Download The Second Industrial Revolution

Mr. Ermer
U.S. History
Miami Beach Senior High

Examine the social, political, and
economic causes, course, and
consequences of the Second
Industrial Revolution that began
in the late 19th century.

What role should government play in the
business world?
Market Economy vs. Planned Economy
 Government Regulation
 Carnegie’s Social Gospel

 Social Darwinism

Immigration from East Asia
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Many work on expanding railroad network
Americans afraid of “yellow peril”
 Chinese Exclusion Act
 Gentlemen’s Agreement

Immigration from Europe

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Irish and southern Europeans considered low on
Social Darwinist ladder
Nativism & The Know Nothing Party
“The Great Migration”

Bessemer Process Steel


Stronger than before, skyscrapers
Factories built, expanded, entrepreneurship
Unsafe work conditions
 Child labor
 Adverse social effects


Muckrakers

Ida Tarbell

Cities = centers of industry and innovation
Urban centers growing fast, city services lag
 Political machines provide for services

 Corruption & Graft

Charities and political groups also fill needs
 Settlement houses

Workers organize to demand better treatment

Labor Unions form
 Knights of Labor
 American Federation of Labor
 Congress of Industrial Organizations

Union workers strike for rights

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Haymaker Riot (1886)
Homestead Strike (1892)
Pullman Strike (1894)

Child Labor laws

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Sherman Antitrust Act
Sherman Silver Purchase Act
Suffrage movement

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Compulsory Public Education
National Women’s Suffrage Association
Food & Drug Safety Regulation