time period 6 BIG TWEST

1. What factors led to the growth of cities in the second half of the 19th  century?

• rise of factories and industrial jobs in cities drew people from rural areas and immigrants seeking employment

• large influx of immigrants from Europe and Asia contributed to urban population growth, as they often settled in cities for job opportunities

• Improvements in transportation, such as railroads and streetcars, made it easier to move people and goods, facilitating urban expansion

1. How did the nature of immigration change in the 1870s/1880s? How did “nativism” return in the 1880’s because of it?

• immigration shifted to include more people from Southern and Eastern Europe (e.g., Italians, Jews, Poles, and Slavs), compared to earlier immigrants from Northern and Western Europe.

• new immigrants were often seen as culturally different and less desirable by many Americans

• Nativism: belief in protecting native-born Americans

• Nativists feared immigrants would take jobs, lower wages, and undermine American cultural values

1. Explain the differing philosophies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois.

• Booker T. Washington:

  • Black people should focus on vocational and industrial education to gain economic independence and prove their worth to white society

• W.E.B. Du Bois:

  • believed in the importance of higher education and actively fight for their civil and political rights

Explain one change/development during the Gilded Age within churches

• Social Gospel movement

  • focused on applying Christian principles to address social issues such as poverty, labor rights, and inequality

  • advocating for social justice and the improvement of society, rather than just individual salvation.

Explain one change/development during the Gilded Age within women

• growth of the women’s suffrage movement

• activists worked to secure women’s right to vote, leading to the formation of organizations like the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

  • Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Explain one change/development during the Gilded Age within education

• more public schooling

• industrialization grew = more need for educated work force

Explain one change/development during the Gilded Age within literature/arts/amusement

• looking Backward” by Edward Bellamy

• utopian vision of the future

• society has eliminated poverty and inequality through cooperation

• advocated for social reforms and inspired discussions about capitalism and socialism

Jane Addams/Settlement houses

• social worker and activist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

• co-founded Hull House in Chicago, one of the most famous settlement houses, providing services to immigrants and the poor

  • offered education, job training, healthcare, and social services to help marginalized communities integrate into society

NAWSA

• National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1890

• Its primary goal was to secure voting rights for women in the U.S.

• The organization played a key role in the women’s suffrage movement.

• NAWSA's efforts contributed to the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920, granting women the right to vote.

Ida B. Wells

• journalist, educator, and civil rights activist

• known for the anti-lynching campaign

• used her writing to expose the horrors of lynching and advocate for racial justice and women’s rights

Women’s Christian Temperance Movement

• created in the late 1800s

• Led by Frances Willard

• fought against alcohol and promoted healthier lifestyles

  • believed it was the root of many social problems including domestic violence nad poverty

• connected the fight against drinking to other important issues like women’s rights and education

Mark Twain

• famous American author and humorist known for works like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

• explored themes of racism, societal norms, and human nature with wit and satire

Social Gospel

• Christian movement

• applied Christian ethics to social problems

  • poverty, inequality, and labor rights

• showed importance of social justice and working to improve society, rather than focusing solely on personal salvation

What led to the Battle of Little Bighorn?

• U.S. government and Native American tribes had lots of tension b/c white settlers would invade their land in the Black Hills

• U.S. Army tried to force the tribes into reservations but Natives resisted

Describe the massacre at Wounded Knee

• massacre followed a scuffle over the Lakota’s Ghost Dance movement and a struggle to disarm the tribe.

• U.S. Army killed over 250 Lakota Sioux at the Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota

What factors led to the destruction of Native tribes?

• caused by westward expansion, military conflict, and the spread of diseases that devastated their populations.

• U.S. government also forced Native peoples onto reservations and violated treaties, further disrupting their way of life

Homestead Act

• aimed to encourage westward expansion

• gave 160 acres of free public land to any settler who would live on them.

Boomers/Oklahoma

• On April 22, 1889, Oklahoma opened its first land run, opening up the Unassigned Lands of Indian Territory for white settlement

• Boomers staked out their claims on the specified day while Sooners cheated by staking out their claims the night before.

