Ch 20-1 The Growth of Industrial Prosperity
The Second Industrial Revolution
Worship of Progress
• Westerners in the late 1800s
valued material growth.
– Rapid Growth of Industries
– Increased Consumer goods
– Increased Urbanization
– Increased conveniences in
transportation & daily lives
– New Social movements and rights
Rapid View of Progress 1870s-1910s
• People saw new
changes happening
all around them in
the late 1800s and
early 1900s.
• This era also called
the Progressive Era
– Since of Progress
New Products
• Steel: Replaced iron,
enabled lighter and faster
machinery, railways, and
ships.
– Production surged from
125,000 tons in 1860 to
32 million tons by 1913.
Bessemer
Process
Bessemer-Kelly Process (1850s)
Blow cold air through hot iron
burns away impurities
Andrew Carnegie – used Bessemer to create
large steel companies in US & Britain
Andrew Carnegie
Carnegie Steel
Uses Bessemer process in steel
mills across Britain and United
States
Steel Monopoly
Carnegie used vast wealth to found
Libraries in US & Europe
Philanthropy – giving money for public good
Midtown Carnegie Branch Library
• $50,000 donated by Carnegie: Completed 1901, Springfield, MO
• 2,509 Carnegie libraries built
Second Industrial Revolution
• Focused on:
– Steel production
–Chemicals
–Electricity
–Petroleum
New Products
• Flat Iron
• Steel Building,
New York
•
• Electricity •
1902
Steel
• Internal-Combustion Engine Frame
New Products
• Electricity: Versatile energy
source, transformed homes,
factories, and cities.
– Enabled inventions like the
light bulb, telephone, and
radio.
– Powered streetcars,
subways, and factory
machinery.
Thomas
Edison
Electric
Lights
Menlo Park, Edison’s Research and Develop Laboratory
Motion Picture Recorded Sound
New Products
• Alexander Graham Bell –
Telephone 1876
• Connecting the World
Street Cars / Trolleys
• San Francisco Cable Car
Mass Transportation
Commuter Trains
• Elevated Railway
Mass Transportation
Chicago – Elevated Trains
First Subways
• Used Steam power at first and
were vented to the streets above.
– Problem that tunnels filled with
smoke
• Transition to all electric subway
trains
– Commuter trains had to switch to
electric engines to enter New York
tunnels
• Drake’s Folly (finds oil)—1859 (PA)
• Petroleum - Uses
• Kerosene—lighting
• Gasoline—internal combustion engine
• Oil—machinery lubricant
• John D. Rockefeller:
– Standard Oil Company (1870)
– Trust (Monopoly)—consolidation over price wars John D. Rockefeller
• 1877: controlled 95% of all refineries in the
country
Cracking – Crude Oil
Oil Refinery
New Products
• Internal-Combustion Engine:
Revolutionized transportation.
– Led to the development of ocean
liners, airplanes, and
automobiles.
– First flight by Wright brothers in
1903; first regular passenger air
service in 1919.
First flight by Wright brothers in 1903
New Patterns
• Rapid industrial production growth
due to increased consumer
product sales.
• Higher worker wages and lower
transportation costs boosted
consumer buying power.
• Emergence of department stores
selling new consumer goods like
clocks and typewriters.
New Patterns
• Economic division in
Europe:
– Industrialized core (e.g.,
Great Britain, Germany)
with high standards of
living.
– Agricultural regions (e.g.,
southern Italy, Russia)
providing raw materials
for industrial nations.
Toward a World Economy
• Global trade expanded with beef,
wool, coffee, iron ore, and sugar
from various continents.
• European capital investments
abroad in railways, mines, power
plants, and banks.
• Europe dominated the world
economy by the early 20th century
through capital, industries, and
military might.
Organizing the Working Classes
• Marx’s Theory
• The Communist Manifesto
(1848) by Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels.
– Blamed industrial capitalism
for poor factory conditions.
– Advocated for a new social
system: Marxist socialism or
communism.
Organizing the Working Classes
• Marx’s Theory
• Class Struggle: History of
oppressors (bourgeoisie) vs.
oppressed (proletariat).
– Predicted a proletarian
revolution overthrowing the
bourgeoisie.
– Aim: Establish a classless
society
Marx’s Theory
Bourgeoisie - the wealthy
capitalist class
• Industrialists
• Bankers
• Merchants
Proletariat – the
industrial working class
Organizing the Working Classes
Formation of socialist political parties based on Marx's ideas post-1870.
– German Social Democratic Party (SPD):
– Second International Trade Unions
– Labour Party (United Kingdom)
– French Workers' Party
Organizing the Working Classes
Formation of socialist political parties based on Marx's ideas post-1870.
• German Social Democratic
Party (SPD):
–Advocated for revolution
and parliamentary
participation.
–Grew to become Germany's
largest party by 1912.
Organizing the Working Classes
Formation of socialist political parties based on Marx's ideas post-1870.
• Second International
(1889): Association of
socialist groups worldwide.
– Divisions: Pure Marxists
(violent revolution) vs.
Revisionists (democratic
reforms).
Organizing the Working Classes
Formation of socialist political parties based on Marx's ideas post-1870.
• Trade Unions
• Right to Strike: Won by British unions
in the 1870s.
• Growth in union membership and
influence:
– 2 million British trade union members by
1900; 4 million by 1914.
• Progress in improving working and
living conditions across Europe.
