MIDTERM

FIVE FOUNDING IDEAS 

Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence 

Equality: the condition of being treated the same as others 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.”

Liberty: the freedom to think or act without being limited by unnecessary force 

“That among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Rights: basic conditions guaranteed to each person

“That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” 

Opportunity: the promise that people should have the chance to attain their hopes and dreams

“That among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Democracy: a form of government that places power in the hands of the people (rule by law)

“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, derived their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

1754 French and Indian War

• In North America, the French joined with Native Americans against the British to control the Ohio River Valley.

• Albany Plan of Union-Franklin’s idea proposed a Grand Council made up of representatives from the colonies. 

  • He wanted a CONFEDERATION that could work together to tax, raise money for defense, and create an army. 

  • However, it DID NOT HAPPEN because Britain feared a Grand Council would undermine its authority.

  • Franklin’s Albany Plan of Union went too far for British politicians because it included an army.

French-Indian War: Result

• Britain got French Canada (Quebec)

• For the 13 colonies, the most important development was

  • Proclamation of 1763

    • No settlers allowed west of the Appalachian Mountains

    • One year later, colonists’ taxes were raised to pay for British defense. 

Event/Document

What was it?

Date

Effect on Ideals

Magna Carta

An agreement

1215

Shaped EQUALITY and DEMOCRACY

• Supported “no taxation without representation.”

• Began the idea of due process

• Said king is not above the law

House of Burgesses

Legislature (people chosen to make laws)

1619

Shaped DEMOCRACY

• The first representative colonial assembly

• Reflected a belief in self-government

• White male landowners only

Mayflower Compact

Agreement

1620

Shaped DEMOCRACY

• Agreement to form a gov’t which they will obey for the sake of order

Act of Religious Toleration

Law

1649

Shaped FREEDOM and OPPORTUNITY

• Established freedom of religion in Maryland

• Only Christians had this right

English Bill of Rights

Laws

1689

Shaped RIGHTS and LIBERTY

• Sets forth individual rights (such as trial by jury, petitioning government, protection from cruel and unusual punishment

• Colonists expected these rights as British citizens

Great Awakening

Period of time

1730s

Shaped RIGHTS, LIBERTY, and DEMOCRACY

• Helped shape American government by encouraging colonists to question authority (church, gov’t, etc.) or think for yourself

• Increases colonial cooperation, churches in different colonies are communicating 

Zenger Trial

Trial

1735

Shaped LIBERTY

• Promoted freedom of the press 

• The government cannot control what information is given to people

Albany Plan of Union

Treaty

1754

Shaped DEMOCRACY

• Plan was rejected

• It was the first model for an American gov’t based on the idea of an alliance (relationship) between the separate colonies.

IMPORTANT TERMS/EVENTS 

Declaration of Independence

The document approved in 1776 by the Second Continental Congress declaring that the 13 former colonies were free and independent states, written by Thomas Jefferson

Committee of Correspondence

Wrote letters to spread the news about British actions throughout the colonies. 

Common Sense

a pamphlet (small booklet) written by Thomas Paine in 1776, making an influential argument for independence 

Battle of Saratoga (1777)

The decisive American victory was a major turning point in the revolution, prompting France and Spain to enter the war against Britain. 

Battle of Yorktown (1781)

The American victory that ended the revolution.  

Common Sense 

• led MANY colonists to understand why they should be independent states.

• Laid the groundwork for the gov’t they should have - set up a representative democracy

DoI Authors:

• Thomas Jefferson (main writer) (Virginia)

• Roger Sherman (Connecticut) 

• Benjamin Franklin (Pennsylvania)

• Robert Livingston (New York)

• John Adams (Massachusetts)

GOVERNMENT  

Separation of Powers= Checks & Balances

Division of Power= Federalism

Ability to Change= Amendment Process 

Enlightenment idea:

Thanks, Montesquieu!

Limits gov’t power by distributing it among three branches: 

• Executive

• Legislative

• Judicial     

To correct problems with weak central government in the Articles of Confederation

Power is divided between national and state governments

The amendment process allows the Constitution to change with the times. 

It is not easy to do, but it is more binding than a law.

Federalists

Anti-Federalists 

“Constitution balances power between states and federal government well!”

“Division of powers and separation of powers WILL work!”

“Safeguards against a strong central government are not enough!”

“It works for the privileged but ignores the rights of the majority!”

