US History: America Becomes an Industrial Nation

1865-1898: America's Rise to Industrial Power

Big Idea 1: Westward Migration and Railroads

• Westward Migration & Railroads: The period from 1865 to 1898 saw America becoming a leading industrial nation.
• Transcontinental Railroads: Facilitated westward migration and unified the nation's economy, often favoring industrialists over farmers.
• Railroad System: Linked the nation, creating a national market for goods, encouraging mass production and consumption.
• Government Support: Offered land grants to railroad companies; four transcontinental railroads were built.
• Impact on Farmers: A robust national market emerged for their goods.
  • Farmers relied on rail transportation.
  • Railroad monopolies enriched themselves at the farmers' expense.
• National Grange Movement: Farmers formed this to defend against trusts and railroad exploitation.

Big Idea 2: Westward Expansion and Conflicts with American Indians

• Reasons for Westward Movement: Economic opportunity, self-sufficiency, and easier access via railroads.
• Homestead Act: Federal government gave land grants to homesteaders.
• Conflicts with Indigenous Peoples: Increased due to westward expansion.
• "Indian Problem": Term used to describe the challenges arising from mass migration west.
• Reservation System: Government solution involving assigning Indian populations to specific tracts of land.
• Sioux Wars: Example of Native American resistance.
  • Initial success, followed by tensions.
• Indian Appropriation Act: Ended federal recognition of Indian sovereignty and nullified previous treaties.
• Defeat of the Sioux: Marked a turning point in Native American resistance.
• Assimilationist Movement: Attempted to get Indians to abandon their culture and assimilate into American society.
• Dawes Act: Broke up tribal organizations, divided tribal lands into 160-acre plots, and granted US citizenship upon assimilation.

Big Idea 3: The South After the Civil War

• Efforts to Create a "New South": Some southern leaders aimed to industrialize and emulate the North's industrial capacity.
• Limited Success: Some areas saw industrial and railroad advancements, but the South remained largely agricultural.
• Racial Segregation: The racial hierarchy of the "old South" persisted.
• Plessy v. Ferguson: Supreme Court decision allowing racial segregation.
• Jim Crow Laws: Segregated every aspect of Southern society by race, hindering Black southerners' progress.
• Violence and Terror: Lynch mobs and groups like the KKK increased.
• Resistance: Ida B. Wells editorialized against lynchings and Jim Crow laws, facing violence and eventually moving north.

Big Idea 4: Technological Innovation and Industrial Capitalism

• Westward Expansion: Provided greater access to natural resources.
• Technological Innovation: e.g., the Bessemer process for creating stronger steel.
• United States as a Major Industrial Power: These developments contributed to the rise of the U.S. as an industrial power.

Big Idea 5: Large-Scale Industrial Production in the Gilded Age

• Business Practices: Vertical and horizontal integration emerged.
• Vertical Integration: Acquiring all industries required for manufacturing (associated with Andrew Carnegie).
• Horizontal Integration: Buying out competitors to dominate an industry (associated with John D. Rockefeller).
• Monopolies and Trusts: The goal was to become as large and powerful as possible.
• Laissez-faire Policies: The federal government's hands-off approach to regulating business.
• Social Darwinism: Applied to business; the idea that the strong should "eat the weak."
• Gospel of Wealth: Andrew Carnegie's belief that the rich had a moral obligation to better society.

Big Idea 6: Labor Conditions and the Rise of Labor Unions

• Improved Standard of Living: Some Americans saw improvements.
• Unsustainable Labor Conditions: Many in the labor sector fought for better treatment.
• Middle Class and White-Collar Work: New industries required middle managers (white-collar workers).
• Rise of Labor Unions: Factory work was dangerous, exhausting, and poorly paid.
• Collective Bargaining: Labor unions allowed workers to bargain as a group.
• Knights of Labor: Disappeared after the Haymarket Square riot.
• American Federation of Labor: Advocated for better wages, shorter workdays, and safer conditions.
• Limited Reforms: Many reforms wouldn't materialize until later periods.

Big Idea 7: Diversification of the Industrial Workforce

• Immigration: Large-scale immigration from Europe and Asia (Irish, German, Scandinavian, and Chinese immigrants).
• Reasons for Immigration: Escaping poverty, religious persecution, and seeking economic opportunity.
• Urban Settlement: Immigrants settled in urban areas, creating ethnic enclaves.
• Internal Migration: Movement within the United States.
• Exoduster Movement: Mass migration of Black people from the South to the Midwest to escape Jim Crow laws and seek homesteading opportunities.

Big Idea 8: Opposition to Immigration and Support Systems

• Opposition: Immigrants faced opposition from nativists and labor unions.
• Labor Union Opposition: Immigrants worked for cheap, undermining union efforts to raise wages.
• Nativism: Protecting the rights and culture of native-born people.
• American Protective Association: Anti-Catholic due to the influx of Irish immigrants.
• Chinese Exclusion Act: Restricted immigration from China.
• Social Darwinism: Nativists believed immigrants would degrade the gene pool.
• Settlement Houses: Organizations like Jane Addams' Hull House helped assimilate immigrants.
• Services Provided: Taught English, helped find jobs, etc.

Big Idea 9: Reform Movements

• Social Gospel: Christians applying gospel principles to societal problems and advocating to reduce poverty.
• Socialism: Gained traction due to the wealth gap.
• Eugene V. Debs: Leader of a major labor union and champion of socialism; founded the Socialist Party of America.
• Populist Party: Represented farmers' interests, aiming to correct economic power concentration.
• Omaha Platform: Populist Party platform that included:
  • Direct election of senators.
  • Initiative and referendum.
  • Unlimited coinage of silver.
• Women's Suffrage Movement: Push for women's right to vote.
  • National American Woman Suffrage Association.
• Temperance Movement: Efforts to curb alcohol consumption.
  • Women's Christian Temperance Movement.
  • Anti-Saloon League.

Big Idea 10: Politics in the Gilded Age

• Political Divisions: Remained from the Civil War era.
• Gilded Age Description: Seemingly prosperous on the surface but with underlying corruption and inequality.
• Political Parties: Democrats and Republicans, largely maintaining pre- and post-Civil War beliefs.
• Patronage: Battles over patronage in civil service jobs.
• Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1881: Replaced the patronage system with competitive civil service exams.
• Gold Standard: Conflict over paper currency value and silver coinage.
• Tariffs: Protective tariffs supported American industry but made imports expensive, hurting farmers.
• Government Corruption: Proliferation of urban political machines (e.g., Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed).
• Buying Elections: Political machines exchanging community help for votes.