US History Notes 

USH Notes
Economic Roots of War
Many states were urban and industrialized
Many northern states had outlawed slavery and did not want new states to allow slavery
Southern states were rural, agricultural, and relied on slavery
southern states worried that northern states would pass laws that hurt its agricultural economy or even outlaw slavery altogether if they gained a majority in Congress.
Abraham Lincoln is Elected
Lincoln ran as a Republican, a new party known to be against slavery.
Although Lincoln promised not to interfere with the South’s slaves, his stance that slavery should not spread was enough to alienate the South.
In 1860, Lincoln was elected President, and that same year, South Carolina seceded from the Union.
Important Leaders
President of USA - Abraham Lincoln
Top General Union - Ulysses S. Grant
President of CSA - Jefferson Davis
Top General Confederates - Robert E. Lee
Looking Back at the Civil War: Key Events
1860- Lincoln was Elected President
1860- South Carolina was the first state to secede
1861- the Confederate States of America was formed by southern states
1861- Ft. Sumter attacked in the first battle of the Civil War
1863- Emancipation Proclamation offers freedom to slaves in Southern territory
1863- The battle of Gettysburg is the turning point, the North is now winning
1863- Gettysburg Adress unites Americans
1863- Vicksburg falls giving the Union control of the Mississippi River
1864- Sherman uses the total war in his March to the Sea for the Union
1865- Lee surrenders at Appomattox to end war

Reconstruction
Reconstruction - The process of adding the Southern states back into the Union following the Civil War.
The Aftermath
Freedom and Rights for African Americans
13th Amendment - Abolished Slavery
14th Amendment - Gave citizenship and rights to African Americans and other groups
15th Amendment - Reinforced the right to vote for citizens of all races
Freedman’s Bureau - Created to help freedmen find food, housing, jobs, and education. Ineffective due to opposition from Southerners and fighting in congress.
Black Codes - Were enacted in 1865 and 1866 that limited the rights of Southern freedmen and often forced them to sign labor contracts to remain in the South and work for low wages.
A legacy of Racism
A white supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan, began to strike violently to oppress southern blacks and ensure that whites would remain in power.
Jim Crow Laws
As whites regained political power in southern states, they began to pass Jim Crow laws that forced the segregation of different races.
Progress?
Newly franchised black voters elected 16 African Americans to Congress including their first Senator, Hiram Revels.
During the same period, 109 whites were elected from the south.
Sharecroppers - most freedmen only knew one vocation: Agriculture. However, few were given land and most were forced to offer themselves to the landowners as sharecroppers.
They would work a piece of land and would give most of the crops to the landowner, keeping a small portion for themselves
The way of the Plains
Many tribes were nomadic, following the herds of bison as they migrated on the plains
Conflict:
Native Americans sometimes saw settlers in the west as rivals for territory and resources.
American settlers believed that the tribe's nomadic lifestyle used too much land per person.
Settling the Far West
American settlers began to travel across the Great Plains and two mountain ranges, the Rockies and the Coastal Ranges, to settle in the fertile regions of Oregon and California. - Donner Party
The route most settlers traveled by wagon train became known as the Oregon Trail
The discovery of gold in 1849 brought a massive wave of immigration to the state of California called the Gold Rush
U.S. Government Encourages Settlers to Move West
In 1862, Congress passed the Homestead Act that offered citizens or intended citizens 160 acres of free land to move to the west.
Some settlers came from Europe. Others were freedmen who left the south during reconstruction. Many freedmen to Kansas went to Kansas and were given the nickname Exodusters.
Settler life on the Prarie
Due to the lack of timber, many families live in dugouts or soddies.
The new innovations came from the settlement of the west to make farming up to 20x more productive.
Steel plow
Steel windmill
barbed wire
Reaper
Railroad Connects the Two Coasts
Transcontinental railroad - Allowed easy travel from coast to coast
Most of the work was done by immigrants, such as the Chinese, and Irish, Freedmen, Mexican Americans, and Civil War veterans
Work was started from both coasts and after many years, the two sides met at Promontory Summit, Utah in 1869.
