Copy of Unit 6 Study Guide (1865-1898)

AP US History Exam Overview

The Industrialization of America

• Transcontinental Railroad:

  • Linked the U.S. from Atlantic to Pacific via rail and telegraph.

  • Accelerated closure and development of the frontier.

  • Significant location: Promontory Point where the two lines met.

• Cornelius Vanderbilt:

  • Business tycoon who made a fortune in the steamboat industry.

  • Consolidated various rail lines into the New York Central Railroad.

• New York Central Railroad:

  • Railroad company created by Vanderbilt, standardized rail gauges for efficiency.

Big Business Emergence

• Large-scale industrialization led to capitalism dominance with figures like Vanderbilt, Carnegie, and Rockefeller:

  • Aggressive financial tactics spurred economic downturns.

• Migration increased within the U.S., fueling urban growth:

  • Attracted ethnic groups including African Americans and migrants from Asia and Europe.

• Intellectual and Cultural Movements:

  • Social Darwinism: Justified wealthy elite status as natural.

  • Gospel of Wealth: Encouraged the wealthy to aid the less fortunate.

• Civil rights debates intensified, influenced by:

  • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Upheld racial segregation, highlighting setbacks for African Americans.

Railroads and Expansion

• Union Pacific Railroad:

  • Complicated Transcontinental Railroad; started from Omaha.

• Central Pacific Railroad:

  • Constructed by Leland Stanford, facing severe geographical challenges with most labor from Chinese immigrants.

• Promontory Point:

  • Site of unification of Union and Central Pacific Railroads on May 10, 1869.

• Robber Barons:

  • Term for investors who inflated stock values and left others bankrupt, emblematic of Gilded Age competition.

Inventions and Innovations

• Alexander Graham Bell:

  • Patented the telephone in 1876, founded Bell Telephone Company.

• Bessemer Process:

  • Evolved steel production, allowing rapid and inexpensive steel output.

• Andrew Carnegie:

  • Industrial leader, focused on efficiency in the steel industry, authored The Gospel of Wealth.

  • Utilized vertical integration and opposed competitors through aggressive tactics.

Industrial Consolidation

• U.S. Steel: Formed post-acquisition of Carnegie Steel by J.P. Morgan, becoming the first billion-dollar corporation.

• Horizontal Integration: Merging competing companies under single ownership, exemplified by Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company.

Labor Movement and Strikes

• Great Railroad Strike of 1877: Nationwide response to wage cuts, leading to federal troop involvement against strikers.

• National Labor Union: First attempt at mass worker organization, disbanded due to economic crisis and failures of strikes.

• Knights of Labor: Broad-based labor organization advocating for workers’ rights and economic reforms.

• Haymarket Square Riot: Catalyst for labor movement decline and fear of association with anarchism.

Labor Rights and Federal Response

• Homestead Strike (1892): Violent clash at Carnegie’s steel factory, a major setback for labor unions.

• Pullman Strike: Nationwide strike against wage cuts leading to federal intervention and creation of Labor Day.

Government Regulation and Economic Crises

• Interstate Commerce Act (1887): Initiated federal regulation of railroads.

• Panic of 1893: Economic depression prompted by railroad failures and over-speculation.

Impacts on American Indians

• Turner's Frontier Thesis: Suggests the frontier shaped American democracy and character.

• Battle of Wounded Knee: Mass killing of Native Americans, marking the end of major armed resistance against U.S. expansion.

Racial Segregation and Civil Rights

• Plessy v. Ferguson: Established 'separate but equal,' enforcing racial segregation.

• Jim Crow Laws: State laws enforcing racial segregation, particularly in the South.

Late 19th Century Reforms

• Social Gospel Movement: Ideology advocating that Christians improve the lives of the less fortunate.

• Settlement House Movement: Addressed immigrant needs through education and community services.

Advocacy for Prohibition and Women’s Rights

• Women’s Christian Temperance Union: Advocated prohibition and women’s suffrage.

• Frances Willard: Key figure in temperance and suffrage movements, leading the WCTU.

Gilded Age Cultural Context

• Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony: Key women's suffrage activists.

• Frederick Law Olmsted: Influential landscape architect behind urban parks, especially Central Park.