Big Business- Bosses of Industry

The Gilded Age Era 6

The Rise of Big Business**As more railroads are built, the need for iron, steel, and other mass produced good increased.

**During the years after the Civil War the U.S. becomes themost industrialized nation in the world. -developments in technology -new inventions -large and growing labor supply -growing national markets -abundant resources -talented entrepreneurs -”laissez faire” attitude in government

Terms to know• Entrepreneurs- commonly seen as an innovator — a

generator of new ideas, and business processes. Management skill and strong team building abilities. – (A person who takes risks to organize and manage a business for

profit)• Laissez-faire- economic philosophy holding that government

should play a very limited role in business.– An economic environment in which transactions between private

parties are free from government restrictions, tariffs, and subsidies, with only enough regulations to protect property rights

What promoted the growth of industrialism

• Railroads – they allowed for goods to be moved easier and more products were demanded.

• Iron v steel -1870-1880s Iron Production soared• Then Steel= 40,000 miles of track • Aided by the Bessemer Process– Blowing air and secret ingredients through molten

iron to burn out impurities to make steel• I Beam allowed sky scrappers• New Furnaces 500 tons steel per week

• Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, • Steel towns- Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Birmingham• Michigan, Minnesota, Birmingham AL (Iron Ore)

Other industry grew• Textiles -The production of new textiles, such as jean and

denim, became one of the fastest growing industries. • Denim proved to be very durable and resilient to wear, and

became the fabric of choice for dungarees and jackets for great multitudes of factory workers, miners and farmers as America expanded westwards.

• As denim became a fabric of greater importance, mills across New England with their new looms, spinning machines and new indigo dying processes became leaders in the industry, producing some of the best denim known at the time.

Coal and rubber

• Coal developed into a big industry as machines and railroads needed coal to run.

• Rubber becomes important as automobiles develop. Also used for shoes, hoses, machine parts, etc.

Thomas Edison-”Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”-”Wizard of Menlo Park” (NJ)-General Electric Co.-light bulb-phonograph-ediphone /dictaphone-motion pic camera

George Westinghouse-Alternate current (AC) which enabled electricity to be carried farther distances and be increased or decreased in voltage.-Compressed Air Shock Absorber-Air Brake-Natural Gas Reduction Valve-created Westinghouse Electric Co.-created other products such as the electric locomotive and electric cook stove.

Alexander Graham Bell-teacher of the deaf-invented the telephone-wireless phone which carried sounds on a beam of light (precursor to fiber-optic communications)-metal detector-Created the American Telegraph and Telephone Co. (AT&T)-experimented with aircrafts and aeronautics