What did the United States rely on to transform from a small colonial country to a global hegemon in the 20th century? Is it the roar of machines in a factory, the whistle of a train on a railroad, or the lights on a Hollywood set? From the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, the United States ushered in its peak moment, and its economy, technology, and culture blossomed in an all-round way.
If you want to talk about the cattle man in the heyday of the United States, John D. Rockefeller is definitely a name that cannot be bypassed. Born in New York State in 1839, he worked as a bookkeeper in a Cleveland trading house as a young man, and his books were better than anyone else's. In 1863, when the oil boom swept the United States, he saw an opportunity and invested money to build an oil refinery.
In 1870, the Standard Oil Company was founded, and Rockefeller began to make a big move. He negotiated business with railroad companies, drove down freight rates, and overwhelmed competitors. In 1882, his company set up a trust that controlled 90 percent of the U.S. oil market, and his personal wealth once accounted for 1.6 percent of the U.S. GDP.
He didn't just rely on ruthlessness, the optimization of oil refining technology and the innovation of pipeline transportation were all pushed out by him, the price of kerosene dropped sharply, and ordinary people could light up at night. But the monopoly also brought him notoriety, and in 1911, Standard Oil was ordered to be broken up by the Supreme Court. In his later years, he turned to charity, donating more than $500 million to build schools and hospitals, and his influence continues to this day.
Henry Ford was born on a farm in Michigan in 1863. When he was a child, he liked to fiddle with machinery, dismantling his father's pocket watch and putting it back on, and the neighbors said he had a smart brain. In 1896, he tinkered with the first four-wheeler in a small shack in Detroit, and in 1903 he founded the Ford Motor Company.
In 1913, he brought assembly line production to the Highland Park factory, and the assembly time for the Model T was cut from 12 hours to 90 minutes, and the price dropped to $300. Ford also did a big job, raising workers' wages to $5 a day in 1914, far ahead of the industry level, and the factory gates were crowded with job seekers.
His assembly line model later spread across the globe and revolutionized manufacturing. But Ford also had black spots, anti-Semitic remarks and stubborn personality caused his reputation to decline in his later years, and the company was almost dragged down.
Andrew Carnegie, born in Scotland in 1835, his family made a living from weaving, and was too poor to open the pot. In 1848, at the age of 13, he immigrated to Pittsburgh with his family. He started as a telegraph operator, and later infiltrated the railway company, saving his first pot of gold. In the 1870s, he poured money into the steel industry, built a factory using the Besemer method of steelmaking, and production skyrocketed, and a steady supply of steel rails and bridge materials paved the railroad network of the western United States.
By 1900, his Carnegie Steel Company accounted for 30 percent of the U.S. steel industry. In 1892, when Holmstead went on strike, the workers fought with the hired Pinkerton detectives, and more than a dozen people died, and Carnegie could not escape the bombardment of public opinion even though he was abroad.
In 1901, he sold the company for $480 million, retired to charity, built more than 2,500 libraries, and donated 90 percent of his wealth.
These three, Rockefeller, Ford, and Carnegie, have turned rivers and seas in the fields of oil, automobiles, and steel. Rockefeller made oil the lifeblood of the national economy, Ford drove cars into homes, and Carnegie's steel propped up railroads and skyscrapers. It was these people who pushed the United States to leap from an agricultural country to an industrial giant, ushering in the glory of its heyday.
From the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, the United States stood at the top of the world in terms of economy and technology, leaving behind the old European countries. The following 15 pieces of cold knowledge will take you to see how hardcore the United States was in that era.
Gold reserves dominate the world: In 1920, the United States held 40% of the world's gold reserves. In the vaults of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, gold bars are piled up like hills, which has become the foundation of the hegemony of the dollar. International trade settlements were settled entirely in dollars, and Wall Street bankers began to dominate global finance.
The railroad network is extensive: In 1900, the total length of railroads in the United States exceeded 190,000 miles, accounting for half of the world's total. Railroad tracks were laid from coast to coast, trains carried coal, grain, and immigrants, connecting the country into a vast web, and the transportation time of goods was reduced from months to days.
Electric lights illuminate the nation: By 1930, 80 percent of American homes had electricity. Edison's light bulb factory was running at full capacity, telephone poles were dotted in the city and countryside, and the streets of Chicago were as bright as day at night, and the lights of shop windows attracted countless passers-by.
Cars are everywhere: In 1929, the average person in the United States had a car for every five people. Ford's Model T sold for $300, the streets of Detroit were filled with traffic, gas stations were busy from morning to night, and cars became the norm for the middle class.
Skyscrapers rise from the ground: in 1931, the Empire State Building was completed with a record height of 443 meters. New York's skyline has been completely transformed, and the steel and concrete giant has become a symbol of America's industrial prowess, attracting global attention.
