IBUSH

Homestead Act

Homestead Act

allowed male citizens to claim federally owned lands ins the west after the Civil War. Citizens had to improve the land by farming and building houses for five years before they could apply for the official title deed to the land.

Dawes General Allotment Act

Each head of a Native family was to be allotted 160 acres of land, for single individuals over 18 was to be allotted 80 acres, and orphaned children received 40 acres.Un león durmió en un bosque cuando un ratón llegó. El león quería mataba el raton, pero el ratón dijo" me dejo vivir y te ayudaré". El león se reio del ratón y dejaba fue. El siguiente dia, un la red de cazadore capturó el león. El leon grité y el ratón vino. el ratón comía la red y el león quedó libre.

Rodeos

Small riding contests among cowboys, many were scheduled around national holidays, took place in open grassy areas.

Bertha Kaepernick

Female rodeo player since 1916

William Fredrick “Buffalo Bill” Cody

Creator of the “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” show and employed real Native Americans and cowboys

Gordon William “Pawnee Bill” Lillie

A previous employee in Cody’s Wild West show and was a interpreter for Pawnee members. “Pawnee Bill’s Historic Wild West.”, but eventually combined with Cody’s show to make “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Pawnee Bill’s Great Far East”. The cast was vibrant and diverse in race and culture.

Frederick Jackson Turner

Presenter of the Frontier thesis, was scared to what will happen without a frontier.

frontier thesis

Theorized that there were waves of civilization that washed across the continent instead of war and plunder and industry. The frontier line had slowly been moved from the Appalachians all the way to California. Said that Americans were forced into building a rough hewn civilization in the frontier.

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877

Rail lines slashed wages, so workers went on strike to shut down railroad traffic across the country. Many strikers destroyed rail property, and started a class war. Strikers set fire to the city, destroying dozens of buildings, over a hundred engines, and over a thousand cars

Taylorism

Increased efficiency by subdividing tasks. made laborers interchangeable, and speeded up mass production.

“Visible hand”

operated between the worlds of workers and owners and ensured the efficient operation and administration of mass production and mass distribution.

economies of scale

while additional production provided immense profits, the high fixed costs of operating expensive factories dictated that even modest losses from selling underpriced goods were preferable to not selling profitably priced goods at all.

the great merger movement / mergers

In nine years, four thousand companies—nearly 20 percent of the American economy—were folded into rival firms. Forty-one separate consolidations each controlled over 70 percent of the market in their respective industries.

On the Origin of Species.

Where Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution through natural selection and popularized the phrase survival of the fittest.

Social Darwinism

All growth must occur at the top. The strong must grow stronger, and that they may do so, they must waste no strength in the vain task of trying to uplift the weak

Republican Party

supporter of business, had Abraham Lincoln as a corporate lawyer defending for railroads and pushing the business agenda. Gave millions of acres and money to railroad companies, and they dominated American politics throughout the gilded age

Mechanization

When companies reverted to machines and used thousands of replaceable employees. Caused skilled laborers to be forced into unskilled positions

The Knights of Labor

a union that welcomed all laborers and envisioned a society that rewarded labor. The Gould’s rail line strike caused negative headlines for them due to them destroying property.

The American Federation of Labor

opposite to the knights of labor, advocated for a pure and simple economy with higher wages and fewer hours and used an approach that tried to avoid strikes.

Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers

Struck at one of Carnegie’s steel mills, shut down the plant, and fought back against the Pinkerton detectives and won. The state militia eventually came and broke the strike, destroying the whole union in the aftermath.

The American Railway Union (ARU)

launched a sympathy strike for pullman car factory workers, denied any pullman cars on rail. Eugene Debs, the leader, eventually was arrested. Jail radicalized Debs, proving that political leaders were tools for capital in its struggle against labor

The populist party

Formed by farmers, caused by them being outraged with their powerlessness in the economy and against industrial giants.

strategies used by the farmers alliance against big businesses

If big business relied on its numerical strength to exert its economic will, why shouldn’t farmers unite to counter that power? They could share machinery, bargain from wholesalers, and negotiate higher prices for their crops.

Omaha Platform / populist movement

sought to counter the scale and power of monopolistic capitalism with a strong, engaged, and modern federal government. The platform proposed an unprecedented expansion of federal power

William Jennings Bryan

attacked on the gold standard and tirelessly promotion of free silver and policies for the benefit of the average American. “You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold” was nominated as both the democrats and populists candidate, fatally fracturing the populists party, moving it to the democrats.

Socialists

sought “the overthrow of the capitalist system and the emancipation of the working class from wage slavery.” , wanted “ownership of the trust by the government, and the ownership of the government by the people.”31

Rudyard Kipling

Said that Chicago was captivated by technology and blinded by greed

Chicago’s significance in America

Became America’s butcher. The Chicago meat processing industry, a cartel of five firms, produced four fifths of the meat bought by American consumers.

Union Stock Yards

the nation’s largest meat processing zone, the meatpacking industry was closely tied to urbanization and immigration.

Significance of Railroads

The railroads created the first great concentrations of capital, spawned the first massive corporations, made the first of the vast fortunes that would define the Gilded Age, unleashed labor demands that united thousands of farmers and immigrants, and linked many towns and cities.