U.S. History: Native Americans, The gilded age, The progressive era, Imperialism, WW1

Abraham Lincoln - 1861-1865

Assassination → one of the last casualties of civil war

Everything he did was criticised by his cabinet, opposing party, etc

Never knew that he would go down in history as the greatest president

Had highs/lows similar to bipolar today, lots of tragedy surrounding him (domestic and war)

Andrew Johnson -

1865-1869

Johnson succeeded Lincoln, served as 17th

Democrat following a republican was very surprising

Didn't want to do too much about the freed slaves that were freed in the 13th amendment (13th amendment meant freedom)

Impeached in 1868 but was not convicted

US Grant - 1869-1877

Served two terms

Republican

Elizabeth Cady Stanton — 1815-1902

Susan B. Anthony — 1820-1906

Pushing for right to vote in the United States

Modern day women's group

Strong supporters of 15th Amendment but wanted it to include the word "sex" so that women could vote as well

Susan B. Anthony — 1820-1906

1872 - went to polling place in NY and arrested for voting, trial, lost the case, then went around the US questioning "is it a crime for US citizen to vote"

Since there was nothing in the constitution that specifically denied women the right to vote, she was informing people that it was unconstitutional and that it legally isn't a crime to vote

This kicked off the women's suffrage movement

Wasn't until 1920 that women could vote

14th Amendment

Defined citizenship as anyone who was born in the US, which was significant for slaves that were born in the US

15th Amendment

Ratified 1870

Stated no citizen can be deprived of the right to vote

Black men gained the right to vote but only males, females still couldn't vote

Compromise of 1877

Democrats agreed for Hayes to be president if Republicans agreed on a couple things that would end Reconstruction era and allow Democrats to to regain control of South

15th Amendment circumvented by state laws, this made it so hard to vote

Rutherford B. Hayes -

1877-1881

Won election of 1876 after compromise of 1877

Andrew Carnegie -

1865-1869

Tremendous growth of American industries

Carnegie was in charge of the steel industry during this time

Made a huge fortune out of this

There was a huge income gap between him and his workers b/c of how much he was making and b/c he was not paying income taxes

John D. Rockefeller - 1839-1937

Before civil war, bought oil wells in PA and developed monopoly on the oil industry

By 1890s, it skyrocketed and he had a tremendous monopoly on oil and petroleum products

J. P. Morgan - 1837-1913

Becomes one of the the major financiers of this era

Buys Carnegie's steel monopoly after he retires and turns it into US Steel

Resistance on the Great Planes

Many confederate veterans after US war moved west

Anybody who settled there and improved the acres of land bought would get it virtually for free

so lots of people moved West, tremendous amounts of whites moving into great planes area hoping to become successful farmers

But this crashed with Indigenous people who were settled there

"We don't own the land, the land owns us" "Nature is to be respected, not conquered and exploited" Common thought process among Indigenous peoples at this time

White people put up fences, Indigenous people ignored them, caused conflict

Indigenous people horrified by white ppl slaughtering buffalos and only using hyde or even for not any purpose and leaving their carcasses to rot, completely opposite to indigenous idea of using buffalos for everything (bones are tools, meat is food, hydes are for teepees, etc)

Sitting Bull - 1831-1890

Successful in getting various tribes together in a united front to resist white approachment on their land

By 1876, they banned together and were attacking railroads/wagon trains, going into white farms and attacking ppl

White army was sent to "tame" the indigenous people and protect the white ppl

George Armstrong Custer - 1839-1876

Civil war general

Believed he was a legend, had a tremendous reputation as a killer of indigenous ppl

He and his army would find an indian village and while the men were out, he would charge in and slaughter the fleeing women and children

Wanted to find Sitting Bull and kill him

The Little Big Horn, June 1876

Sent more American troops since Custer's troops kept getting killed

Beginning of final surge of plains war and complete subjugation of the indigenous tribes

Chief Joseph 1840-1904

And the Nez Perce (his tribe)

