APUSH Unit 6.1- (+AMSCO)

AMSCOs chapter 16; 1865-1900

Homestead Act of 1862

• 160 acres of public land to all settlers who agreed to work, improve, or settle on it

• Passed by Republicans; Democrats weren’t in Congress at the time & didn’t like homesteads

• Farmers from old agricultural states began to look west; small farmers couldn’t compete with large-scale farms

• Native Americans were displaced and over farming led to Dust Bowls (dust storms)

Significance of the Frontier in American History

• 1893; An essay written by Frederick Jackson Turner

• The experience of westward expansion fostered democracy and individualism

• The West embodied the two; Turner argued that the West was a “safety valve” for struggling people in the East

• Turner was largely concerned over the frontier closing; no more “safety valve”

Dawes Act / Impact of the Dawes Act

• Organized to move Native Americans to reservations

• Trained Native Americans to work in American farm life

• Sent children to school for citizenship & to teach American values

• Native Americans lost their land and culture as a result

African Americans in the West

• Kansas became the promised land of freedom for African Americans; they also went to Oklahoma

• These travelers were referred to as “Exodusters”, since their movement was seen as a biblical parallel to Exodus

• They migrate because of Jim Crow Laws and Black Codes

Immigrants in the West

• Chinese attracted to California for Gold Rush; labor in gold mines and transcontinental railroad

• Japanese would replace Chinese on farms in Central/North California

• Hispanics would replace Japanese; the ones in Southwest relied on cattle and sheepherding

• Italians and Japanese mainly responsible for building majority of the continental railroad

Chinese Exclusion Act

• The act banned further entry of Chinese laborers into California; a response to rising anti-Chinese immigrant sentiment

• Denied citizenship to Chinese citizens in the United States

• Nativists didn’t want to compete with them for jobs

Urbanization

• Urbanization and industrialization developed simultaneously

• Cities provided a central supply of labor and market to sell

• People move from rural areas to cities; easier access to jobs

• Infrastructure of cities couldn’t keep up with population; urban population went from 10 million to 30 million

William Le Baron Jenney & the Skyscraper

• William Le Baron Jenney built the first U.S. skyscraper, “Home Insurance Building” in Chicago

• Steel girders, elevators, and plate glass windows helped with the development of the skyscraper

Tenements

• Small, crowded buildings that originally had no windows

• Cramped living conditions, disease, rat infestations

• Families lived in these buildings; mostly immigrants

• Designed to help with poor families suffering from urbanization

New Immigrants

• 1880s+

• Came from Southern & Eastern Europe (mainly Italy, Poland, Greece)

• Most immigrants came from autocratic countries; didn't know what democracy was

Political Machines

• Tammany Hall: New York political machine led by “Boss” Tweed

• Served as a social service agency in exchange for votes (primarily from immigrants)

Popular Press

• Joseph Pulitzer creates the New York World newspaper; first to exceed a million copies

• William Randolph Hearst competes with Pulitzer

• Yellow Journalism is created; specialized in sensationalism reporting, exaggerated headlines & lies

City Amusements

• 8-hour workday provided greater leisure for laborers

• Theaters, amusement parks, sporting events

• Watching sports became popular; sport heroes overtook political heroes in fame

Frederick Law Olmstead

• Led various beautification projects

• Led to “City Beautiful” movement; creation of suburbs and Central Park

• Believed this would improve mental health & provide relief from industrialization

A Century of Dishonor

• Written by Helen Hunt Jackson; wrote of deceit, abuse, and broken treaties between Native Americans and American government

• The book emphasized injustice that the Native Americans faced in the 19th and 20th centuries

• Raised awareness and advocated for their rights; represented broader themes of expansionism and Manifest Destiny and how it disregarded Native American rights

Social Darwinism

• Created by Herbert Spencer

• Combined the ideas of Darwinism and human evolution; used to justify racism

• Human society had evolved through competition and survival of the fittest

Laissez-Faire Economics

• Transactions between private parties are free from state intervention

• Hands off economy; government doesn’t interfere

• Adam Smith; Wealth of Nations

Republicans

• “Waving the bloody shirt”; a political strategy to remind people that Democrats seceded

• Supported by reformers and African Americans; mostly from Northeast (New England) 

• Supported high tariffs to protect U.S. industry; Republicans and capitalists

Democrats

• Largely Southerners and Democrats; relied on former Confederate states to vote

• Relied on political machines for votes from immigrants

• Supported state rights; supported laissez-faire economics & low tariffs

Republican Factions

• Differed over patronage (public official granting jobs)

