us history key info

USA background 1865

originally 13 colonies who divided into 13 states after war of independance

considerable expansion especially westward during early 19th century

1850 - us = 30 states, us extended from atlantic to pacific

Executive

vice president, president. commander in chief of army but cant start wars, elected by people every 4 years, can veto bills.

what is the Legislature and what can they do

Senate and House of Representitives

Can pass bills that become law

Senate

2 senators represent each state no matter the size of the state, sit 6 yrs but re-elected every 2

House of Representatives

appointed every 2 yrs en masse

Judicary

Supreme court, 9 judges, can say if laws are constitutional or not, can pass laws.

Democrat party features in 1865

Believed in more gov involvement, especially socially

believed in pro-states rights where individual states governments more responsible for people than the federal government does

Republican party features in 1865

more wealth and business orentiated

laissez-faire approach (did little)

Pro-states rights

where individual states governments more responsible for people than the federal government does

what were the weaknesses of the federal government

limited power, most presidents = figureheads, hard to pass bills due to senate not being in session often, didnt impact peoples' lives much due to difficulty to pass laws

economic differences between north and south

The North had a diverse economy (many industries) and abolished slavery. The South had slaves, plantations and mostly grew cotton and tabacco (slaves needed for this). North had 18.65 mil population, South had 10.5 mil. South = 10% of manufactured goods, 8% of factories. North had 1/4 of population living in towns/cities, South had 1 in 14.

Cultural differences between north and south

North: formal legal code replaced an informal social code, regional identity based on free labor, liberty, and a more puritanical Christianity. South: need to defend one's "honor" (led to increased duels in South), Southern nationalism based on slavery, chivalry, and a strong Christian faith.

political differences between north and south

North didn't support individual state rights and more open to new legislation introduced pres/congress. South wanted to prevent president/congress from introducing new legislations that wouldn't align w/ their interests, hostile to new ideas, supported individual state rights

differences of slavery between north and south

slavery caused major divisions between north and south. south supported slavery due to economy relied on industries of textiles, cotton and tabacco that relied on slavery - believed if slaves freed, economy would collapse. north wanted to free slaves, south didn't

difficluties confederate states may have faced in 1865-77

old poltcial system = obselete, ruined economies, southern politcians having to work with northern, new social system - completely new social hierachy due to slaves being freed

what major laws did abraham lincoln pass

13th admendment (1864-65), freedmen's bureau (march 1865), ten percent plan (april 1864)

10% plan

if 10% of a confederate state's electorate agreed to swear an oath of alliegence to US and agree to all existing laws passed by congress regarding slavery and let af-as vote, they'd be allowed back into the union. not very effective - only lousiana agreed. also, 10% not a high enough agreement % to be reliable.

13th admendment

Abolished slavery everywhere in USA

freedmen’s bureau

AUS agency set it up for 1 yr (meant to last 1 year, but it lasted 4, only short-term tho since it didn’t last taht long) to help af-as with advice for education and employment and also helped to set up af-a schools (but this encouraged segregation). Didnt do land redisrtibution tho, so many former slaves foreced to go back working for their old masters in terrible conditions with little pay, which meant their lives didn’t change taht much at all due to this bill

what major laws did andrew johnson pass

civil rights bill 1866, reconstruction acts 1867-1868, 14th amendment

civil rights bill

an attempt to establish equality 

made in respose to black codes -> laws that basically made it so black people could

be prevented from getting an education and allowed them to be forced to work, even if they were children

civil rights bill established everyone born in US= a citzenship

originally vetoed by andrew johnson but congress overuled the veto by getting a 2/3 majority in each house so bill passed

without consulting congress, , andrew johnson announced his plan to get confederate states back into the union

all states who agreed to swear an oath of alleigence to usa = pardoned and amnesty,

no more punishment. with this they could stand and vote in electoral assemblies

all property was returned to them (except slaves)

civil + military leaders not pardoned because they had been wealthy plantation owners

but this wasn't enforced in practice and they were allowed to resume office again

all states had to agree to 13th amendment - confirmed illegality of slavery, but this

wasn't enforced

14th admendment

made so civil rights bill couldnt be changed

forbade states from denying any citizen of us life, property or liberty and taking away privileges and immunities. gave all us citizens (immigrant or us born) equality under the law

also gave federal authorities right to intervene if states went against the rules of the amendment

refused by all ex-confederate states except for tennesse, failed to get 75% agreement to become law

reconstruction acts

states split into 5 military districts, if state wanted to gain status back they had to write up a new constitution that gave af-as the right to vote and ratified 14th amendment.

