Unit 5: The Gilded Age

the 1st industrial revolution, technological innovations, expansion of railroad transportation, and westward expansion

what were the four causes of the industrial revolution?

it gave americans the capital, necessary to invest, which led to the 2nd industrial revolution and they had to make enough money for the 2nd industrial revolution to happen

what were the reasons of the new inventions during the first industrial revolution?

alexander graham bell

he invented the telephone which affected american communication

thomas edison

born in ohio, given credit for inventing the lightbulb, replacing oil and candle lamps

nikola tesla

invented alternating current (ac) which is a way of moving electricity over long distances without anything blowing up

transcontinental railroad

connect both the atlantic and the pacific ocean; provide easy transportation for western settlers, bring in new immigrants and migrants to the frontier, and american-made products to the west; because of this, railroad companies are going to be one of the biggest employers

the homestead act, 1862

this was an attempt to encourage westward migration out into the big plains; this law offers plots of land to anyone who intends to become a citizen (they had to stay and take care of that land for five years for them to become citizens)

most of them are poor farmers and their life is characterized by isolation and loneliness; they had to take out loans to buy new technology

describe the life on the farm and what kind of farmers there were.

populism

the idea that ordinary people should be in control of the government

populist party

a group of people created this, showing their desires for an alternative to the republican-democratic parties

want the government to start regulating big business, especially the railroads (mainly because the railroads are the reason people are in debt); want to give women the right to vote; want new constitutional amendments and the federal income tax and want a new amendment to where they can elect their new senators instead of having the government appoint them; want to establish a secret ballot because train owners look at who the poor farmers are voting for and when they see them voting for people they do not like, the train owners raise their rates; try to gain the support of factory workers and want to limit the working day in the factories to eight hours a day to make their lives a little better

what were the 5 strong desires for an alternative to the republican-democratic parties?

the treaties were meant to respect their territory and in exchange, native americans would agree to stop attacking western settlers

why did the U.S. try to enter a series of treaties?

buffalo

what was the most important resource for native americans where it was food, clothing, culture, etc.?

U.S. army and individual native americans

the native american wars were a series of wars between…

the sand creek massacre, 1864

this was when colorado slaughtered about 150 unarmed women, children, and elderly

the battle of the little bighorn, 1876

the U.S. 7th calvary was under the command of George A. Custard; lakota slaughtered all of the calvaries and won

the massacre at wounded knee, 1890

the U.S. army had surrounded a Lakota encampment for them to turn in their weapons when a shot went off, making the U.S. soldiers panic and end up killing about 300 Lakota

helen hunt jackson

investigated all the ways that the americans were treating the native americans and how poorly they were treated

a century of dishonor

this book highlights all of the massacres and the broken treaties committed by the U.S. government and the U.S. Army

the dawes severalty act, 1887

this act is going to require native americans to assimilate; president grover cleveland is the one who convinced Congress to pass this act

the bureau of indian affairs

requires many rules of standards such as the haircut rule

native american boarding schools

this is when native american children go to school where they are not allowed to use their language, clothing, or cultural practices

bessemer process

this is when they take iron and transform it into steel which is stronger, cheaper, more efficient, and longer-lasting

oil

provides heat, but it will help more with electrical power and help fuel the new industrial engines that are coming out of this resolution

emergence of corporate america

this is when america’s economy is going to move away from being based on small business owners to being based on corporations

economic recession

a short-term of business laws; the economy is doing poorly whereas the economic depression is a very long, sustaining economic problem

robber barons

people called the first billionaires this because they believed that these people earned money from cheating and mistreating people

captains of industry

people called the first billionaires this because they believed that they are smart leaders who treat people well

cornelius vanderbilt

owns the railroad industry and has a railroad monopoly; employed people to work the railroads (making him called captain of industry); he overcharged people to go on this railroad (making him called robber baron)

andrew carnegie

steel is only made by himself and in the U.S.; he does not have to pay anyone to make steel because he is making it himself; steel monopoly; owns iron-mines, his own trains and steamboats to own his supplies, owns all steel mills, and owns sales company

social darwinism

this belief that the natural orders of society includes the people who are born with the ability to be super wealthy and people who were not born with the ability to be super wealthy (the division of the wealthy and the poor were natural)

vertical integration

when the business owner owns every step in the production process

horizontal integration

this is when someone is purchasing your rival companies and trying not to compete

the gospel of wealth

carnegie believed that the wealthy were obligated to share their wealth with the poor. this was because the poor was not capable of improving themselves financially

john d rockefeller

oil monopoly; continued 90% of the nation’s oil production by the 1870s; often made secret deals

price cutting

every now and then, there would be a business owner who did not want to sell his business to rockefeller; to pressure this person into selling the business to him, rockefeller would engage in that practice; rockefeller would lower his oil prices so low to the point where the person he’s tryingto buy could not keep up with the price

secret deals

rockefeller would make these between other business owners and politicians and it is secret because these deals are illegal

trusts

used to avoid anti-monopoly laws; small business that is secretly controlled by a bigger company

munn v illinois

supreme court clarifying that states had the right to regulate businesses within their states

the interstate commerce act

establishes the idea that the federal congress could investigate businesses to see if they were committing crimes and if so, then Congress could sue those business and threaten to take away their money

paid more in the Gilded Age than in the earlier periods, they were capable of making bigger and stronger purchases, and more people were working in the workforce including women

what were the positives of labor during the Gilded Age?

there would be long working hour shifts when working 10-12 hour shifts, the wages were high but not high enough to cover the cost of living, and child labor was heavily involved

what were the negatives of labor during the Gilded Age?