Important Federalists

• Alexander Hamilton

• James Madison

• George Washington

• John Jay

Important Anti-Federalists

• Patrick Henry

• Sam Adams

• Richard Henry Lee

Federalists tried to PERSUADE them by writing articles in newspapers → “The Federalist Papers.” 

“We are Publius!” -pseudonym for the Federalists.

Anti-Federalists then started writing their own articles: “Anti-Federalist Papers”

KEY TERMS

Articles of Confederation

The nation’s first constitution, which was drafted (written) in 1777, created a framework for a loose confederation of states 

Constitutional Convention

The convention held in Philadelphia in 1787 to write the Constitution of the US

Northwest Ordinance

A law passed by Congress in 1787 specifying how western lands would be governed

Constitution of the United States

The plan of government in the US, drafted by the Constitutional Convention in 1787 to replace the Articles of Confederation

Great Compromise

The compromise was reached during the Constitutional Convention on representation in Congress, with each state represented EQUALLY in the Senate and with representation BASED ON STATE POPULATION in the House of Representatives. 

Electoral College

A body made up of electors from each state who cast votes to elect the president and the vice president. 

Tariffs

A tax on imported goods

Separation of Powers

The division of government power into executive (President), legislative (Congress), and judicial (courts) branches

Checks & Balances

The system by which each branch of the federal government can limit or check the power of others

Bicameral Legislature

A lawmaking body made up of two houses (the Senate & House of Representatives make up Congress) 

House of Representatives

Senate

• Shorter term makes them responsive to current issues and problems

• More aware of local issues

• Longer term gives them a long-term vision of the country

• Staggered classes ensure “institutional memory”: how things were done in the past

• Aware of state’s issues

Naturalization Test Questions 

Answer

We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years? 

6 years

How many U.S. Senators are there? 

100

How many voting members does the House of Representatives have? 

435

We elect a President for how many years? 

4 years

We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years? 

2 years

Why do some states have more Representatives in the House of Representatives than other states? 

It is based on population. 

If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President? 

Speaker of the House

How many justices are on the Supreme Court? 

9 

What is the highest court in the United States? 

Supreme Court

What is it?

Where can it be found?

Significance

Judicial Review

The power of the federal courts to determine whether a law is constitutional or not.

IN OTHER WORDS: The Supreme Court can strike down a law if it is NOT constitutional.

In a Supreme Court case called “Marbury v. Madison”

In interpreting the law for that case, the Supreme Court “discovered” that this is their power.  It’s a check on the legislative and executive branches.

Supremacy Clause

It makes federal law more important than state laws.

Article VI, Paragraph 2 of the U.S. Constitution

If there is a conflict between a state law and a federal law, the federal law is the one used.

Elastic Clause

It allows Congress to make laws it needs to carry out its own powers.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 of the U.S. Constitution

Nickname: the “necessary and proper clause”

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)- the Supreme Court's most famous case interpreting the Necessary and Proper Clause

It’s controversial because it expands Congress’s powers beyond what is written in the Constitution.

Example: Hamilton claimed the clause let the federal govt set up a National Bank.

KEY TERMS

Concurrent Power

(BOTH Federal & State Governments) A power that the Constitution delegates, or grants, to Congress but does not deny to the states

Delegated Power

(FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ONLY) A power that the Constitution delegates, or grants, to Congress and, therefore, to the national government

Reserved Power

(STATE GOVERNMENT) A power that the Constitution does not delegate to Congress or deny to the states and is therefore reserved to the states or the people

Congress

The legislative branch of the federal government, consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives

Elastic Clause

The constitutional clause that gives Congress authority to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper" to carry out its powers

Federalism

The division of power between the federal and state governments

Judicial Review

The power of the Supreme Court to review an action of the legislative or executive branch and declare it unconstitutional

Preamble

The first part of the Constitution; states the purposes of the new plan of government

Precedent

A court decision used as a guideline in deciding similar cases

Special Interest Groups

An organization whose members share an interest or concern and want to influence policy-making

Supremacy Clause

The constitutional clause affirms that the Constitution and federal laws are the supreme law of the land.

