The Industrial Age

Railroads

• The railroads were expanded into the West.
• They helped the steel, lumber, and coal industry.
• Steel and lumber were used to make the tracks. Coal was used to power the trains.
• Trains could also carry supplies needed across the nation.
• Along with the expansion, came consolidation, the combining of different companies.

The Model T

• The model T is a automobile invented by Henry Ford.
• The model T was introduced to the public in 1908.
• Charles Sorenson, one of his workers, described as a sturdy black vehicle that anyone could aford.
• Model T sales accounted for about half of the automobiles on the road in the world during that time.

The Standard Oil Company

• John D. Rockefeller used was horizontal integration, which means he combined competing companies into his.
• It gained control of partial ownership and control of other companies
• The Standard Oil Trust grew powerful and wealthy.
• Rockefeller had created a monopoly—total control of an industry by a single producer.

Labor Unions

• Dissatisfied workers formed groups called labor unions.
• They demanded better pay and working conditions.
• They formed strikes, protests, and riots.
• This linked to several violent acts that changed the public's opinion.
• Many Americans linked the labor movement with violence and disorder.