American History Lecture Flashcards: Civil War to the New Deal

The Civil War and Reconstruction

• Reverend Martin Luther King jr is identified as the individual who started the Civil Rights movement.
• Robert Kennedy was the brother of John F Kennedy; he ran for the presidency in $1962$.
• The Civil War was fought between the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederate states).     - The North relied primarily on manufacturing.     - The South relied primarily on agriculture.     - Republicans were predominantly in the North, while Democrats were in the South.     - The North wanted to abolish or contain slavery to keep it in the South rather than spreading it to new territories.     - The South fought to keep the institution of slavery.
• Abraham Lincoln was the president in $1960$, and the war began in $1861$.
• Reconstruction ($1865$-$1877$) following the war involved several key policies:     - Special Field Order $15$: Promised $40$ acres and a mule to former slaves.     - Freedmen’s Bureau: Established to aid the transition from slavery to freedom.     - Sharecropping: A system of sharing crops and trading with those who owned the land.     - Crop-Lien System: A rent-to-own system where individuals borrowed money to obtain land.
• Presidential Reconstruction ($1865$-$1867$):     - President Andrew Johnson offered a "parlor" (pardon) to have property rights restored to many rebels.     - Black Codes: These were laws governing how black people should live. While appearing benign on the surface, they denied the right to testify against whites in state court, required employment on plantations via contracts (arrest was the penalty for not signing), and barred black citizens from serving on juries or in state militias (to prevent them from using guns).
• Radical Republicans included figures such as Charles Sumner (Massachusetts) and Thaddeus n Stevens (Pennsylvania), who viewed slavery as an absolute evil and were ready for immediate action.
• The Tenure of Office Act was passed by Republicans in Congress who disliked Johnson and knew he disliked his Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. The act required the president to get the consent of the Senate before firing any administration official. Johnson eventually became the first president to be impeached in $1877$ after violating the $10$-year term of this act.
• Key Civil War Amendments:     - $13$th Amendment: Abolished slavery.     - $14$th Amendment: Became the center of the $1866$ political campaign; it granted citizenship and equal protection. Every southern state except one refused to ratify it initially.     - $15$th Amendment: Granted black men the right to vote.
• The Reconstruction Act of $1867$ was passed over Johnson's veto in March of that year. It temporarily divided the South into $5$ military districts.
• The Civil Rights Bill of $1866$ defined all persons born in the United States as citizens with rights regardless of race, though it made no mention of the "franchise" (the right to vote). Johnson vetoed this bill, arguing blacks did not deserve citizenship.
• Carpetbaggers were Northerners who moved South during Reconstruction, and Scalawags were white Southerners who supported Reconstruction policies.
• The Bargain of $1877$ effectively ended Reconstruction.
• Black Churches in the South served as more than worship spaces; they provided locations for political discussion and community improvement talks.

Gilded Age Industrialization and the Second Industrial Revolution

• The post-Civil War period saw a shift from agrarian to industrial economies.
• The Second Industrial Revolution occurred between roughly $1870$ and $1914$.
• Key drivers included steel, oil, and abundant labor from a surge in immigration.
• Technological and Industrial Innovations:     - Bessemer Process ($1856$): Reduced steel production time and dropped prices by $70\%$. This enabled the growth of skyscrapers, railroads, and bridges.     - Standard Oil: Dominated by John D. Rockefeller, who controlled approximately $90\%$ of the oil refining industry.     - Telegraph and Atlantic Cable ($1866$): Facilitated global market integration and communication.     - Thomas Edison: Invented the electric light in $1879$, which reduced fire risks and allowed for extended factory shifts.     - Alexander Graham Bell: Invented the telephone in the late $1870$s, initially referred to by some as "the demon-talk."
• Business Organization tactics:     - Pools: Agreements between rival firms to divide markets and fix prices.     - Trusts: Managing the affairs of several rival companies as a single entity to eliminate perceived competition.     - Vertical Integration: Controlling every phase of business, from raw materials to distribution (exemplified by Andrew Carnegie).     - Horizontal Integration: Buying out competing firms to dominate a market (exemplified by John D. Rockefeller).
• Social and Economic Perspectives:     - Thorstein Veblen: Wrote "Theory of the Leisure Class."     - Jacob Riis: Wrote "How the Other Half Lives" in $1890$, documenting urban poverty.     - Social Darwinism: Used the concept of "survival of the fittest" to justify economic inequality and the "degree of contract" (the idea that the government should not interfere with the terms of employment set by owners).

Westward Expansion and Native American Policy

• The Homestead Act ($1862$) provided land at little or no cost to settlers moving west.
• Several states joined the Union post-Civil War: Nebraska ($1867$), Colorado ($1876$), North Dakota ($1889$), South Dakota ($1889$), Montana ($1889$), Washington ($1889$), Idaho ($1890$), and Wyoming ($1890$).
• The Dawes Act ($1887$), proposed by Senator Henry L. Dawes, confiscated communal tribal lands and divided them into individual parcels for Native American families. To keep the land, Native Americans were required to "assimilate" by adopting American customs, language, and farming practices.
• Native American Responses:     - Many rejected assimilation and practiced the Ghost Dance, a religious revitalization movement intended to preserve their culture.     - Wounded Knee Massacre ($1890$): U.S. forces attacked Native Americans participating in the Ghost Dance, resulting in approximately $150$-$200$ deaths, mostly women and children.