Federalists

Democratic-Republicans 

Leader: Alexander Hamilton 

Leader: Thomas Jefferson 

Rule by the wealthy class

Rule by the people 

Strong federal government 

Strong state governments 

Emphasis on manufacturing

Emphasis on agriculture 

A loose interpretation of the Constitution

Strict interpretation of the Constitution

British alliance

French alliance 

National bank 

State banks

Protective tariffs 

Free trade 

Change During the Federal Period (1790-1800)

Geographic 

• Migration into the Northwest Territory

• Three new states between 1790 & 1800: Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee

• Mostly rural but a couple of big flourishing cities (New York, Philly, Boston)

Political 

• Washington sets a precedent in creating his Cabinet 

• A clash between Hamilton (Federalist, strong central govt) and Jefferson (AntiFederalist, power in state governments) → resulted in the creation of political parties.

• Federal Judiciary Act → established court system 

• Whiskey Rebellion (1791) → first challenge to the national gov’t 

• Election of 1800: Very fierce election between Adams vs. Jefferson

• Washington’s Farewell Address-letter that he sent to newspapers across the country → advises AGAINST political parties! 

Economic 

• Little industry, very agricultural 

• Long-distance travel was difficult; only a few good roads 

KEY TERMS

Manifest Destiny

The belief, held by many Americans in the 1840s, that the United States was destined to spread across the North American continent and beyond

Democratic Party

One of the two major U.S. political parties, founded in 1828 by Andrew Jackson to support a decentralized government and states' rights

Marshall Court

The Supreme Court, during John Marshall's term as chief justice from 1801 to 1835, ruled that "the power to tax involves the power to destroy

Spoils System

The practice of giving appointed positions in government to people loyal to the party in power

Second Great Awakening

From about 1795 to 1835, a period of renewed religious fervor among Christians in the United States

Temperance

Refraining from alcoholic drink

Seneca Falls Convention

Held on July 19 and 20, 1848, the gathering of supporters of women's rights that launched the women's suffrage movement

Suffrage

The right to vote

Abolition

The official end to the practice of slavery

WAY OF LIFE IN THE NORTH

WAY OF LIFE IN THE SOUTH

• In 1860, 35% of the population lived in cities

• Northern states were becoming more industrial

• More than 20,000 miles of rail lines connected Northern cities and factories. 

• Most of the population lived on farms scattered across the countryside.

• Southern states relied mainly on agriculture and had little industry (factories) 

• Plantation agriculture and enslaved labor formed the basis for the Southern economy. 

EVENTS THAT LED TO THE CIVIL WAR

Missouri Compromise (1820)

• Congress passed a measure in 1820 to admit Missouri into the Union as a state with slavery and Maine as a free state. 

• Set a line at latitude 36° 30' (Missouri's southern border) north of which all Louisiana Purchase territory would be free.

Compromise of 1850

• Henry Clay and Daniel Webster hoped this solution to allow slavery in the West would please everyone.

• However, its inclusion of the Fugitive Slave Law deeply angered many Northerners. 

• Admitted California into the Union as a free state

• Divided the rest of the Southwest into the New Mexico and Utah territories, with the people there determining for themselves whether or not to accept slavery (this is called popular sovereignty)

• Banned slavery in Washington, D.C.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)

• A novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe describes the cruelties of slavery through the story of a dignified (having a manner that is worthy of respect) slave. 

• The book increased the hostility (resistance, opposition) of Northerners toward the South.

• Southerners took it as an insult to their way of life.

• Described the cruelties of slavery so clearly that it increased the fervor/passion with which both proslavery and antislavery Americans supported their causes

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

• A law was passed by Congress to organize the Great Plains for settlement as long as the new territories were organized based on popular sovereignty.

• It repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which prohibited slavery in the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36°30' latitude.

• The act was introduced by Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois.

• Even though it was above the Missouri Compromise line, these territories would be able to vote on permitting slavery in their future states.

• A law was passed by Congress in 1854 to establish Kansas and Nebraska as territories with popular sovereignty. 

Bleeding Kansas (1856)

• Deadly conflict when supporters of slavery (“Border Ruffians”) and opponents (“Free Soilers”) fought in a violent struggle. John Brown fought here on the side to keep this territory “free soil.”

Dred Scott Decision (1857)

• Supreme Court ruling that denied citizenship to African Americans and opened all western territories to slavery. Northerners hated it; Southerners loved it. 

• The 1857 ruling of the Supreme Court in the case Scott v. Sandford legalized slavery in the territories and declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.

