12/15/23, MCQ + LEQ

Possible LEQ prompts:

1. Determine the factors that led to the increased industrialization in the U.S. between 1870 and 1900.

*2. Evaluate the extent to which migration/immigration contributed to social, political and economic continuities and change in the United States from the 1870s -1900.

*3. Analyze the policies of the national government toward Native Americans between 1860 and 1890 versus the policies from 1790-1840.

4. Compare and contrast the agrarian social and political movements from the 1860s to 1900.

*5. Analyze the social and economic changes brought by industrialization during the Gilded Age.

Important People:

• Andrew Carnegie:

  • came from poor and rose to be captain of steel industry “Homestead Steel” (his monopoly)

  • attempted to de-unionize labors, and thus the Homestead strike began

• Gustavus Swift:

  • saw that Chicago slaughterhouses lacked efficiency

  • created the assembly line (wage workers repeated the same task over and over)

  • created vertical integration (company controls all stages of operations (production to consumption)

    • reduced costs

    • destroyed independent distributes

• John D. Rockefeller:

  • caption of oil “Standard Oil company”

  • used vertical integration

  • helped pioneer horizontal integration (company merges w/ its smaller competitors… lower prices, win all customers, consume smaller companies, then raise prices again)

    • increase market share (more consumers)

    • reduce competition

    • creates monopolies

• JP Morgan:

  • embraced Rockerfelle’s business strategies and purchased steel companies (including Carnegie steel)

  • created U.S. Steel (first billionaire company)

• Frederick Taylor/scientific management:

  • sought to improve industrial efficiency

  • created scientific management (set in place to increase productivity and reduce costs)

  • workers use no brain, causing more deskilling of workers

• John Muir: (preservationist)

  • developed spiritual relationship w/ the natural world

  • made Sierra Club

    • organization focused on protecting American mountains and wilderness

• Booker T. Washington:

  • preached industrial education (rather than liberal arts)

  • preached gospel of wealth

  • wanted to leave civil rights alone and his ideas appealed to whites

  • believes its important for blacks to receive the same law-abiding privileges as whites because it is more important for blacks to focus on self-improvement on industrial skills

    • MAJOR SUPPORT BY WHITES INCLUDING CARNEGIE AND ROCKEFELLER

  • created Tuskegee Institute to help train and educate African Americans

  • at Atlanta Compromise

    • speaking to white crowd

    • avoided confrontation and accusation

• Frances Willard:

  • advocated women rights and domestic violence

  • created Women’s Christian Temperance (WCTU)

• Ida B. Wells:

  • African American who launched a one-woman campaign against lynching

    • relates to plessy v. ferguson (she also kicked out of car)

• Louis Sullivan:

  • promoted “vertical aesthetic” (strong columns + skyscrapers)

  • established Chicago School of Architecture

    • dedicated to teaching the design of building, inspired by Sullivan

• Joseph Pulitzer + William Randolph Hearst

  • owned journals (yellow journalism: dramatic reporting, exaggeration, revealed scandals and injustices)

• Lincoln Steffens

  • wrote Shame of the Cities

  • muckraker who exposed corruption as he revealed how city officials were leading unethical practices

  • Americans who agreed participated in reform movements against corruption

• Jacob Riis

  • photographer who wrote “How the Other Half Lives”

  • included photos of tenements to shed light on living conditions of the poor

    • Drove social and urban reformers

• Jane Addams

  • believed that working-class Americans already knew what they needed to close the difference/gap but they lacked the resources to fulfill those needs as well as a political voice

  • created Hull House

• Margaret Sanger

  • birth control activist and promoted women’s reproductive rights

• Upton Sinclair

  • wrote “the jungle”

  • muckraker who exposed the harsh and filthy conditions of the meatpacking industry

• WEB Dubois

  • radical compared to Booker Washington (feels Washington has blacks give up morals and accept inferiority)

  • wants more than industrial ed.

