US HISTORY

Economic Change and the Crisis of the 1890s

Between the late 1870s and the early 1890s, the economy grew at one of the fastest rates in U.S. history. The Gross National Profit (GNP) almost doubled, and the per capita GNP increased by 35%. There was a 180% increase in manufacturing, and a 26% increase in agriculture.

Still, the single most important agent of economic growth was railroads. Track mileage increased 113%. Steel production augmented because railroads converted from iron to steel. Railroads were the largest consumers of coal, the largest carriers of goods and people and the largest employer of labor. Railroads wielded power and aroused hostility. Railroads practiced discriminatory acts against less wealthy (a.k.a. farmers) They:

1. Charged less for long hauls than for short hauls
2. Formed pools by which they divided traffic and fixed their rates
3. Kept rates higher in areas with no competition.
4. Rigged classification of grains (because certain grains cost more to ship around)

Farmers’ response:

1. They organized cooperatives to sell crops and buy supplies
2. Patrons of Husbandry (founded 1867), a.k.a.: Grange
3. “Granger laws” established: railroad commissions
4. Railroad commissions fixed maximum freight rates & warehouse charges

Federal government’s response:

1. Munn v. Illinois (1877): ruled that states could regulate business with public interest
2. Supreme Court banned interstate railroad traffic
3. The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 was a compromise. It outlawed pools, discriminatory rates, long/short haul differences, and rebates. It required freight and passenger rates remain reasonable, and it created Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).

The railroads impact on everyday life was great: it created standard time zones, which went into effect November 18, 1883, though they were sanctioned by Congress until 1918.

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Technology improved a great deal; railroads gained automatic signals, air brakes, and knuckle couplers. Steel mills added Bessamer and open-hear process. Telephones, the electric light, and the type writer were inventions of the 1870s. The elevator and structural steel (1880s) made the “skyscrapers” possible. Phonographs and motion pictures were invented in the 1890s.The electric dynamo (generator) became the basis for average household items and a source of industrial power, and the internal combustion engine made the automobile and the airplane possible.

The American Middle Class

The Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876 was a defining moment in the middle class. The Americans were celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, and Christopher Sholes invented the typewriter. And the world’s largest power generator was introduced: the Corliss steam engine. Recent innovations included elevators, monorails, streetcars, canned food, and linoleum. Americans tasted for the first time bananas and popcorn. The Market Revolution had become and Industrial Revolution.

Streetcars made mass transit possible, and it was part of the Gilded Age, which was symbolized by extravagant parties. High school and the public library were two new social institutions.

Control of public utilities became a socioeconomic problem. Progressives fought to bring order to development of cities.

Museums helped change cultural face in US cities. Also, stores and institutions began to open on Sundays, which allowed the poor to have access.

John Wanamaker invented the “department” store, which made profits from high volume sales. Theodore Dreiser wrote a popular novel: Sister Carrie. The new experience of shopping overwhelmed customers and introduced a habit of impulse buying. There were even mail-order houses, two of which were named Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck. The mail-order houses published thick catalogues (also known at the time as “wish books”).

Two examples of “chain-stores” were A&P and Woolworth’s. Standardized goods made all these department stores, mail-order houses and chain-stores possible. In fact, the clothing industry became the nation’s third largest industry by 1915.

Advertising and magazines created personal images consumers could identify with. By the 1890s, advertising had revolutionized the sale of consumer goods. The most widespread medium was the magazine. Some magazines were Century, Harper’s, and Scribner’s. These magazines had “lavish” illustrations. Magazines pushed American culture toward Western civilization and new art and literature movements. The editor of Harper’s was William Dean Howell. Realist literature was based on close observations of life, and Howell’s novels explored divorce, moral corruption of capitalism, and misogynism, all of which were considered new issues.

People admired Henry James’ writings for his penetration of psych settings. Popular, romantic works presented white washed pictures of American past. The magazine editor’s mission was to hold a cultural mirror for Americans to see. They pioneered the development of short stories. Illustrations revolutionized newspaper journalism, and the Sunday edition was started by newspapers after the Civil War. Cartoon strips were added (the Yellow Kid). Joseph Pulitzer published the New York World.
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Problems occurred on the color line. Blacks had to create their own institutions. Booker T. Washington wrote Up From Slavery, and W.E.B. Dubois wrote The Souls of the Black Folk.
Women’s lives changed too due to the rise of the middle class. However, the ideal of separate spheres dominated relations between sexes. The male sphere focused on work, politics, and public events. The female sphere concentrated on domesticity, moral education, and child-rearing. It was considered unnatural for women to partake in politics or work, as it was unnatural for men to partake in child-rearing and domestic chores.

After the Civil War, women challenged the separate spheres ideal through consumerism, public amusement, and dining out. They read The House Beautiful, which gave instructions on tasteful and economical styles of home furnishing. Old urban institutions changed to meet women’s new needs. Corporate America needed educated workers, so high school grew rapidly in the late 1880s. Some women’s colleges included Welsley’s and Radcliffe. Women began enjoying more physical exercises such as bicycle and croquette. Women joined social reforms such as Young Women’s Christian Association and the Settlement House Movement. Charles Dana Gibson drew the New Woman.