lectureonthegildedage(1877-1895).docVIP

Lecture on the Gilded Age (1877-1895) Industrial Action! “The rise of industrialism in the United States and the interplay of business and politics strike the key themes in the Gilded Age, the period from the 1870s to the 1890s. Bound closer by a network of railroads and telegraphs, with the fate of small towns linked as never before to the fortunes of big cities, America in the late 19th century became united in fact as well as in name. Industrial development transformed the lives of all Americans, from factory workers to farmers” (James L. Roark, The American Promise, 690). Big Business: The Railroads “The rise of the railroad played the key role in the transformation of the American economy in the post-Civil War period. The railroads created a national market that enabled businesses to expand from a local to a nationwide scale. Needing more and better rails to carry freight, the railroad radically changed the iron industry by speeding the transition from iron to steel. Railroads also made possible innovations in meatpacking and food processing. The railroad had what economists call a multiplier effect, speeding the pace of growth in many segments of the economy” (James L. Roark, The American Promise, 691). In the second half of the 19th century, Americans created the world’s largest railroad network, and, in the process, the world’s first “big business,” which in turn stimulated an unprecedented industrial boom The federal government aided the growth of the railroads by granting companies huge tracts of land, particularly out West. In fact, over the years, the federal government granted the railroad builders a total of 175 million acres, an area larger than the state of Texas! Fierce competition characterized the railroad industry, forcing the railroad companies to expand and consolidate so much so that by the 1890s, about 5 companies dominated American rail travel. The public were alarmed, however, by the control that new railroad companies wie