apush period 6

“commodore” cornelius vanderbilt

Railroad; Key in linking regional competing rail lines, creating NY Central Railroad (merge local railroads)

trunk lines = major route in between large cities, smaller branches connecting it with outlying towns.

western railroads: federal land grants

increase value of federal land, better rates for mail & transporting troops, settlement; very large amounts of land given in a square checkerboard pattern.

negative consequences: hasty & poor construction, corruption (credit mobilier, bribe government officials and pocket huge profits), public protests (railroads = ½ the land in some western states

transcontinental railroads

during civil war; land grants: cali to union. two railroad companies, met in utah: employed war veterans, irish immigrants, and chinese immigrants (risk: blasting through sierra nevada mountains).

three other railroads built; helped settle the west, but built in areas with little customers and therefore little profit.

Rebates and kickbacks

railroads charged very little to transport goods for big corporations, but very high for other people.

Speculation and Overbuilding

Excessive railroads built for profit, not demand. Risky investments for quick profit; fueled bubbles.

Led to bankruptcies, financial panics (e.g., 1873, 1893).

Andrew Carnegie

Steel tycoon; vertical integration, mass production

eventually sold to JP Morgan (united states steel); first billion dollar company

John D. Rockefeller

Oil tycoon; founded Standard Oil. Monopolized industry via horizontal integration. Controlled 90% of U.S. oil

sherman antitrust act of 1890

antitrust movement: First federal law against monopolies. Banned restraints on trade, monopolistic practices.

vaguely worded: cannot stop the development of trusts

actually used against unions: “monopolising labor” (in this period)

United States v. E.C. Knight Co.

Sherman antitrust act can only be applied to commerce, not manufacturing

Laissez-Faire Capitalism (overview flashcard)

Minimal gov. interference in economy. Justified by Social Darwinism. Promoted industrial growth, but enabled monopolies, exploitation.

The Wealth of Nations

economist Adam Smith book:

business should not be regulated by the government, but by the “invisible hand” of supply and demand.

rise of monopolies: no competition: no natural regulation

social darwinism

theory of natural selection: survival of the fittest should also apply to the marketplace.

concentrating wealth in the “fit” benefited everyone; helping the poor weakened society (unfit); racial intolerance

gospel of wealth

hard work and material success were signs of god’s favor: everyone had a duty to become rich.

Carnegie; rich must aid society via philanthropy

transatlantic cable

can send messages across the sea in minutes. By 1900: global communication

internationalised markets and prices:

Menlo Park Research Facility

Edison’s lab (1876); first industrial research lab. Invented phonograph, improved light bulb

Consumer Goods

Mass-produced items (clothing, appliances) fueled by industrialization: canned and processed foods.

middle class lifestyle

“self-made man”

Gilded Age ideal; success through hard work, ambition. Examples: Carnegie, Rockefeller. Overlooked systemic inequalities, exploitation.

expanding middle class

needed more white collar workers in admin & management (large corporations). more demand for other middle class workers: doctors, lawyers, storekeepers, etc.

increase in good paying occupations

wage earners

2/3 of all working americans; very low pay, ten hours a day & six days a week

large supply of immigrants

could not support family; therefore, women and children also worked

iron law of wages

David Ricardo: argued that rising wages would only increase the working pop, which would cause wages to fall (availability of workers)

working women

if a family could afford it, a woman’s job was to stay at home.

work outside of home: textile, garment, etc. demand for clerical workers increased, women moved into secretaries, bookkeepers, etc.

feminized occupations lost status and wages.

labor discontent

no more artisans; monotonous factory job not fulfilling; tyranny of the clock

rebelled: missing work/quitting

industral warfare

blacklists (pro-union ppl circulated among employers), lockouts (closing a factory to break labor movement), etc.

Workers vs. corporations, gov. often sided with business.