John Brown’s Raid (1859)

• An attempt by a group of 22 men to seize (take hold of with force) a federal arsenal (storage of weapons) at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, to cause an armed uprising of slaves throughout the South.

• An attempted raid led by abolitionist John Brown in 1856 in hopes of capturing the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, to distribute the weapons to slaves in the area and spark a slave revolt, which led to Brown's execution for treason

Election of 1860 (November)

• The vote for President of the United States drove a final wedge between the North and the South. 

• Abraham Lincoln won this election with less than 40% of the votes, all cast in the North.

Succession of South Carolina (12/20/1860)

• After the election of Abraham Lincoln, this state left the Union despite the president-elect’s efforts to hold the country together.

Attack on Fort Sumter (April 1861)

• The first battle of the Civil War took place on April 12, 1861, at Ft. Sumter in South Carolina.

KEY TERMS

Abolitionists

A person who wanted to stop or abolish slavery

Popular Sovereignty

A political practice common in the United States before the Civil War, in which the people living in a newly organized territory had the right to vote on whether to allow slavery in the territory

Republican Party

One of the two major U.S. political parties, founded in 1854 by antislavery opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act

Secession

Formal withdrawal from a group; In U.S. history, the formal withdrawal of 11 Southern states from the Union in 1860-1861 led to the Civil War

Sectionalism

A strong concern/allegiance to local interests (e.g., Northern free states vs. Southern slave states) 

Cotton Gin

A machine for separating cotton from its seeds; invented by Eli Whitney; the cotton gin revolutionized cotton production and made cotton the nation’s leading cash crop; the demand for enslaved labor increased as cotton production increased 

Fugitive Slave Law

• (1793): passed by Congress to allow the capture and return of slaves who escaped into another state or a federal territory

• (1850): New version of law

  • establish fines on federal officials who refused to enforce the law or from whom a runaway slave escaped

  • establish fines on individuals who helped slaves escape

  • to ban runaway slaves from testifying on their own behalf in court

KEY TERMS

54th Massachusetts Regiment

In the Civil War, the first entirely African American regiment of the Union Army; had a white commander

Anaconda Plan

Civil War strategy made by President Abraham Lincoln and General Winfield Scott by which Union forces would:

• establish a naval blockade of southern ports

• take control of the Mississippi River to squeeze in on the South from the east and west

• take control of the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia 

• defeat the South

Bread Riot

During the Civil War, a riot involving hundreds of women in Richmond, Virginia, who needed food and other goods that were becoming scarce in the South as Union forces cut off key parts of the region's economy.

Copperhead

During the Civil War, a nickname Republicans used to describe those Northerners who opposed the war and were sympathetic to the South, comparing them to the venomous snake.

Draft Riots

A series of deadly riots took place in U.S. cities in 1863 to protest the newly established military draft. In places like NYC, hundreds of African Americans were attacked by the white poor/working class during these draft riots.  

Emancipation Proclamation

An edict was issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, to free the slaves in the Confederate states. Lincoln did not free enslaved people in the border states (part of the North/Union) because he feared they would leave the Union. 

Embargo

A government order that restricts or prohibits the trade of a particular good or with a particular nation

Freedmen

A man who has been freed from slavery

Gettysburg Address

An inspirational speech was given by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863, at the Civil War battle site of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in memory of the Union soldiers who died there trying, in Lincoln's words, to protect the ideal of freedom upon which the United States had been founded.

Habeas Corpus

The right of a person being detained to appear in court so that a judge may determine whether the person has been imprisoned lawfully. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus in Washington, DC, to protect the Union from potential Confederate spies. 

Military Draft

A system requiring by law that all people who meet specific criteria, such as age and gender, report for military duty. Men aged 18-35(ish) were drafted to war by the Union and Confederacy during the Civil War. For $300, you could pay someone to take your place. 

Naval Blockade

A military maneuver in which one side sets up a line of ships to block entry into or departure from the ports of the opposing side. The Union set up a naval blockade of the Southern ports as part of its Anaconda Plan. 

Rifled Musket

A type of gun used during the Civil War that had improved power and accuracy; caused the bone to shatter, which resulted in thousands of soldiers needing limbs to be amputated on the battlefield

Total War

A military policy in which one side in a conflict decides it is willing to make any sacrifice necessary to defeat the opposing side completely. For example, Sherman’s March to the Sea- General Sherman (Union) burned/destroyed railroads, farms, houses, etc, as his army marched from Atlanta to Savannah.

KEY TERMS

Tenant Farming

landowners divided the land into small plots that they rented to workers who grew crops 

Sharecropping

Tenant farmers pay landowners a share of their crops instead of rent money 

Debt Peonage 

Working for someone until you pay off your debts; a system of servitude in which debtors are forced to work for the person to whom they owe money until they pay off the debt

Amnesty

A general pardon for a crime, usually a political one, issued by a government to a specific group of people

Black Codes

laws enacted in 1865 and 1866 in the former Confederate states to restrict freedom and opportunities for African Americans

Civil Right

A right that is guaranteed to all citizens of a country

Freedmen's Bureau

A federal agency established in 1865, at the end of the Civil War, to help and protect the 4 million newly freed black Americans as they transitioned out of enslavement

Grandfather Clause

A legal device that restricted voting rights to men who could vote or whose male ancestors could vote before 1867 (only benefitted poor Whites; Blacks couldn’t vote because their grandfathers had been enslaved). Seven Southern states used it between 1895 and 1910 to deny African Americans the right to vote.

Jim Crow Law

Any of the laws legalizing racial segregation of blacks and whites that were enacted in Southern states beginning in the 1880s and enforced through the 1950s

Ku Klux Klan

Established in 1866, a secret, white supremacist terrorist group that resisted Reconstruction by tormenting black Americans

Literacy Test

A test of one's ability to read and write; between the 1850s and 1960s, literacy tests were used as an effective tool for disenfranchising African Americans (preventing them from voting) in the Southern United States

Lynched

To kill someone without approval by law, often by hanging and by a mob of people

Plessy vs Ferguson

The 1896 Supreme Court case established the controversial "separate but equal" doctrine by which segregation became legal as long as the facilities provided to blacks were equivalent to those provided to whites (but they weren’t really equal)

Poll Tax

A tax of a set rate that is imposed on each person in a population; many African Americans (and other impoverished citizens) could not afford to pay the poll tax and, therefore, could not vote

Radical Republican

During and after the Civil War, a member of the Republican Party who believed in and fought for the emancipation of slaves and, later, the equal rights of American blacks

Segregation

The forced separation of races in public places

Sharecropping

A form of tenant farming in which the land owner provides a tenant not only with land but also with the money needed to purchase equipment and supplies and possibly also food, clothing, and supervision

Tenant Farmer

A farmer who works land owned by another and pays rent either in cash or in shares of produce (crop/food).

-NEW MATERIAL FOR THE MIDTERM- 

YOU HAVE NOT YET BEEN TESTED ON THE FOLLOWING 

KEY TERMS

Assimilation

The absorption of people into the dominant culture

Barbed Wire

Invented in 1867 (industrialization in the West!), it made it affordable to fence larger areas than before.

Result: large-scale animal husbandry (ranching).

Chisholm Trail

The cattle-drive trail from San Antonio, Texas, to Abilene, Kansas

Dawes Act

An 1887 federal law distributed land to individual Native Americans rather than to tribes, thereby encouraging Natives to become assimilated

Exodusters

African Americans who migrated from the South to the Great Plains following the Civil War

Gold Standard

A monetary policy requiring that every paper dollar in circulation be backed by a dollar's worth of gold in the U.S. Treasury

Homestead Act

An 1862 federal law that granted tracts of land called homesteads to western settlers who agreed to work the land and live on it for five years

Lobbyist

A person who tries to persuade legislators to pass laws favorable to a particular group

Monetary Policy

Government policy aimed at controlling the supply and value of a country’s currency

Oklahoma Land Rush

In 1889, the government opened one of the last

large tracts of unsettled land: Indian Territory. Within hours, more than 10,000 people raced into the territory.