Where’s the beef?
Supply and Demand
Excess of Longhorn Cattle in Texas
Prices $3-$5 a head
Lack of beef in regions impacted by Civil War
Prices up to $50 a head
Cattle Drive - Rounding up longhorns in Texas and driving them across Indian Territory to the railheads in MO and KS.

Cattle Trails
Major cattle trails included the Shawnee, Chisholm, and western trails that passed through Indian Territory.
the life of a cowboy
The typical cowboy was young, single, and male and earned about $1 a day for a cattle drive
White, Mexican American, African American, and native American
At the end of the drive in the cow towns of Kansas, cowboys celebrated a successful drive by parting with some of their newly earned money at the local saloons
Cow towns such as Dodge City, KS became known as some of the rowdiest towns in the nation, leading to the stereotype of the “Wild West”.
Cattle Drives End
Three main factors led to the end of cattle drives:
Dawes Act - Eliminated tribal lands used for the trails
Barbed Wire - Allowed farmers and ranchers to fence in the “Open Range”, further blocking access for herds of cattle.
Railroads were built across Indian Territory into Texas, eliminating the need for drives to the railheads.
Black Kettle and the Cheyenne and Arapaho
The Sand Creek Massacre
On Nov. 29th 1864, Col. John Chivington led the Colorado militia in an attack on a peaceful band of Native Americans led by Black Kettle.
Black Kettle gathered his people under the American flag to symbolize his cooperation, but they were killed anyway.
Of 150 + dead, over 100 were women and children.
The end of Black Kettle
Black Kettle moved his band to Indian Territory to avoild future conflicts with the US.
After a band of renegade Native Americans was tracked to Black Kettle’s camp, it was attacked by Lt. Col. George Custer at the Washita in Oklahoma.
Black Kettle was killed along with his wife, many tribe members, and an entire herd of horses and ponies.
War on the Plains
1864 - Sand Creek
1866- Battle of the Hundred Slain aka Fetterman Massacre: Sioux warrior Crazy Horse leads ambush of soldiers, killing 80.
1868 - Battle of the Washita
1874 - Red River War: U.S. army targets Kiowa and Comanche after years of raiding in the Southern plains
1876 - Battle of Little Bighorn: Custer runs into huge camp of Sioux warriors led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse and is killed along with all of his men. “Custer’s Last Stand”
1890 - Massacre at Wounded Knee: 300 Sioux massacred in response to the Ghost Dance movement and the shooting of Sitting Bull. Last Battle of the Indian Wars
Chief Joseph: I will Fight No More Forever
As violence erupts in the Wallowa Valley in Oregon, Chief Joseph led his band of Nez Perce in a fight for freedom to Canada.
After eluding the army for 1300 miles, they were captured only 40 miles from Canada.
Joseph gave a famous speech at his capture where he declared: “From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.”
His band was removed to Indian Territory where most died of disease. After 10 years, the remaining Nez Perce were allowed to return to the Northwest to a reservation.
Red Cloud: Cooper Union Speech
In a famous speech at Cooper Union, NY, Ogala Sioux leader Red Cloud called out dishonest translators and Indian agents who misrepresented the treaties made between the US and the Sioux.
His eloquent speech won many supporters for his cause and demonstrated the sophistication of Native peoples.
Quanah Parker
Quanah parker was a Comanche leader who participated in a war against American settlement called called the Red River War.
Parker eventually agreed to move to a reservation in Oklahoma where he became an example of a successful assimilation, peacefully leading his people while become a wealthy cattle rancher.
Chief Seattle
Chief Seattle was a Suquamish leader who befriended early American settlers to be pacific Northwest.
He is known for being a friend to all and for giving a speech encouraging the new settlers to respect the earth and the environment.
