Unit 6: Period 6: 1865-1898
Filled with economic changes, political changes, migration and urbanization, and reform efforts
Abundant with raw materials + labor supply
Growing population + transportation
Capital was plentiful
Labor saving technologies
The business benefited from government policies
Talented entrepreneurs
The first route → During the Civil War Congress authorized land grants and loans for the first transcontinental Railroad
Went through the Sierra Nevada mountains to Promontory Point Utah
Four additional routes
In 1883 three other transcontinental railroads were completed
Southern Pacific to Los Angeles + Topeka and Santa Fe to Los Angeles + Minnesota to Seattle
Negative effects
Significant cost but failures as businesses
Exterminated Buffalo and natives who lived in the region suffered
Great Plains changed dramatically and buffalo herds were wiped out
10 new western states have been carved out of the Last Frontier
Oklahoma New Mexico and Arizona remained as territories
The Mining Frontier
Gold rushes and silver strikes kept a steady flow of hopeful Prospectors pushing into Western mountains to earn money
Rich strikes created boomtowns and became Infamous for saloons
Mark Twain started his career as a writer
The Cattle Frontier
The economic potential of grasslands reached from Texas to Canada
Cattle at first was rounded up in Texas by Vaqueros
Texas Longhorn cattle were borrowed from Mexicans and roamed freely Over Texas grasslands ( 5 million)
The invention of barbed wire made it easier to fence cattle
Railroads and Cattle → Construction of railroads opened up Eastern markets for Texas Cattle
The decline of cattle drives
Cattle drives begin to end in the 1880s because of overgrazing and winter blizzards and drought
Cattle Frontier was the arrival of homesteaders who used barbed wire fencing to cut off the open range
While the cattle owners made huge riches using scientific ranching techniques
American eating habits change from pork to beef
Homestead Act of 1862 → Encouraged farming on Great Plains by offering 160 six acres of land to settle on it for 5 years
Problems and solutions
Sodbusters built homes of sod bricks
Hot and cold weather + scarcity of water
The invention of Barbed Wire by Joseph Glidden
Falling prices for their crops and cost of machinery → failure of 2/3 of homesteaders' farms in the Great Plains
Success on the Great Plains
Those who managed to survive adopted dry farming and deep-plowing techniques
Government programs to build dams and irrigation systems saved Western farmers
Changes in Agriculture
Western Farmers concentrated on raising single-crash crops for international and National markets
Large farms were run like factories
Small farms could not compete and were driven out of business
Falling prices
Increased production of crops such as wheat and corn drove prices down
Downward pressure on prices resulting in deflation
Farmers with mortgages faced high-interest rates and the need to grow more and more to pay off old debts
Increase production only lowered prices resulting in a vicious cycle
Rising costs
Victimized by the larger National economy + middlemen took all profit
Railroads would often charge more for short hauls on lines with no competition than long hauls on lines with competition
Local and state governments taxed property and land heavily
National Grange movement
The National Grange of Patrons of Husbandry was organized in 1868 by Oliver H Kelly
It expanded and became active in economics and politics to defend members
Grangers established cooperatives
Successfully Lobby the legislature to pass laws regulating rates charged by railroads and elevators
Granger laws made it illegal for railroads to fix prices by means of pools and give rebates to privileged customers
Farmers alliances
Express their discontent by forming State and Regional groups
Alliances had the goal of Economic and political action
Ocala Platform
National Alliance met in Ocala Florida to address problems in Rural America
Ocala delegates created the Ocala platform that called for significant reforms
Direct election of US senators
Lower tariff rates
Graduated income tax
A new banking system regulated by the federal government
Demanded treasury notes and silver be used to increase the amount of money in circulation
Turner's Frontier Thesis
Settling the frontier was an evolutionary process of building a civilization
Role of Towns and Cities
Historians challenge Turner's Theory by arguing Frontier cities were not a late edition
Urban markets also made Frontier development possible
Americans without a frontier
Closing of the frontier troubled Turner → saw the frontier as a safety valve for releasing American discontent
The largest movement of Americans was not from East to West but from rural communities to cities
Natives occupied the West belong to many tribes and lived in permanent settlements raising corn and livestock
Western tribal groups that lived on the Great Plains had given up farming in colonial times after the introduction of horses
Developed a way of life centered on the hunting of Buffalo
Americans had little understanding of natives and wanted them to develop and assimilate into white culture
Reservation policy
Andrew Jackson's policy of moving Westward was based on the belief that Lance West of Mississippi would remain an Indian country
As wagons moved Westward and Transcontinental Railroad was built federal government began to assign plain tribes large tracks of land with definite boundaries
Tribes refuse to restrict their movements to reservations → continued following Buffalo
Indian Wars
Americans on Native lands led to violence
US Army responsible for massacres
After wars, another round of treaties attempted to isolate tribes on smaller reservations with federal agents promising government support
