Time Period 6: 1865–1898

Pacific Railroad Act of 1862

* The first transcontinental railroad, one of the first large federally funded infrastructure projects
* Led by Lincoln, Theodore Judah, and Leland Stanford
* Laborers/other populations
* 10,000-15,000 Chinese immigrants made up 90% of the Central Pacific workforce
* Brought farming techniques
* Irish made up 50% of the Union Pacific railroad workforce

Dawes Act

\- 1887

160 acres given to families to live on reservations, but given bad land, forced to follow European land use patterns(private property), and land given diminished over time

Homestead Act

\- 1862

* Opportunity for women to own their own land
* 400-600,000 families moved there
* 44% were immigrants
* Exodusters- 1879- African Americans moving to the west

Oklahoma Land Rush

2 million acres of Cherokee land given away in 24 hours in September 18

Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier thesis

* Based on the 1890 census, there was no American frontier
* Said that the frontier had shaped the country (self reliance and independent nature), and now needs new land to conquer
* These ideas led to American imperialism
* Didn’t mention people of color who already lived there
* Patricia Nelson Limerick challenged his thesis, arguing that western expansion was mainly conquest, etc.

Battle of Little Big Horn

June 25, 1876

Lt. Colonel Custer’s troops were wiped out in 20 minutes

Ghost Dance Movement

Spiritual movement where they wore shirts supposed to stop bullets in Wounded Knee South Dakota

Bessemer Process

better way to make steel

Social Darwinism

* “Survival of the fittest” in a society
* Herbert Spencer and others applied Darwin’s new scientific ideas to society/businesses
* Said some people were better than others and that violence was natural
* Capitalism- the better companies would survive

Knights of Labor

* Open to all workers
* Wanted 8 hour work days

American Federation of Labor

* Skilled craft workers Samuel Gompers
* 8 million members by 1955

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877

* Economic depression bankrupted tens of thousands of firms
* Railroad lines laid off workers
* Workers went on strike
* Sympathy demonstrations
* Government sent in militia to stop strike, over 100 workers died

The Homestead Strike of 1892

* Iron and steel workers formed a union
* Henry Clay Frick was shot; brought in thugs and detectives
* 13 died before the Pinkertons surrendered
* National guard came to stop strike

Economic individualism

* Free market/laissez-faire
* survival of the fittest
* Proposed by Yale professor William Graham Sumner

Social gospel

* Rich people should redistribute wealth to help others
* “Tax the rich”
* Proposed by social philosopher Henry George

Urbanization

* Progress (+)
* Architecture such as the skyscraper, Brooklyn Bridge
* Tech: lights, cars, subways, trolleys, etc.
* City planning: built in a circular pattern
* Social changes: women married later and had fewer children; those in the sphere of domesticity had more leisure time
* Poverty (-)
* Crowded living conditions riddled with diseases (900 people/acre)
* Unsafe atmosphere: pollution of water and air, illness, trafficking
* Gangs and crime: suicide and alcoholism rates rose
* Response: dumbbell tenement housing for poor; also overcrowded and lacking ventilation and settlement houses such as Hull House run by Jane Addams

Boss Tweed

* Controlled local and state governments while providing services
* Corrupt, fixed elections and falsified results
* Helped immigrants become naturalized


* Became Senator
* Took government money for himself, bought large houses

American Protective Association

* New nativism group
* Eugenic politicians shaped immigration policy
* Passed Chinese exclusion act to target laborers who worked very hard
* Immigration Act of 1891
* Sterilization laws
* causes
* Seen as an economic threat
* Unfamiliar cultures, languages, and religions
* Large numbers, established ethnic enclaves
* Perceived failure to assimilate
* Associated with negatives of urbanization
* Sense of white superiority
* Pseudo sciences and social Darwinism led to eugenics

Populist Party

* Bad conditions for farmers
* Expanding markets; increased efficiency made crop prices fall
* Environmental problems, currency issues (high interest rates), high property taxes, tariffs, only one cash crop became a disaster when prices were low, storage and shipping fees
* Granger movement
* Groups came together to try to get their voices heard
* Munn vs. Illinois - 1877
* Farmers lost, ruled that state legislatures can regulate railroad rates
* Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific RR Co. vs. IL
* Reverse earlier decision, ruled that only the federal government can regulate interstate railroad rates
* Mary Elizabeth Lease - 1886
* Spoke out against bankers getting rich from poor farmers
* Started the Kansas People’s Party
* Wanted restrictions on immigration