APUSH Period 6

Why 1877-1898

End of Reconstruction to start of Spanish-American War

Mechanization

• More machines being used in agriculture than human bodies

  • ex: mechanical reaper, combine harvester

• Increase in product, price decrease

  • pressure on small famers (couldn’t live on selling products at low prices)

Why 1877-1898

End of Reconstruction to start of Spanish-American War

Mechanization

• More machines being used in agriculture than human bodies

  • ex: mechanical reaper, combine harvester

• Increase in product, price decrease

  • pressure on small famers (couldn’t live on selling products at low prices)

National Grange Movement

• 1868

• aimed at bringing isolated farmers together for socialization/education → got political quick

• Causes

  • industrial trust (prices remain high on manufactured goods)

  • railroad owners charged high prices to transport products

• Granger Laws

Granger Laws

• Result of what

• Most important act

• National grange movement → midwestern states passed laws regulating railroad rates

• commerce act of 1886

  • required railroad rates to be reasonable/just

  • established Interstate Commerce Commission (federal agency to enforce law)

Westward Migration Acts

• Pacific Railroads Act 1862:

  • gov gave land to railroad companies to build transcontinental railroad

• Transcontinental Railroad 1869:

  • meeting of 2 railroads that stretched from east coast to west coast

  • over next few decades 4 more transcontinental railroads

• Homestead Act

  • granted migrants 160 acres of land on west on condition that they farm and and settle

Boomtowns

• Moved west for gold

• gold discovered → influx of over 100k ppl → boomtowns

• boomtowns in pike’s peak region sprang up from migrants hoping to strike it rich

Sodbusters

• among first to cut through soil with saws

• only abt 1/5th got land from government

Frederick Jackson Turner

The significance of the frontier in american history

• argued that closing of frontier was not cause for celebration but for concern

• argued that westward expansion had always been a way of expressing american discontent (things get bad, just move west)

Reservation System

• solution for “indian problems” in westward expansion

• Indian populations assigned to live on reservations w strict boundaries

• Many resisted

Sioux Wars

• example of resistance to reservation system

• effect: gov made more treaties w indians, trying to restrict them into smaller reservations

Indian Appropriation Act

• gold discovered on their lands

• 1871 officially ended federal recognition of sovereignty of indian nations → many wars

Dawes Act/General Allotment Act 1887

• Fed gov abandoned reservation system

• divided reservation lands to be farmed by the indians

• allowed indians to become american citizens on condition that they settle on that land and assimilate into american culture

Ghost Dance Movement

• if indian participated int he dance, ghosts of ancestors would return and drive white man from their lands

Wounded Knee

• 1890 US army tried to disarm group of lakota indians when an old man rose to perform ghost dance

• gun went off → more than 200 men, women, children killed

• indian resistance brought to an end

• killing of sitting bull

New South

• post civil war south

• Henry Grady coined this term

• envisioned future based on:

  • economic diversity

  • industrial growth

  • laissez-faire capitalism

• Mostly remained agricultural

  • sharecropping

Plessy V. Ferguson 1896

• what doctrine

• effect

• separate but equal

  • Jim Crow Laws

Gilded Age

• 1870-1890

• period in US history marked by rapid economic growth/industrialization, particularly in the North and West.

• also characterized by severe social problems (inequality, corruption)

• Robber Barons

• rise of labor unions

Robber Barons

• wealthy industrialists who amassed their fortunes through ruthless business practices such as exploiting workers or manipulating markets

• Andrew Carnegie

• John D. Rockefeller

Second Industrial Revolution

• 1871-1914

• new industries: chemical, electricity, oil, steel

• Mass product techniques: producing large quantities of standardized products efficiently; assembly line

• electricity, automobiles

Steel Industry

• key component of second industrial revolution

• Andrew Carnegie

  • United States Steel Corporation

  • manufacturing center in pittsburg pennsylvania

  • Bessemer Process: sped up steel production

  • Horizontal Integration

  • pros: efficient and cost-effective production methods helped to fuel industrial growth and create jobs

  • cons: significant concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a few

Oil Industry

• key component of second industrial revolution

• John D. Rockefeller

• Standard Oil Company

  • pioneered the use of a "trust" as a means of controlling his competition

  • horizontal integration

• pros: cost-efficient production methods

• cons: concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a few large corporations → growing social and economic inequality

Horizontal Integration

• company acquires, merges with or takes over another company in the same industry value chain

• monopolies

Vertical Integration

• control every single step of production in company

Chinese Exclusion Act

• 1882

• passed by Chester A. Arthur

• prohibited immigration of all Chinese

Ocala Demands

• set of demands made by leaders of southern farmers’ alliance

• 6 demands

• set of demands made by leaders of the Southern Farmers' Alliance

• Demanded the following:

  • Direct election of US senators 

  • Lower tariff rates

  • A gradual income tax

  • A new banking system regulated by the federal government. 