Populism

A political philosophy that favors the common person's interests over those of wealthy people or business interests

Populist Party

A political party founded in 1892 calling for policies to help working people, such as government ownership of railroads and coinage of silver

Reservation

An area of federal land reserved for Indian tribes

Transcontinental Railroad

A railroad that spans the continent east and west

Vaquero

A Mexican cowboy

Vertical Integration

Horizontal Integration 

Characteristics of “Captains of Industry” vs. “Robber Barons”

Robber Barons (negative)

Captains of Industry (positive)

exploited their workers

created new products, often affordable

nasty business practices

made efficient industries

politically corrupt

donated to charities (philanthropy)

discouraged competition (engaged in monopolies)

against labor unions

Terms to Know 

Bessemer process

A method of steelmaking invented in 1855 that enabled steel to be made more cheaply and quickly

Capital

Any financial asset-including money, machines, and buildings used in production

Capitalism

An economic system in which factories, equipment, and other means of production are privately owned rather than controlled by the government

Corporation

a company recognized by law to exist independently from its owners, with the ability to own property, borrow money, sue, or be sued

Entrepreneur

A bold, ambitious person who establishes a new business

Factors of Production

Land, labor, and capital

Horizontal Integration

A corporate expansion strategy that involves joining together as many firms from the same industry as possible

Laissez-Faire

The idea that the free market, through supply and demand, will regulate itself if the government does not interfere

Monopoly

A company that completely dominates a particular industry

Philanthropist

A person who gives money to support worthy causes

Sherman Antitrust Act

An 1890 federal law that outlawed trusts, monopolies, and other forms of business that restricted trade

Social Darwinism

An idea, based on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, that the best-run businesses led by the most capable people will survive and prosper

Trust

A set of companies managed by a small group known as trustees, who can prevent companies in the trust from competing with each other

Vertical Integration

A corporate expansion strategy that involves controlling each step in the production and distribution of a product, from acquiring raw materials to manufacturing, packaging, and shipping

• Railroad Strike of 1877 Rail workers nationwide went on strike after railroad companies slashed wages during the Depression. President Hayes used federal troops to restore order and break the strike.

• Haymarket Affair, 1886 Chicago police stormed a meeting of a group of anarchists in Chicago’s Haymarket Square and fired into the crowd. Five protesters and seven police officers died in the incident.

• Homestead Strike, 1892 Pinkerton agents gave up after a daylong gun battle with strikers at the Carnegie Steel plant in Homestead, Pennsylvania. The strikers took control of the town until Henry Frick brought in nonunion workers to run the plant.

• Pullman Strike, 1894 Workers at the Pullman Palace Car factory went on strike after the company cut wages, but not rent or other charges. Because the strike interfered with the delivery of the mail, President Cleveland sent in federal troops to break it up. 

Knights of Labor 

• One of the first unions 

• Inclusive! (Including everyone) 

  • Accepted skilled and unskilled workers 

• Included African Americans and women

• Declined after 1886 because of competition from AFL

                                                 Terrence Powderly 

AFL (American Federation of Labor)

• Focused on just skilled workers

• Exclusive! (not including everyone) 

  • They discriminated against African Americans and women. 

• Against open immigration - afraid of competition 

• Focused on “bread and butter” issues. These were basic issues like improving wages. 

• They are still around. They merged with the CIO and are called AFL-CIO.

• Head: Samuel Gompers

                                             Samuel Gompers

ILGWU (International Ladies Garment Workers Union)

• Founded by Rose Schneiderman (Uprising of 20,000)

• Started after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire 

• Lobbied for fire safety and “bread and butter” (basic) issues 

• Women embraced it because AFL didn’t seek out women. 

                                            Rose Schneiderman

IWW (International Workers of the World) aka “Wobblies”

• Believed socialism was best for workers 

• Socialism: the government owns all factories, NO private property! 

• Inclusive: Workers all over the world should unite 

• Head: Eugene Debs 

                                          Eugene Debs 

TERMS TO KNOW

Steerage

The open area below a steamship's main deck, where most immigrants lived during the Atlantic crossing

Push Factor

A problem that causes people to immigrate to another place, pushes you OUT of your country

Pull Factor

An attraction that draws immigrants to another place, pulls you TO a country

Arable

Suitable for growing crops

Pogroms

Organized anti-Jewish attacks that forced many Jews to leave Russia

America Letters

Letters from immigrants in the United States to friends and relatives in the old country, which caused further immigration

Ellis Island 

Immigration Station

The port of entry for most European immigrants arriving in New York between 1892 and 1954

Deportation

A forced return of immigrants to their home country

Contract Laborer

An immigrant who signed a contract in Europe to work for an American employer, often to replace a striking worker

Americanization

The assimilation of immigrants into American society, a goal of some patriotic groups who feared that increased immigration threatened American society and values

Nativism

The policy of favoring the interests of native-born Americans over those of immigrants

Settlement House

A community center that provided a variety of services to the poor, especially to immigrants

