CHAPTER 17
Business and Labor in the Industrial
Era, 1860–1900
This chapter discusses the staggering economic growth in the United States after the Civil War and how it
helped change society. It outlines the technological revolution that brought inventions such as the
telephone and electricity, including how they transformed everyday lives. The advances in railroads and
manufacturing, the race to the Pacific, and the dependency on immigrant workers—especially the
Chinese—also receive attention. These topics provide context for sections on the rise of the “barons” of
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Industrial and Agricultural Growth
A. Corporate Agriculture
B. Technological Innovations
i. Bell’s Telephone
ii. Typewriters and Sewing Machines
iv. Laying Track
v. The Race to the Finish
II. The Rise of Big Business
A. The Growth of Corporations
B. Fighting Competition
C. The Barons of Business
i. John D. Rockefeller
ii. Andrew Carnegie
IV. An Industrial Society
A. The Ways of the Wealthy
B. A Growing Middle Class
i. Middle-Class Women
ii. Neurasthenia
iii. Jane Addams
ix. Mother Jones
x. Anarchism
xi. The Haymarket Riot (1886)
xii. A Backlash Against Unions
xiii. Gompers and the AFL
xiv. The Homestead Steel Strike
LECTURE IDEAS
1. The transformation of the American economy from agrarian to industrial following the Civil War
changed the ways Americans worked and lived. As this chapter points out, innovation and invention
made these changes possible. An interesting lecture might focus on considering what life was like prior
2. Have your students break up into groups, select one of the major robber barons of the era, and
research his life. After your introductory lecture on the rise of big business, have each group present
3. The transcontinental railroad, if presented in a comprehensive lecture, allows you to cover a vast
range of topics for this period. A general lecture allows for a discussion on business practices, the role
4. The rise of national unions in the United States is essential to an understanding of society, big
business, and politics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Develop a comparison of
the National Labor Union, Knights of Labor, American Federation of Labor, and the Industrial
5. An effective lecture on this topic should also include how industrialization affected the working class
in the United States. Be sure to include a discussion on its effect on where and how the working
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES
1. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union was nearly dead by the time of World War I but
managed to survive and still exists. Ask your students to do a little Internet research on the IWW of
2. Have your students read Andrew Carnegie’s “Gospel of Wealth” article
(http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1889carnegie.asp). How compelling are his ideas more than
a century later? What ideas “aged” well? What ones are particularly dated?
3. Lead students in a discussion related to the acquisition of wealth in the Gilded Age. Be prepared to
expand on terms such as robber barons to the students before launching into conversation. Ask the
students the following questions:
• How did capitalists acquire wealth during the Gilded Age?
• Were the leading capitalists “robber barons” or something else?
4. Have your students read some of the news articles on the Haymarket Square affair of 1886. (The New
York Times provides free access to articles from that incident, and they can be found by doing a search
for “Haymarket Square” on the New York Times website. If you are at a school that provides electronic
access to the Chicago Tribune’s archives, that source would be an ideal one to explore, especially to
5. Have your students take a tour of the 1893 Chicago Fair. There are several good websites related to
this event, including http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma96/wce/official.html. What can the fair reveal
about the growth and advancement of the American economy? What are some of the most striking
6. Ask your students to choose one of the major inventions of the era and present on how it helped to
change America. Possible options include the telephone, electricity, the light bulb, and the telegraph.
7. Increasingly, researchers are finding that the unsung heroes of the industrial revolution were child
laborers. Their small size, dexterousness, and willingness to do particularly dangerous work meant
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. In what ways do the economic and technological transformations of the twenty-first century compare
to the ones of the late nineteenth century? In what ways are they different?
2. Has the “communications revolution” of the early twenty-first century had any impacts that are
comparable to the communications innovations that impacted the late nineteenth century?
3. How do the unions of today compare and contrast to those being organized in the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries?
4. Of all the major figures identified in the chapter, who had the most significant impact? Why?
5. What was the most important development during the Gilded Age? What is the rationale behind your
answer?
6. What was neurasthenia? How was it diagnosed?
7. What were the Hull House and its purpose in Chicago? What did Jane Addams mean by “learn of life
from life itself”?
8. Was the federal government a friend or foe of organized labor in the late nineteenth century? Use
specific examples, such as the Homestead Steel strike and the Pullman strike, to discuss your
response.
PRACTICING CITIZENSHIP
This chapter makes the point that a great deal of the wealth generated in the half-century following the
Civil War would have been impossible without the impetus of railroads. Most all of the industries
mentioned—iron and steel, petroleum, electricity, banking and finance, and certainly a mail-order
business such as Sears and Roebuck—owed a great deal of their success to this one major change in how
Americans moved goods and information. The chapter also tells us that the railroads would not have been
possible without significant help from federal, state, and local governments. Think about the role of
government in your daily life. Map your typical day, anonymously if you choose, and label when and where
something you do is shaped or impacted by the presence of federal dollars. Are you a student with federal
loans? If so, coming to class qualifies. Do you travel on interstate highways or on other roads constructed