Industrial America Technological Advancements and the Road to

Industrial America Technological Advancements and the Road to Greed… Click to see video on Industrialization!

How did this all start!? !? o Following the Civil War, railroads allowed for expansion west. Big railroad companies started buying smaller ones. Click here to listen to a podcast on Big Business!

Captains of Industry or Robber Barons? Done exploring the Money Men?

Cornelius Vanderbilt o o o Vanderbilt started buying out smaller railroad companies Bought up most of the track headed out west If a company would refuse to sell to him, he would refuse to let passengers from their trains use his trains to head out west – took away all their customers Back to Money Men

Andrew Carnegie o o o Sold STEEL – necessary to make a railroad! Started buying steel mines, and railroad companies Controlling all aspects of production from top to bottom is called vertical integration! Back to Money Men

J. P. Morgan o o Back to Money Men Began gaining power in banking industry when he began reorganizing railroads Was involved in reorganizing General Electric and US Steel

John D. Rockefeller o o o Back to Money Men Used profits from his refineries to buy up other oil companies Slashed his prices enough to force other companies out of business Formed the Standard Oil Trust and controlled 95% of the industry

What do you think? o o What good things do you think these men could have brought to the lives of workers in the US? What bad things do you think these men could have brought to the lives of workers in the US? Good Guys? Bad Guys? Explored both sides of the argument? Click Here!

Samuel Morse o Back to Money Men Telegraph (1837) n Lines – RR= communication n 1870= Western Union Telegraph Co.

Thomas A. Edison o Light Bulb (1879) n Future of Electricity n Support= J. P. Morgan n Edison Electric Light Company Back to Money Men

Gustavus Swift n Swift & Company o o Back to Money Men Refrigerated Railroad Car Meat packing industry

Good Guys? o o Libraries Charities See the other side!

Bad Guys? o o Poor Working Conditions for employees Lavish Lifestyles for themselves See the other side!

Henry Ford o Want to know more about Henry Ford? Click HERE! Ford Automobiles n n Model-T Moving Assembly Line Back to Money Men

Henry Bessemer o The Bessemer Process n n Turns iron into steel Importance to industrial growth? Back to Money Men

In Summary… o o Why is it important to identify bias? What pieces of evidence do you think a historian would use if he viewed the early industrial moguls as Captains of Industry? What about Robber Barons?