  • Niagara Principles

    • meeting in cannada

    • called for full voting rights and end to segregation

• National Association for Advancement of Colored Ppl (NAACP)

  • formed by Af. Amer reformer and white supporters

  • pushed for equal civil rights and racial justice

• Industrial Workers of the World

  • led by Big Bill Haywood

  • supported Marxist class struggle

  • believed that by resting in the workplace and launching strikes, workers could overthrow capitalism

Labor Violence:

• Homestead Strike: June 30, 1892

  • violent confrontation where locked-out workers opened fire and started a gunfight leaving 10 dead

  • state militia arrested workers

  • locked out workers lost their jobs and unions were dying

• Great Railroad Strike (1877)

  • railroad workers protested wage cuts

  • walked off job

  • protested in cities

  • buried railroad property

    • violent labor protest

• Haymarket Square: 1886

  • violent confrentation b/w police and labor protester in Chicago

  • anarchist detonated a bomb during a worker protest

  • Though the anarchist was not a Knight of Labor, the nation blamed them for the violence

  • profoundly damaged labor movement, as police became increasingly harsh against strikes/protesters

  • people now associate labor parties w/ violence (specifically Kinghts… this causes them to break apart bc their rep is very ruined)

Important pieces of writing:

• Gospel of Wealth: 1889

  • written by Carnegie

  • poor and rich gap is essential

  • wealthy should be humble/act as role models

  • soaked in social Darwinism

  • wealthy should use their $ for public good (libraries, parks, universities..)

  • offensive to poor bc they need higher wages, not public spaces (can’t even utilize)

• Progress and Poverty: 1879

  • book written by Henry George

  • emerging industrial order meant permanent poverty

  • industrialization only lifted the fortunes of professionals but pushed the working class down by forcing them to deskill

    • advocated social inequalities

• Shame of the Cities: by Lincoln Steffens (1904)

  • criticizes the corruption within urban governments.

  • Used very harsh language to attack political machines and connect new members.

• How the other half lives: by Jacob Riis (1890)

  •  exposed New York City tenements to the world.

  • His book brought attention to the issues of poverty in cities and gave reformers a reason to rise

New developments/ideas (economic, social, political):

• Trusts (economic): allow horizontal integration

  • legal document for horizontal integration

  • “board of trustees” was made and they held stocks in the firms

  • allowed trustees to hold stock in companies within the industry

  • forced weaker firms to succumb to powerful rivals

  • gave large corps excessive power

• Robber Barons vs. Industrial Statesmen (social term)

  • Robber Barons: negative term

    • implying captains built their wealth through ruthless and unethical means (such as exploiting workers and manipulating markets)

    • used during times of econ. depression

  • Industrial Statesmen: positive term

    • describes industrial captains as savvy business leaders who contributed significantly to economic development

    • used during times of econ. prosperity

• Deskilling and mass production (econ)

  • reducing skill level needed to do job, as complex jobs were being broken down into simpler ones

  • wages were lower (simple, more specific jobs)

  • manufacturing of large quantities of standardized products (efficiency)

• National Grange (1867) (political)

  • protest group of poor farmers wanted gov oversight for farmers to counter the rising power of large corps. (national movement)

  • NATIONAL GRANGE -

  • wanted cooperation and mutual aid w/ corps

  • wanted funding to educate farmers and fairness in regards to railroad shipping

    • eventually evolves into populist party

• Greenback Labor Party (political)

  • political party formed by grangers and other reformers (west specific)

  • wanted gov laws to protect laborers

  • wanted gov to print more greenback dollars to inflate econ

    • agree w/bimetallism (want to inflate econ, need more money)

  • small, local, short-lived

• Knights of Labor (1869) (political/econ) (primarily industrialized cities)

  • inclusive to all (minus Chinese)

  • radical —> advocated for legislative action

    • safety laws

    • prohibition of child labor

    • federal tax on high incomes

    • pubic ownership of railroads and telegraphs

  • greatest strength comes from spontaneous strikes

• Farmer’s Alliance: 1870s (political)

