19th Century Industrialization and its Impacts

William “Boss” Tweed

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

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