Great Railroad Strike of 1877

First major national strike; wage cuts sparked protests. Paralyzed railroads, violent clashes. Gov. troops crushed strike, highlighted labor unrest.

many died

national labor union

1866; first national labor federation. Fought for 8-hour workday (achieved), better conditions. Failed after 1873 Panic & 1877 failed strike

knights of labor

1869; large-scale labor union. Inclusive (all races, genders). Fought for end of child labor, abolition of trusts and monopolies, etc. Declined after Haymarket Riot (1886).

arbitration (negotiation: third party) rather than strikes: more moderate

haymarket riot

1886; labor rally in Chicago; may day labor movement for 8 hour workday. Bomb thrown when police interfered in public rally, killing seven, turning public opinion against unions.

unions blamed: might have been the work of anarchists

pullman strike

1894; nationwide railroad strike against wage cuts, rail workers didn’t handle any pullman cars. Pullman cars carried U.S. mail, federal gov forbade interference with mail cars.

federal troops arrested strikers

In re Debs

1895 Supreme Court case. Upheld use of injunctions against strikes. Ruled against Eugene V. Debs, reinforcing gov. power over labor disputes.

homestead act

populated the west, mutual benefit:

gov: developed land

settlers & immigrants: free land ($18 in fees)

vertical integration

companies controlling every stage of production: lower prices (charge itself little): drive out competitors (low cost).

horizontal integration

some companies bought competitors to increase market share: decreased competition

led to monopolies

trusts and monopolies (definition)

trusts: conglomeration of companies working together (not competing). looks like competition, acts like a single company

monopolies: businesses with control over a entire sector of an economy (e.g. oil)

gilded age (overview of period)

period of rapid economic growth, but much social conflict and political corruption

incredible wealth for few, most living in slums

“gilded”= covered with gold on th outside, copper under

california gold rush

Gold in cali (west) → mass migration, boomtowns, later ghost towns/some developed into prosperous cities (e.g. sacramento)

chinese exclusion act

1882

Banned Chinese labor immigration → fueled by nativism, job competition; 1st major immigration restriction law, reinforced racial discrimination.

gold vs silver backed currency

Debate: Gold (deflation, bankers) vs. Silver (inflation, farmers); led to Populist support for "free silver," ended with Gold Standard Act (1900)

Inflation is good for farmers because it reduces the real value of their debts, the prices of the crops and goods they sell tend to rise with inflation.

american cowboy

Inspired by Mexican vaqueros; cattle drives (1860s-1880s); rugged, independent symbol.

Decline with barbed wire, railroads, ranching tech.

Implications: Romanticized frontier life, shaped American identity

sodbusters

homstead act: Farmers on the Great Plains; used steel plows to break tough prairie sod; faced droughts, harsh weather, and isolation.

Turner’s Frontier Thesis (1893)

Frederick Jackson Turner argued the frontier shaped American democracy, individualism, and innovation; concern that the end of available western land means the end of fresh starts and freedom

scared of class division and social conflict as in europe

Reservation policy (Indians)

1851

federal gov assigned plains tribes reservations (with definite boundaries)

most tribes continued to follow buffalo

Sioux war

before: white settlers in Indian lands led to violence (plains)

during: 1866, federal army wiped out by sioux warriors

after: another round of treaties isolating indians on reservations

Indian Appropriation Act of 1871

ended recognition of tribes as independent nations: nullified previous treaties

(gold was found on indian land (dakota’s black hills)

U.S. army stronger: tribes signed with fed gov’s terms

Ghost Dance Movement

Late 1880s-1890; religious movement among Native Americans.

Belief that dance would restore Native lands, ancestors, and buffalo. Seen as a threat by U.S. government

“battle” (massacre) of the Wounded Knee

1890; U.S. troops killed 300+ Lakota Sioux.

Sparked by Ghost Dance movement Short-term cause: Sitting Bull’s death (Lakota leader, resistance to U.S. policies). Ended Native resistance, symbol of U.S. oppression.

A Century of Dishonor

1881 book by Helen Hunt Jackson. Exposed U.S. mistreatment of american indians, but led to assimilation policies like the Dawes Act.

Dawes Act

Split tribal lands into individual plots to force Native assimilation. Natives lost 90M+ acres; weakened tribal culture. Reform-driven but disastrous.

