Period Six: 1865-1898

the nation's economic + demographic shifts and their links to cultural + political changes

the settlement of the west

• railroads bound all regions together → national market for goods

• industry encouraged to mass produce, consumers encouraged to mass consume

• government gave staggering land grants to railroads to unify the nation

• 4 transcontinental railroads – link east + west coast: increase of economic interdependence, greater production + consumption

• farmers: greater market, dependence on railroads which had monopolies → charged high rates at the expense of farmers

• response: national grange movement, leveraged membership of farmers against trusts + monopolization — oliver h kelley

• victory in interstate commerce act: demanded reasonable railroad rates

• small farmers suffered due to mechanization (eg. steam-powered combines), larger agricultural businesses benefit

• easier access to moving west

• homestead act: policy that provided free land in the west for anyone willing to settle/develop it, targeted settlers seeking self-sufficiency

• conflicts with indigenous peoples → “indian problem” solved by reservation system

• in no way correlated to their cultural practices + ancestral grounds

• great resistance – ghost dance, sioux wars

• ghost dance: a ritual performed by dakota tribes in an attempt to return buffalo + indigenous tribes to their ancestral land

• sioux wars: indian appropriation act ends federal recognition of indigenous sovereignty, nullifies all prior treaties with indigenous nations; first war won by sioux, second lost

• assimilation: abandon culture (dawes act: dissolves tribal organizations) + join american culture

the "new south"

• some leaders wanted to increase industrial capacity (succeeded in isolated occasions) — steel, lumber, tobacco, textiles

• maintained racial hierarchy – plessy v ferguson, jim crow laws

• black southerners are no longer genuinely protected despite legal grounds — black codes

• terrorized by lynching, kkk, but continued to resist

• ida b wells: wrote fierce editorials against lynching + jim crow, forced to move north to stay safe

• integrated into national rail network

• still agricultural, economic ties to cotton

• cotton, soybeans, sweet potatoes, peanuts

• economically dominated by north

the rise of industrial capitalism

• steel + oil industries

• sherman antitrust act

• only applied to commerce, not manufacturing

• outlawed trusts (groups of businesses that joined to form monopolies)

• goal: promote fairness among business competitors

• social darwinism: applying survival of the fittest to social structures [+ business practices]

• balanced by carnegie’s gospel of wealth – argued that rich have a moral obligation to better society with their money

• westward expansion gave industrialists greater access to natural resources

• bessemer process: process by which steel was made stronger + higher quality

immigration + migration

• new immigration + nativism

• farmers in europe face poverty, europeans face overcrowding + unemployment, religious persecution

• america has political + religious freedom, economic opportunities, + improved transportation

• old immigrants: northern/western europe, easily blended with american society

• new immigrants: southern/eastern europe, "birds of passage" returned home after making enough money in america

• immigration: international, migration: domestic

• europeans (irish/german/scandinavian) + asians (mainly chinese) came in massive numbers

• escape poverty, religious persecution, gain social mobility

• america widely viewed as a land of opportunity

• settle in urban areas → europeans generally form ethnic enclaves (east coast), asian immigrants on west coast

• labor unions: immigrants work for cheap, opposes union efforts + demands

• nativism – american protective association (anti-catholic)

• chinese exclusion acts: prevent chinese immigrants from immigrating to the us

• first + only time congress prevents a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the states

• social darwinism against [irish] immigrants

• some organizations offer them help – eg. jane addams’ hull house (settlement houses – teach english, find jobs)

• migration – exoduster movement

• black people out of the south into midwest

• establish homesteads, many unsuccessful

reform movements

• middle class gained strength – white collar work

• middle managers to work company (not just owners + workers → management), improvement of quality of life

• rise of labor unions

• factory work exhausting + dangerous, all-day work, low wages, etc.

• gather together for collective voice

• knights of labor: disappear after rioting gives them a bad name

• american federation of labor: more popular throughout late 19th/early 20th century

• both crusaded for better wages + conditions, 10-hour workday

• homestead strike

• strike at andrew carnegie's steel plant, met by violence from pinkerton police

• national grange movement

• farmers become a minority → populist party

• farming becomes more commercialized

• small farmers couldn't compete with falling prices

• tradition of independence + individualism had prevented farmers from taking collective action

• farmers become active in economics and politics to protect members against middlemen, trusts, and railroads.

• contract labor law

• prohibited employers from forcing immigrants to work to pay off the costs of their passage to america

• hull house

• chicago, jane addams

• relieve effects of poverty by providing social services

• taught english to immigrants, provided children's education

• social gospel

• applying christian principles to social problems

• minister walter rauschenbusch

• christianity x progressive reforms

• encouraged middle class protestants to attack urban problems

• temperance movement

• excessive drinking as the root of problems eg. crime, poverty, domestic violence

• women's christian temperance union (wctu)

• anti saloon league

• social gospel: apply gospel to society in addition to individuals

• continuity with second great awakening

• urge middle-class christians to tackle poverty as their christian duty

• interest in socialist movement

• equality for all – eg. eugene v debs, cure for sicknesses of gilded age

• rise of populist party

• represent interests of farmers

• correct concentration of economic power away from trusts + banks

• omaha platform – progressive movement

• direct election of senators

• initiative + referendum opportunities

• unlimited coinage of silver

• all demands taken up by progressives later

• women’s rights

• women’s suffrage movement gains momentive

• national american women’s suffrage association (nawsa)

debates about the role of government

• the gilded age

• national government faces inactivity

• ignored problems, avoided taking stances on controversial issues → complacency + conservatism

• high voter turnout → strong party identification + loyalty

• democrats + republicans

• continued pre-civil war beliefs

• lots of corrupt, lethargic politicians

• battles included patronage for civil service jobs (jackson’s spoil system)

• corrected by pendleton act of 1881 – replaced with competitive civil service examination (james garfield assassinated by someone who he didn’t give a job to upon his election)

• gold standard: government won’t print more paper money than can be backed up by gold

• paper money holds its value against inflation

• farmers + entrepreneurs argue for silver coinage + more paper currency so that debts could be paid

• tariffs

• protective tariffs (loved by industrialists, hated by consumers eg. farmers)

• corruption in politics

• urban political machines: boss tweed, tammany hall

• did help community members – especially for immigrants

• not just from goodness of hearts, winning votes