  • urged the free coinage of silver, and increase its use in circulation to create inflation and raise crop prices

  • Federal storage for farmers crops and federal loans

• Part of Omaha platform

Battle of Little Bighorn

• 1876

• notable for being a significant victory for Native Americans

• resistance

Cornelius Vanderbilt

• business magnate who built his wealth in shipping and railroads

• New York Central Railroad

Adam Smith/Wealth of Nations

• book that outlines the principles of free market economics and capitalism

• argues that self-interest and competition are driving forces behind economic prosperity

• business should be regulated, not by government, but by the “invisible hand” of the law of supply and demand

Carnegie/Gospel of Wealth

• argued that wealthy individuals have a moral obligation to distribute their wealth in ways that promote the welfare and happiness of others

Labor in the Gilded Age

• often worked long hours in unsafe and unhealthy conditions for very low pay

• Immigrants/Minority Groups/Children

• Rise of several labor unions/strikes

• management used a variety of tactics to defeat unions and suppress labor movements

Anti-Union Techniques used by employers

• strikebreakers: unemployed ppl desperate for jobs

• Lockout: closing the workplace to prevent employees from working

• Blacklists

• Yellow-dog contracts: workers must sign an agreement not to join a union to be hired

• private guards/state militia

• court injunctions

• Examples:

  • Pullman Strike: where the Pullman Palace Car Company used a lockout against its workers

  • Homestead Strike: where company brought in strikebreakers/state militia

Labor Unions

EARLY UNIONS

• National Labor Union (NLU)

  • sought to improve the rights and working conditions of all workers, regardless of their trade or skill level (8hr work day, right to organize)

• Knights of Labor

  • more inclusive than NLU: accepted all workers regardless of their skill, race, or gender

  • eight-hour workday, right to organize, abolishment of child labor and monopolistic trusts

• American Federation of Labor (AFL)

  • Samuel Gompers

  • focused on narrower goals ex. better wages, better working conditions rather than the more broad and ambitious goals of earlier unions (NLU, Knights)

Hay Market Riot 1886

• occurred during a labor protest in support of workers striking for an eight-hour workday

• turned violent when someone threw a bomb at the police, killing eight people

• led to a backlash against unions

  • weakened knights of labor

  • gov repression of unions increased

Strikes

• The Great Railroad Strike of 1877:

  • was a series of strikes in response to wage cuts announced by the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad

  • Gov sent federal troops

• The Pullman Strike of 1894:

  • was a nationwide railroad strike caused by wage reductions for Pullman Palace Car Company workers → widespread railway disruptions throughout midwestern United States

  • gov used court injunction, federal troops

• Homestead Strike of 1892:

  • Henry Clay Frick (manager of Carnegie’s Homestead Steel mill) incited resistance by reducing workers’ wages → The workers went on strike

  • Frick responded by locking the workers out of the plant, hired the Pinkertons (small private army), to drive them off.

  • Workers spotted the Pinkertons and pinned them down with gunfire and forced them to surrender→ The Pennsylvania governor ordered the militia to intervene

Immigration during the Gilded Age

• saw a significant influx of immigrants to the United States

• for economic opportunities

• majority from ireland, germany, italy, also a lot from china and japan

• rise of anti-immigrant sentiment

• Old vs. New immigrants

  • old: from northern/western europe, mostly british, irish, german

  • new: southern/eastern europe, mostly italy, greece, russian empire

    • often poor and uneducated, and many were members of non-Protestant religions

    • faced discrimination and prejudice from the earlier waves of immigrants and from native-born Americans

Responses to Immigration during Gilded Age

• Social Darwinism:

  • wealthy/powerful r superior, poor treatment of immigrants in work force, forced assimilation

• Settlement Houses:

  • ex. Hull House/Jane Addams, help immigrants assimilate into American society

• Ethnic Enclaves:

