An Age of Industry
1
Section
An Age of Industry As you read, look for: • • • •
the rise of industries in the United States, the effect on South Carolina, South Carolina’s industries, and vocabulary terms: laissez-faire policy and textiles.
After the Civil War, the United States moved from an agricultural economy to an industrial one. Large industries employed millions of workers. These industries included the iron industry, the railroad industry, the meat-packing industry, and the oil industry.
The Iron Industry
P Figure 24 Timeline 1870-1900
1876 Wade Hampton III elected governor 1871 First Grange chapter established in state
1870
1875
The Civil War brought tremendous growth to the iron industry. After the war, the iron industry grew even faster as the railroads expanded and other industries needed iron and steel to build factories and machinery. In the 1870s, rich iron deposits were found in northeastern Alabama and steel mills developed in and around Birmingham. There were, however, no iron deposits in South Carolina on which to build an iron industry.
1882 Dibble Plan adopted 1881 Eight Box Law passed
1880
1890 Tillman elected governor 1889 Clemson Agricultural and Mechanical College established
1885
1871 1876 Most of Chicago Baseball’s National destroyed in Great Fire League founded; telephone invented
1893 Clemson opened; depression of 1893
1890
1898 Spanish-American War
1895
1885 Washington Monument dedicated
Chapter 16 Conservatives and Populists
1900 1897 First Boston Marathon
1886 Statue of Liberty dedicated
1882 First Labor Day celebration held in New York City
410
1895 New state constitution written
1893 Women received the vote in Colorado 1892 People’s party formed
The Railroads But South Carolina contributed to the growth of the iron industry through development of its railroads. South Carolina had to rebuild its railroad system since much of it had been destroyed in the war. During the Reconstruction era, railroads finally connected the cities in South Carolina with the major cities in the North and Midwest. Rail lines connected Charleston and Columbia with Chicago, New York, and Cincinnati. Trunk lines, major rail lines that branch off from the main lines, were also built and added about 364 miles to South Carolina’s railroad lines by the end of 1877. The major railroads in the state included the South Carolina Railroad, the Northeastern Railroad, and the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. Railroads grew rapidly elsewhere during and after the Civil War. After the war, there were almost 50,000 miles of railroads just in the North. Railroad growth in the United States outside of the South was helped tremendously by the federal government. In 1862, Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act, which made millions of acres of land available to the railroad companies. The act also made loans available to the railroads and authorized construction of a transcontinental railroad. Two railroad companies worked on the project for seven years—the Union Pacific laid track
Above: In the period after the Civil War, railroads virtually monopolized transportation. This is the Glenn Springs Hotel excursion train. Opposite page, above: After the devastation of war, the iron industry entered a boom period that extended from the late 1800s into the early 1900s.
Section 1 An Age of Industry
411
Greenville
NORTH CAROLINA
Spartanburg Cheraw
Camden Florence Columbia Conway
GEORGIA Charleston
westward from Omaha and the Central Pacific built eastward from Sacramento. Finally, on May 10, 1869, the two lines met at Promontory Point, Utah. Soon, other transcontinental railroads were completed. However, no company offered direct rail service west from South Carolina. South Carolinians who wanted to go west first had to go to Chicago, New Orleans, or St. Louis and change railroad companies.
The Meat-Packing Industry
With the arrival of the transcontinental railroads came other industries. The meatpacking industry developed in Chicago during the war. The Swift Packing Company and the Armour Packing Company grew into huge businesses when they introduced refrigeration to the meat-packing industry. Meat packed in Chicago went east to New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Boston, and all points in between. South Carolina received little of that meat, however, because most of the demand for meat could still be supplied by the state’s citizens. ATLANTIC OCEAN
Savannah
Map 38 South Carolina Railroads c. 1900 Map Skill: What is the nearest railroad connection to where you live?
412
The Oil Industry Likewise, the growing oil industry had little impact in South Carolina at first. Large oil companies began to develop in the northeast to supply fuel to heat and light homes. In the 1870s, the Standard Oil Company grew to be the largest and most powerful oil company in the nation. Gasoline was not part of the early oil industry because the car had not yet been invented. When the car was developed in the late 1880s and early 1890s, the oil industry was large enough to supply the needs of the country for many years to come. South Carolina developed no oil industry of its own. It was not until the automobile became popular that the oil industry became a major part of the state’s economy. The tremendous business and industrial growth of this period was due in part to government policy. The Republicans, who controlled the federal government at the time, favored a laissez-faire policy. Laissez faire is a French phrase that means “let (people) do (as they choose).” Thus, the government’s laissez-faire policy was one of “hands off” business affairs. As a result, a number of businesses developed into monopolies, eliminating their competition. Standard Oil monopolized the oil industry, and United States Steel developed a monopoly in the steel industry. Competition with the railroads just did not exist in many parts of the country; there was no other way to carry the goods.