Geronimo: Apache Legend
The Apache warrior Georonimo began a lifetime crusade against Mexicans after an attack left his mother, wife, and three children all dead .
His small band of guerilla fighters became legendary in their ability to attack large fores and then disappear into the desert mountains.
For 30 years, his band raided on the Mexican and American sides of the border, causing both countries many troubles.
At Skeleton Canyon, AZ in 1886, Geronimo made his final surrender.
He spent the rest of his life as a prisoner of war, but he was allowed to travel with a Wild West Show and even rode in Teddy Roosevelt’s inagural parade.
The End of a Way of Life
Due to profit seeking hunters, 65,000,000 bison in 1800 were reduced to approximately 1,000 in 1870.
Today there are approximately 260,000 bison.
Ghost Dance Movement: In 1890 a prophet promised the return of the bison and Indian lands in the tribes would perform a ritual called the Ghost Dance.
Thousands of Sioux gathered to participate in one last effort to bring back their old way of life.
The army was alarmed at the behavior and sent Custer’s old regiment, the 7th cavalry, to disband the group. The result was the Massacre at Wounded Knee.
Assimilation of Native Americans
Assimilation - The absorption of Native Amercians in white society. In other words, they wanted to remove the “Native” from the Native Americans.
The Dawes Act forced many tribes to divide up their reservations into allotments, providing individual tribe members with plots of land and selling the rest of the land to American settlers.
Boarding Schools
Native American youths were taken to boarding schools far from their families and taught in an American setting. They were prohibited from speaking their native language and were forced to cut their hair.
These “Americanized” youths were returned to their villages after their education in order to speed the process of assimilation.
Immigration: The American Dream
Push Factors
Push factors are things that might cause someone to leave their home country.
Examples of push factors:
War, unstable or oppressive government, High unemployment, famine, poverty, racism.

Pull Factors
Pull factors are things that might cause a person to choose to move to a country they think will provide a better place to live.
Examples of pull factors:
Jobs, stable government, family, reputation, land, educational opportunities.
Coming to America
The ladt half of the 19th century (1800s) brought a sharp increase in immigration to America.
Around 20 million Europeans migrated to the USA between 1870 and 1920.
Most came from Germany, Ireland, Scandinavia, England, or Italy.
Push factors included overcrowding, famine (Irish Potato), Racism (Jews), lack of farmland, high unemployment, and relatively oppressive goverments.
Asian Immigrants
While European immigrants flooded to the East coast, immigrants from China and Japan arrived on the West Coast.
Push factor included crowded conditions and low wages.
Although many came for the California gold rush, Asian immigrants usually found work in Hawaiian sugar plantations or laying railroad track in the West.
Ellis Island and Angel Island
Starting in 1892, immigrants to the USA entered through processing centers such as Ellis Island in New York City.
Immigrants were checked for paperwork, contagious diseases, and were goven a physical to ensure they were capable of work.
About 2% were denied entry to the USA.
Angel Island, in San Francisco, checked immigrants from Asian Countries.
Due to racial issues, many more immigrants were denied entrance or detained for long periods.
Chinese Exclusion Act
As Chinese immigrants flooded to the West Coast and the Gold Rush came to an end, California suffered from a job shortage.
Many Californians resented Chinese immigrants who would work for low wages.
Due to pressure from labor group in California, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act that prohibited immigration from China by most uneducated workers.
The act remained on the books until China became an ally during WWII in 1943.
Nativism
The Chinese Exclusion Act was part of a movement that favored native born Americans over immigrants called nativism
The Gentlemen’s Agreement - The US asked Japan to prevent unskilled workers immigrating to the US.
In return, laws that segregated and discriminated against Japanese people in San Francisco were repelled
Industry Expands in the USA
During the Civil War, the US was still a primarily agricultural country with small pockets of industry around major waterways.
By 1920, the US had become the leading industrial country in the world.

