19th Century Industrialization and its Impacts

William “Boss” Tweed

* helped immigrants
* then told them how to vote
* criminal
* rigged elections, used political position to steal millions, profited off of city contracts
* ran Tammany Hall
* organized the needs of businesses, immigrants, and the poor so that everyone in the community flourished
* did it because their actions effectively put the communities that they helped in **debt** to them → community owed the machine their **vote**
* Tweed stole millions from tax payers through schemes of deceit and fraud

political machines

* groups of people who knew how to secure votes for their parties
* at the top were bosses who doled out order
* if members were faithful to the boss, they were rewarded with jobs
* meant to gain the **patronage** needed to win elections

old immigration vs new immigration

* 1865-1890 = old immigrants from Central Europe (Germany, Britain, Ireland)
* After 1890 = new immigrants from Southern, Eastern Europe and Middle East (Greeks, Slavs, Jews, Italians) more cultural diversity

city beautiful movement

* Urban planning movement in 1890s-1920s
* supported by architects, landscape architects, reformers
* design should encourage civic pride and engagement
* help with social issues

social realism

* works produced by all types of artists that aim to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures behind these conditions
* Naturalistic - urban setting, clash of nature and civilization
* Literature
* Theodore Dreiser, “Sister Carrie” (1900)
* Kate Chopin, “The Awakening” (1899)
* Stephen Crane, “Maggie: A Girl of the Streets” (1893)

Anti-Immigrant movements/Government policies

* 1850s - order of the Star Spangled Banner - “Know-Nothings”
* 1856 - The American Party
* Henry Bowers
* 1887
* American Protective Association
* Hatred of Catholics (specifically Irish)
* Immigration Restriction League
* 1894
* founded by Harvard Alumni
* screen immigrants with literacy test
* Chinese Exclusion Act
* 1882 - banned Chinese immigration for 10 years
* Chinese in the U.S. could not become citizens
* Renewed in 1892 and 1902

Henry Bowers

* 1887
* founded the American protective association
* hatred of catholics

Friendly Government Policies towards business

* Social Darwinism in economics
* Laissez-Faire = hands off
* governments would not intervene with or regulate business practices
* allowed factories to mass produce goods to be sold on a national and international scale with lax regulations
* American government intervened very rarely in economic operations of business

Knights of Labor

* skilled and unskilled workers
* founder - Terence Powderly
* goals = destruction of trusts and monopolies, abolition of child labor
* fell apart after the Haymarket Square Riot

Henry Ford’s contributions

* American businessman


* founded Ford Motor Company
* father of motor assembly lines
* inventor credited with 161 patents
* pioneered the manufacturing of affordable automobiles

Vertical Consolidation

* a company owns all aspects of production
* a company acquires all the complementary industries that support its business
* i.e. Andrew Carnegie bought up companies that handled all parts of steel production

Horatio Alger

* wrote a series of dime novels that often features a poor boy who achieves success in the world
* That success is usually the result of a bit of luck and a bit of pluck
* Perpetrated the myth that anyone could make it in Gilded Age America

Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth

* business leaders can make as much money as they can BUT the must use it correctly
* don’t give it away after you die, don’t leave it to your kids
* instead, give it back to the community in ways that help develop the community
* schools, libraries, gyms
* philanthropy not charity
* Heimler says:
* argued that those with extraordinary wealth had a duty from God to invest their wealth back into society through generous acts of philanthropy
* Carnegie gave away nearly $350 million to build libraries and concert halls and universities

Social Darwinism

* in an economic context:
* argued that strong companies should “eat” weak companies
* world’s wealth would be concentrated in the hands of those deemed “fittest”
* generally:
* Henry Spencer
* English philosopher
* dated Charles Darwin’s “natural selection” to human society
* “survival of the fittest”
* used to support racism, imperialism, and monopolies
* “weak” businesses die
* “strong” businesses succeed

Farmer’s Alliances

* political groups formed to give farmers a voice
* farmers wanted:
* government regulation of railroads
* anti-trust laws
* more money in circulation
* Mary Lease
* eventually join together to form a political party (populists)

Populist Party

* Farmer’s Alliances form the “people’s party”
* they speak out for farmers and factory workers
* sought to work for the people and correct the gross concentration of economic power held by elite banks and trusts
* published their beliefs in the Omaha Platform
* direct election of Senators
* use of initiatives and referendums which allowed people to propose and vote on legislation
* government ownership of railroads, telephone, and telegraph companies
* restriction of undesirable immigration
* 8-hour work day
* graduated income tax
* unlimited coinage of silver/re-monitization of silver
* a single term for President and Vice President