Hollywood took the world by storm: In the 1920s, Hollywood produced 800 films a year, accounting for 80% of the global market. From silent films to sound films, Charlie Chaplin's comedies and Mary Pickford's romances have audiences around the world buying tickets to theaters.
Radio into the living room: In 1930, 40% of American households had a radio. Roosevelt's "fireside chats" spread across the country via airwaves, homes gathered around wooden-shell radios to learn about national events, and radio commercials began to promote soap and cola.
Aviation industry takes off: In 1927, Lin Bai flew alone in the Atlantic, shaking the world. Pan Am planes began to carry passengers, propellers hummed on the runway, flight times from New York to Los Angeles were reduced to 20 hours, and air travel became the new trend.
The world's first mechanization of agriculture: In the 1930s, tractors and harvesters doubled the efficiency of U.S. agriculture. In the wheat fields of Kansas, machinery replaced sickles, and grain production skyrocketed, feeding the country and exporting to Europe.
Wall Street was hot: In the 1920s, the New York Stock Exchange traded as many as 5 million shares a day. Stockbrokers were busy sweating, telegraph machines were spitting out long quotations, and the frenzy of capital pushed up industrial investment.
Education coverage is at the top: In 1940, 90 percent of American children attended school. Compulsory education has led to the proliferation of rural schools, textbooks ranging from arithmetic to history, and knowledge as a stepping stone to social mobility.
Household appliances change life: In the 1930s, refrigerators and washing machines entered ordinary homes. Housewives no longer have to go to the market to buy the day's ingredients, the washing machine frees up their hands, the housework time is reduced, and the quality of life is rising.
The strength of the military industry is unmatched: during World War II, the United States built 100,000 tanks and 300,000 aircraft a year. At the factory in Los Angeles, the assembly line was 24 hours a day, women welded tank tracks, and airplane wings were transported from the factory to the port to support the Allies.
Leading in research spending: In the 1940s, the United States spent 1% of GDP on scientific research. The Manhattan Project brought together top scientists, and in the laboratory of Los Alamos, a breakthrough in nuclear technology ushered in the age of atomic energy.
Cultural Export: From jazz to Coca-Cola, American culture has taken the world by storm. Jazz musicians in Harlem played the saxophone, and the rhythm spread to Europe; Coke's glass bottles were filled with bubbles and sold all over the world.
At its peak, the United States seemed invincible, but in fact it was hiding a crisis. On October 24, 1929, the Wall Street stock market crashed, the trading floor was in chaos, the broker tore up the quotation, and investors lost all their money. On October 29, the Dow Jones fell from 305 to 230 and bank runs swept the country, with depositors lining up to withdraw their money and bank windows smashed.
The Great Depression hit, unemployment soared to 25 percent, steel mills in Pittsburgh shut down, workers received relief bread, farmers in Tennessee burned corn for warmth, and barns were piled up with unsellable grain. International trade has shrunk in half, docks are empty, and freighters are rusty.
In 1933, Roosevelt came to power and introduced the New Deal. He signed the Emergency Banking Act, and since March 13, banks have been open one after another after review, tellers have counted banknotes, and long queues of depositors have dispersed. The New Deal also introduced public works, and dam sites in the Tennessee Valley were in full swing, with concrete mixers running day and night.
The Social Security system took off, checks were handed out at relief stations in New York, and children from poor families had hot meals. The economy began to pick up in 1935, with GDP rising from $74.2 billion to $204.9 billion in 1939 and the number of unemployed falling to 8 million.
After Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States entered the war with all its might. The California shipyard built warships, the Detroit Auto Factory switched to tanks, and the assembly line parts clanged. In 1944, the Bretton Woods Conference established the dollar as the world currency, and the delegates in the conference room signed and the pens rustled.
After the war, Marshall planned to invest $13 billion, and the freighter was loaded with grain and machinery and sailed to the ruins of Europe. When NATO was founded, in Washington's office, generals spread out maps and planned the layout of the Cold War.
But there is no shortage of trouble. Apartheid sparked protests, and in the 1960s, street demonstrators in Montgomery held signs, batons were waved down, and blood was left on the pavement. The Vietnam War tore society apart, and at a rally in Washington, students burned conscription cards, and smoke filled the air. In the Cold War, military spending skyrocketed, Lockheed built fighter jets, the budget crowded out welfare programs, and the gap between the rich and the poor widened.
In the heyday of the United States, like a hot-blooded blockbuster, were you also shocked by these cold knowledge? Rockefeller's oil, Ford's cars, or Carnegie's steel, which one you admire the most? Leave a message with your thoughts, or ask more questions about America's Golden Age, and let's talk together!