Conservation Movement

Late 1800s; aimed to protect natural resources. Led to national parks (Yellowstone 1872)

Forest reserve act withdrew federal timberlands from development

new south

Post-Civil War vision of industrialized South (e.g. tax exemptions to investors and promise of low-wage labor by local govs) (e.g. birmingham, alabama: steel producer)

south: continued poverty

1. northern financing dominated southern economy (3/4 of railroads)

   mainly:

2. poorly educated workforce

3. souths late start at industrialization

Plessy vs. Ferguson

upheld Louisiana law (“separate but equal”) for white and black passengers on railroads.

civil rights act of 1883

supreme court ruled that congress cannot legislate against racial discrimination (practiced by private citizens) (incl. railroads, hotels, etc.)

jim crow laws

segregated washrooms, drinking fountains, park benches, etc.

american fundamentals

individualism, private property, free enterprise, laissez-faire

bessemer process

oxidation of iron iron ore to remove impurities (steel is lighter, stronger, rust-resistant)

labor conditions

no regulation: poor conditions

• fire and gas leaks: mining

• dangerous machines, chemicals: factories

• long hours and no benefits

Booker T. Washington

Advocated vocational education, economic self-sufficiency over immediate civil rights. Too willing to accept discrimination?

national grange movement

in support of farmers and their family; depression due to falling prices and rising costs. Expanded across the U.S., mainly midwest

cooperatives: businesses ran by farmers; less money to middlemen

successful in getting state legislature to regulate railroad rates —> set back by wabash vs. illinois

growth of immigration

• southern and eastern europe: joblessness, religious persecution (jews), U.S. has a reputation for religious and political freedom.

• poor & illiterate peasants unused to democracy

• poor ethnic neighborhoods in major cities (e.g. NY)

• “birds of passage”— young men contracted for unskilled labor, return home with fair sum of money

groups against immigration

1. labor unions: feared strikebreakers

2. American Protective Association (nativist), disliked roman catholics

3. Social Darwinists; immigrants worse than english/german stock

progress and poverty by henry george

proposed single tax on land to reduce poverty, turned public opinion away from laissez-faire and towards government regulation

Hull house

Chicago settlement house founded by Jane Addams. Provided education, childcare, job training for immigrants, poor. Model for Progressive social work.

social gospel

Late 1800s; Christian values linked to progressive reform. Christian ideal: we need to improve things

encouraged protestants to help the poor (e.g. pro bono lawyers)

women’s rights

• NAWSA: women’s suffrage group

• no voting rights: kept trying

• some states allowed women to vote in local elections.

public shools

1. new compulsory education laws; sequired school. 90% literacy rate

2. tax-supported public high schools

social sciences

new fields: applied scientific methods to study society (economics, sociology, psychology). used in reform movements.

the adventures of huckleberry finn by mark twain

realist author; revealed greed, violence, and racism in american society.

new movement of authors focusing on emotions and experiences shaping the human experience

popular press

Mass newspapers grew with cheap printing, urbanization. Sensationalism (yellow journalism) by Pulitzer

amusement

urbanisation, improved transportation, decline of puritan and victorian values discouraging wasting time on play.

drinking & talking at a saloon: theaters, traveling circuses (Barnum and Baily)

political stalemate: belief in limited gov.

laissez-faire and social darwinism. fed.court decisions hindered congress to regulate business.

campaign strategy

avoided taking strong positions; evenly matched: objective was to get out the vote and not alienate voters

flags, campaign buttons, free bear, crowd-pleasing oratory. both republicans and democrats had strong organisation

Pendleton Act of 1881

civil service commission: select applicants for classified federal jobs

prohibited civil servants from making political contributions

system expanded until most federal jobs were classified (taken out of the hands of politicians)

Wabash v. Illinois (1886)

Supreme Court ruled states can't regulate interstate railroads. Weakened state power, led to Interstate Commerce Act (1887) to regulate railroads federally.