ulysses s. grant key info

became president 1869, no political background

republicans chose him since they thoiught his military background would ensure he'd be elected as president

radicalists saw him as someone easy to influence and manipulate

what major laws did ulysses s. grant pass

enforcement acts +kkk acts (1870-71), 15th admentment 1869-70, civil rights act 1875

ulysses s. grant major laws def

15th amendment - 1869-1870

stated that right to vote shouldnt be taken away due to race, skin colour or condition of previous servitude. gave everyone the right to vote, no matter where they lived. gave af-as right to vote, but they could still be discriminated in other ways like education/poverty. gave them right to vote but could still be heavily discriminated against

enforcement acts and kkk acts (1870-1871)

made in response to an increase in violence against freedmen in south. they made it so if someone were to restrict the rights of others, it'd be a criminal offence and tried to control kkk (ku klux klan) by enforcing martial law and suspending their right to a trial. suppressed kkk to a point where it was at a low level but didnt get rid of it completely and violence against af-as still happened, which kept the kkk still alive and allowed it to rise in popularity in the 1980s

civil rights act 1875

a law that granted black Americans equal accommodations in public spaces, but didnt have the power to enforce it. allowed white supremacy because it wasn't enforced (1964 civil; rights act only one enforced - allowed for 80 yrs of segregation). 

Why did Reconstruction end?

1870s support for reconstruction laws decreased since many southern whites had resorted to intimidation and violence to keep black people from voting

supreme court passed series of laws (starting in 1873) that limited what reconstruction could do and therefore its impact

accusations of corruption in Ulysses S.Grants administration and an economic depression led to discontent in republican army increasing and north got distracted by that and couldnt focus on reconstruction

election of 1876 and compromise of 1877 - final blow to end of reconstruction

1st ulysses s. grant scandal

during his first term of presidency, a group of speculators tried to influence gov and manipulate gold market. failed and this led to a financial panic

24 sept 1869, now known as black friday. grants reputation went down after scandal because he was associated with 2 of the speculators (james fisk and jay gould) prior to scandal, despite not being involved in scandal

whiskey ring scandal of 1875

a network of distillers, distributors and public officials tried to defraud federal gov of millions in liquor tax revenue. grant's private secretary indicted in scandal, but he got them acquitted

why did the scandals contribute to the end of reconstruction

ruined grants reputation and decreased support for reconstruction. also allowed democrats to gain power since people didnt trust republicans after these scandals.

election of 1876

election approaching

democrats: samuel tilden, governer of ny

republicans: rutherford hayes, governer of ohio

tilden won - 184/185 electoral votes

republicans accuse democrats of intimidating black people into not voting and a commission is held to try to resolve the issue.

compromise of 1877

resolved by electoral commission set up by congress. they decide to give all votes to hayes. democrats = furious. to avoid any further political uncertainty, hayes struck a secret deal with democrats. They had to accept him as pres, while he had to remove all troops from the south - consolidated democratic control in the south. Hayes also had to name a leading southerner in his cabinet. This ended Republican's attempts to try to modernise the politics, gov and racial attitudes of the south.

achievements of reconstruction

new freedom allowed af-as to move west, north or to southern cities

13, 14, 15 admendments, 1875 civil rights act

education more widely available

illiteracy rates dropped 90-70%

african americans built institutions like churches + african american schools like howard and fisk founded

failures of reconstruction

freedmen's bureau collapsed

lynching = common. 1885-1917, 2734 black people lynched

white southerners still hostile and fearful towards black people

1877 - hayes withdrew all troops from south, so south left to white supremacy and southern politicians

social divisions heavily established by black codes and jim crow laws later

lots of law supreme court passed more about individual state rights than civil rights

