Unit 6 + Unit 7A Test Review

Homestead Act (1862)

• offered 160 acres of free land to families that settled in the Great Plains for 5 years

• accelerated the settlement of western territory

• the best lands ended up in possession of railroad companies and speculators

Dawes Act (1887)

• divided tribal areas into plots of around 160 acres

• intended to break up tribal organizations

• the best land was sold to white settlers

Assimilation

• forced American Indians to European-American ways

• done through formal education (boarding schools), job training (farming + industrial skills), and conversion to Christianity

• ended Indian culture

Reasons for Urbanization

• industrialization - people moved to live near industrial factories

• immigration - waves of immigrants from Ireland and other nations came for a better life and found jobs at factories

Corporate Consolidation of Industry

big businesses took control over smaller businesses, leading to monopolies

Labor Unions

• National Labor Union - organized all types of workers in all states

• Knights of Labor - opened membership to everyone including women + African Americans

• American Federation of Labor - concentrated on smaller economic goals

Strikes

• Great Railroad Strike (1877) - one of the worst outbreaks of labor violence & shut down 2/3 of the railroad lines

• Homestead - manager of steel plant defeated worker walkout and set back union movement in steel industry

• Pullman - union boycotted Pullman railcars led by Eugene Debs but railroad owners sought help from president

• Haymarket - workers protested for 8-hr workday but someone threw a bomb

Political Machines

• close group of politicians that targeted needs of immigrants and underprivileged

• often greedy and corrupt, e.g. NYC Tammany Hall’s “Boss Tweed”

Jane Addams

• started a famous settlement house which provided social services to people in poverty

Horatio Alger

• wrote books fantasizing “rags to riches”, although it it rarely happened

Pendleton Civil Service Act (1881)

• outrage of the assassination of President Garfield due to spoils system

• provided that federal jobs be based on merit

Social Gospel Movement

• linked Christianity with improving social problems

Wabash v. Illinois (1887)

• Illinois tried to tax Wabash railroad

• states could not regulate interstate commerce

McKinley Tariff

• increased tax on foreign goods

• intended to protect American market and industry

Comstock Lode

• produced $340 million worth of gold and silver

• led to development of West Coast - Nevada

• reason for the push of Free Silver

William Jennings Bryan

• pro silver Democrat who gave famous “Cross of Gold” speech

Andrew Carnegie

• rags to riches guy who dominated steel industry

• preached the Gospel of Wealth - rich should help poor

Carrie Chapman Catt

• president of NAWSA and supported suffrage amendment

Muckrakers

• Jacob Riis “how the other half lives”

• Upton Sinclair “the jungle”

• led to food factory reform

Margaret Sanger

• advocated birth control education for women

Progressive Presidents

Roosevelt - Square Deal between business and labor + Trust Busting

Taft - more trust busting

Wilson - tariff reduction + banking reform

Alfred Thayer Mahan

• US navy captain argued that a strong naval base was crucial for becoming a world power and securing foreign markets

• Senator Henry Cabot Lodge agreed that US had to expand to compete

Causes and Consequences of Spanish-American War

Causes

• Cuban revolt

• Yellow press/journalism

• Teller Amendment

• De Lome Letter

• Sinking of USS Maine

• McKinley’s War Message

Consequences

• Platt Amendment - restricted Cuba

• Insular cases - in favor of imperialism

Fighting in Philippines

• people were outraged that their independence was being denied by US

• savage guerrilla warfare and ended when Emilio Aguinaldo surrendered

US Imperialism in Latin America

• Roosevelt’s Big Stick Policy - Panama

• Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy - Nicaragua

• Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy - Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico