economic growth and development Flashcards
what was the economic legacy of the civil war?
stimulated econ growth in north, left southern econ unstable, opened way for western expansion
what were the developments in agriculture?
agriculture important and growing:
- number of people living on farms 10 mill 1865 –> 25 mill 1890
- industrialisation led to population development, railroad expansion –> more land bought
- number of farms x2
- increase in large scale commercial farms
- assisted by devs in tech e.g. refrigeration + new machinery
- small farmers still vulnerable to fluctuations in market, little control over prices, relied on investors e.g. banks, companies
agriculture in the northeast
- benefited from expanding markets in growing cities + towns
- e.g. chicago, pittsburgh centres of wide distribution networks - shipping (e.g. food products) to urban northeast, timber to great plains
- railroads essential part of process, though were monopolies
- agriculture dependent on market forces it couldn’t control
agriculture in the south
- slavery ended but still dependent on cotton
- old ruling elite still dominated
- small farmers vulnerable, often fell back into being tenant farmers - struggled to get access to loans/get produce to markets without being exploited by larger businesses
- southern agriculture still lagged behind rest of the country
- few immigrants settles, 1879 thousands black farmers moved away to kansas in search of better opportunities
economic development in new south
- railroad expansion
- cotton, sugar + tobacco still major commodities for export
- ## trade + shipping expanded in ports e.g. New Orleans
agriculture in the west
- homestead act 1862 accelerated movement of settlers
- union pacific railroad opened 1869
- taking of native land virtually finished 1877
- vast lands of west defined by railroads, ranches, farms + mining towns
- development of west driven by land-hungry settlers
- vast tracts of land cultivated
- oklahoma land rush 1889, thousands tried to get farms
- railroads encouraged settlement - lent money to buy land, took cash crops in return
- 1860, 760,000 great plains, 1890, 6 mill +
- native population halved in this time
- steel = big impact, steel ploughs, steel barrels, barbed wire
- many difficulties, e.g. years of drought (from 1887), fluctuating prices, unproductive land
- investment levels low
- methods often inefficient
- tenant farmers prone to debt
urbanisation
- accelerated by industrialisation, immigration + improvements in transport
- most larger cities = east of mississippi river, north of ohio river
- big cities got bigger
- new big cities had explosive pop. growth
- urbanisation created new markets. new business opportunities, + vast mobile workforce
railroad growth
- by 1893, 200,000 miles of railroads
- american industry bound by vital trunk lines e.g. new york central
- first transcontinental railroad = union pacific railroad, 1969 - spearheaded western expansion
- northern pacific completed 1883
- boom = chaotic, smaller companies swallowed up by bigger ones
how were railroad companies so influential
- industry of cities relied on railroads
- railroad companies est local monopolies, eliminated competition
- bought up smaller companies
- levels at which they set freight rates influenced success of industries + local politics
what were railroad barons? + examples?
men who controlled railroad industries - wealthy + influential
- e.g. Cornelius Vanderbilt, new york central + hudson river railroad, dominated rail traffic out of nyc + connections to north and west
what industries were railroads linked to?
- at forefront of econ as steel and oil rose to dominance
- vital for supplying factories w raw materials + distributing fin products
- associated with financing of industry + implementation of policies
reasons for expansion of steel industry
- by 1900 american annual steel production biggest in world
- new bessemer process enabled good quality mass production
- technological advances + discovery f high grade iron ore near lake superior
- business organisation + size - west pennsylvania = hub for steel industry
- brought into age of big business by andrew carnegie - carnegie steel company became empire, swallowing up smaller businesses
when was the first major oil strike?
- titusville, pennsylvania, 1859
- further wells developed in appalachian basin 1860s + 70s
significance of JD Rockefeller (oil industry)
- founded standard oil company 1870
- bought up many 22 of main competitors in ‘cleveland massacre’ of 1872
how much of oil refining in the world was controlled by Standard Oil in the 1880s?
85%