US economy 1865

1865 - us had huge reserves of fertile land, timbers and minerals as well as navigable rivers - steamboat and canal development transformed travel across great rivers

30,000 miles of railroad track, more tah rest of world combined

31 million people - most = farmers, small family farms, 1 in 5 lived in towns but cities like new york and chicago growing rapidly us on verge of industrial rev in 1865 - great advancements in steampower, steel, iron, coal and textiles

reasons for economic growth

civil war

availability of land

population growth

availability of capital

transport dev

technological innovation

minimal gov interference

new business methods

how did the civil war help grow the economy

provided necessary financial infrastructure needed for economic growth

civil war led to an increase in demand for manufactured goods - army needed clothes, weapons and transport - mass production and methods of distribution developed

how did availability of land help economic growth

US greatly expanded, especially westward - more economic growth due to it creating a market for manufactured goods and further railroad development

lots of fertile land - mass production of wheat ensured agricultural development and made sure growing population at home was fed. high demand for food at home and rapidly growing export market - encouraged greater mechanism for agriculture which led to an increase in demand for manufactured goods

how did population growth help economic growth

population rapidly grew 1860s and 70s - provided source of cheap labour, which caused economic expansion

1860 - population =31.5 mil, 1880 population = 50 mil

this happened because:

1. increased incomes= better food, housing, progress in public health and medical knowledge. lowered death rates

2. immigration. 2.8 mil moved to us during 1870s. most from europe or asia and headed to cities. provided the cheap labour the industrial rev needed and also increased demand for clothes, food and coal.

how did transport development help economic growth

railroads provided a fast an efficient way of transporting materials like coal and distributing goods and cattle

1869 - first transcontinental railroad built - opened up ranching and mining regions in far-west. travel from ny to san fasisco took 6 days instead of 6 months.

1860-80 train track mileage tripled. 1868-1873 53,000 km of railroad track laid across country

railroad companies hired thousands of workers - demands for steel and coal went up since railroads needed a lot of steel and steel needed a lot of coal.

manufacture companies encouraged to make more railroad engines which led to more competition and prices went down and also led to more technological advancements to improve quality of the railroad engines - encouraged more economic growth

how did availability of capital help economic growth

essential - entrepreneurs needed it to develop their businesses

huge profits made from civil war encouraged a highly-developed stock market - profits invested in this market

1865 - annual turnover of NY stock exchange = 6 billion dollars and by 1890 it had become the 2nd largest money market in world

how did role of gov help economic growth

federal gov had long-held tradition of not getting involved with economy - constitution gave them no role in it businessmen free to run their companies however they wanted - no rules on how businesses should be run, state gov + congress = business-orientated congress imposed protective tariffs that made foreign-made goods more expensive than us-made goods

businessmen didnt have to deal with trade unions - trade unions weak and divided, and gov + federal authorities often sided with businesses. they could use troops to control workers demanding for better pay and shorter working hours.

how did corporations + trusts help economic growth

new methods of businesses like corporations and trusts encouraged economic growth corporations - came along due to lack of gov control + regulation of businesses. allowed businesses to own a lot of companies.

trusts - more favoured way of expanding and growing business. but some states had laws that didnt let companies get shares from more than one state/company.

henry flager - a secretary at standard oil - found a way to avoid these laws. he appointed himself the trustee of property and assets that the company wasnt allowed to own. soon, 3 more employees were told to also do this by rockefeller himself (the owner). soon, other companies followed rockefeller's example and it soon became a perfectly legal way to avoid state laws.

technological innovation

rapid growth in industry + tech happened due to changes in industry and new methods of business, which allowed for rapid growth and expansion and new discoveries in tech + industry

individuals made new discoveries like andrew carnegie - brought british method of producing steel by the bessemer convertery method to us and used it in his steel mills. also kept his prices as low as possible and constantly re-invested in new manufacturing plants and equipment.

westward expansion

rapid movement to west during 1860s+70s

what is considered to be the west

anything west of the Mississippi

by 1880 how many farms were there

by 1880 - 3000 large farms (bonanza farms) of more than 1000 acres

by 1865 how many people had moved west and what type of people moved. why did they move

