HIST 110 Chapter Notes - Chapter 18 : U.S. Steel, Sherman Antitrust Act, Interstate Commerce Act Of 1887
Document Summary
The rise of industrial america, 1865 1900. Explotation of immense coal deposits as a source of cheap energy. Rapid spread of technological innovation in transportation, communication and factory systems. Demand for workers who could be driven and controlled. Enabled manufactures to cut costs and hire unskilled labor. Constant pressure on firms to compete tooth-and-nail but cutting costs, eliminating rivals, and creating monopolies. Cost cutting enabled firms to undersell one another, destroy weaker competitors, and consolidate themselves into more efficient and more ruthless firms. Business leaders" unflagging drive to reduce costs both created colossal fortunes at the top of the economic ladder and forced millions of wage earners to live near the subsistence level. Failure of the money supply to keep pace with productivity. Drove up interest rates and restricted the availability of credit. 1900 193,000 miles of railroad track crisscrossed the u. s. Pioneered new forms of large scale corporate enterprise. Jay gould faced enormous financial and organizational problems.