Chapter 16 Conservatives and Populists
South Carolina Industries South Carolina was primarily agricultural and did not have oil or iron deposits. But it did have other resources such as fertile land on which to grow cotton, large forests, many streams and rivers, and a population that was looking for work. These resources favored developing other industries such as textiles, lumber, and phosphates.
Textiles The most important South Carolina industry during this period was the textile industry. Textiles are woven or machineknitted fabrics. Textile manufacturing began in South Carolina before the Civil War, but it became important to the economy of the state after the war. By 1880, the industry was producing almost $3 million worth of goods a year. For many years, textile manufacturing was measured by the number of spindles, or rods on which thread was gathered, in a mill. In 1880, South Carolina had eighteen textile mills operating with 95,983 spindles. About one-half of those spindles were located in Aiken County. Most of the remaining spindles were in the upper Piedmont counties of Anderson, Greenville, Oconee, and Spartanburg. Much of the money to build the textile mills came from northern investors, who realized that the state had all of the resources needed to make the textile industry successful. The many streams and rivers in the state provided water power for the mills, and cotton was the major agricultural crop in the state. There was also an abundant supply of labor in the state. Many people were looking for work after the war, and the mills provided it. The mill owners set up mill villages similar to the village established by William Gregg in the antebellum period. The mill villages attracted workers with the promise of schools, churches, and stores. Mill villages built in the early twentieth century still stand in many towns and cities, including Union and Columbia’s Olympia Village. Most mills employed more than one worker from a family, and most households averaged three family members who were mill workers. Children were expected to quit school by age twelve to enter the mill and help earn money for the family.
Above: Work in the textile mills was dirty, noisy, and hot. While this photograph shows men working at the looms, many women and children also worked in the mills.
Section 1 An Age of Industry
413
Cotton Two other industries that developed in South Carolina also revolved around the cotton plant. Few South Carolinians owned their own gins, so cotton-ginning companies were built everywhere. Another cotton-related industry was the cottonseed-oil industry. The cotton seeds removed from the cotton plants were crushed to make oil. The oil was then used in the production of shortening, margarine, and salad oil; leftover products were used to make explosives and yarn. In 1880, there were no cottonseed-oil mills in South Carolina. But in 1881 there were three, and the number increased steadily in subsequent years.
Phosphates The phosphates industry in South Carolina developed after phosphate deposits were discovered during Reconstruction in Florence County and in the areas south of Charleston. The phosphates were used as fertilizer to restore worn-out cotton fields. The first shipments were made from Florence County in June 1888. After that, the industry grew rapidly.
Lumber
Above: The state’s longleaf pine forests made South Carolina the leading turpentine-producing state in 1880.
South Carolina had had a lumber or timber industry since the colonial period. But the lumber industry became much more important after the Civil War as building materials were needed for the rebuilding and growth the country experienced. The primary trees harvested were the longleaf pine and the cypress. The pine trees were also important for the turpentine industry. In 1880, South Carolina was the leading turpentine-producing state. That ranking, however, lasted only a few years before Georgia began to outproduce South Carolina.
It’s Your Turn 1. What major industries developed in the United States in the 1880s and what was their influence in South Carolina? 2. What were South Carolina’s major industries during the same time period?
414
Chapter 16 Conservatives and Populists
Discovering South Carolina The Importance of Phosphates After the Civil War, South Carolina had two goals—to revive its agriculture and to find other economic investments to help the state prosper. Both of these goals were addressed with the discovery of phosphate, or lime, deposits near Charleston. Interestingly enough, the first South Carolinians to find the deposits— Edmund Ruffin, Charles U. Shepard, Sr., and J. Lawrence Smith—did not really understand what they had discovered. There were eight principal phosphate rock beds in the state. The best beds were along the Ashley River, and there were also good deposits under the Coosaw River. The phosphates discovered in South Carolina were sold to farmers as fertilizer. Growing the same crops over and over again had worn out many of South Carolina’s fields. The nutrients in the soil were used up, and the fields would no longer produce good yields. However, once lime was put on the fields, they became fertile again. After several years of treatment, the land was as strong as it had been before the introduction of cotton. With fertile land, farmers grew larger crops. Unfortunately, as more and more land became fertile and farmers produced larger yields, the prices farmers received for their crops decreased. But the important thing was that the farmers could make money again. The phosphate industry in South Carolina remained strong until the mid-1890s. By then, many of the deposits had been used up. The remaining phosphate
Top and above: The mining of phosphates and their use as fertilizer helped South Carolina’s farms recover after the Civil War. companies were taxed too heavily to remain in business. But the income the industry brought kept many South Carolinians from going hungry when the state was desperate for cash.