  • regional rural movement that took upon same issues as grangers + greenbacks

  • wanted to cooperate w/ corps

  • cooperatives would pool money together to cooperate w/ railroads on fair prices

  • more radical members who wanted large gov schemes to get involved, broke away from the Alliance and created the populist party

• American Federation of Labor (AFL) (political/econ) (primarily industrialized cities)

  • exclusive (only skilled craftsmen)

  • led by samuel gompers

  • did not critique the system and din’t call for electoral action (aimed for higher wages and fairer conditions)

  • waited for when political climate of congress was more understand/responsive

• Social Darwinism: (social concept)

  • “survival of the fittest”

    • idea that society should not intervene to help the weak/poor

  • WG Sumner (advocated social Darwinism)

  • laissez-faire economics (little gov. intervention in econ)

  • struggle for survival —> shapes society

• Eugenics: (social) ✝REVIVAL OF CHRISTIANITY

  • movement that believed society could improve by controlling reproduction

  • promoted reporduction of ppl w/ desirable traits

  • idea of scientific advancement; greater divide among citizens

• American Protective Association ✝REVIVAL OF CHRISTIANITY

  • nativist, anti-catholic secret society made up of white protestants bc they feared their rise/influence would challenge protestant dominance

  • prevented Catholics (and jews) from holding office and being teachers

  • mimics KKK

• Social Gospel (3 GA) ✝REVIVAL OF CHRISTIANITY

  • idea that issues like poverty and child labor could be solved by living more protestant lives

  • protestants provided reading rooms, nurseries, and other services to renew protestant faith through social welfare

• Fundamentalism (formed by prodestants) ✝REVIVAL OF CHRISTIANITY

  • believed in the strict and literal interpretation (fundamental truth) of bible

    • unlike social gospel bc fundamentalism said very little ant poverty/social issues, focused on heavenly redemption (revival of Christianity)

• Tuskegee Institute (educational/social)

  • founded by Washington

  • provided blacks practical education on the agriculture industry

  • focus on economic education and prosperity as path to racial equality

• Women’s Christian Temperance (political)

  • fought for women’s rights

  • prohibiting alcohol to prevent domestic violence

  • urban and rural people supported — saaw alcohol linked to fcrimes

  • Irish and German didn’t support (enjoyed alcohol)

  • short lived union —> led to women’s suffrage

• National American Woman Suffrage Association (1890)

  • formed due to merging of the NWSA and AWSA (more organized and efficient together)

  • advocated for women’s voting rights (bc of their success and influence on all women west of MS River gained voting rights

  • faced opposition from anti-suffragist

• Mutual Aid Societies (social/political)

  • self-help groups formed by people who shared common issues

  • contribute to a common fund for members to use in a time of hardship

  • formed among immigrants and poor workers who had little help from gov/loans

• Race Riots (social)

  • white mobs violently attacked blacks in cities

    • killing and lynching of blacks —> relates to Ida B. Wells

• Tenemants (social)

  • multi-family apartment buildings w/ horrible living conditions

  • housed large waves of immigrants

    • overcrowded, unsanitary, lacked proper ventilation

• Muckrakers (social term)

  • journalists who focused on the negative side of American Life (corruption in politics and business)

  • term coined by TR

• Political Machines:

  • bureaucracies that governed urban area

  • organized groups that acted as social service that could provide jobs and aid to families in need

  • often corrupt and manipulative to get them to vote for them

  • targeted poor people and immigrants

• Tammany Hall

  • political machine in NYC

    • led by Plunkitt and Tweed

    • used their wide support of immigrants by offering them servcies/favors in exchange for votes

    • played significant role in political and infrastructural development in NYC

• Progressivism:

  • social and political movements aimed to address issues caused by industrialization urbanization immigration and corruption

  • promoted reforms in education, medicine, finance, and labor laws

  • focused on: using gov intervention to enable reform that provides opportunity for all

• Hull House: (1889)

  • founded by Addams

  • offered unemployment, counseling, medical clinics, day care centers, etc.

