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Management revolution
With the rise of transcontinental railroads and national corporations, there was an introduction of the "middle manager". Similarly, many companies underwent a management revolution, which was an internal management structure adopted by large corporations that departmentalized operations and distinguished top executives from those responsible for day-to-day operations. -
Standard Oil is Created
Created by John D Rockefeller, Standard Oil emplyed practices of both horizontal and vertical integration to control 95% of the US's oil refining business by the 1880's. Standard Oil lawyers pioneered a new legal form, the trust, which was a small group of associates who hold stock from multiple firms and manage them as a single entity. Trusts quickly evolved into other centralized business forms, but critics continued to refer to giant firms with monopoly power as “trusts." -
The Singer Sewing Machine
Following in the footsteps of Standard Oil, Singer created trusts and expanded operations worldwide. Employing strategies dependent of railroads and steamships, they created a monopoly that brought sewing machines to many houses in the US and abroad. -
The Knights of Labor
The first mass labor organization of nationwide scope, which sought to bridge differences of occupation, race, and gender to unite all workers. The Knights peaked in strength in the mid-1880s. Founded as a secret society of garment makers in Philadelphia, they proposed to set up shops owned by employees, transforming America into what they called a cooperative commonwealth. Included women and people of color. -
The Eugenics Movement
An emerging “science” of human breeding in the late nineteenth century that argued that mentally deficient people should be prevented from reproducing. There were eugenics laws in most states at this time, which disproportionally effected people of color who were seen as "less intelligent" anyway. This was also part of the reason that interracial marriages were banned and immigration was restricted- to maintain a more "pure" genetic pool -
The Green Back Labor Party
A political movement of the 1870s and 1880s that called on the government to protect worker rights, regulate corporations, continue Reconstruction policies in the South, and increase the money supply in order to assist borrowers. Many Greenbackers followed producerism, which was an argument that real economic wealth is created by workers engaged in physical labor, and that merchants, bankers, and other middlemen unfairly gain their wealth from such “producers. -
The Creation of the National Guard
The National Guard was created in response to the Great Railroad strike of 1877, which became violent in Philadelphia when the governor sent the state militia and violence ensued, leaving more than 50 people dead with over $40 million in damages. In the aftermath of the strike, the U.S. government created the National Guard, intended not to protect Americans against foreign invasion but to enforce order at home. -
Social Darwinism
An idea, actually formulated not by Charles Darwin but by British philosopher and sociologist Herbert Spencer, that human society advanced through ruthless competition and the “survival of the fittest.” This was adopted by many of the media magnates of the time as way to justify the incredible amounts of wealth and ruthless business practices they employed. This was challenged by people like Sociologist Lester Frank Ward argued that humanity “progresses through the protection of the weak.” -
Social Gospel
Protestants responded to the immigrant challenge by evangelizing among the unchurched by providing reading rooms, day nurseries, vocational classes, & other services. The goal of renewing religious faith through dedication to justice & social welfare became the Social Gospel- organizations such as the Salvation Army came from this. This also lead to a rise in fundamentalism, Protestants who rejected modernism & historical interpretations of scripture, & asserted the literal truth of the Bible. -
The Chinese Exclusion Act
The 1882 race-based law that barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States. Later applied to other Asian immigrants as well, it was not repealed until 1943. Functionally, many Chinese immigrant still arrived in the US and paper sons or wives to people already there. In the early 20th century, this was also expanded to include Korean and Japanese immigrants. -
Farmer's Alliance
Coming into prevalence after Haymarket Square, it was a rural movement founded in Texas during the depression of the 1870s that spread across the plains and the South. Advocating cooperative stores to circumvent middlemen, the Alliance also called for greater government aid to farmers and stricter regulation of railroads. This also helped the rise of co-ops in order to circumvent middlemen who drove up prices, but many co-ops were not very successful. -
The American Federation of Labor
Organization of skilled workers created by Samuel Gompers in 1886 that called for direct negotiation with employers in order to achieve better pay and benefits. The AFL became the largest and most enduring workers’ organization of the industrial era. They were not accepting of women and people of color as the Knights of Labor had been -
Haymarket Square
The conflict in Chicago in which both workers and policemen were killed or wounded during a labor demonstration called by local anarchists. The incident created a backlash against all labor organizations, including the Knights of Labor, who had popular sentiment turned against them by the media. -
The Interstate Commerce Commission
Formed to oversee the railroad industry and prevent unfair rates, the ICC was an important early effort by Congress to regulate corporate practices. The Commission was charged with investigating interstate shipping, forcing railroads to make their rates public, and suing in court when necessary to make companies reduce “unjust or unreasonable” rates. -
American Protective Association
A powerful anti-immigrant political organization, led by Protestants, which for a brief period in the 1890s counted more than two million members. In its virulent anti-Catholicism and calls for restrictions on immigrants, the APA prefigured the revived Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s. Was based in a fear that non- Protestants were gaining too much power. -
Contracting, Subcontracting, and Blue Collar Work
Many skilled workers maintained autonomy by embracing the "closed shop" and making their own work hours. This lead to subcontracting as well as skilled workers hired unskilled workers to help them get the job done faster and delegate. However, they faced problems during this time as the American labor force became deskilled with the onset of mass production and factory work. -
Change in Advertising
A major change in consumerism came during this time with the introduction of mail order catalogues made possible by the new railroads. These undercut prices of local businesses and brought mass manufactured items to homes across the nation. This was also the time during which billboards and department stores came about, which created a space outside of the home in which women were welcome -
JP Morgan
JP Morgan was another of the "robber barons" of this time period who created US Steel by purchasing multiple other steel companies, and in doing so created the nation's first billion dollar corporation. Andrew Carnegie, another very wealthy man, pioneered the Gospel of Wealth during this time, which spurred an increase in philanthropic giving to public spaces like parks, schools, and libraries.