Gold miners refused to stay off of the native property
Sierra Club aims to preserve natural areas from human interference
Henry Grady spread the gospel of the New South and argued for economic diversity and Laissez-faire capitalism
The growth of cities textile industry and improved railroad symbolized efforts for New South
Birmingham → leading steel producer
Memphis → Lumber industry
Richmond → tobacco industry
South was integrated into National Rail Network
Northern financing dominated the southern economy
Northern investors controlled Southern railroads and the steel industry
Economic growth in the South was hampered by the failure of state and local governments to expand public education
Black farmers were either tenant farmers or sharecroppers
cotton and other crops remain tied to the South's economy
Tuskegee Institute in Alabama taught by George Washington Carver promoted the growing of such crops
Attempts to organize
Most small farmers remained in a cycle of debt and poverty
Farmers' Southern Alliance was founded and the Colored Farmers National Alliance was founded
Both farmers could have United becoming a political force but racial attitudes stood in the way
Redeemers won the support of the business community and white supremacists
Discrimination and the Supreme Court
Civil Rights Cases of 1883 rule that Congress could not be in racial discrimination practiced
Plessy v. Ferguson ruled that Louisiana's law did not violate the 14th amendments guarantee of equal protection of the laws
Jim Crow Laws: required segregated public facilities based on race
Loss of Civil Rights
Although African Americans were able to vote literacy tests, poll taxes, and political party primaries for whites only limited voting
Grandfather clauses: a man could only vote if their grandfather has voted in elections before reconstruction
Discrimination took many forms but usually resulted in lynch mobs
Economic discrimination was keeping out skilled African-American workers
Segregation and discrimination left the South oppressed but not powerless
International Migration Society: helped black immigrate to Africa
Booker T. Washington
Born enslaved but graduated from Hampton Institute
Established industrial and agricultural schools for African Americans in Tuskegee
Atlanta Compromise: the belief that black and white Southerners shared a responsibility to make the region prosper
Thought African Americans should work hard at jobs and not challenge segregation and discrimination
National Negro Business League
Wmphasis on racial harmony and economic cooperation
Responses to Washington
Some criticized him for accepting discrimination
W.E.B. du Bois would demand an end to segregation
The change came slowly to a region that clung to his past
Telegraph by Samuel F. B. Morse
Cyrus w.field invented an improved Transatlantic cable
Telephone by Alexander Graham Bell
Cash register, calculating machine, adding machine
Improved light bulb by Thomas Alva Edison
Technological breakthroughs launched the steel industry
The Bessemer process made cheap steel
Changes in Transportation
People had little choice but to live within walking distance
Horse-drawn cars and cable cars are being replaced by Electric trolleys, elevated railroads, and subways
Brooklyn Bridge made possible longer commutes between residential areas and city centers
Skyscrapers
Taller buildings became profitable and possible through innovations such as the Otis elevator
Became a dominant feature in American urban skylines
Marketing Consumer Goods
Increased output of factories and invention of new consumer products enabled businesses to sell merchandise to large public
Large department stores became popular
Packaged food became common items in American households
Canning changed the eating habits of Americans with mass-produced meat and vegetable products
Promoted consumer economy and also consumer culture
Government support was evident in railroads
Railroads created a market for goods on a national scale
Mass production Mass consumption and economic specialization
Railroad building promoted the growth of the coal and steel industries
American Railroad Association divided the country into four time zones
Railroads required investment so they developed complex structures in finance, business management, and regulation of competition
Consolidation of competing railroads into integrated trunk lines
Trunk line was a major route between large cities
Cornelius Vanderbilt use millions from the steamboat business to merge local railroads into New York Central Railroad
The company suffered from mismanagement and fraud
Jay Gould made Millions by selling assets and watering stock
Railroads competed by offering rebates
Increase profits by forming pools in which companies agreed secretly to fix rates and share traffic
Financial panic and 1893 Forest 1/4 of railroads into bankruptcy
JP Morgan quickly moved in to take control of bankrupt railroads and consolidate them
competition removed + interlocking directorates
Railroad Power
Customers and small investors for victims of financial schemes
Granger laws passed by Midwestern states were overturned by Supreme Court
Interstate Commerce Act was ineffective at first
Andrew Carnegie and the Steel Industry
Vertical integration: the company would control every stage of the industrial process
United States Steel was the first billion-dollar company
Rockefeller and the Oil Industry
John D Rockefeller founded a company that would quickly eliminate its competition and take control of national oil refineries (horizontal integration)
Standard Oil Trust → controlled 90% of the oil refinery business
Monopoly → dominates a market so much that it faces little to no competition from other companies