20,000 people moved west, but at expense of native americans - took their land and recourses

black people, single women, farmers, immigrants all moved to west

cheap land, opportunity at a new life, good farmland, escaping poverty

what were federal territories and why did they occur

gov determined to take over western lands, so they made federal territories that were controlled by official's appointed by federal gov and filling the land with homesteaders at 60,000 people they could become a state and they'd have some authority of their own - able to make own laws and elect its own electoral assembly

manifest destiny + its effect

the belief that god had chosen the americans to populate the western lands and spread the american lifestyle. made people believe they were above the native americans and justified the terrible things they did to the native americans

in 1862 what did lincoln sign

the pacific railroad act, where two railroad companies would build a transcontinental railroad. union pacific - built westwards from omaha nebraska, whereas central pacific built eastwards to sacremento california.

what year did the first transcontinental railroad join together

what other railroads were built?

northern and southern pacific railroads (1883)

atchinson, topeka and santa fe railroad (1884)

what were the effects of railroads during reconstruction

encouraged more people to move westward due to new jobs but negatively impacted native americans - went through their land (weren't even asked about this) and scared away their buffalo herds, which disrupted their hunting and left them to starve

why did thousands of people flock west in 1875

in the black hills of dakota. always been rumours of gold there, but only small deposits found. but in 1875, in deadwood, a large deposit of gold had been found, making thousands of gold seekers flock to west, to black hills, in search for it.

why did this have a negative effect on the native americans

black hills belonged to native americans (as of the treaty of lamarie in 1868) but it was ignored. this caused the NAs to feel they couldnt trust the US, which caused more tension between them.

what was the impact of westward expansion

nitially us gov was happy to let the NAs stay in the lands they didnt want. However, things began to change when it became gov policy to populate open spaces of the west. native american tribes (notably sioux and cheyenne) got hositle towards the white people settling near and on their lands and also disliked how the us army was on their lands, which caused more tension between native americans and americans.

why did Americans and native americans come into conflict on plains

Harsh conditions - white settlers and NAs had to struggle to survive and fought hard against anyone who threatened their way of life.

clash of culture - white americans didnt understand native americans' culture, so they feared and distrusted them. native americans thought of americans as devils who ruined the earth. differences in culture caused them to hate + despise eachother, which led to war.

manifest destiny - white americans believed they were above the native americans + believed it was their destiny to take over the plains, while the native americans believed it belonged to anyone

when did the sand creek massacre occur and what happened

1864

During civil war soldiers removed from west since no fighting there. Replaced by volunteers who were ill-disciplined and untrained. caused many atrocities. one of them is sand creek in 1864 where 700 troops attacked the undefended camp of Cheyenne tribe and killed and mutilated elderly men, women and children.

why did the Great Sioux war start in 1876

discovery of gold in black hills of dakota led to gold seekers and homesteaders going into native american territory. us gov tried to keep them out at first, but there were too many of them. us gov soon started to believe native americans were being unreasonable and ordered them to go back to their reservations and also said if they hadn't by 31st jan 1876 they'd be seen as hostile. many NAs didnt hear of the message or chose to ignore it. soon, the pressure from the white american majority led the gov to decide the native americans should be removed from the black hills - had some setbacks, but a large, well-equipped army wiped them out

what happened during the battle of little bighorn

george custer + his men were part of an expeditionary team sent to round up the native americans from the sioux and cheyenne tribes who had left the Great Sioux Reservation lands and had defied authorities by refusing to go back. Without waiting for the rest of the force, Custer divided his men into 3 groups and tried to round up the encampment of the native americans. his unit of 200 men was put under attack and overwhelmed by superior numbers. all = killed.

what were the reservation policies of 1884

US deemed native americans = wards of US reservations set up - reservations = land reserved for the NAs that the white settlers didnt want. were monitered by army. set up in areas - North Nebraska, South Dakota, Southern part of Kansas and Wyoming.

why did the reservation policies happen

native americans deemed too much of a nuisance/threat to white settlers - events like battle of little bighorn and the ghost dance turned white americans against native americans