Political Bosses

Powerful leaders (such as William “Boss” Tweed of Tammany Hall in NYC) who ran local politics in many cities, providing jobs and social services to immigrants in exchange for political support

Chinese Exclusion Act

An 1882 law prohibiting immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years and preventing Chinese already in the country from becoming citizens; the first U.S. immigration restriction based solely on nationality or race

Angel Island Immigration Station

The port of entry for most Asian immigrants arriving in San Francisco between 1910 and 1940

OLD IMMIGRATION (1776-1850)

NEW IMMIGRATION (1850-1924)

• Emigrating from Northern & Western Europe (blue) 

• Nationalities

  • Irish, Scandinavian, German

• Push/Pull Factors

  • Irish: potato famine (push)

  • Germans: political discontent (push)

  • Scandinavia: overpopulation (push)

• Where they settled

  • Irish: settle in Northeast

  • Germans/Scandinavia: farms in West

• Nativist reaction

  • Catholic Irish and Germans: resentment from Protestants

  • All: economic competition

• Emigrating from Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, and North America (red)

• Nationalities

  • Italian, Jewish, Russian, Polish, Chinese, Mexican, Japanese, Filipino 

• Push/Pull Factors

  • Economic opportunity (pull)

  • Political opportunity (pull)

  • Religious freedom (especially for Jews from Russia!) (pull)

• Where they settled

  • Europeans/Asians: urban, industrial area

  • Mexican: urban and rural

• Nativist reaction

  • All groups: economic competition

  • Asians: racism

  • Southern/Eastern Europe: Political fears (anarchism, Marxism) about Jews

Countries

Number of Immigrants 

European countries

~40 million

Asian countries

~8 million

Mexico

~5 million 

Canada

~5 million 

West Indies (Caribbean)

~2.9 million

South American countries

~1.4 million

Central American countries

~867,000 people 

African countries

~468,000 people

*Before 1865: 388,000 forced enslaved immigrants to the US. 10.3 million went to the Caribbean and South America. 

Australia & New Zealand

~193,000 people

Ellis Island (East Coast/Atlantic Ocean)

• New York, New York

• 1892-1954

• Mostly European immigrants (Eastern and Southern Europeans)

• Only steerage passengers (1st & 2nd class were checked on the ship)

Angel Island (West Coast/Pacific Ocean)

• San Francisco, California

• 1891-1940

• Mostly Asian immigrants (Japanese, some Chinese)

• Many were held in barracks for weeks or months

• More were sent back (deported) to Asia from Angel Island than from Ellis Island.

American concern about immigrants coming to the United States…

• Shadows represent their ancestors = immigrants

• American men in color have fancy clothes and are represented as large = successful 

• They are on a dock and are putting their hands up to the person (immigrant) coming off the boat.

• The successful men tell the immigrant working-class man not to get off the boat.

• The Americans have forgotten their own immigrant past and are against immigrants.

Nativism: the belief that native-born Americans were superior to immigrants. 

• 1880-1890s Nativism emerged even among descendants of “Old Immigrants.” 

• Believed that immigrant languages, religions, and traditions impacted American society negatively.

• Things that are tearing down “liberty” are things like socialism, Marxism, anarchism, etc. 

• This represents the American fear of unwanted political ideologies (possibly brought by immigrants). 

“The mortar of assimilation and the one element that won’t mix.”

• The woman (America) is mixing the bowl with a spoon that says “Equal rights.”

• One man standing on the side of the bowl that says “Citizenship” with a flag and a knife 

• Through equal rights, we’ll all come together and be good citizens. 

• The man represents Irish immigrants, perceived as incapable of becoming part of American society. 

  • Reflects the anti-Catholic sentiment in the United States. 

  • Irish were stereotyped as always fighting.

• There was a fear that some immigrant groups just could not assimilate. 

“The inevitable result to the American workingman of indiscriminate immigration.” 

• The immigrant is labeled as “pauper labor” (pauper= poor)

• Sentiment is this is what is going to happen if we have open immigration - Americans believed immigrants would steal their jobs

• The immigrant is literally stealing the bread and butter off the table of the person. 

Foran Act (1885): forbid any company or individual from bringing unskilled immigrants into the United States to work under contract

Muckrakers 

Uptain Sinclair 

• The Jungle (1906): a novel that exposed problems in the meatpacking industry

• Wrote about unsanitary conditions in meatpacking plants, explaining, "There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms; and the water from leaky roofs would drip over it, and thousands of rats would race about on it." 