Standard Oil group because of new technology and efficient management practices
Controversy Over Corporate Power
Trust → organization or board that manages the assets of other companies
Horizontal integration → company takes control of all its former competitors
Vertical integration → company takes control of all stages of making a product
Holding company → created to own and control diverse companies
Monopoly → dominates Market
Laissez-Faire → economic system between private parties was free from government interference
Conservative Economics
The Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith) → mercantilism included extensive regulation of trade by the government
American industrialists appeal to laissez-faire theory to justify methods of doing business
Social Darwinism
Believe that Darwin's theories of Natural Selection and survival of the fetish be applied to the marketplace
Helping the poor was misguided because it interfered with the loss of nature and would only weaken evolution
Protestant Work Ethic
John D Rockefeller diligently applied the Protestant work ethic → material success was a sign of God's favor and a reward for hard work
Concentration of Wealth
Richest 10% of the US population controlled 90% of the nation's wealth
Industrialization created a class of millionaires that change the standard of living
Business Influence outside the United States
Corps desired to do business in Latin America and Asia
Industries wanted raw materials that could process into finished goods
The growth of business interests around the world was one reason that the United States became imperialistic
Gilded Age book by Mark Twain referred to the superficial glitter of New Wealth
Wages
Americans work for wages that required them to labor 10 hours a day 6 days a week
A large supply of immigrants competing for factory jobs made wages low
The iron law of wages argued that raising wages would only increase the working population and availability of more workers resulting in a cycle
Real wages rose steadily in the late 19th century but most wage Runners could not support a family on one income
Working middle-class families depended on the income of women and children
20% of children worked for less than $380 a year
Labor Discontent
Workers labored in small workplaces that valued artisan skills
Factory work was radically different as workers were assigned just one step in the manufacturing
Immigrants abroad and migrants from rural America had to learn to work under the tyranny of a clock
Working conditions for dangerous and barely any job security
Workers were exposed to chemicals and pollutants causing illnesses and early death
Industrial Warfare
Lockout: active closing of a factory to break labor movement before it's organized
Blacklist: a roster of names of pro-union workers
yellow-dog contract: a contract that included that workers could not join a union as a condition
Private Guards and State Militia: forces used by employers to put down strikes
Court injunction: judicial action used by the employer to prevent or end the strike
Tactics by Labor
Workers were divided into best methods for defending themselves
Collective bargaining: the ability of workers to negotiate as a group with an employer over wages and working conditions
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
Railroad companies cut wages in order to reduce costs
Strike on Baltimore and Ohio Railroad spread across 11th streets and shut down 2/3 of countries rail lines
Rutherford B Hayes used federal troops to end the labor dispute
National Labor Union
Founded in 1866 + sought to unite all laborers, regardless of skill level or race
Called for an eight-hour workday and advocated for social reforms such as the abolition of child labor and convict labor
Knights of Labor
Founded in 1869 by Uriah Smith Stephens
Sought to unite all laborers, including women and African Americans, and advocated for worker ownership of factories
Organized a number of successful strikes, including the Great Southwest Railroad Strike of 1886
Haymarket Bombing
On May 4, 1886, a protest rally in Haymarket Square in Chicago turned violent when a bomb was thrown at police officers, killing one officer and injuring many others
The incident led to a crackdown on labor unions and the arrest and execution of several labor activists
Became a symbol of the struggle between labor and capital
American Federation of Labor
Founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers
Sought to unite skilled workers in specific trades and industries, rather than all workers
Focused on collective bargaining and improving wages, hours, and working conditions for its members
Was more successful than previous labor organizations in achieving its goals
Homestead Strike
Occurred in 1892, workers went on strike after the company, owned by Andrew Carnegie, announced a plan to cut wages
The company hired armed guards to protect its property and hired replacement workers, known as "scabs," to continue production
The strike turned violent when the guards and the striking workers clashed, resulting in several deaths and injuries
The National Guard was eventually called in to restore order and protect the replacement workers
Pullman Strike
Occurred in 1894 when workers for the Pullman Palace Car Company went on strike to protest wage cuts and the firing of union leaders
The American Railway Union supported the strike and refused to handle Pullman cars, causing a nationwide transportation crisis
The federal government intervened, obtaining an injunction against the strike and sending troops to enforce it
Ultimately unsuccessful and led to the imprisonment of Debs
Helped to galvanize the labor movement and increase public support for labor unions.