When did the gilded age start and end

1877 and 1890

How long was Rutherford b Hayes time in office and what did he do as pres

republican, pres only one term due to 1877 compromise, 1877-81

strengths: honest, high-minded, vetoed democratic attempts to overturn the force acts (acts that protected negro voting rights), first president to criticise + try to stop spoils system

weaknesses - unable to create viable republican party in south, weakened his pres by saying he'd only run for 1 year, disputed election and compromise made people doubt his presidency - even republican party echoed taunts about 'his fraudlency', congress had more power than him - overruled his veto of the bland-alison act ( an act that allowwed gov to buy $2-4million worth of silver a month)

How long was James Garfield's time in office and what did he do as pres

only pres for 4 months, assassinated. 1881. a dark horse candidate. no one expected him to become pres. strengths: self-made man, self-educated, his fight with stalwarts promised to strengthen the executive and get rid of corruption in NY customs house weaknesses: failed to give stalwarts the rewards they expected for supporting his campaign, antagonised them too by appointing willam roberts (a leading anti-conkling) to the NY Customs house and appointing James Blaine (leader of half-breeds) as secretary of state, only served 4 months - assassinated by someone who was disappointed in him.

How long was Chester Arthur's time in office and what did he do as pres

republican, became pres after Garfield assassinated - only served 1 term due to this 1881-84

strengths- stood up to roscoe conkling - huge blow against political corruption signed Pendleton Act of 1883 - supposed to lead to less corruption - provided a merit system for promotion and made sure people would stay in their federal positions even if white house changed administration/party

weaknesses - pendleton act = backfired - originally covered 14,000 positions, but this could be extended by pres. future pres used it to protect their positions. made political businesses rely heavily on businesses for political campaigns, which allowed businessmen to dominate over politics more

How long was Grover Cleveland's time in office and what did he do as pres

ran for 2 terms, democrat - 1st democratic pres elected since civil war

strengths: wanted an honest and economic gov, tried to lower tariffs in 1887 but stopped by republican majority in senate, vetoed dependant pension bill in 1887

weaknesses: didn't like to regulate businesses, vetoed an appropriation of 10,000 for the relief of drought-stricken farmers, replaced 213 of all federal office-holders with democrats, was opposed to enlargement of gov power

how justified was the title 'robber barons'?

businessmen dominated over industrialised us, no rules to regulate/ control how their businesses were run. some business practices were so harsh and brutal that the businessman was given the title of 'robber baron'. businessmen also benefitted from laissez-faire belief and thought economy ran better without gov involvement, opposed regulation and taxation and supported competition in business.

trade unions

an organisation made by workers of a particular trade/job made to protect and further their rights and interests

trade unions developed slower in the US than Europe because:

large amount of workers = immigrants, so divided by language and ethnic background native-born and immigrant workers refused to work with african-american workers employers found it easy to pin one group of workers against another and could use blackmail, labour spies and the armed forces to prevent union organisations being made

who were the knights of labour

a trade union founded in 1889 that lasted until 1896. Wanted to build a union that united all workers no matter what gender/race/ethnicity they are or what job they worked. Also wanted 8 hr work day and child labour restrictions

Successes of knights of labour

1885 - 100,000 members + wabash railroad strike

1886 - 750,000 members

what was the american federation of labour (AFL)

a trade union founded in 1885 that is still going today. They wanted higher wages and shorter workdays.

Successes of AFL

1892 - 1/4 million memebrs

Who was John D. Rockefeller?

Founder of Standard Oil, 1899, controlled 85-90% of oil industry in us, world's first billionaire by 1913. defeated rivals by keeping prices low and ensuring cheap transport of oil. business practices caused public outcry

Who was Andrew Carnegie?

Born in Scotland. Captain of Industry for steel production and he used the Bessemer process to produce stronger steel. Didn't care for competition, just kept his prices low. Treated his workers horribly though - long hrs, terrible conditions.

Who was John Pierpont Morgan?