• Reported that rat droppings, and even the rats themselves, often become part of processed meat.

• Reported that canned goods were not regulated, and toxic chemical preservatives such as borax and formaldehyde often contaminated many processed foods.

Ida Tarbell

• “History of Standard Oil” problems with monopolies

• Rockefeller’s Standard Oil was broken up into smaller companies.

Thomas Nast

• Famous political cartoonist

• Uncovered problems with corruption in NYC politics, such as William “Boss” Tweed & Tammany Hall

  • (1870s) William “Boss” Tweed of New York’s Tammany Hall political machine  cheated NYC out of as much as $200 million

Jacob Riis

• A photographer and journalist in New York City in the late 1800s

• He documented conditions of urban poverty and published his work in the book How the Other Half Lives

Muckrakers → FIND the problems

Progressives → FIX the problems

Progressive Activist

Jane Addams

• Co-founder of Hull House in Chicago (settlement house)

• Hull House: provided support for poor urban residents, including many new immigrants

• She became the garbage inspector for the 19th Ward of Chicago to keep neighborhood streets free of garbage.

• She wrote that garbage heaps "were the first objects that the toddling children learned to climb." 

TERMS TO KNOW

Settlement houses

Provided support for poor urban residents including daycare, classes, health clinics and recreational activities

Secret ballot

No one can see who you voted for

Direct primary

Voters in a party choose candidates, not party leaders

Initiative

Laws proposed by citizens voted on by the people 

Referendum

Legislature to people-we want you to vote on it

Recall

Replace someone with a new politician 

Urbanization

The growth of cities. The rise of industry had stimulated rapid urbanization by creating jobs that drew rural residents and new immigrants to American cities

Problem

What did the progressives want to do? 

What solution was enacted?

Working conditions for adult workers were unsafe; hours were long

Limiting the number of hours per week someone works 

New York State passed a law limiting working hours

Poor living conditions → 

garbage in the streets  → 

Provide safer housing →

 make cities cleaner  → 

Tenement House Act required new tenements to be built with a central courtyard and a bathroom in each apartment.

City trash collectors (White Wings)

Children working instead of attending school 

Keep children out of factories and in school → 

• Child labor laws

• National Child Labor Committee

  • (1912) Convinced 39 states to prohibit children under the age of 14 from working

• Creation of new high schools

Problem

What did the progressives want to do? 

What solution was enacted?

Galveston, TX had problems rebuilding after a hurricane → 

Galveston’s government seeks a way to rebuild through political reform → 

• 5 person city commission is set up 

• Each commissioner became an expert in his field (finance, public works)

Corrupt local government; bribery of elected officials → 

Electing progressive mays who support reform → 

Mayor Tom Johnson lowered streetcar fares in Cleveland and set up public baths and parks/playgrounds. 

Political machines controlled elections → 

Returning the power to the people by election reforms → 

Secret ballots: no one can see who you voted for

Problem

What did the progressives want to do? 

What solution was enacted?

Lack of suffrage (right to vote) for women; no voice for women in local/state governments → 

Demonstrate for women’s suffrage; work to gain suffrage state by state

Established the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

Full voting rights for women in 16 states by 1918

Disenfranchisement (being deprived of a right) by literacy tests, poll taxes, etc.

Use the courts to fight against racism 

Formation of the NAACP

African Americans faced poverty, inequality, and lack of political rights because of Jim Crow Laws

Use the court system to challenge inequalities and racism

In 1909 W.E.B DuBois founded the NAACP to end segregation through legal challenges. 

It sought the protection of voting rights under the 15th Amendment. 

W.E.B. DuBois

Booker T. Washington

• Wanted justice and equality

• Born into a free mixed family in Massachusetts 

• Scholar and civil rights leader 

• Founder of the NAACP

• Believed racism would end using the “talented tenth” principle or through an African American leadership class 

• Believed Blacks should fight for freedom now (immediate change)  

• Wanted opportunity for African Americans 

• Wanted to improve the lives of African Americans 

• Freed from slavery as a child

• African American educator and civil rights leader 

• Founded Tuskegee Institute (a vocational college for African Americans) 

• Believed racism would end once Black people acquired useful labor skills (gradual/slow change)

• Believed Blacks should work from the bottom up (gradual/slow change)