Section 1 An Age of Industry
415
Section
An Age of Industry As you read, look for: • • • •
the rise of industries in the United States, the effect on South Carolina, South Carolina’s industries, and vocabulary terms: laissez-faire policy and textiles.
After the Civil War, the United States moved from an agricultural economy to an industrial one. Large industries employed millions of workers. These industries included the iron industry, the railroad industry, the meat-packing industry, and the oil industry.
The Iron Industry
P Figure 24 Timeline 1870-1900
1876 Wade Hampton III elected governor 1871 First Grange chapter established in state
1870
1875
The Civil War brought tremendous growth to the iron industry. After the war, the iron industry grew even faster as the railroads expanded and other industries needed iron and steel to build factories and machinery. In the 1870s, rich iron deposits were found in northeastern Alabama and steel mills developed in and around Birmingham. There were, however, no iron deposits in South Carolina on which to build an iron industry.
1882 Dibble Plan adopted 1881 Eight Box Law passed
1880
1890 Tillman elected governor 1889 Clemson Agricultural and Mechanical College established
1885
1871 1876 Most of Chicago Baseball’s National destroyed in Great Fire League founded; telephone invented
1893 Clemson opened; depression of 1893
1890
1898 Spanish-American War
1895
1885 Washington Monument dedicated
Chapter 16 Conservatives and Populists
1900 1897 First Boston Marathon
1886 Statue of Liberty dedicated
1882 First Labor Day celebration held in New York City
410
1895 New state constitution written
1893 Women received the vote in Colorado 1892 People’s party formed
The Railroads But South Carolina contributed to the growth of the iron industry through development of its railroads. South Carolina had to rebuild its railroad system since much of it had been destroyed in the war. During the Reconstruction era, railroads finally connected the cities in South Carolina with the major cities in the North and Midwest. Rail lines connected Charleston and Columbia with Chicago, New York, and Cincinnati. Trunk lines, major rail lines that branch off from the main lines, were also built and added about 364 miles to South Carolina’s railroad lines by the end of 1877. The major railroads in the state included the South Carolina Railroad, the Northeastern Railroad, and the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. Railroads grew rapidly elsewhere during and after the Civil War. After the war, there were almost 50,000 miles of railroads just in the North. Railroad growth in the United States outside of the South was helped tremendously by the federal government. In 1862, Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act, which made millions of acres of land available to the railroad companies. The act also made loans available to the railroads and authorized construction of a transcontinental railroad. Two railroad companies worked on the project for seven years—the Union Pacific laid track
Above: In the period after the Civil War, railroads virtually monopolized transportation. This is the Glenn Springs Hotel excursion train. Opposite page, above: After the devastation of war, the iron industry entered a boom period that extended from the late 1800s into the early 1900s.
Section 1 An Age of Industry
411
Greenville
NORTH CAROLINA
Spartanburg Cheraw
Camden Florence Columbia Conway
GEORGIA Charleston
westward from Omaha and the Central Pacific built eastward from Sacramento. Finally, on May 10, 1869, the two lines met at Promontory Point, Utah. Soon, other transcontinental railroads were completed. However, no company offered direct rail service west from South Carolina. South Carolinians who wanted to go west first had to go to Chicago, New Orleans, or St. Louis and change railroad companies.
The Meat-Packing Industry
With the arrival of the transcontinental railroads came other industries. The meatpacking industry developed in Chicago during the war. The Swift Packing Company and the Armour Packing Company grew into huge businesses when they introduced refrigeration to the meat-packing industry. Meat packed in Chicago went east to New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Boston, and all points in between. South Carolina received little of that meat, however, because most of the demand for meat could still be supplied by the state’s citizens. ATLANTIC OCEAN
Savannah
Map 38 South Carolina Railroads c. 1900 Map Skill: What is the nearest railroad connection to where you live?
412
The Oil Industry Likewise, the growing oil industry had little impact in South Carolina at first. Large oil companies began to develop in the northeast to supply fuel to heat and light homes. In the 1870s, the Standard Oil Company grew to be the largest and most powerful oil company in the nation. Gasoline was not part of the early oil industry because the car had not yet been invented. When the car was developed in the late 1880s and early 1890s, the oil industry was large enough to supply the needs of the country for many years to come. South Carolina developed no oil industry of its own. It was not until the automobile became popular that the oil industry became a major part of the state’s economy. The tremendous business and industrial growth of this period was due in part to government policy. The Republicans, who controlled the federal government at the time, favored a laissez-faire policy. Laissez faire is a French phrase that means “let (people) do (as they choose).” Thus, the government’s laissez-faire policy was one of “hands off” business affairs. As a result, a number of businesses developed into monopolies, eliminating their competition. Standard Oil monopolized the oil industry, and United States Steel developed a monopoly in the steel industry. Competition with the railroads just did not exist in many parts of the country; there was no other way to carry the goods.