  • helped poorer ppl rise in society through welfare programs

    • Addams lived there (even though wealthy) to get real understanding

• Pure Food and drug Act (1906)

  • est. FDA to increase oversight for more pure and safe food/medicine

• National Consumer’s league (1899)

  • advocated worker protection

  • led by Florence Kelly believed in govt. oversight

• Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

  • in NYC

  • fire in factory, employees locked in and died

  • NY est. laws for worker safety

• Gilded Age

  • term for America when industrialization booming

  • US looks amazing from outside

  • but rly its corrupt, poverty, huge wealth gap

• People’s Party/Populists:

  • takes over political system as third party

  • eventually absorbed by dems

  • formed by national grange, greenbackers, and poor workers

  • Omaha Platform

    • statement that called for gov. ownership of railroads and telegraphs, protection of land from monopoly, federal income tax on the rich

• William v. Missippi

  • poll taxes and literacy tests didn’t violate the 15th amendment

• Election of 1896:

  • America in depression

  • William Jenning bryan (D)

    • defended farmers, workers, attacked gold standard, wants to impose federal income tax on wealthy to replace tariffs as source of rev (pro bimetallism)

  • William Mckinley (R)

    • called for corp. fundraising

    • support from immigrants

    • anti-bimetallism

• Lochner v. NY (1905)

  • supreme court says NY can’t limit work hours (violates 14th amend bc violates workers basic rights of freedom)

• 1902 Coal Strike

  • mine workers protesting for better conditions and wages

  • important bc it was during winter and home needed heat

  • TR threatens the corps. saying he would nationalize their companies

    • TR didn’t have constitutional right to do this but did it for the good of the ppl

• Northern Securities Company

  • short lasting railroad trust

  • shut down by TR w sherman anti trust act

• Standard Oil Decision (1911)

  • Taft ruled that Standard Oil Company (led by rockerfeller)

  • guilty of monopoly

• Robert La Follette —> WI Idea

  • encouraged gov intervention in econ w/ help from scholarly experts

• recall/referendam:

  • recall:

    • voting to remove unpopular politicians from office

  • referendum:

    • voting directly on proposed law

• National Child Labor Committee

  • advocated for better labor conditions for women/children

  • lewis Hine to record brutal conditions in mines and mills where kids worked (successful, gained awareness)

  • TR created the children’s bureau in the US labor department

• Muller vs. Oregon: Milestone for women

  • case that upheld protecting working class women

  • it supported Oregan law that limited the workday of females

  • failed to protect men

New Laws/Acts:

• Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

  • prohibited Chinese laborers from immigration to the US

  • repelled Burlingame Treaty

  • implemented bc whites feared that Chinese would compete for jobs/wages

• Granger Laws: (1870s)

  • series of regulations passed to supervise corps

  • laws passed in several midwestern states

    • starting points for reform

• Hatch Act (1887)

  • federal funding for agricultural research and education

  • promoted agricultural practices

• Interstate Commerce Act (1887)

  • fed law that established the Interstate Commerce Commission to oversee railroad companies and interstate shipping

  • hard for them to gather evidence on companies and supreme court often sided w/ railroad companies rather than siding w/ the commission

• Mann Act (1910)

  • congress declared it a federal crim to transport women across state lines for “immoral purposes” (prostitution)

• Pendleton Act 1883

  • est. civil service commission to examine candidates for gov jobs

  • made to prevent spoils system and corruption

• Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

  • first fed attempt to prevent businesses from becoming monopolies and restricting trade

  • president had to individually approve/disapprove business

• 17th amend:

  • direct election of senators

• Hepburn Act

  • gave ruling of fed agencies (ICC) power to set and control rates

• Newland’s Redemption Act 1902

  • funded irrigation projects in west

    • Proved John Powell’s idea right