Unit 11 - U.S History Honors

The Ghost Dance

• what does the U.S government do when they see this

• natives call on their ancestors to push white Americans away, and bring back bison

• the U.S military sees this as rebellion

• the natives loose, and they have their land split and their children taken

Immigration during this time period:

• what act was passed to restrict chinese immigrants

• old vs new European immigrants

• Old vs. New European immigrants

  • Old: skilled workers who spoke English

  • New: different backgrounds and “not skilled“

• Chinese Exclusion Act

  • accused of taking jobs, but people were mostly just racist

What were robber barrons?

• singular people who controlled entire businesses

• people who profited off of unorganized and cheap labor

(ex. Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, etc)

What is a trust?

• trusts are a board/group of people who control entire industries

  • not related to monopolies, who run industries individually

What is populism?

• a political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.

What was the Dawes Act?

• what food sources are targeted and why

• the government took control of all land

• however they allow natives to assimilate and small portions of the land - leftover land is sold to white people

• the goal is to make natives assimilate into white American society

• the government targets bison and buffalo to eliminate the native’s source of food

  • this causes the ghost dance to happen

Laissez - fair economics

• minimal government involvement in the economy

  • tarrifs

  • trade blockages

  • price limits

  • what a business can can do

what was the Civil Service Act?

• replaces the spoils system where people are paid based on their loyalty/what they could do “illegally for the political party“

• Classified 15,000 jobs as civil service positions-must take and pass a test to qualify. Attempt to eliminate patronage.

Horizontal and Vertical Integration

• Horizontal integration" involves a company expanding by combining with other companies in the same industry and at the same stage of production

• "vertical integration," a company took over all the different businesses on which it relied for its primary function

  • for example, Carnegie Steel, which came to control not only steel mills but mines, rail- roads, and other enterprises

Social Darwinism

The application of ideas about evolution and "survival of the fittest" to human societies - particularly as a justification for their imperialist expansion.

Standard Oil Company

• what happened to it eventually - who enacted this

• It was also one of the first multinational corporations, and at times distributed more than half of the company's kerosene production outside the U.S. By the turn of the century it had become a target for trust-busting reformers, and in 1911 the Supreme Court ordered it to break up into several dozen smaller companies.

Pullman’s Strike

• outside of where

• what kind of workers

violent 1894 railway workers' strike which began outside of Chicago and spread nationwide

The farmers alliance

• helps form what party

• what did they advocate for

• a group of farmers who set out to improve economic conditions for farmers through the creation of cooperative and political advocacy

• pushed for lower railroad rates, more money circulation + government regulation of big businesses

• helps form the populist party

Free silver

• a political movement in the 1800s that called for the U.S government to coin silver freely opposed to gold

• working class people wanted this inflation/increase of money supply to make it easier to pay off debts

• some people didn’t like this, as they liked to keep money limited

Populist party

• thinks that the government favors who?

• aka the people’s party

• formed by the working class who felt that the government favored big businesses and the wealthy

  • advocated for things such as Free silver (government control of railroads, a graduated income tax, and direct election of senators) so there could be more power to ordinary people

Haymarket Affair

• a violent affair that happened in Chicago during a labor protest

• workers went on strike for a 8-hour work day during a peaceful rally at haymarket square until someone threw a bomb at the police

• shots were fired by the police, and several people were killed. From what i know, this never really accomplished anything

Pools

• made by railroad companies

• to divide up businesses and fix prices

• companies agreed on who would take what areas and set higher rates to avoid price wars

• this hurts farmers and consumers, as shipping costs were high and competition is reduced

Mergers

• When two or more companies are combined into one large company

• they did this to grow a lot bigger

• sometimes leads to monopolies

• worried many people, calling for government regulation

Homestead Act of 1862

• a law that gave free or very cheap land to people who were willing to live and farm on it for 5+ years

• to encourage settlement and farming in the western U.S

• many people took advantage of this

Labor Union issues

• workers fight for better wages and work hours, safer working conditions, and the right to organize

• many businesses resisted this in a multitude of different ways

• unions struggled to get protection/public support at this time

Railroads: impact

• connects the country, makes it easier for goods, people and mail to go across long distances

• helps grow the economy

• encouraged westward expansion

• led to unfair pricing

  • powerful railroad monopolies

  • land disputes (especially with natives)

  • all this hurts small businesses and farmers