The Second Industrial Revolution

By: Gary Collins, Michael Karas, and Drew Martin

“If a Western Rip Van Winkle had fallen asleep in 1869 and awakened in 1896, he would not have recognized the lands that the railroads had touched. Bison had yielded to cattle; mountains had been blasted and bored. Great swaths of land that had once whispered grass now screamed corn and wheat. Nation-states had conquered Indian peoples, slaughtering some of them and confining and controlling most of them. Population had increased across much of this vast region, and there were growing cities along its edges. A land that had once run largely north-south now ran east-west. Each change could have been traced back to the railroads.”
 –Richard White, Railroaded

            During the time known as the Second Industrial Revolution, approximately 1865 to 1917, many innovations were made that changed not only the United States but also the world. The Second Industrial Revolution marked a huge shift in America’s economy from what it once was. Previously, America’s economy and industry relied heavily upon the manufacturing of such items like leather, cotton, and textile ; however, as technology and science advanced, America’s changed its focus onto manufacturing items like steel, petroleum, electric power, and machinery . The advancement of technology and sciences also brought innovations in communications, transportations, and innovations that would eventually modernize the United States. 
The mass production of metal up until the 1850’s has been of mostly iron ; steel, benefitting in being stronger and more malleable than iron, was very expensive to  refine, but the innovation of the Bessemer’s process made steel and the production of steel much cheaper and, thereby, more prominent .
The steel industry effectively modernized the United States. During the Second Industrial Revolution America became more mobile due to the large use of steel in railway construction; over 30,000 miles of railroad was built using steel, making the transportation and the migration to western America much easier . The Second Industrial Revolution erected skyscrapers with steel skeletons and electric elevators-perfected by the invention of the electric safety brake by Elisha Otis in 1887 : one of the first being a now impish ten-story building in Chicago in 1885 . The Second Industrial Revolution also modernized the United States Navy. The innovation of steel production eventually led to steel’s use in Christening of modern steel cruisers; the first four were called the A, B, C, D ships (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and Dolphin) and were commissioned by Congress in 1885 . Steel found its popularity due its low cost. Andrew Carnegie when commenting on steel’s unbelievably low price when compared to other raw materials said, “That’s all that need be said about the steel business.”  
Although electricity found its footing earlier in the 19th century with the prominence of the telegraph, during the second industrial revolution use of electricity was greatly investigated and expanded upon. Scientists like Thomas Edison were leading the way with the use of electricity; in addition to Edison’s experiments with early photographs, motion pictures, and audio recording, Edison created one his most important inventions, the light bulb.   Patent #223,898 issued on January 27, 1880, marked another step into modern America; the light bulb allowed people illuminate the dark more efficiently, safely, and easily . Innovation of the light bulb continued, and by 1900 incandescent light bulbs were not only one fifth cheaper but were also twice as efficient as twenty years earlier . Croatian-born inventor/scientist Nickola Tesla was another American trailblazer of electricity. In 1889 Nikola Tesla created the first alternating current, electric motor . Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876 . Other inventions that came into existence during the Second Industrial Revolution included the typewriter, the cash register, the first few calculators, fountain pens, and the Kodak camera .
Massive change and advancement of transportation occurred during the Second Industrial Revolution. The steam engine, a product of the First Industrial Revolution, was the most prominent engine for its efficiency, but once the process for refining crude oil and kerosene was perfected, combustion engines became widely used in trains and ships .  The first commercial oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859 by Edwin Drake , and soon America became the world’s largest producer of petroleum . In 1903 America achieved the miracle of flight when the two Wright brothers flew the first modern airplane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina . Henry Ford used many of the recent inventions of the time to perfect the automobile, and, with Ford’s creation of the assembly line, the Model-T automobile became the world’s first mass produced car, allowing Americans to, for the first time, be free of the restrictions of rails . The assembly line was critical in the production of automobiles as well as almost every product since then.
The Second Industrial Revolution marked the start of packaged and massively produced foods, something vital to American population today. The introduction of pesticides and mechanized agriculture equipment allowed massive production of cash crops that could be quickly transported across the country by locomotives ; however, the farmers suffered from low crop prices due to over production and high train rates due to corrupt station owners . Joseph Glidden created barbed wire in 1869 ; with the invention of barbed wire also came a larger meat packing industry that could now better hold and maintain cattle .
The Second Industrial Revolution’s most important creation may be the American system of manufacturing. The American system of manufacturing is the epitome of all the innovations of the Second industrial Revolution. The American system of manufacturing allowed for mass production and modernization of America.