• Stalwarts - favored political machines & spoils system

• Halfbreeds - favored civil service reform & merit system

• Mugwumps - against political machines and graft (political machines stealing from people)

James Garfield

• Was a “halfbreed”; 20th president

• Assassinated in 1881 by Charles Guiteau who wanted a government position

Chester A. Arthur

• 21st president; 1881-1885

• Stalwart

Pendleton Act / 1883 Civil Reform Act

• Setup Civil Service Commission; established a merit based system for government hiring

• 1900 - ½ of federal jobs classified; protected employees from being fired for their political views

National Grange Movement (Granger Laws, Munn v. Illinois)

• Political action to defend farmers against middlemen, trusts, and railroads

• Sought to create cooperatives: small farmers combine money and buy large farming machines in bulk

• Granger Laws - states regulate rates of railroads & unfair rebates to preferred customers (large farmers & businesses)

• Munn v. Illinois - upheld state rights to regulate businesses (not interstate commerce)

Grover Cleveland

• 22nd President; 1885-1889

• First Democrat president after the Civil War

Cleveland’s First Term (Interstate Commerce Commission)

• Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 - federal government’s efforts to regulate business

• Established Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC): first federal regulatory agency

• ICC had the power to investigate and prosecute railroad’s discriminatory practices; aimed to ensure fair rates & reflected growing belief for government intervention

Wabash v. Illinois

• 1886; court ruled that states couldn’t regulate interstate commerce

• Wabash charged different rates

Soft Money

• Supported by South & West

• Debtors, farmers, and new businesses wanted more money in circulation

• They wanted low interest rates and pay off loans with inflated dollars

Greenback Party

• South & West; a political party for supporters of paper (soft) money

• Advocated for the issue of paper money to help farmers and working-class citizens to cope with economic hardships

• Also supported the silver dollar (large quantity initially)

Hard Money Supporters

• Generally supported by the Northeast; supported by investors, bankers, creditors, and established businesses

• Believed hard money would stabilize the economy and resist inflation

“Crime of ‘73”

• A large amount of silver was found in Nevada; farmers, debtors, and miners supported unlimited coinage & demanded it be used as a currency

• President Grant dropped the currency in favor of gold, angering farmers; critics saw this as the government favoring the wealthy over the average citizen

Bland-Allison Act (Crime of ‘73)

• 1878; allowed for a limited coinage of between $2-4 million in silver each month

• Mandated the government to purchase and coin silver

• This act was a response to the growing discontent from farmers and debtors; hoped to support the South and West

Benjamin Harrison

• 23rd president; 1889-1893

Billion Dollar Congress

• Named for being the first time Congress spent over a billion dollars; Republican-dominated'

• McKinley Tariff - raised taxes on foreign products to peacetime high over 48%; gain a bunch of revenue, mostly towards pensions to Civil War veterans

• Sherman Antitrust Act - outlawed combinations (monopolies) in restraint trade

• Sherman Silver Purchase Act - mandated the U.S. government to purchase large amounts of silver to be minted into coins

Farmer’s Alliance

• Formed to serve the needs of farmers; education in agricultural sciences, political & economic action

Omaha Platform / Populist (People’s) Party

• Wanted to do something about the concentration of power in hands of trusts & bankers

• Mostly composed of farmers, urban workers, and silver miners

• Wanted reform based on economic struggles

Populist Party Reforms

• Direct election of U.S. senators to avoid bias

• Initiative & referendum; citizens can propose and vote to pass laws

• Wanted public ownership of railroads

• Graduated income tax; higher income = higher taxes

• 8-hour workday

• Unlimited coinage of silver

1892 Election

• Grover Cleveland (Democrat) vs Benjamin Harrison (Republican) vs James Weaver (Populist Party)

• Weaver won 22 electoral votes; gained national recognition for the Populist Party

• Cleveland wins, becomes 24th president; first president to serve two non-consecutive terms

Cleveland loses Support

• Citizens blamed him for the Panic of 1893

• Cleveland repeals the Sherman Silver Purchase Act; angers farmers and urban workers

• Democratic Party ends up being split as a result of revoking the Sherman Silver Purchase Act

Election of 1896

• Cross of Gold speech - William Jennings Bryan; basically said that staying in the gold standard will ruin the economic prosperity of the average citizen

• “You shall not crucify mankind on a cross of gold”

• William McKinley wins; 25th president (1897-1901)