In 1877 - American soldiers wanted these tribes needed to leave their homeland and live on reservations

Joseph said no, that these were their homes and that Mother Earth gives them the right to live on the land, they shouldn't have to fight for the land, that's why he refused

Started to leave Wallowa Valley and lead his tribe (Nez Perce) on a trek from Oregon - Ohio - Wyoming - Montana : to escape american soldiers and find rescue to Canada

End to Nez Perce / Chief Joseph

Nez Perce experienced gorilla warfare, Indians would set up ambush and kill American soldiers and then immediately retreat on their journey

Eventually surrendered and got put on a reservation in unsanitary conditions to the point where half the tribe died in the first couple of months

Joseph was so distraught about this that he persuaded them to go to Washington and plead to the president for him and his tribe be sent back to oregon

Denied this plea and went back to Oklahoma (where all the indigenous reservations were), eventually died

Dawes Severalty Act 1887

It was an attempt to try to do good to the indigenous ppl

Many states divided into equal parts of land for indians

Chunk of land, about 60 acres, and have land ownership

Not interested in that, wanted to be nomadic and have free reign over land

Whites began moving into these reservations, land wound up looking to be taken, not given like the dawes act had originally tried to do

Aftermath of dawes act 1887

They wanted the indigenous ppl to assimilate, to educate the children

They did this by taking the children and putting them in Indian schools on the east coast

Hair was cut, put in white men clothing, taught english and arithmatic, forbidden to speak their own languages

The problem was that whites never accepted them, they were still seen as Indian and ostracized

When they would get back to their villages, they were cast out there too for not being as Indian as the other children

The view of the indigenous tribes then was that "first, they stole our land, then they stole our children"

Wounded Knee Encampment

1890- American gov decided to get the rest of those small bands of indigenous tribes on the reservations out since there were some left over that hadn't been round up

Wounded knee encampment: They rounded Wakota tribe up and escorted them on 3 day journey to reservation in Dakota (mostly women and children)

Stopped for night to set up camp

soldiers around the perimeter opened fire after one person kept their weapon after being asked for it to be taken and it ended up being a bloodbath

Frederick Jackson Turner

Wrote significant essay on the frontier of American history

This is 1890, after Wounded Knee when Indians were really no longer a factor

Wrote a thesis that's been highly debated for years

He proposed that the movement westward was not just a physical expansion but a defining factor in shaping American democracy and culture

Spread the view that this was American democracy/exceptionalism instead of imperalism/exploitation/genocide

Homer Plessy

⅛ black

Purchased train ticket in Louisiana for first class

Was told to go to the train car reserved for african americans

Refused to give up seat, kicked off

Took to court and lost, appeals to Louisiana Supreme Court and lost, brings it to US Supreme Court

Plessy vs Ferguson, ruled Plessy is not being denied civil rights as long as train is providing separate but equal accomodations

Plessy v Ferguson

Plessy vs Ferguson, ruled Plessy is not being denied civil rights as long as train is providing separate but equal accomodations

Allows for more discrimination since they can say that it's still equal, legitamizes/validates Jim Crow Laws

Plessy vs Ferguson overturned during Brown vs Board of Education (1954) (58 years after Plessy vs Ferguson)

Booker T. Washington (1956-1915)

Early spokesman for civil rights

Went around country giving speeches, urging african americans to not be too concerned about civil rights, to just work hard and become important contributors to economy

Urged ppl to get higher education at places like his Alabama institute in order to become more successful at sharecropping and other careers

Believed if African Americans contribute to national economy, they will automatically be given civil rights

W.E.B DuBois (1868-1963)

Vehemently opposed Washington's belief/accomodations

Believed african americans needed to get higher levels of education and deeper understandings of culture so they could demand full equality right then

Promoted idea of educating top 10% of african american community in liberal arts field to become leaders who could guide rest of community

Questioned that if Washington is right, why were lynchings on the rise

Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931)

Reporter in Tennessee

Began writing articles condemning and describing lynchings and urging fed. gov. to make lynching a federal crime

B/c if murder/lynchings are at a local level, no white men in the south will be convicted

Was attacked, threatened, ppl broke her printing press

Went to NY and continued to put pressure on the fed. gov.