Reservation system

• a policy in the 19th century where Native American tribes were forced to live on designated plots of land, often far from their ancestral territories

• confining natives to reservations to make way for settlers and expand westward

• Life on reservations was marked by poverty, restricted freedoms, and a loss of cultural practices, leading to significant challenges for Native American communities

What led to farmers being unhappy?

• Falling crop prices

• rising railroad rates

• high-interest loans

• deflation (caused by the gold standard)

Who were the People’s Party/Populists? What were their key stances.

• A political movement of farmers and workers advocating for free silver, railroad regulation, and income tax.

• Free silver (bimetallism): Advocated for the unlimited coinage of silver to create inflation and help farmers pay off debts.

• Government regulation of railroads: To prevent monopolistic pricing.

• Progressive income tax: To tax the wealthy more fairly.

• Direct election of senators: To reduce corruption in government.

• Eight-hour workday: To support laborers.

Explain why Grover Cleveland’s second term went poorly.

• Panic of 1893

  • a severe economic depression caused by railroad failures, bank collapses, and a drop in gold reserves

• adherence to the gold standard and his opposition to free silver alienated many Americans, especially struggling farmers and worker

The Election of 1896 was critical as it pitted William McKinley (Republican) against William Jennings Bryan (Democrat). What was the key issue surrounding the race? What did McKinley’s victory represent?

• William Jennings Bryan (Democrat-Populist) gave his famous “Cross of Gold” speech, advocating for free silver to help indebted farmers.

• William McKinley (Republican) supported the gold standard and had strong backing from big business and industrialists like Mark Hanna.

• The dominance of big business and industry over rural America.

• The decline of the Populist movement as farmers’ hopes of free silver faded.

• A shift towards a more modern, industrialized America.introduction of machines (like the mechanical reaper and combine harvester) increased farm production but also led to overproduction, causing falling prices and financial struggles for farmers.

“Mechanization of agriculture”

introduction of machines (like the mechanical reaper and combine harvester) increased farm production but also led to overproduction, causing falling prices and financial struggles for farmers

Mary Lease

Populist speaker who urged farmers to “raise less corn and more hell” in protest against big business and government corruption.

Homestead Strike

A violent labor strike at Andrew Carnegie’s Homestead Steel Plant, where Pinkerton guards clashed with steelworkers. It highlighted tensions between labor and big business.

Grandfather clause

A legal tactic used in the South to disenfranchise Black voters by allowing only those whose grandfathers had voted before Reconstruction to bypass literacy tests and poll taxes—effectively excluding most African Americans.

What was the Pullman Strike?

a nationwide railroad strike against the Pullman Company

• strike was initiated by Pullman workers, supported by the American Railway Union (ARU)

• escalated to a national boycott of trains carrying Pullman cars

• federal troops intervened to break the strike, citing disruption of mail delivery

Cross of Gold speech

• advocated for bimetallic (the use of both gold and silver to back currency) to increase money supply and combat deflation

• criticized the gold standard, claiming it harmed farmers and working-class Americans

Gold Standard Act

• legislation that established gold as the sole basis of redeeming paper currency in the U.S.

• promoted economic stability and confidence in the currency

• limited the money supply, which impacted inflation and economic growth

• contributed to debates over monetary policy in the early 20th century

What caused the Pullman strike?

• wages were cut by Pullman without a reduction in rent

• poor working conditions amid an economic depression

What were the consequences of the Pullman strike?

• strike was violently suppressed; Debs was arrested

• highlighted tensions between labor and government intervention

• set a precedent for federal involvement in labor disputes

How did the railroad industry change after the Civil War? What were the positives of this? How was the government involved? In what ways did corruption emerge?

• railroads skyrocketed (35,000 —> 192,000 miles in 35 years)

• connected the nation, boosted trade, created new markets

• Congress gave millions of acres of land to railroad companies

• bribery, insider trading, overcharging taxpayers

America jumped from #4 to #1 in manufacturing worldwide during the Gilded Age. Why did this occur?

• growing railroad network

• technological innovations such as the Bessemer process

How successful were Southerners at industrializing?