Chapter 16 Conservatives and Populists
South Carolina Industries South Carolina was primarily agricultural and did not have oil or iron deposits. But it did have other resources such as fertile land on which to grow cotton, large forests, many streams and rivers, and a population that was looking for work. These resources favored developing other industries such as textiles, lumber, and phosphates.
Textiles The most important South Carolina industry during this period was the textile industry. Textiles are woven or machineknitted fabrics. Textile manufacturing began in South Carolina before the Civil War, but it became important to the economy of the state after the war. By 1880, the industry was producing almost $3 million worth of goods a year. For many years, textile manufacturing was measured by the number of spindles, or rods on which thread was gathered, in a mill. In 1880, South Carolina had eighteen textile mills operating with 95,983 spindles. About one-half of those spindles were located in Aiken County. Most of the remaining spindles were in the upper Piedmont counties of Anderson, Greenville, Oconee, and Spartanburg. Much of the money to build the textile mills came from northern investors, who realized that the state had all of the resources needed to make the textile industry successful. The many streams and rivers in the state provided water power for the mills, and cotton was the major agricultural crop in the state. There was also an abundant supply of labor in the state. Many people were looking for work after the war, and the mills provided it. The mill owners set up mill villages similar to the village established by William Gregg in the antebellum period. The mill villages attracted workers with the promise of schools, churches, and stores. Mill villages built in the early twentieth century still stand in many towns and cities, including Union and Columbia’s Olympia Village. Most mills employed more than one worker from a family, and most households averaged three family members who were mill workers. Children were expected to quit school by age twelve to enter the mill and help earn money for the family.
Above: Work in the textile mills was dirty, noisy, and hot. While this photograph shows men working at the looms, many women and children also worked in the mills.
Section 1 An Age of Industry
413
Cotton Two other industries that developed in South Carolina also revolved around the cotton plant. Few South Carolinians owned their own gins, so cotton-ginning companies were built everywhere. Another cotton-related industry was the cottonseed-oil industry. The cotton seeds removed from the cotton plants were crushed to make oil. The oil was then used in the production of shortening, margarine, and salad oil; leftover products were used to make explosives and yarn. In 1880, there were no cottonseed-oil mills in South Carolina. But in 1881 there were three, and the number increased steadily in subsequent years.
Phosphates The phosphates industry in South Carolina developed after phosphate deposits were discovered during Reconstruction in Florence County and in the areas south of Charleston. The phosphates were used as fertilizer to restore worn-out cotton fields. The first shipments were made from Florence County in June 1888. After that, the industry grew rapidly.
Lumber
Above: The state’s longleaf pine forests made South Carolina the leading turpentine-producing state in 1880.
South Carolina had had a lumber or timber industry since the colonial period. But the lumber industry became much more important after the Civil War as building materials were needed for the rebuilding and growth the country experienced. The primary trees harvested were the longleaf pine and the cypress. The pine trees were also important for the turpentine industry. In 1880, South Carolina was the leading turpentine-producing state. That ranking, however, lasted only a few years before Georgia began to outproduce South Carolina.
It’s Your Turn 1. What major industries developed in the United States in the 1880s and what was their influence in South Carolina? 2. What were South Carolina’s major industries during the same time period?
414
Chapter 16 Conservatives and Populists
Discovering South Carolina The Importance of Phosphates After the Civil War, South Carolina had two goals—to revive its agriculture and to find other economic investments to help the state prosper. Both of these goals were addressed with the discovery of phosphate, or lime, deposits near Charleston. Interestingly enough, the first South Carolinians to find the deposits— Edmund Ruffin, Charles U. Shepard, Sr., and J. Lawrence Smith—did not really understand what they had discovered. There were eight principal phosphate rock beds in the state. The best beds were along the Ashley River, and there were also good deposits under the Coosaw River. The phosphates discovered in South Carolina were sold to farmers as fertilizer. Growing the same crops over and over again had worn out many of South Carolina’s fields. The nutrients in the soil were used up, and the fields would no longer produce good yields. However, once lime was put on the fields, they became fertile again. After several years of treatment, the land was as strong as it had been before the introduction of cotton. With fertile land, farmers grew larger crops. Unfortunately, as more and more land became fertile and farmers produced larger yields, the prices farmers received for their crops decreased. But the important thing was that the farmers could make money again. The phosphate industry in South Carolina remained strong until the mid-1890s. By then, many of the deposits had been used up. The remaining phosphate
Top and above: The mining of phosphates and their use as fertilizer helped South Carolina’s farms recover after the Civil War. companies were taxed too heavily to remain in business. But the income the industry brought kept many South Carolinians from going hungry when the state was desperate for cash.
Section 1 An Age of Industry
415