1. New innovations allowed the US to take advantage of it abundant natural resources
2. Growing population provided cheap labor and markets for manufactured goods
3. Government support encouraged business to invest and expand
   Industrialization
   In the decades following the Civil War, the US underwent a process where society changed from an agricultural based society to a manufacturing based society known as industrialization.
   Innovations Change Industry
   In 1859, Edwin Drake used a steam engine to drill for oil. This innovation made harvesting crude oil practical for the first time, starting what would become the Oil Boom.
   Oil was converted to kerosene which was used as a light source in lamps. The byproduct, gasoline, was thrown away.
   Of course, gasoline would become the most important form of oil as the automobile gained popularity.
   When British manufacturer Henry Bessemer created a process to make steel from iron, this new form of metal changed the way the world thought.
   Steel was lighter, more flexible, and most importantly: Rust Resistant.
   Railroad track, farm equipment, skyscrapers
   Steam and electric power combined with railroads allowed industry to grow in places never before possible.
   Electric power ran the factory’s machines and also provided light from Edison’s new invention, the light bulb.

More Innovations
Other important innovations of the period include:
Telephone - Alexander Graham Bell in 1876
Typewriter - Christopher Shoeles in 1867
Internal-Combustion Engine - 1860
Electric Motor - 1873
Phonograph - Thomas Edison in 1877
Radio - 1895
Airplane - 1903
Automobile - 1886
Electric light bulb - Edison in 1879
Big Industry Leads to Big Business
Industrial success allowed some American businessmen to become self-made billionaires.
As their fame and fortunes continued to grow, these entrepreneurs became some of the most influential Americans of their time
The Robber Barrons aka Captains of Industry
John D. Rockefeller - Oil
Cornelius Vanderbilt - Railroad & Shipping
Andrew Carnegie - Steel and Railroad
J.P. Morgan - Banking
Andrew Carnegie
Carnegie was born to a poor family in Scotland. An immigrant as a young boy, he worked his way up in the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
Carnegie used his earnings from stock dividends to start his own steel company in 1873, the Carnegie Steel Company.
Shrewd business practices enabled Carnegie to take over one of the most profitable industries in the world. Carnegie’s company gained a near monopoly of the steel industry by 1900s.
John D. Rockefeller
Rockefeller ran the Standard Oil Company
Using a business tool called a trust, Rockefeller created a monopoly in the oil business just as it was becoming extremely profitable.
Rockefeller would drive his competition out of business by lowering prices below his cost. He then raised the prices as much as he wanted with no opposition.
The Gilded Age
The 1800s and 90s are now referred to as the Gilded Age.
When something is gilded, it is covered in a thin layer of gold or gold paint in order to give the appearance of wealth.
The wild success of the Robber Barrons and their lavish lifestyles gave the appearance of limitless wealth in the US, but beneath the surface poverty and injustice festered.
Government Regulations of Business
The average American seemed to be at the mercy of the whims of corporate empires.
Groups such as the Grangers, led by farmers who were upset about railroad price gouging, worked to pass laws that would prevent unfair business practices.
The Sherman Anti-trust Act and the Interstate Commerce Act were two early laws aimed at giving the government the power to act as a watchdog over industries and protect the public’s interests.
Labor Unions fight Back
The labor Movement grew out of the workers’ need to improve harsh working conditions and poor wages caused by an excess of workers.
A union is a group of workers who band together to negotiate salaries and working conditions.
The NLU and the Knights of Labor
The NLU or National Labor Union, was formed in 1866 by an iron worker.
The NLU membership grew to 640,000 and was able to successfully argue for an 8 hour workday, among other safety concerns.
The Knights of Labor was an inclusive union who opened membership to black workers and women. It’s membership reached 700,000 in 1886.
Strikes
If negotiations failed, unions often organized strikes, or walkouts, where all workers left their jobs and shut down production.
Strikes were sometimes successful in improving wages and conditions, but some strikes turned violent.
The Haymarket Affair
Police were often sent to disperse strikers and violence often occured between the two sides.