• produced less than before the Civil War

• farming split up into small chunks, often done by sharecroppers who “rented“ the land

Cornelius Vanderbilt

• railroad owner who built railway connecting Chicago and New York

• popularized steel rails in railroads —> made railroads safer and more economical

Thomas Edison

• invented the phonograph

• came up with the light bulb

Andrew Carnegie

• became master of the steel industry with the U.S. Steel Corporation

• used vertical integration to grow his business

  • bought out businesses he used in the production process

Bessemer Process

cool air blown over red hot iron to burn off impurities and produce stronger and cheaper steel

John D. Rockefeller

• founded Standard Oil Company

  • used horizontal integration to take over the industry

• controlled 90-95% of the oil in the U.S.

Standard Oil Company

• owned by Rockefeller

• controlled almost all oil production, processing, marketing, and transportation in the US

J.P. Morgan

• financed the reorganization of railroads, insurance companies, and banks

• bought out Carnegie —> started the U.S. Steel Corporation

Social Darwinists

• from Charles Darwin’s new evolution and survival-of-the-fittest theories from biology to society

• the reason certain people were at the top of their business was because they were the best adapted at running that industry

Sherman Antitrust Act

• attempted to outlaw trusts or monopolies

• prevented businesses from engaging in practices that harm competition

  • restraining trade 

  • monopolization

Knights of Labor

• a labor union

• advocated for workers; cooperatives, better working conditions, 8 hour work day

• welcomed skilled and unskilled, women and blacks

• banned “non producers“ (liquor dealers, professional gamblers, lawyers, bankers, and stockbrokers)

Haymarket Square Affair/Riot

• Chicago 1886

• strikers & anarchists wanted to overthrow the government

• a bombing took place by anarchists but the public blamed the Knights and unions

American Federation of Labor

• made up of small independent unions

• sought for better wages, shorter hours, better working conditions

• would boycott and strike

What was political patronage? How was it the “lifeblood” of parties?

• give government jobs, contracts, or favors in exchange for political support, loyalty, or votes

• secured votes, rewarded loyalties, parties were able to control, patrons would contribute part of their salaries to the party —> steady stream of funding for political activities

What led to the Compromise of 1877? What was decided?

• the presidential election of 1876 between Hayes and Tilden, Tilden won popular vote

• Hayes is president

• federal troops from South removed —> ended Reconstruction

Describe how the end of Reconstruction led to the loss of black rights and the imposition of the Jim Crow system of segregation in the South. 

• literacy tests

  • voters had to pass literacy exams, many African Americans weren’t educated

• Grandfather Clauses

  • allowed white men to bypass literacy tests if their grandfather was able to vote before Reconstruction

What factors led to the Chinese Exclusion Act?

• Chinese would work for lower wages —> caused resentment among Irish and white

Why was James Garfield shot? What came out of his assassination?

• Guiteau denied from government job under the spoils system after campaigning for Garfield —> assassinated James Garfield

• Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act: required gov. jobs to be awarded based on merit

What made the election of 1884 so ugly?

• both parties engaged in aggressive smear campaigns and would give personal attacks rather than policy discussions

Bloody Shirt

• Republicans got Grant elected by waving bloody shirt

• relive his war victories and using his popularity from the war to get popularity vote

Boss Tweed/Tweed Ring

• leader of Tammany Hall

• group of corrupt officials who used bribery, fraud, and embezzlement to control city politics and steal millions of dollars from the government during the 1860s and 1870s

Credit Mobilier Scandal

• Railroad executives, including politicians, formed the Credit Mobilier company

• inflated construction costs

• profited at the public's expense while bribing Congress members to avoid investigation

Panic of 1873

• severe economic depression triggered by the collapse of a major bank, Jay Cooke & Company

  • overinvested in railroads

• led to widespread business failures, high unemployment, and a global financial crisis

“Gilded Age”

• by Mark Twain

• a time of rapid industrialization, economic growth, and wealth inequality in the United States

• wealth inequality, poor working conditions, and political scandals

Chinese Exclusion Act

• banned the immigration of Chinese

• was the first immigration law to specifically target and ban a specific ethnicity.

McKinley Tariff

• raised protective tariff levels by nearly 50%

• designed to protect American industries