Greenback Party

Pro-soft money, wanted paper currency (greenbacks) not backed by gold. Supported farmers, workers, inflation to ease debt.

Populist party

tariff issue

Debate over high tariffs (Republicans, industry) vs. low tariffs (Democrats, farmers). High tariffs protected businesses but raised prices.

billion dollar congress (1889–1891)

Republican-led presidency and both houses of congress, post-cleveland; first to pass $1B budget. Increased Civil War pensions, Navy funding, passed McKinley Tariff (1890), Sherman Antitrust Act (1890). Criticized for overspending.

ocala platform

Farmers' demands: farmer alliances

1. direct popular senate elections

2. federal storage for crops (out middlemen)

3. coinage of silver to increase money supply

4. gradual income tax, etc.

Panic of 1893

stock market crashed

• overspeculation, overbuilding railroads

• farm foreclosure, 20% of workforce unemployed

depression for four years; many relied on soup kitchens and lived as hoboes

Gold Reserve Crisis

U.S. gold reserves fell during Panic of 1893. Pres. Cleveland borrowed $65M from J.P. Morgan to stabilize currency, kept gold standard, angered Populists.

Coxey’s Army

Unemployed workers marched to D.C. during Panic of 1893, led by Jacob Coxey. Demanded government jobs, public works. Dispersed by police, showed worker frustration.

“cross of gold” speech

William Jennings Bryan (populist) defended free silver, attacked gold standard, saying it crucified farmers, workers. Rallied Populists

mining (cali gold rush) impact

1. environmental scars: deep shaft mining, killing buffalo

2. disaster for native americans; reservations, gold found on reservations and moved.

cattle frontier

• 5 mil. heads of cattle roaming free; started herding them (cowboy)

• railroads: opened east markets (steak)

  end:

• overgrazing

• huge ranches set up

• homesteaders— barbed wire

farming frontier

plains: homestead act

problems:

• no wood

• no water

• two-thirds failed

solutions

• dry farming

• windmills (wells)

• strand of wheat which could withstand the weather

boarding schools

Forced assimilation schools (e.g., Carlisle Indian School). Stripped Native culture, language, traditions.

Coin’s Financial School

Pro-free silver pamphlet by William H. Harvey. Argued silver would fix economy, blamed gold standard for depression. Influenced Populists, farmers.

Election of 1896

McKinley (R) vs. Bryan (D/Populist). Gold vs. silver debate. McKinley won, backed by big business.

effects:

• end of populist party

• urban dominance: big business and urban center victory

grandfather clauses

Jim Crow-era laws allowing only those whose grandfathers voted to vote

scabs

strikebreakers: Replacement workers hired during strikes. Used by businesses to break strikes: made strikes ineffective

interstate commerce act

First federal regulation of railroads. Required "reasonable and just" rates, banned unfair practices, created Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). Weak enforcement.

munn v. illinois

business of a public nature can be regulated by a state: states can regulate railroad prices: overridden by wabash vs. illinois

old immigrants vs. new immigrants

• Old (pre-1880s) – N/W Europe (Irish, Germans, British), mostly Protestant, assimilated easily.

• New (1880s-1920s) – S/E Europe (Italians, Poles, Jews), Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish, didn’t speak english, no high skills. not looked upon fondly

literacy tests & rigorous medical examination

to restrict immigration: against foreign people, illiterate people

angel island (west coast; asia), ellis island (east coast; europe)

supported by social darwinists, unions (against scabs)

eventually vetoed by pres. cleveland (Democrat)

boss politics

Political machines controlled cities through patronage, corruption (e.g., Tammany Hall). Helped immigrants in exchange for votes

move towards nuclear family

no longer an asset to have large extended families: children no longer an asset (free labor in farms)

urbanisation: work in factories (children = liability, another mouth to feed)

divorce rates

skyrocket: 1 in 12

more economic independence for women, urbanization, and changing social norms

temperance movement

women tired of husbands blowing money off drinking

movement: make alcohol illegal!

some areas banned selling alcohol

patronage

System where politicians provide jobs, favors in exchange for support/votes