Wrote pamphlets/books describing excruciating detail of lynching to make ppl upset to put pressure on lawmakers

1900-2022, several hundred anti-lynching laws have tried to be passed

It was only in Feb of 2022 that lynching became a federal crime - Emett Till Anti-lynching bills

James A. Garfield (1881), Chester Alan Arthur (1881-1885)

James A. Garfield (1881)

Election of 1880, elected president

Only president for a few months until assassinated

Chester Alan Arthur (1881-1885)

VP of Garfield

Became president after Garfield Died

Grover Cleveland

(1885-1889) (1893-1897)

Only President besides Trump that ran, lost, and ran again and won

The Agrarian Revolt

East had ppl organizing unions but in West, working class upheaval only began after droughts killed crops and had to go to banks to borrow money and could never get out of loan hole, farms were then foreclosed and sold

So small farmers banded together into small groups to push gov. to do regulations on exploitation

Mary Elizabeth lease

Leading person in Farmer's Alliance

Urged farmers to raise less corn and more hell

Gold Standard

The gold standard is a monetary system where the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold, and paper money can be converted to gold.

Led to working class major revolt against labor

Republican party wanted to maintain gold standard, which results in a tight economy and higher interest rates

Democratic party wanted more money to be available and lower interest rates by adding silver

William McKinley (1897-1901)

Won in 1886 election

Gold standard still there, economy stayed as it was, not much change

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

Social Darwinism

"Survival of the fittest"

Philosophy that built on Darwin's theory of evolution and

Just as in nature, there's a struggle for survival and only the fittest survive

In society, those that are fit rise to the top and those that are less fit drop to the bottom

It's important the gov doesn't do anything to regulate economy/business since that's interfering with nature's survival of the fittest

William Graham Sumner (1840-1910)

Said millionaires are a product of natural selection and that they deserve to be on the top

And that those who work underneath them should be there since they're not as fit

We want to make things better for the higher up and let the impoverished die out to make us more fit overall

For ex. It wouldn't make sense to tax the rich, it would only make sense to tax the poor, or it would only make sense to educate the rich and not the poor

Used to justify imperialism, segregation, "purity" of Aryan race

Philosophical foundation for the holocaust as well

Lester Frank Ward (1841-1913)

"The fitting of as many as possible to survive"

Resistance to the survival of the fittest/natural selection theory

Said b/c humans have a mind and are intelligent, we can direct the course of evolution and instead of survival of the fittest, it should be fitting as many as possible in order to survive

Create laws like workers compensation, etc to level the playing field so those that are lower can rise up

Nothing scientific about it though

Great Railway Strike (1877)

Efforts to try to get better compensation/working conditions, put together unions and strikes

The PA railway issued a memorandum that everybody's wages would be cut by 10%

This enraged the railway workers and they went on a huge strike, not just in PA but also Maryland

Created property damage to the railroad, people were brutalized and killed

Eventually, strike ended and workers lost, they would have to accept the 10% cut in order to keep working

Terrance Powderly (1849-1924) (KOL)

Founded Knights of Labor (KOL)

Arguing for 10hr working day, then 8hr day

The Haymarket Affair, Chicago 1886

Knights of Labor called for a general strike on May 1st around the country so everyone would see how crucial workers are to moving society along

Police fired on the strikers

Radical anarchist group in Chicago called for a rally in Haymarket square to protest the police brutality against the workers and support the strike the Knights of Labor had called for

Haymarket anarchists at Haymarket Affair

While one of the anarchists was speaking:

Police went to break up the demonstrators.

Someone threw a bomb and police opened fire killing a number of protestors.

The police then went on a mission through Chicago, arresting anyone who had radical, pro-labor history.