Gilded Age Politics and Corruption

• Local Corruption: Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall in New York City used patronage (providing food and jobs) to secure the votes of immigrants.
• National Corruption: The Credit Mobilier scandal involved the Union Pacific Railroad diverting government subsidies into a fake corporation to benefit politicians and business leaders.
• Political Landscape of the $1880$s-$1890$s:     - Republicans: Supported by industrial North/Midwest, revivalist churches, and African Americans.     - Democrats: Supported by the South and Catholic voters.     - Turnout was high (approximately $80\%$ of eligible voters), unlike contemporary rates which are lower due to distrust from events like Vietnam and Watergate.
• Pendleton Act ($1883$): Established a merit system for federal hiring based on competitive examinations rather than political connections (the "spoils system"). It initially applied to only $10\%$ of the workforce.
• Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) ($1887$): Established to regulate railroad rates and ensure they were "reasonable." However, the vague definition of "reasonable" often allowed continued exploitation of small farmers.
• Sherman Antitrust Act ($1890$): Intended to prevent monopolies and practices that "restrain trade."     - United States v. EC Knight ($1895$): The Supreme Court ruled the act did not apply to manufacturing monopolies (like sugar), limiting the act's power.     - Lochner v. New York ($1905$): Struck down a law limiting work hours for bakers, citing the "liberty of contract."

The Populist Movement and the Segregated South

• Farmers faced high interest rates, excessive railroad freight charges, and high storage fees (the Grange movement fought for reform in these areas).
• The People’s Party (Populists) emerged in the $1890$s, advocating for:     - Public ownership of railroads.     - Direct election of U.S. Senators (later the $17$th Amendment).     - A graduated income tax.     - Bimetallism (adding silver to the money supply to lower interest for farmers).
• William Jennings Bryan: Gave the "Cross of Gold" speech at the $1896$ Democratic Convention, arguing that the gold standard "crucifies" mankind. He ran for president in $1896$ but lost to William McKinley.
• The Segregated South and Disenfranchisement:     - "Redeemers" were wealthy planters and merchants who sought to undo Reconstruction and keep black citizens from gaining power.     - Plessy v. Ferguson ($1896$): Established the "separate but equal" doctrine, justifying Jim Crow laws.     - Disenfranchisement tactics: Poll taxes (voters paid to vote), Literacy tests (voters had to memorize parts of the constitution), and the Australian (secret) ballot (which prevented officials from assisting illiterate or non-English speaking voters).     - Convict Leasing: A system where prisoners (largely black men arrested for minor or contrived charges) were rented to private companies as disposable labor.     - Ida B. Wells: A journalist and activist who documented lynchings and advocated for black self-defense.

Imperialism and World War I

• The United States moved toward empire in the late $19$th century.
• Spanish-American War ($1898$):     - Sparked by the yellow press and the explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor (approximately $270$ dead).     - The Teller Amendment ($1898$) promised not to annex Cuba.     - The Platt Amendment ($1901$) contradicted this by giving the U.S. the right to intervene militarily and securing a permanent base at Guantanamo Bay.     - The U.S. acquired the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
• Foreign Policy Doctrines:     - Roosevelt Corollary: Added to the Monroe Doctrine; granted the U.S. "international police power" to intervene proactively in the Americas.     - Dollar Diplomacy (Taft): Using financial investment instead of military force to influence nations.     - Moral Imperialism (Wilson): The duty to spread democracy and "teach" good leadership to other nations.
• World War I:     - The U.S. entered in $1917$ after Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram was discovered.     - Committee on Public Information (CPI): Created by Wilson to explain the war and generate support through propaganda.     - Espionage Act ($1917$): Criminalized interference with military operations; Eugene Debs was imprisoned under this act.     - Alice Paul and the National Women's Party used militant tactics (including hunger strikes) to secure the $19$th Amendment in $1920$.     - The Great Migration: Approximately $1$ million black Americans moved from the South to the North for factory jobs and to escape racism.
• Post-War:     - Treaty of Versailles: Negotiated in secret by Wilson, Lloyd George, and Clemenceau. Forced Germany to pay reparations between $\$33$ billion and $\$56$ billion.     - Red Scare ($1919$-$1920$): A. Mitchell Palmer conducted raids on radical organizations, arresting over $5,000$ people.

The 1920s and the Great Depression

• The Roaring $20$s was a time of economic growth, but underlying issues (credit debt, wealth gap, bank failures) led to the $1929$ Stock Market Crash on Black Tuesday.
• Women in the $1920$s:     - Split between the "Politics of Feminism" (Equal Rights Amendment led by Alice Paul) and "Personal Freedom" (the lifestyle of the "Flapper").
• Harlem Renaissance: Known as the "Capital of Black America," Harlem saw a rebirth of black culture, art, and music (Langston Hughes, Alain Locke's "New Negro" concept).
• Great Depression Effects:     - $25\%$ unemployment (approximately $11$ million people).     - People lived in "Hoovervilles" (shanty towns).     - President Herbert Hoover believed in "individualism" and was slow to provide government aid.