Immigration increased + settled in cities and worked in factories.
Child labor is prevalent in many industries.
Women continued to work in factories, facing discrimination and lower pay than male workers.
The gap between the rich and the poor continued to widen
The labor movement gained strength and saw some successes, but still faced challenges for better wages and working conditions.
Push (factors in which people are fleeing) and pull (attractions from adopter country
The poverty of farmworkers from political turmoil and mechanization of farmwork
Overcrowding and joblessness + escape from religious persecution
Old immigrants
Came from northern or western Europe
Protestant + literate and skilled + quick to assimilate
Came from countries with democracy + not completely poor
New Immigrants
Came from southern or Eastern Europe
Not majorly protestant + illiterate and unskilled + reluctant to assimilate
Came from countries with radical ideas + arrived in poor
Immigrants from Asia
After the California gold rush, many Chinese people came
Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 → 10-year end of immigration of Chinese
Melting pot → assimilation
Immigrants moved to cities to seek economic opportunities + left farms
Patterns of Urban Development
Upper and middle classes move to streetcars suburbs to escape the pollution poverty and crime of the city
Ethnic neighborhoods
Never really understood to increase profits landlords divided all housing into small and windowless rooms creating slums and tenement apartments
Dumbbell tenements were buildings constructed with open ventilation shafts in the center to provide windows
Overcrowding and filth-promoted diseases
Immigrant groups created distinct ethnic neighborhoods
They would maintain their own language, culture, church, temple, and Social Club
They worked hard to achieve the American dream
Explosive growth renewed populist protests and nativism
Labor unions motivated by economic concerns
Employers benefited from competition among workers
Nativists fault alarmed that immigrants would take jobs and liquidate culture
Social Darwinists believed Southern and Eastern Europeans were biologically inferior to English and German heritage
Contract labor law of 1885: restricted temporary workers to protect American workers from competition
Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty stood as beacons of freedom and liberty
Anti-immigrant feelings later led to the quota acts of the 1920s
Political machines: tightly organized groups of politicians
Each machine had a boss politician who gave orders
Tammany Hall in New York started Social Clubs and developed into power centers to coordinate business immigrants and the underprivileged for votes
Brought modern services into the city
Stole millions from taxpayers in the form of grants and fraud
Hull House: started by Jane Addams, taught English to immigrants
Children took advantage of public education and opportunities of the industrial economy
The expanding middle class
Growth of large Industries incorporations created jobs for colored workers
Middle management was needed to coordinate the operations
White collared workers increased more than a fourth of all nonagricultural employees
The Gospel of Wealth
Andrew Carnegie wrote the Gospel of Wealth
Argued that the wealthy had a moral responsibility to carry out projects of Civic philanthropy to help members of society and better themselves to improve Society
Carnegie distributed more than 350 million of his fortune to libraries, universities, concert halls, and other public institutions
Working woman
Most women were young and single
Some women with access to higher education broke into professions such as doctors, lawyers, college professors
Worked for lower wages and salaries than men
Growth of suburbs
Low-cost abundant land
Inexpensive transport
Apread of new construction methods
All white communities because of ethnic and racial prejudice
Many people enjoyed having privacy
The Professions
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr argued that the law should evolve with the times and respond to changing needs
Clarence Darrow argued that criminal Behavior could be caused by a person's environment
The popular press, amusements, music, spectator sports, football, and amateur sports all became popular within this time
Due to the reduction in working hours, improve transportation, advertisement, and decline of restrictive values
Books of criticisms → Progress and Poverty (Henry George) + Looking Backward (Edward Bellamy)
Religion and Society
all religions adapt to the challenges of modern urban living
Cardinal James Gibbons → inspired devoted support of old and new immigrants by defending the Knights of Labor
Dwight Moody → helped generations of evangelists
Salvation Army → provided basic needs to homeless and poor + preached Christian Gospel
Social Gospel Movement
Protestant clergy preached Social Gospel → importance of applying Christianity to social problems through reforms
Walter Rauschenbusch → worked in Hell’s Kitchen to take up the cause of social justice
Social Workers → Jane Adams (Hull House) created the foundation of labor
Families in Urban Society
Divorce rates increased + reduction in family size
Many children in labor to afford basic living standards
Voting Rights for Women
Cady Stanton + Susan B. Anthony found American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) → secure votes for women
Temperance Movement
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (Frances R. Willard) + Anti-Saloon Leauge → powerful political force
Carry A. Nation → created sensation by raiding saloons
Urban Reforms
Grassroot efforts + corruption in city gov
Realism + Naturalism → focused on the reality of society
Painting + Architecture → adapted different styles
Frank Lloyd Wright → known for his innovative, organic architectural style, which he called "organic architecture."