5 anarchists were put on trial, convicted of murder, and condemned to be executed

Arrested/killed b/c of political beliefs, not b/c of actions

Considered heroes/martyrs for the cause

Labor movement in relation to Haymarket Affair/Haymarket Anarchists

Americans then correlated anarchism with the labor movement and b/c anarchism was seen as unamerican, people associated the labor movement with being unamerican, discrediting the group and setting the labor movement back

Homestead Strike (1892)

Decided to go on strike for 3 goals

Wanted to be recognized by the company to negotiate ab wages, etc

Wanted 10% increase in wages

Wanted safer working conditions

Carnegie wanted to do everything to stop the strike, killing dozens of people

At end of strike, it was defeated and all of the workers that went on strike lost their jobs

Irony of carnegie being a philanthropist

Irony of Carnegie being a philanthropist → 1896 - Carnegie built library for his workers (costing 4mil to build) using the money that wasn't used to increase wages, considered stolen from his workers pockets

Pullman Strike 1894

Trains were main method of crossing the country, pullman cars were the sleeper cars

Pullman's company - workers went on strike

The leader of the American Railroad Workers Union that led the strike was Eugene V. Debs

Strike was defeated and Debs was put on trial b/c people claimed he was a socialist,

Eugene V Debs in relation to Pullman Strike

The leader of the American Railroad Workers Union that led the strike was Eugene V. Debs

Strike was defeated and Debs was put on trial b/c people claimed he was a socialist, convicted and spent 6 months in prison

Decided to read up on socialism and actually became a socialist, formed American Socialist Party and in 1900-1920 ran for president 5 times

Alfred Thayer Mahan (1940-1914)

Wrote a book called The Influence of Sea Power on World History that had 3 goals

Build a powerful modern navy

Acquire fueling stations

Construct a canal through isthmus of Panama

Said all great civilizations in history were great b/c they controlled the seas, whoever maintained supremacy on the oceans would have a powerful impact on the world

During the time he was writing, the dominant sea power was Britain

Alfred Thayer Mahan effect on congress/navy

B/c we're surrounded by different oceans, we should have a large navy to control everything

Needed fueling station for navy and a canal

Resonated with politicians, big business, and the navy

During 1990s, Congress

passed a bill to build this giant navy

tried to get rights to the Panama Canal

Started conquering harbors like Pearl Harbor for fueling

Queen Liliuokalani

Missionaries moved in with business interest : plantations, pineapple

Came w diseases, large part of polynesian population died off

Queen was last polynesian leader of islands

Annexed by US by 1860

Theodore Roosevelt

City slicker, tried to portray himself as an American cowboy

Becomes police commissioner

Campaigns for McKinley - McKinley appoints him as assistant secretary of navy

Roosevelt tells fleet to go to spanish colony of philippines and attack spanish navy during the day

Essentially insubordination

B/c he ordered this, though, he becomes a hero

How Theodore Roosevelt went from assistant secretary of navy to president

Resigns as secretary of navy, forms Rough Riders, sets sail for Cuba

War lasted from april to august, very short, most ppl died of diseases, not battle

Roosevelt emerges as a hero → Cuba gets their independence, and Spain gives US: Puerto Rico, Guam, a base on Cuba (Guantanamo Bay), Philippines Islands

Republican party saw opportunity to nominate him for Gov. of NY

Starts to clean up corruption

Many of the people that elected him began to be indicted for corruption

Those same ppl nominate him for VP, he didn't want it b/c VP had essentially no power and he was Gov. of NY

When McKinley wins, he becomes VP and has to reign as Gov. of NY

When McKinley is assassinated, Roosevelt becomes President

Pushes for progressive reform (so there wouldn't be a worker revolution) , hands-on president, but also imperialist and wants Panama canal

Panama gets independence and is paid for Panama canal

Carl Schurz (1829-1906)

Breaks with republican party and condemned McKinley and Roosevelt for imposing on Philippine independence

The Progressive Movement

(Combatting Social Darwinism

Offset wealth from social darwinism)

Anti Monopoly - the fear of concentrated power in the hands of the few

Concern for the victims of industrialization

Deep faith in knowledge and science - reform Darwinism

Belief that the modernized government must play an important role in improving and stabilizing society

Fund more education projects, etc.