Worked in finance's, had 1st billion dollar company, had one of the leading financial firms in us

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Railroads - one of the first railroaders to replace iron rails with steel. 1887 - richest man in US

Thomas Edison

developed carbon-button transmitter in 1877, still used in mics and speakers today created phonograph in 1877 and electric light bulb in 1879. his inventions influenced/led to a lot of tech advancements in the future

Alexander Graham Bell

invented the telephone - allowed communication to be spread across world and allowed people to stay connected even if they're far away

What would push immigrants to move to US

A chance at a better life

Ads from railroad and steamboat companies on guidebooks, pamphlets, newspapers, etc

Employment opportunities

US = free country - democracy

What factors could make people move to the US from other countries

England, Norway, Sweden - agricultural and industrial depression

Political and economic and religious discontent in Europe and additional pressure due to growing population

Religious/political reasons - Russia - after assassination of Alexander II anti-semantic riots increased in south-west of Russia - jews came to us to escape prosecution

Ireland - unemployment and poverty due to agricultural mismanagement from absentee landlords

In the 1870s how many immigrants moved to US?

10 million

Positive impact of immigration on us

Major reason why US progressed so quickly industrially - came to US as workers and became consumers, helped economy to grow and employers welcomed them - willing and cheap labour

negative impact of immigration on us

immigrants easy target for americans who despised and hated rapid industrial change contributed to overcrowding in cities

often used for strike-breaking

development of streetcars led to middleclass people being able to move out of overcrowded and unsanitary cities, leaving the poor workers in isolated ghettos in a land of increasing wealth and a growing middle class, immigrants poverty and lack of skills set people apart

What character did Rice, a struggling actor at Park Threatre create in 1828 that became incredibly popular?

created jim crow character, who was a very exaggerated and highly stereotypical black character. he was one of the first actors to use blackface and his character + song-and-dance routine got very popular.

Effect of Jim Crow character's popularity

1838 - jim crow soon became a collective racial epithet for black people - jim crow character's popularity helped to spread this racial slur. Rice and his supporters used the character to spread the belief that black people were stupid, lazy, inherently inferior to white people and unworthy of integration

examples of jim crow laws etiquette:

a black man couldnt raise his hand to shake a white man's - implied they were socially equal. he couldnt give part of his body or hand to white woman, black and white people shouldnt eat toether, but when they do white people served first if a black person is in a car a white person is driving, black person has to sit on back seat, black people couldn't show affection in public, especially kissing - offended white people

what was lynching

murder, usually done by hanging, usually done by people claiming the right to exercise justice on behalf of society - black people usually victims

anti-semitism in us during gilded age

jews not allowed to vote until mid-19th century

jews got turned away by colleges, hotels and clubs

Where did most native americans live in 1880

most still lived on resrvation lands, didnt have very good farmland

how did the us try to integrate the native americans into the american lifestyle through education

set up boarding schools and taught american lifestyle+attitudes to children who were far away from their parents (sometimes 1,000 miles)

burnt belongings, cut boys hair, forced NA children to wear american clothes - took away their NA culture

by 1889, how much was spent every year on boarding schools and day schools? how many boarding and day schools were there for how many children?

1889 - 2.5 mil dollars spent every yr on 148 boarding and 225 day schools for 20,000 children.

what was the dawes act

heads of a native american family given 160 acres of land to farm on - those who accepted allotments + adopted american lifestyle habits were given citizenship after 25 yrs.

land usually not good farmland since surplus farmladn was sold commercially. many NAs didnt have much idea on hwat the act entailed since owning private land was alien to their culture. within a very short time, most had lost/sold property to whites and had fallen into poverty

battle of wounded knee

americans felt threatened by ghost dance (NA traditon/cultural dance). Bands of Lakota Sioux fled to reservation lands with army in pursuit. Dec 1890 - a nervous 7th cavalry shot into a group of Sioux tribe at wounded knee- 200 NAs died, mosly women and children. 31 soldiers died.

when were cattle drives developed

developed after civl war since confederate states like texas had little money so they exchanged meat for money

transported from texas to missouri/nebraska/wyoming. stopped at railroad lines and cattle was taken to big cities like chicago + kansas city and killed there

what were the conditions like for cattle drivers

3-4 month journey, 11-12 hr days, terrible conditions on terrible terrain, dangerous

dusty and dirty conditions

consequences of cattle drivers

meat-eating population, population growth on plains, more jobs (and that includes for afircan-americans), clashes with homesteaders