While acquiring other steel companies that were unable to compete against his highly efficient operations, Carnegie also bought iron ore deposits as well as steamships and railroad cars, which were used to ship ore to his plants and goods to his customers. The bulk of the production at the turn of the century was in the hands of a single company, Carnegie Steel, founded by Scottish immigrant and railroad entrepreneur Andrew Carnegie. With the introduction of such new technology as the Bessemer converter and the open hearth process, the amount of steel produced in the United States went from 77,000 tons in 1870 to over 10 million tons in 1900. The steel and oil industries are good examples of this trend.Īndrew Carnegie and the steel industry. Big business also meant consolidation entire industries were controlled by a handful of companies as competition led to new forms of business organization. In almost every industry, the number of factory workers grew, and by 1900, manufacturing plants with over 1,000 employees - something unheard of 30 years earlier - were commonplace. During this period, the movement of the production of goods out of small shops and mills and into factories increased tremendously. The term “big business” is often used to characterize industrial expansion after the Civil War. From Vice President to President: George H.W.The United States under Ford and Carter.A New Society: Economic & Social Change.American Society and Culture, 1865–1900.