Settlement House Movement

Many immigrants coming into country, female immigrants exploited and abused, this house provided a home and education for those women so they could get a job and get around in the US

Muckrakers

Expose corruption

Social Gospel Movement

Beginning of using religious ideals to make the US a better place

Mother Jones (1830-1930)

March of the Mill Children 1903

Beginnings of socialist movement

Mother Jones

husband/five children died from yellow fever

Got involved in socialist movement, fighting for equality, working class, against child labor, etc

Led march of child workers from Philadelphia to Long Island

Involved in beginnings of socialist party, feminism

Focused on exploitation of children, raised awareness and promoted regulation of child labor

Jacob Riis - How the Other Half Lives

photographed child labor to raise awareness to exploitation of children

Triangle Fire, 1911

No minimum wage laws at this time

Working 12hr a day, barely any pay

Workers were trying to unionize during this time

Fire broke out

Government became involved w/ workspace safety

S.S McClure

Ida M. Tarbell

Upton Sinclair

Muckrakers

Lincoln Steffens (concentrated on political corruption in NYC)

William Allen White

Ray Stannard Baker

Ida M. Tarbell did investigation into standard oil and its exploitive actions, a major monopoly

Upton Sinclair

One of most famous muckrakers

Wrote books on how big business exploits ppl for profit

Radical socialist

Baptist minister

Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918)

Had Church in NY, opened up first soup kitchens in lower east side

Concerned with plight of impoverished people

Founder of Social Gospel Movement, advocated for Salvation Army

Radicals

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn

Big Bill hAywood

The Wobblies

(founding members of IWW)

Working to make changes in society by calling people's attention to working conditions, child labor, passing laws, opening soup kitchens, etc

Lot more radicalism evolving during this time

Formed Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

Socialist union

Idea was that workers over the world are in the same plight and they need to unite in one big union and realize their enemy is the capitalist system

Remedy was that we need to have a socialist system instead of a capitalist system

Notable members include Lucy Parsons, Eugene V. Debs, Helen Keller, Dorothy Day, Thomas Hagerty, Eugene O'Neill, Mother Jones

Joe Hill was one of the most notable members,

Joe Hill (1879-1915)

Went to factories/shipyards/mines to recruit for the union (IWW)

Sang hymns, folksongs, w radical lyrics

IWW produced little song book full of Joe Hill and others songs w radical lyrics

1914 Shooting

was arrested and convicted for the murders of a grocer and his son in Salt Lake City, despite controversial and circumstantial evidence, including being treated for a gunshot wound on the same night of the crime

Workers around the world protested, holding vigils for hill, believed the shooting was b/c of his radical ideas

Night of execution there were 30,000 rallying and holding vigil

Before execution, he gave last message on note, saying "dont waste time mourning, organize"

Emma Goldman (1869-1940)

Believed marriage was an economic arrangement, an insurance pact

Believed women give up their privacy, self-respect, their whole life in marriage

Believed marriage makes women parasites, useless, dependent for life

Believed the State and Church uphold this ideal bc it's the only thing that provides control of men and women

Argues for free love

The Great War

Triple Alliance/Triple Entente

1815-1914, small wars, relative peace in Europe

Attempt to make another balance of power through alliance w/ other countries

Triple alliance: Germany, Austria, Italy formed alliance

Triple entente: Great Britain, France, Russia

Crown prince of Austria/Hungary (Franz Ferdinand)

Visiting Serbia on state visit → Serbian nationalists assassinated him and his wife

Austria sends expedition of austria troops into serbia to punish them for the assassination

Serbia had treaty with Russia so Russia came to their aid by mobilizing forces

Bc everyone was allies, wars started everywhere, one after another

WW1 starts

B/c of the industrial revolution, innovations of weapons/artillery were being advanced so it was immediately a blood bath (tank was invented)