William Jennings Bryan

* actively campaigned for the presidency


* traveled cross-country delivering “cross of gold” speech
* turned some voters off with campaigning
* endorsed by the Populists
* Democratic Party 1896
* adopted Populist ideas
* tariff reductions
* income tax
* strict control of trusts (esp. railroads)
* free silver
* Lost because:
* his focus on silver undermined efforts to build bridges to urban voters
* he did not form alliances with other groups
* McKinley’s campaign was well-organized and highly funded

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Granger Laws

* a series of laws passed in several midwestern states of the United States (namely Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois) in the late 1860s and early 1870s
* were promoted primarily by a group of farmers known as the Grange
* the Grange was founded by Agricultural Department Official, Oliver H. Kelley, in 1867
* National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry
* brings farmers together
* learn new techniques in farming
* began to focus on economic issues
* organized marketing cooperative to sell their own crops
* political action against railroad monopolies and warehouses

Munn v Illinois

* 1877
* states can regulate businesses that were public utilities (service)

Wabash v. Illinois

* 1886
* states canNOT regulate railroads that cross state lines

Mary Lease

* advocated for farmers
* spoke out against Wall Street
* tied closely to women’s movement
* “raise less corn and more hell!”

Alfred Thayer Mahan

* the influence of sea power upon history
* sea power is the path to greatness for all nations in history
* U.S. needs new overseas markets to remain powerful
* U.S. needs powerful navy to protect those markets
* Naval Act of 1890 - fund construction of new ships
* by 1900 U.S. has one of the most powerful navies in the world

Open Door policy

* Secretary of State John Hay sent the Open Door Note to European powers in China asking them to observe an open door of trading privileges in China
* was not accepted or rejected so America held on to some trading rights in the Asian market
* Gave all nations equal access to trade in China

Sanford Ballard Dole and Hawaii

* U.S. interest in _____:
* missionaries
* fruit industry
* sugar industry
* Hawaiian Nationalist, Queen Liliuokalani is removed from power by U.S. marines and the Dole Pineapple Company (1893)

Platt and Teller Amendments

* Teller Amendment (1898)
* senator Henry Teller addendum to the declaration of war on Spain
* the U.S. will not seek control of Cuba
* Platt Amendment (1903)
* Cuba cannot enter into agreements with other nations
* U.S. can interfere in Cuban affairs
* U.S. can lease land for naval base(s)

Anti-Imperialist League

* founded in 1899
* members included Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie, William Jennings Bryan
* campaigned against U.S. control of Philippines
* arguments AGAINST imperialism:
* self determination for nations
* America had a long history of isolationism from foreign affairs
* the Constitution SHOULD follow the flag

Senator Albert Beveridge’s March of the Flag

* arguments made in favor of imperialism:
* Jefferson expanded U.S. territory
* Louisiana Purchase
* wanted Cuba
* went to war with Mexico for Texas
* took Florida from Spain
* we are “God’s chosen people” - like manifest destiny
* if Germany, England, and France can imperialize, why not us?
* Philippines would “prefer” us ruling than the “savage” rule of the Spanish or self-rule

Phillippines War

* Philippines is annexed by U.S. after driving the Spanish out
* Filipinos gather under the leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo to throw off U.S. rule
* brutal 3 year war lasts from 1898-1902
* Philippines is defeated and the U.S. holds onto the territory until after WWII
* Philippines finally gains independence in 1946

government attempts to regulate business

* Sherman Anti-Trust Act
* 1890 - outlawed any combination of companies that restrained interstate trade
* not effective against trusts
* used against the unions in the Pullman Strike
* Interstate Commerce Act
* 1887 - regulated the prices railroads charged
* railroads can’t give special deals to certain customers
* sets up Interstate Commerce Commission
* outcomes of supreme court granger cases

Changes in industry from the mid to late 19th century

* industrialization led to the mass production of goods to be sold all around the world
* John D. Rockefeller
* owner of Standard Oil
* **horizontal integration**
* one company eventually buys out all its competitors until there is effectively no competition left
* forced his competitors to sell their companies to him, eliminating competition
* Andrew Carnegie
* dominated the steel industry
* **vertical integration**
* a company acquires all the complementary industries that support its business
* bought up companies that handled all parts of steel production
* Henry Bessemer pioneers the Bessemer process
* made strong, cheap, and abundant steel
* led to bridges, railroads, and the growth of cities
* Monopolies
* a company gains complete control of a product or service

American Federation of Labor

* skilled workers
* founder - Samuel Gompers
* goals = similar to KoL, higher wages, safer working conditions