A rally to protest police brutality against strikers at Chicago’s Haymarket Square turned ugly when someone threw a bomb into the line of policemen sent to control the crowd.
Several police were killed along with many protesters. The Haymarket Affair turned many Americans against Unions.

The Pullman Strike
Starts with company that makes sleeper cars
Pullman Sleeper Cars/Pullman coach company
Workers lived in company houses and lived right next to the factory
Economy went bad and people stopped buying the cars
Workers hours were cut, but their rent stayed the same
Workers now cannot afford to live
Workers became upset and decided to start a strike but the company didn’t acknowledge the strike
Workers then got with all of the trains and refused to let any trains with pullman cars, go anywhere.
People then started putting pullman cars on other trains
They then put mail cars on the same trains that had pullman cars
Stopping mail from being delivered is a federal offense
Began economic disaster
President is then involved and sends the army to force the trains to move.
Strike is then crushed
The company then states that they value their workers
leads to the creation of Labor Day
The Homestead Strike
The homestead factory was a steel plant led by Andrew Carnegie
Had a business partner who helped him run the company. His name was Frick
Frick was not a very nice guy and was all about the bottom line
Carnegie believed that he needed a tough guy like Frick to help him keep a successful business.
Frick does not want to negotiate with their workers
Homesteaders went on strike and took over the factory with weapons
Frick hired a private army to attack the workers
The army hired was the Pinkertons
The Pinkertons were mostly hired to protect trains and be security
The Pinkertons attacked the factory and many of the workers were killed.
The Gospel of Wealth
Andrew Carnegie preached and practiced philanthropy, or the giving of time and money for the benefit of the greater good
He believed it was good for the world to have extremely wealthy people as long as they practiced his “Gospel of Wealth”
He invested in libraries, educational programs, and other programs that he believed would help the poor elevate themselves out of poverty.
His idea was that the wealthy should not hoard or save their fortunes, but they should reinvest the money into programs that would benefit the community.
Some have doubted his sincerity due to the violence at the Homestead Strike at one of his steel plants.
Immigration and Industry Lead to Urbanization
The growth of industry in the United States led many Americans to leave their farms and move to the cities.
The shift of population from rural locations to cities is known as urbanization
This migration also had its push and pull factors
Push Factors
Bad weather, high transportation costs, and harsh loan terms forced many farmers into debt or bankruptcy. Black farmers left the south in huge numbers to escape racial prejudice

Pull Factors
Factories meant steady jobs and cities offered exciting lifestyles and events compared to the slower country life
Urban Problems
Lack of quality housing - landlords would build chap tenements and rent single family units to multiple families in order to increase profits
Transportation - Cities needed to transport huge numbers of workers to and from work each day. Public transportation such as streetcars and subways helped solve this problem
Water - Many city residents did not have access to quality water. Breakouts of cholera and typhoid fever were common in poor areas
other challenges included sanitation, crime, and fires
The Chicago Fire of 1871, and the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 were disasters that were made worse by two issues:
Wooden buildings were packed tightly together in overcrowded parts of the cities.
Lack of adequate water meant firefighters had little means to combat the flames
Populist Movement
In the late 1800s, angry farmers who felt take advantage of by the financial interests of the banks and railroads formed the Populist Party.
They argued for policies they believed would give farmers a fighting chance, such as bimetallism, which would increase the money supply by using gold and silver instead of just gold.
Cross of Gold
The Populists joined with the Democrats in 1896 after the Democratic candidate, William Jennings Bryan, came out in support of bimetallism.
Bryan gave a famous speech in which he declared that the Republican Party would not be allowed to crucify the American people upon a cross of gold.
Bryan would lose the electrion to industrialist favorite William McKinley.
Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, is supposed to contain many political references of the Populist Movement.
Dorothy follows the Yellow Brick Road (Gold) in her silver slippers, meeting the scarecrow (Farmers), tinman (Industrial Workers), and cowardly lion (Perhaps William Jennings Bryan).