they did not need a lot of money, could fit into small spaces, and the producers could control the children more easily

what were some reasons why child labor was involved during this time period?

unskilled labor/blue-collar

they did not have a lot of education or training, anybody could do anyone’s job, and jobs were unsafe and there were not a lot of safety hazards

laissez-faire

this type of rule has no government involvement at all and the producers make all of the rules

they were concerned about profits (how much money they make) and they believed in Social Darwinism heavily

why did the producers make all of the rules during the laissez-faire period?

labor unions

this is when a group of workers come together to achieve specific goals such as better pay or safer working conditions/benefits

knights of labor

the first national union and trying to unite unskilled workers, they allowed women and African Americans to join, and this group promoted a liberal reform agenda which included economic and social goals

economic goal: 8-hour work days; social goal: wanted more social freedom for women and African Americans

what were the economic and social goals that people wanted?

haymarket riot

destroyed any popularity that the knights had

american federation of labor (afl)

second national union, did not allow women or African Americans to join, and focused more on economic goals

better pay, higher wages, safer working conditions, and workers’ compensations

what were the economic goals that the american federation of labor (afl) wanted to achieve?

if workers got injured, they could still get paid

how would you explain what workers’ compensations?

labor strike

when all union members refuse to work until their goals are met

homestead strike

strike of Carnegie steel workers, the state government sends a national guard to protect the new workers and keep the factory going, and the federal government had intervened in favor of the producers

henry clay frick

foreman of steel factory and fires all of the union workers and replaces them with new workers

pullman strike

Debs leaves his workers on strike and this led to shutting down the national railroads

eugene v. debs

the leader of the american railway union leaves his workers on strike

grover cleveland

president during this time period and used the army to keep the trains moving

old immigrants

most of them came from Ireland (largest) and Germany (2nd largest); common language: English; predominately Roman Catholic; the vast majority settled in northern cities because of textile factories; South had fewer job opportunities and there was a lot of labor

new immigration

the biggest group was coming from Poland and Russia (Eastern) and Italy and Greece (Southern); second biggest group came from Japan and China; at this point, there were diverse languages; and religion: Roman Catholic, Jewish, and Eastern Orthodox

Ellis Island, New York

where would the old immigrants settle when they arrive to the U.S.?

buy a travel ticket, get on a boat, get past a security check, and had to pass a medical exam

what process did the old immigrants have to go through to be a legal U.S. citizen?

one day on average

how long was the whole process for the old immigrants?

Angel Island in San Francisco, California

where would the new immigrants settle when they arrive to the U.S.?

sail across the Pacific Ocean, get past security check, and go through the medical exam

what process did the new immigrants have to go through to be a legal U.S. citizen?

at least 2-3 weeks

how long was the whole process for the new immigrants?

new immigrants

who had to go through a stricter process?

they were going to reject a lot more people than normal despite having fewer Asian immigrants coming in, they did not speak English and were not Protestant, Americans believed that immigrants were willing to work for small wages, and Asian immigrants faced a lot of racism from Americans

why was security more strict on the new immigrants than the old immigrants?

the chinese exclusion act, 1907

this law put a strict limit on how many Chinese immigrants were allowed in the country

the gentleman’s agreement of 1907

this law only allowed skilled workers to go to the U.S. (Japan agreed to this); in exchange, the U.S. agreed to stop segregating Japanese students

religious prejudice against Europeans

American Protestants thought the Roman Catholics were corrupt because of their “drunk behavior”; they do not think Catholics are going to respect democrats because they respect the Pope

Jewish immigrants face anti-semitism

this is when major colleges such as harvard, yale, princeton, and columbia put a limit to the number of Jewish students they will accept in their university

nativism/nativist

a political movement that is defined by its opposition to immigration; if you were this, you were believed to be a threat to Americans and economics; you would want as many restrictions as you can get

american protective associations

target Catholic immigrants and stop Catholic immigrants from entering the U.S.; if someone already moved to the U.S. and they are Catholic, they would not be able to run for public office

assimilation process

adopt/blend in different cultures such as languages, clothing, traditions, and food; most new immigrants will settle in places that have similar cultural backgrounds

self-help process

help the assimilation process; immigrants helping other immigrants to assimilate; they would help with food, shelter, translating, clothing, jobs, services, etc.

americanization movement

americans helping immigrants assimilate; primary contributions are education for English, American history, and Civics and teachers were sponsoring; they offered classes for both children and adults

urbanization

this is when the U.S. is going to increase very quickly because of people moving into the cities

most immigrants are going to settle in cities, 2nd industrial revolution, railroads are needed to hold the supply for the northern cities, lower crop prices make food more affordable, exciting social and cultural opportunities in the city (department stores, shopping, factories, etc.)

what were the five causes of urbanization?

housing, no airflow, disease, overcrowded cities, town was considered unhealthy and dirty, air pollution, and water pollution

what were the problems of the Gilded Age cities?

they had to live in tenements and they had tall and narrow spaces to live in it and it is very crowded and people make more money by just cramping people into one room

what were the housing conditions in the Gilded Age cities?

political machines

most cities will have this machine running and this got started to clean up some stuff in the city

the residents have to vote where the machine tells the resident to vote for

people will offer to provide and help with cleaning and make the city nicer. what do the residents have to do in return?

bribery, blackmail, violence, and kickbacks

how does the political machine take over the city government?

tammany hall

the most powerful political machine that controlled and the city AND state government of New York

william magear “boss” tweed

the leader of tammany hall and people would have to get this person’s approval for everything