History Westernization

Manifest Destiny

Belief that Americans had the right to stretch across North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific

Homestead Act

1862 - Provided free land in the West to anyone willing to settle there and develop it. Encouraged westward migration.

Plains Technology

Some of the technologies that made it possible to settle and farm the Great Plains were steel plows, barbed wire, and windmills

Primary source

Something made or written by someone who was there at the time

Push Factor Westward Migration

California Gold Rush, Homestead Act, Transcontinental Railroad

Transcontinental Railroad

Completed in 1869 at Promontory, Utah, it linked the eastern railroad system with California's railroad system, revolutionizing transportation in the west

Ways Settlers adapted to conditions on the Great Plains

Built sod houses, used steel plows, developed dry farming techniques

Battle of Wounded Knee

Battle that marked the end of the wars between the federal government and Plains Indians. 300 Sioux men, women, and children were killed.

Dawes Act

1887 law which gave all Native American males 160 acres to farm and also set up schools to make Native American children more like other Americans

Assimilation

The social process of absorbing one cultural group into harmony with another. Example: American Indians to become American

Americanization

Causing a person to acquire American traits and characteristics (learn English and dressing like an American)

Granger Movement

A farmers' organization and movement that started as a social/educational association; the Grange later organized politically to pass a series of laws to regulate railroads in various states.

Populist Party

People's Party; political party formed mainly to support farmers in 1891 to advocate a larger money supply and other economic reforms

Bimetallism

It would put more money in circulation by using both gold and silver as legal tender. Proposed by farmers and Populists.

Jim Crow

Laws designed to enforce segregation of blacks from whites

Segregation

Separation of people based on racial, ethnic, or other differences

Conditions for African Americans Post Reconstruction South

Racial segregation, sharecroppers, literacy tests, and KKK intimidation

Plessy v. Ferguson

a 1896 Supreme Court decision which legalized state ordered segregation so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal. "Separate but equal"

Booker T. Washington

He believed that racism would end once blacks acquired useful labor skills and proved their economic value to society, until then blacks should just accept their discriminated position. Opposite of W.E.B. DuBois' view.

W.E.B. DuBois

Opposed Booker T. Washington. Wanted social and political integration as well as higher education for 10% of African Americans-what he called a "Talented Tenth". Founder of the Niagara Movement which led to the creation of the NAACP.

Nativism

A policy of favoring native-born individuals over foreign-born ones

Chinese Exclusion Act

Denied any additional Chinese laborers to enter the United States while allowing students and merchants to immigrate.

Laissez-faire

Idea that government should play as small a role as possible in economic affairs.

John D. Rockefeller

Established the Standard Oil Company, the greatest, wisest, and meanest monopoly known in history

Andrew Carnegie

A Scottish-born American industrialist and philanthropist who founded the Carnegie Steel Company in 1892. By 1901, his company dominated the American steel industry.

Bessemer Process

A cheap and efficient process for making steel, developed around 1850

Robber Barons

Refers to the industrialists or big business owners who gained huge profits by paying their employees extremely low wages. They also drove their competitors out of business by selling their products cheaper than it cost to produce it. Then when they controlled the market, they hiked prices high above original price.

Social Darwinism

The belief that only strong companies and people can survive without government intervention

Rise of Big Business

Monopolies, large corporations, natural resources, and new inventions

Interstate Commerce Act

1887 law passed to regulate railroad and other interstate businesses

Sherman Antitrust Act

A law that made it illegal to create monopolies or trusts that restrained trade which would restrict competition

Antitrust legislation

federal and state laws passed to prevent new monopolies from forming and to break up those that already exist. Allow fair competition between businesses

Rapid growth of cities

was an effect of the expansion of railroads across the United States

Thomas Edison

American inventor best known for inventing the electric light bulb. Allowed factory workers to work at night

Reasons for immigration from Europe

escaping religious, racial and political persecution or seeking relief from a lack of economic opportunity or famine still pushed many immigrants out of their homelands

Contribution to U.S. industrial growth

Abundant (plenty) natural resources and improved transportation

Ellis Island

An immigrant receiving station that opened in 1892 in New York, where immigrants were given a medical examination and only allowed in if they were healthy

Angel Island

The immigration station on the west coast where Asian immigrants, mostly Chinese gained admission to the U.S. at San Francisco Bay.

Political Machines

Appealed to immigrants and urban poor; provided services in exchange for support. Think Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall

Boss Tweed

William Tweed, head of Tammany Hall, NYC's powerful democratic political machine in 1868. Between 1868 and 1869 he led the Tweed Reign, a group of corrupt politicians in defrauding the city. Example: Responsible for the construction of the NY court house; actual construction cost $3 million. Project cost tax payers $13 million.

Patronage

The giving of government jobs to people who had helped a candidate get elected

Labor Unions

An organization formed by workers to strive for better wages and working conditions

Knights of Labor

an American labor organization founded to protect the rights of workers; allowed unskilled workers to join

American Federation of Labor

1886; founded by Samuel Gompers; sought better wages, hours, working conditions; skilled laborers

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

He came from France to America in 1831. He observed democracy in government and society. His book (written in two parts in 1835 and 1840) discusses the advantages of democracy and consequences of the majority's unlimited power. First to raise topics of American practicality over theory, the industrial aristocracy, and the conflict between the masses and individuals.

Urbanization

An increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in urban (city) settlements.