Following the excess of technological innovation that this second industrial revolution there were a plentitude of hungry capitalists ready to cash in on these including such famous names as John D. Rockefeller and Franklin Gowen.  Both of these men serve as prime examples of the development of industries during the Second Industrial Revolution.  John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company, infamously known as the first trust, was one of the companies that flourished during the late 1800s.  Growing up in a very inconsistent life style, constantly moving from town to town, Rockefeller learned tricks of the trade that would eventually help him become an industrial giant .  He first dappled into the oil industry during the Civil War.  While the country was facing fierce division, Rockefeller managed to find a group of investors and entrepreneurs to partner with and form Standard Oil Company .  Rockefeller now pursued an aggressive consolidation of the company and quickly sought to make agreements with railroads in order to guarantee cheaper rates for Standard Oil Company .  These methods would later be imitated by other capitalists seeking to reproduce Rockefeller’s success.  The next set in his ascent up the ladder towards creating a trust was through buying all the competing oil refineries in the area .  These processes known vertical and horizontal integration helped Standard Oil Company become the company to control 90 percent of the whole industry .  Franklin Gowen is another capitalist that serves as an example of the rise to industrial dominance practiced in the Second Industrial Revolution.  Making his mark in the Coal industry Gowen attempted to achieve the same profits and dominance as Rockefeller.  Gowen grew up as most of the successful entrepreneurs did with very a comfortable economic situation .  After experiencing brief failure investing into the mining business, Gowen moved to Philadelphia and quickly became the head of the Reading Railroad .  Through his insistence, Reading Railroad started to become heavily involved in the purchase of coalfields .  Gowen like Rockefeller use methods of buying out the competition in order reduce any opposition .  Unfortunately of Gowen, he became overly involved in a Union busting insistent which led to his downfall .  While these are examples of dominating companies during the Second Industrial Revolution, Rockefeller’s solicitor created the first trust.
At the time, Standard Oil Company controlled most the oil refineries in the United States, but state laws and other complexities made its size hard to manage.  Samuel Calvin Tait Dodd, Standard Oil Company’s general solicitor, came up with a solution.  This corporate trust as it was known called for all partners to transfer their stocks to the trust .  This method of managing a large company proved to be very efficient and became popular in other industries .   This combination of all members helped further the dominance of the Standard Oil Company and other monopolist organizations.  There were many negative views towards these new trusts such as those stated by Liang Qichao when he visited America.
Not living in America most of his life, Liang Qichao’s opinions about America proved to be a valuable outside look into the trusts.  Qichao comments that upon visiting J. P. Morgan, another infamous trust king, which he was “deeply impressed” with Morgan’s motto for life being “the outcome of any venture depends on preparations made ahead of time; once it is started, its success or failure is already decided and can no longer be altered .”  In regards to trusts, Qichao comments that they are a “monster” and an oddity to be such large amounts of the industrial production but only controlled by a few individuals .  The concern over trusts did just exist in America as he comments “domestic trusts will grow into international trusts, and the nation that will be most severely victimized will surely be China .”  Clearly the fear over trusts was not localized to just America.
The Second Industrial Revolution also created many responses which have had lasting effects. The first of these are labor unions. Labor unions arose in response to industrialization and were an attempt to achieve “improved conditions and wages.” Industrialization had generalized work and caused a large portion of the population to work in the same types of job field. This allowed for labor unions to become nationalized and to gain more power. For example, there is the Knights of Labor which was the first national labor union. This group fought to “secure to the laborer the fruits of his toil” which they believed could only be accomplished by the “thorough unification of labor .” This group, as many other unions have been since this time period, also worked in the political sphere towards “the prohibition of the employment of children in workshops, mines and factories before attaining their fourteenth year…[and] the reduction of the hours of labor to eight per day.” The Knights of Labor and other unions were a large factor in the fight for an eight hour day and the end of child labor along with other benefits for the workers in American society thus making a large effect on America society.
Another response to the Second Industrial movement was the Populist movement. This movement was one which was opposed to the big businesses which were made possible by the industrial revolution. Populists called for a return to agrarianism (similar to Thomas Jefferson’s beliefs on the economy) and were opposed to the industrial revolution. This group was also publicly against the railroad system of the times. As stated in the group’s constitution, “Transportation being a means of exchange and a public necessity, the government should own and operate the railroads in the interest of the people. The telegraph and telephone, like the post-office system, being a necessity for the transmission of news, should be owned and operated by the government in the interest of the people.” For this group, it felt that many of the innovations of the Industrial revolution were too beneficial to be simply left to the robber barons and railroad kings. These had to be protected by the government from the railroad corporations or other forms of big businesses which came with the industrialization of America. While the Populist was not successful in its endeavors and after an unsuccessful bid at the presidency “the party vanished from the larger electoral map.” This group was a significant response to the industrial revolution and was an important political movement of the time period.
Another effect that is felt most in the modern age is the rise of the consumer culture. Because items could easily be produced and sold due to factories with production lines and interchangeable parts, and railroads which allowed for widespread sale of items, more products became available to the general public for cheaper prices. Items had become easily available, so the general public responded by buying these cheaper products. However, this has extended to the modern day and has naturally expanded. Through the industrial revolution, there also came consumerism along with Wal-Mart and other large franchises offering people almost anything at one place for an affordable price. Industrialization gave the U.S. the available tools to create a culture in which items are commodities instead of luxuries making this an important effect of this time period in the United States as it completely changed the lifestyle of most American people.

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