Big corporations and railroads

Everything you didn’t want to know about railroads.

The Steam Engine• Uses steam as a power

mechanism

• First used as a mining tool in Britain

• John Watt perfected it 1765

• Soon used in textiles and mining factories

With the steam engine, came the steam boat.

Next big step is the railroad

•First railroad in U.S. in Quincy, Mass (1826)

•Increased travel•Increased Production•United country with

Transcontinental railroad

•Pushed steam boats out of fashion

1860

1870

1880

1890

1950

˙Started in 1863˙Connected West

(Sacramento) to East (Omaha)

˙Met in Promontory Point, Utah on May 10, 1969

Transcontinental Railroad

Union pacific (Omaha) used mostly Irish and Germans

central pacific (Sacramento) used mostly Chinese

Andrew CarnegieCarnegie Steel Company

• Scottish-born• Pittsburgh, PA• Largest Distributer of Steel• Monopoly• Philanthropist• Homestead Strike• Political• Net Worth close to $300 Billion

• Reason behind the name Pittsburgh Steelers

Steel: Vertical IntegrationRaw Materials

Example: Iron Ore

MeltingHot air is pumped into

a furnace, melting iron at 1600 degrees Celsius.

(2,912 degrees F)

RefiningImpurities are removed and alloys are added from the molten metal

through the use of a ladle.

CastingThe liquid steel is cast into

billets and slabs.

RollingThe billets and slabs areheated and rolled into

finished products.1

2 3

4

˚1839-1937˚Standard oil in Cleveland, Ohio˚First monopoly˚Philanthropist

˚richest man in U.S. history ($400 billion)

˚Political figures attacked him for his trusts

John D. Rockefellerfounder of

standard oil

compared to Scrooge McDuck

Monopoly• Definition: The

exclusive possession or control of a supply or service

• Rockefeller and Carnegie• Able to charge higher

prices• Suppresses innovation• Provides inferior

goods/services

Trusts• Definition: Allowing one person or persons to be in control of shares to a company for the benefit of others

• Rockefeller perfected form

• Bought out smaller companies

• Forcing customers to buy certain products

• Price fixing

Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 1890

• Prohibited the Trusts and Monopolies• Allowed the Federal Gov’t to investigate

monopolies and trusts• Wanted to allow more competition• Though wasn’t really used until T.

Roosevelt was in office

Chinese Exclusion Act,

1882•First significant act restricting

immigration•Chinese taking all railroad jobs•Placed 10 year suspension of

Chinese immigration•Refused to grant the Chinese

that were already here Citizenship

•After 10 years, another 10 years were added, became

permanent until WWII, but still only 105 Chinese could enter

annually