipling)

Key Terms

Horizontal integration, vertical integration, Gilded Age, Social Darwinism, Gospel of Wealth, Homestead Act, Dawes Act, Populist Party, Wounded Knee, Yellow journalism, Platt Amendment, Anti-Imperialist League, Sherman Antitrust Act, AFL, Tammany Hall, Ellis Island, Chinese Exclusion Act, Pendleton Act, Cross of Gold speech, Free Silver

Exam Tips

Connect industrialisation to urbanisation, immigration, and labour movements
Analyse how government policy favoured business during the Gilded Age
Compare and contrast Old and New Immigration and the nativist response
Evaluate the causes and consequences of US imperialism in the 1890s
Explain why the Populist movement emerged and why it declined

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