The New Deal ($1930$s)

• Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) promised a "New Deal" and used a "Brain Trust" of advisors like Louis Brandeis to craft policy.
• Three R’s: Relief (immediate aid), Recovery (economic stimulus), and Reform (preventing future crises).
• Financial and Employment Programs:     - FDIC: Insures deposits up to $\$250,000$.     - CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps): Employed young men in parks; paid $\$30/\text{month}$.     - WPA (Works Progress Administration): Employed $3$ million people to build infrastructure.     - AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Act): Paid farmers to produce less; later ruled unconstitutional.     - Social Security Act ($1935$): Provided retirement pensions, unemployment insurance, and aid for the disabled.
• Critics of FDR:     - Huey Long: "Share Our Wealth" plan (confiscate wealth to give every family $\$5,000$).     - Dr. Francis Townsend: Proposed $\$200/\text{month}$ pensions for the elderly.     - Father Charles Coughlin: Radio priest who attacked banks and wealth inequality.
• Court Packing Plan: FDR tried to add judges to the Supreme Court to protect New Deal laws, but Congress rejected it.
• Fair Labor Standards Act ($1938$): Established the minimum wage, the $40$-hour work week, and banned child labor.
• WWII eventually ended the Great Depression through massive war production, which dropped unemployment from $14\%$ to $2\%$.

Questions & Discussion

• What was President Johnson's plan for Reconstruction? He appointed provisional governors and ordered state conventions that had to abolish slavery and denounce secession, while giving white politicians a "free hand" in other matters.
• Who were the Radical Republicans? Leaders like Charles Sumner and Thaddeus n Stevens who wanted immediate, transformative action against slavery and for civil rights.
• What was the significance of the Ghost Dance? It was a cultural revitalization movement by Native Americans who rejected the Dawes Act's assimilation requirements. Its misinterpretation by U.S. forces led to the Wounded Knee Massacre.
• What was the "New Negro"? A concept by Alain Locke describing a younger, urban generation of black Americans who were born free, demanded equality, and took pride in their identity.
• How did the size of government enlarge during WWI? The government took control of messaging (CPI), centralized industrial production (War Industries Board), and instituted the first mass military conscription (Selective Service Act).

The Civil War and Reconstruction

• Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. is identified as the individual who started the Civil Rights movement.
• Robert Kennedy was the brother of John F. Kennedy; he ran for the presidency in $1962$.
• The Civil War ($1861$-$1865$) was fought between the North (Union) and the South (Confederate states):
  • The North relied primarily on manufacturing.
  • The South relied primarily on agriculture.
  • Politics: Republicans were predominantly in the North; Democrats in the South.
  • Goals: North wanted to abolish or contain slavery; South fought to keep slavery.
• Abraham Lincoln was the president in $1860$ when the war began in $1861$.
• Reconstruction ($1865$-$1877$) involved key policies:
  • Special Field Order $15$: Promised $40$ acres and a mule to former slaves.
  • Freedmen’s Bureau: Aided transition from slavery to freedom.
  • Sharecropping: System of sharing crops with landowners.
  • Crop-Lien System: Rent-to-own system for land.
• Presidential Reconstruction ($1865$-$1867$):
  • President Andrew Johnson’s pardons restored property rights to many rebels.
  • Black Codes: Laws restricting black citizens' rights, such as testifying against whites and juror duties.
• Radical Republicans, like Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens, advocated for immediate action against slavery and pushed for civil rights.
• The Tenure of Office Act led to President Johnson’s impeachment in $1867$.
• Key Civil War Amendments:
  • $13$th Amendment: Abolished slavery.
  • $14$th Amendment: Guaranteed citizenship and equal protection; initially rejected by southern states.
  • $15$th Amendment: Granted voting rights to black men.
• The Reconstruction Act of $1867$ divided the South into $5$ military districts.
• Carpetbaggers were Northerners in the South; Scalawags were white Southerners supporting Reconstruction.
• The Bargain of $1877$ effectively ended Reconstruction.

Gilded Age Industrialization and the Second Industrial Revolution

• The post-Civil War era saw a shift to industrial economies known as the Second Industrial Revolution ($1870$-$1914$).
• Key drivers included steel, oil, and labor from immigration.
• Technological Innovations:
  • Bessemer Process: Revolutionized steel production.
  • Standard Oil: Dominated the oil industry under John D. Rockefeller.
  • Telegraph and Atlantic Cable: Enhanced global communication.
• Business Organizations:
  • Pools, trusts, vertical and horizontal integration defined modern corporate practices.
• Social Perspectives:
  • Thorstein Veblen’s "Theory of the Leisure Class."
  • Jacob Riis documented urban poverty in "How the Other Half Lives."
• Social Darwinism justified economic inequality.