The Lusitania, May 1915

Weaponry and American travelers to set sail on the British-registered ship Lusitania

Warned anybody taking the ship that they would be entering war territory

German boat sank it w 2 explosions of torpedos, went down in 20 minutes

Germans claimed they did it bc there was weaponry on it

Started a war cry that Americans needed to help/get involved with the war

Weakened American neutrality in the war

Anti-German Propaganda in Britain

English propaganda was intended to convince Americans to come to their aid in the war, another way of weakening American neutrality

Anti-German Propaganda in US

B/c of british propaganda, US had to drum up american support for the war

Realized ⅓ of American population are of german extraction, another ⅓ of American population are of irish extraction, so no one would want to fight the Germans

Clear anti-german sentiment in US: book burnings of German books, no American libraries had german books, even had lynchings of German Americans

Senator Robert M. La Folette (1855-1925)

Republican senator

Anti-war sentiment

Gave speech at congress protesting the war

Eugene V. Debs

(1855-1926)

Gives socialist argument for war,

It's the elites taking us into war and it's the working class that gets killed during war

Attacking attempts to limit free speech,

Arguing its the ppl in favor war painting anyone whos against the war as unpatriotic

Arrested and put on trial for treason b/c of speech, sentenced to 20yrs in prison,

Spent 1918-1921 in prison, conducted presidential campaign from prison

Randolph Bourne (1886-1918)

Against war and attempts to criticize government

Deformities at birth, intellectual giant

Died in flu pandemic

War unites people, strengthens the idea of a state/nation/union

People at war become obedient, respectful, trustful, putting their comfort and trust into State

Suffragists at the White House

Aftermath of war → revolution in Russia, making Americans more paranoid about radacilism/socialism

Red scare → Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer put out a manhunt for any possible communists, even if they just have radical ideas

He wanted to become Wilson's heir so he was trying to make a name for himself through the Red Scare hunt

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti

Ex. of anti-communist/leftist/radicalist ideologies at tis time

One of the trials of the century

Victims of early red scare, Italian immigrants who came just before WW1

Radicals, anarchists, didn't speak much english

Holdup at a warehouse the day a payroll was being paid in cash, one of the handlers were killed, two men escaped in car

Sacco and vanzetti arrested w/o proof, just b/c they were leftists/radicalists/italian immigrants

Convicted and sentenced to death

Led to 7 yrs of protests, appeals, convicted soley bc of political beliefs

On death row, executed in electric chair

People were protesting around the war, saying they were illegally executing people

Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)

He looked presidential, not many other qualifications

Elected president

A lot of members of his administration were corrupt

Attorney general got kickbacks from big business from selling oil to them

After WW1

President for 2 yrs before he died

Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)

Took over in 1923 after Harding died

Then ran for the next presidential election and won

The business of America is business

Never said much, never did much

Modernism vs Traditionalism

New philosophies

Booming economy

Model T - major effect on economy/manufacturing

assembly line technique increased production and lowered prices → almost anyone could afford it → growth of automobile industry → steel, rubber, oil, all experienced growth → tourism increases → fast food/motels → growth of suburbs → schools

The new woman - had right to vote

Changed gender barriers, flapper movement, sexual liberation

The lost generation

Harlem Renaissance

Marcus Garvey

Fundamentalism

Prohibition

Nativism

Xenophobia

The KKK

WW1 w/ amount of killing, made Freud principal popular

Ideas of Freud, Marx, Darwin all challenged traditional values and were very popular at this time (atheistic ideologies)

Rise of existentialism, frightening to a lot of conservatives

Science was being challenged with Einstein's theory of relativity

Margaret Sanger (1879-1966)

Opened clinics → mother of planned parenthood

Advocated for womens reproductive rights, birth control

Women started getting medical degrees

The Jazz Age

Prohibition, didn't limit alcohol consumption

In effort to reduce crime, prohibition fueled/organized crime