Decade of Industrialization
                                                           (1880- 1889)

        The 1880s was a decade of big industries that brought America prosperity. This was the period when the United States went through a series of economical issues and important events. There was the becoming of railroads and the creation of a steel company. This led America to become a powerful nation, but the conflict between Andrew Carnegie and his workers decreased employment by many not getting fair treatment and little pay. Before anything got better, things became worse.

                One of the first inventions that helped America was transportation through railroads. In 1865 the United States has about 35,000 miles of railroad tracks, almost all of the east of the Mississippi River. After the Civil War, railroad construction expanded rapidly, linking the nations in a transportation network. By 1900, the United States an industrial power, boosted more than 200,000 miles of track. The railroads began in 1862 when president Abraham Lincolns signed the Pacific Railway Act, which provided construction of railroads by two corporations, The Union Pacific and Central Pacific companies. This construction of railroads brought big business to come about and an example of that is Andrew Carnegie.

                 The rise of Big Business played a Big Business played a big role of corporation. Big business would not have been possible without the corporation. The people who own the corporation are called stockholders because they own shares of ownership called stock. With the money that the corporation made, they invested on new technologies, hired a large workforce and purchased many machines. Small business weren’t able to compete against big business such as the business of Andrew Carnegie.

                To increase manufacturing efficiency, some business owners went one step further in building their business. That is exactly what Andrew Carnegie did, a Scottish immigrant who before was a bobbin boy in a textile factory to an owner of a steel company. Instead of paying companies for coal, lime, and iron, Carnegie’s company bought coalmines, limestone quarries, and iron ore fields. This was when Carnegie hired skilled and unskilled workers to work in his factory and  coalmines.

                 Although skilled and unskilled workers worked at the same plant, they had their difference. The skilled workers were born in America and spoke English, as for the unskilled workers, they emigrated from different countries and didn’t speak English. The skilled workers would work less and get paid more and the unskilled workers would work more but didn’t get paid as much due to the things they could and couldn’t do. As the hours increased and wages went low, unskilled workers needed money to support their family. Skilled workers created unions because they were not getting paid enough and wanted unskilled workers to join in. So they overwhelmingly voted to support each other and strike. This started on June 30, 1892 and was called the Homestead Strike.

                    The Homestead Strike was one of the most important events during the late 1800s. Although Carnegie was one of the wealthiest men, he did hit some trouble spots with his workers that led some steel workers to loose their jobs. He did not direct the company’s actions, but did nothing to help the situations, which cost him public support.

                      The 1880s was a decade of industrialization that brought great inventions and changed the lives of Americans. Railroads helped encourage rapid construction and Carnegie’s vertical integration helped meat production. Till today we see great inventions helping and progressing the United States.

Mc Graw Hill, Copyright 2006, Alan Brinkley, Ph.D