01:512:104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Second Industrial Revolution, Land Values, Control (Management)
15 May 2018
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Chapter 23 - The Twenties
Postwar Prosperity & Its Price
The Second Industrial Revolution
Prosperity in the 1920s with increased technology creation & greater output
without expanding the work force
Most machinery could be operated by unskilled workers
Lower pay ( more profit
Manufacturing of electrical machines becomes the nations fastest growing
industry
Increased production leads to a housing boom
Mortgage debt rises from $8 billion to $27 billion in 10 yrs
The Modern Corporation
John D. Rockefeller (oil) & Andrew Carnegie (steel) provides a model for
success in business
Both had ownership & control (management) of their companies
The new wave in business saw the owners separate from the managers
General Motors & Radio Corporation of America
New elite class of businessmen
Most successful businesses in the 1920s controlled:
Integration of production & distribution of their product
Product diversification
Expansion of industrial research
By 1929: the 200 largest companies owned ½ of the nations corporate wealth
Created an economic oligopoly
A few large producers controlled the economy
Welfare Capitalism
Corporate leaders troubled by the increase in power to the trade unions
National War Labour Board gains support during WWI
The management of large companies created company employee benefits to
outweigh the benefits of belonging to a union
Insurance policies & stock benefits
Personnel depts to oversee employee health & satisfaction
“The America Plan” by corporations to eradicate trade unions
Company Unions to have symbolic representation of the employees in
management meetings
American Federation of Labour unwilling to go out of their way to organize the
manufacturing workers
Supreme Court also unsympathetic towards unions
The Auto Age
By 1929 the auto industry was the largest in the USA
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
4.8 million new cars per yr
Henry Ford pioneered the assembly line which increased production
1914: Ford starts a new wage scale: $5 for an 8 hr day
Double the going rate in industrial labour
Realized that workers were consumers as well
More car sales
General Motors begins to challenge Ford
Cadillac for high end, Chevrolet for low end
Auto industry provides a large market for steel, rubber, glass & petroleum
products
Cities & Suburbs
1920 census: first where more than ½ of the population lived in urban areas
Job opportunity, cultural richness & personal freedom
1.5 million African Americans move to Northern cities
Most cities begin to have large downtown cores (skyscrapers)
Exceptions: Agriculture, Ailing Industries
1920s: ¼ of Americans employed in the agriculture industry
No huge prosperity as 1914-1919
Land values drop & prices drop
Stiff competition from Europe, Canada & Australia
Wheat farmers on the Great Plains thrive due to methods of industrial
capitalism
Fruits benefit from improved transportation & chain supermarkets
McNary-Haugen bills: complicated measures to prop-up & stabilize farm
prices
Govt purchases farm surpluses & stores them until they are needed
Coal mines also drop in prosperity
New techniques, strikes & lower demand shrinks the coal labour force by ¼
Railroads & textiles also experience a significant drop
The New Mass Culture
Movie-Made America
Early movie industry brings flocks of people (mainly NYC) to the Nickleodeons
Most of the production companies started by immigrants who owned movie
theatres first
Each now controlled production, distribution & owned many theatres
WB produces “The Jazz Singer”
The first feature film with sound
Star system & cult of celebrity at the heart of the movie industry
Sexual themes & youthful athleticism in most movies
Many elegant “movie palaces” to attract higher class viewers
Radio Broadcasting
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Prosperity in the 1920s with increased technology creation & greater output without expanding the work force. Most machinery could be operated by unskilled workers. Manufacturing of electrical machines becomes the nations fastest growing industry. Mortgage debt rises from billion to billion in 10 yrs. John d. rockefeller (oil) & andrew carnegie (steel) provides a model for success in business. Both had ownership & control (management) of their companies. The new wave in business saw the owners separate from the managers. Integration of production & distribution of their product. By 1929: the 200 largest companies owned of the nations corporate wealth. Corporate leaders troubled by the increase in power to the trade unions. National war labour board gains support during wwi. The management of large companies created company employee benefits to outweigh the benefits of belonging to a union. Personnel depts to oversee employee health & satisfaction. The america plan by corporations to eradicate trade unions.