  • neighborhoods/areas populated by people from similar ethnic backgrounds

  • many immigrants were concentrated in inner-city neighborhoods and could not afford housing elsewhere

  • tenements: multi-occupancy buildings meant to house as many families as possible, often in poor conditions

• Muckrakers

  • journalists and reformers who tried to bring attention to poor and the dire living conditions in urban areas

• Nativists

  • individuals who believed in the superiority of native-born Americans, against immigration

  • Immigration Act of 1882: placed a 50-cent tax on each immigrant, and excluded certain groups, such as convicts and those with certain diseases

  • Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: prohibited Chinese immigrants

  • National Origins Act of 1924: significantly limited the number of immigrants who were able to enter the United States

Middle Class

• rapid industrialization and economic growth→ development of a new middle class

• mainly composed of white-collar workers (professionals who perform knowledge-based work), small business owners, etc

• leisure class

  • able to afford new forms of entertainment

  • professional sports

  • vaudeville shows

  • telephone and electric lighting

• Effects:

  • increase in consumer culture

  • leisure time

• Focus on “giving back”

  • giving back to their communities and helping those in need

  • established foundations and donated money to various causes, such as education, healthcare, and the arts

  • scientific charity: addressed the root causes of poverty

  • Gospel of Wealth

Women’s Role in Workforce

• women in managerial positions (roles within an organization that involve planning, organizing, directing, and controlling resources) limited

• some women managed to succeed in business and industry

  • often by starting their own companies

  • working their way up the ranks in traditionally female-dominated fields

• Clerical Jobs

  • office-based roles

  • typically single and came from middle-class backgrounds

  • subjected to discrimination and harassment in their workplaces

  • new job opportunities and improved social mobility, however still faced discrimination, harassment, lower pay than men

Reform during the Gilded Age

• Muckrakers

  • poverty, corruption, exploitation of workers

  • Federal reserve: central banking system established to provide the country with a safe, flexible, and stable financial system

  • Federal Trade Commission: government agency established to prevent unfair or deceptive trade practices

• Social Gospel

  • religious movement among Protestant Christians to improve conditions in cities according to Biblical ideals of charity and justice

  • Salvation Army: mission focused on religious revivalism and charitable work

  • Many artists and authors began to use their platform to call for social reform and to raise awareness about the plight of the poor

• Women’s Suffrage

  • National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

  • Women of this era faced limited educational and career opportunities, and even fewer opportunities in politics

Controversies over role of government

• Federal Land Grants

  • gov provided significant subsidies to railroad companies

  • subsidies had negative consequences as well: hasty and poor construction, corruption, displacement of native American tribes, damage to environment

  • Interstate Commerce Act

• Anti-trust Movement

  • large monopolies came under widespread scrutiny and attack (middle-class citizens feared the trusts' unchecked power)

  • reformers pressured Congress to pass the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890: prohibit certain business activities that federal government regulators deemed to be anti-competitive

• Civil Service Reform

  • Pendleton Act → Civil Service Commission → implemented a system of merit-based appointments for federal gov jobs

  • aimed to reduce the widespread practice of political patronage

• Easy money vs Hard money

  • easy: farmers and startup businesses, argued that an increase in the money supply → easier for them to borrow money at lower interest rates/ pay off their loans with inflated money

  • hard: currency backed by gold/silver standard

    • bankers, creditors, investors, and established businesses, believed that currency backed by gold stored in government banks would hold its value in times of inflation

• Greenback Party

  • opposed the shift from paper money to a specie-based monetary system

  • believed that this would lead to a reacquisition of power by privately owned banks and corporations to define the value of products and labor

Politics in Gilded Age

• Presidential

  • Rutherford B. Hayes: end Reconstruction by withdrawing the last federal troops from the South

  • Chester A. Arthur: Pendleton Act, reforming the Civil Service

  • Grover Cleveland: implemented the new civil service system, Interstate Commerce Act of 1887

• Greenback Party

  • advocated for paper money not backed by gold or silver

• Populist Party

  • represented farmers and laborers, advocating for things like government control of railroads and currency reform

  • omaha platform/ocala demands

Migration

• movement of people from rural areas to urban centers

  • rapid expansion of urban areas and the growth of large, industrial cities such as New York, Chicago, and Pittsburgh

• Great Migration: African Americans from the South to the North due to factors such as the decline of the agricultural economy, racial violence, and limited opportunities for advancement

• Immigrants from europe/asia to US