US History Review: Periods 6-9 (1860s to Contemporary America)

The Gilded Age ($1870s$ to $1900$)

• Overview of the Era: A period where American society appeared prosperous due to rapid industrialization, masking significant social and economic problems. Characterized by the rise of industrial capitalism and a massive shift from an agrarian to an industrial economy.

• The Industrial Revolution:   - Officially began in the Civil War during the $1860s$.   - Leading Industrialists: Notable figures like Carnegie (Steel) and Rockefeller (Oil) were key in building industries.   - Economic Shift: Manufacturing overtook agriculture as the main economic driver.   - Urbanization: Technological advancements prompted mass migration to urban areas; by $1920$, most Americans resided in cities.

• Immigration and Nativism:   - New Immigrants: The $1890s$ saw an influx of immigrants mainly from Southern and Eastern Europe, including Italians, Poles, and Russians.   - Asian Immigration: Significant increase from China.   - Nativist Backlash: Resulted in the Chinese Exclusion Act in the $1880s$ and immigration quotas in the $1920s$.

• Labor and Farmer Responses:   - Labor Unions: Organized national unions to address industrialization problems.   - Knights of Labor: Welcomed all workers, both skilled and unskilled.   - American Federation of Labor (AFL): Focused on skilled workers and core issues like wages and working conditions.   - The Populist Party: Formed in the $1890s$ by farmers reacting against mechanization and railroad control, advocating for government regulation and direct election of senators.

• Economic Ideologies and Early Regulation:   - Laissez-faire: Advocated non-interference by government in business.   - Social Darwinism: Applied Darwin's theories to justify wealth concentration among elites.   - Interstate Commerce Act ($1887$): Beginnings of government intervention to regulate railroad rates.   - Sherman Anti-Trust Act ($1890$): Initial efforts to regulate monopolies and trusts.

• The New South: Attempted post-Civil War industrialization despite predominant sharecropping and tenant farming; reinforced Jim Crow laws post-reconstruction, notably via $1896$'s Plessy v. Ferguson decision.

Western Expansion and Native American Relations ($1860s$ to $1890$)

• Expansion in the Trans-Mississippi West:   - Massive migration encouraged by government initiatives like the Homestead Act ($1862$) and Pacific Railroad Act ($1862$).

• Impact on Native Americans:   - Bison Slaughter: Systematic decline aimed at undermining resistance.   - The Indian Wars: Conflicts culminating with the Wounded Knee Massacre in $1890$.   - Dawes Severalty Act ($1887$): Disbanded tribal land ownership for assimilation purposes.

• Closing of the Frontier: Frederick Jackson Turner declared the frontier closed in $1893$, marking the end of westward expansion.

United States Overseas Expansion ($1890s$ to $1914$)

• Motives for Expansion:   - Economic access to markets, political competition, military strategy, and ideology.

• Key Expansionist Events:   - Annexation of Hawaii: Strategic and economic significance under McKinley.   - Open Door Policy: Ensured trade access in China.   - Spanish-American War ($1898$): Led to the annexation of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.   - Philippine-American War: Conflict against U.S. control.   - Panama Canal: Key project initiated by Theodore Roosevelt.   - Roosevelt Corollary: Expanded Monroe Doctrine; stated U.S. should intervene in the Western Hemisphere.

• The Anti-Imperialist League: Critic of U.S. expansionist policies.

The Progressive Movement ($1890s$ to $1920$)

• Focus: A domestic movement utilizing government to improve society, rejecting laissez-faire ideology.

• Progressive Reforms:   - Muckrakers: Journalists who highlighted social issues.   - Economic Reform: Trust-busting, Meat Inspection Act, Pure Food and Drug Act, and the Wisconsin Idea.   - Democratic Reform: Policies such as the 17$^{th} Amendment enabling direct election of senators.   - Women's Suffrage: A growing movement mainly led by urban, middle-class women.   - Moral and Environmental Reform: Included Prohibition and conservation efforts by figures such as John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt.

World War I ($1914$ to $1918$)

• U.S. Entry ($1917$): Joined the war to promote democracy after incidents like the sinking of the Lusitania and the Zimmerman Telegram.

• Post-War Negotiations: Woodrow Wilson’s $14$ Points proposed the League of Nations, rejected by Congress.

• The Home Front:   - The Great Migration: Movement of African-Americans from South to North.   - Civil Liberties: Curtailment under the Sedition Act and clarity on free speech established in Schenck v. U.S.

The Roaring $20s$

• Transformation: A decade marked by economic and cultural shifts, technological advances, and mass consumption patterns.

• Social Conflicts:   - The Red Scare: Fear of communism, leading to events such as the Palmer Raids.   - Quota Act of $1924$: Restricted immigration by limiting it to 2 ext{%} of the $1890$ population levels.   - Fundamentalism vs. Modernism: Exemplified by the Scopes Trial over evolution teaching.   - Culture: Emergence of the KKK, The Lost Generation, and the Harlem Renaissance.

The Great Depression and the New Deal ($1929$ to $1939$)

• Onset: Triggered by the stock market crash on Black Tuesday ($October\,29,\,1929$).

• The New Deal: FDR's program aimed at Relief, Recovery, and Reform; foundational to the modern welfare state.   - Key Programs: FDIC, Social Security, and the Wagner Act ($1935$).

• New Deal Democratic Coalition: Comprised of farmers, urban immigrants, unions, African-Americans, and women.

• Critique: Opposition from conservatives and expansionists like Huey Long.

World War II ($1939$ to $1945$)

• Neutrality to War: Shifted from Neutrality Acts to supportive measures for Allies leading to Pearl Harbor attack ($December\,7,\,1941$).

• The Home Front:   - Japanese Internment: Major civil liberties violations involved internment of over $100,000$ Japanese citizens.   - Social Changes: Campaigns for civil rights and labor adjustments.

• Victory and Outcomes: Allies' triumph due to production, the Manhattan Project, and pivotal military strategies like D-Day.

The Cold War ($1945$ to $1981$)

• Nature of the Conflict: An ideological and political struggle against the Soviet Union.

• Policy of Containment: Proposed by George Kennan to prevent communism's spread; executed via the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, and NATO.

• Hot Wars: Notable in Korea and Vietnam.

• Tensions and Détente: Alternating between conflicts like the Berlin Blockade and the Cuban Missile Crisis and peaceful negotiations via SALT I.

• Foreign Policy Controversies: Involvement in regime changes via CIA and domestic ramifications like McCarthyism.

• Eisenhower's Warning: Caution against the military-industrial complex in his farewell address.

Post-War Society and the Civil Rights Movement

• Fifties Transition: An era of prosperity with middle-class growth alongside cultural tensions and movements.

• Civil Rights Milestones:   - Executive Action: Truman’s military desegregation in $1948$.   - Judicial Action: Brown v. Board of Education overturning Plessy.   - Direct Action: Notable events like the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Freedom Rides.   - Legislative Action: Laws like the Civil Rights Act of $1964$ and Voting Rights Act of $1965$.

• Diversity of Movements: Included various rights movements for African-Americans, women, Latinos, and LGBTQ+ communities.