Preparation for Change → Laissez-faire policies dominated business and policies but reform would change the vision
Federal Land Grants
provided railroad companies grants for construction
led to corruption → Credit Mobilier → bribe gov officials and pocked huge profits
Interstate Commerce Act (1887)
Designed to regulate the railroad industry, particularly in regard to monopolistic practices
Required railroad rates to be "reasonable and just," and publish their rates to refrain from offering rebates and other discriminatory practices
Created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to oversee the implementation of the law.
Wabash v. Illinois
Struck down state attempts to regulate interstate commerce + ruled that only the fed gov had the power to regulate commerce that crossed state lines and that states could not regulate railroads that operated in multiple states
Led to the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission and the passage of the Interstate Commerce Act.
Antitrust Movement
Response to the growing power and influence of large corporations
Sought to regulate the power of monopolies and trusts and promote competition in the marketplace
Sherman Antitrust Act: (1890) it prohibits monopolies and trusts that restrict trade or commerce
United States v. E. C. Knight Co.: (1895) ruled that the Sherman Antitrust Act could not be used to break up the E. C. Knight Company + Sherman Antitrust Act applied only to commerce, not manufacturing
Foreign Policy and the Economy
Gov could use foreign policy to shape economic changes
Civil Service Reform
The assassination of President Garfield pushed Congress to remove gov jobs from patronage
Pendleton Act of 1881 → set up Civil Service Commission + created a system by which applicants for fed jobs based on competitive examination
politicians adapted reform by depending less on armies of the party worked and more on fun campaigns
Money Question
Debtors, farmers, and start-ups wanted soft money in circulations→ enable them to borrow money at lower interest rates + pay off loans
After the panic of 1873 Americans blamed the gold standard for causing depression
Creditors and investors wanted hard money → currency backed up by the gold standard
Greenback party
Advocated for increasing the circulation of paper money not backed by gold, known as "greenbacks"
Attracted support from debtors, farmers, and laborers who were hurt by deflation and the high cost of borrowing money
Demand for silver money
Western miners + farmers and debtors wanted the minting of silver money in addition to gold money → increasing the money supply would stimulate the economy and help them pay off debts
Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890: required the government to purchase large quantities of silver and issue paper currency backed by both gold and silver
Silver standard
"Silverites," pushed for the adoption of a silver standard, which would make silver the sole basis for the nation's currency
This idea was opposed by "Goldbugs," who believed that the country's currency should be backed only by gold
The debate over the silver issue became a major political issue and was a key factor in the presidential election of 1896
Tariff Issue
High tariffs → raised prices for consumers
Industry growing rich at the expense of rural America
Importance of patronage + campaigning + political strategy
Popular politics
Reps more on state-level + Dems in cities
High turnout → strong party identification and loyalty
Party Patronage
Mugwumps → reps that didn’t support Patronage
Campaign strategy → making obj for politicians was to hold onto office by offering patronage
Omaha Platform
1892 Populist Party platform
Called for free coinage of silver, graduated income tax, direct election of senators, and government ownership of railroads and telegraphs
Election of 1892:
Populist Party emerged as a political force with James B. Weaver as its presidential candidate
Democrats nominated Grover Cleveland, who supported tariff reform and opposed free silver
Republicans nominated Benjamin Harrison, who supported the protective tariff and opposed free silver
Cleveland won the election, making him the only president to serve non-consecutive terms
Panic of 1893
Caused by overbuilding and over-speculation, resulting in a 20% unemployment rate
This led to the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1893, which worsened the already declining economy
Gold Reserve Act
1900 act that required gold to be the only standard for redeeming paper money
Pullman Strike
1894 nationwide railroad strike in the United States that pitted the Pullman Palace Car Company against the American Railway Union
The strike was broken up by federal troops, which caused a wave of riots and violence across the country
Tariff Reform (Wilson-Gorman Triff in 1894)
A moderate reduction in tariff rates
Income tax
Jobless on the March
March to Washington → Coxey’s Army → demanded gov spend $500 mil on public work programs to create jobs
Coin's Financial School: (William Hope Harvey)advocated for the free coinage of silver. It was widely circulated during the debates over standards
Election of 1896:
Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan, who supported bimetallism (free silver) and ran on the slogan "Cross of Gold"
Republicans nominated William McKinley, who favored the gold standard and had support from business interests
Populist Party nominated Bryan as well, but the party was divided and lost its momentum
McKinley won the election, signaling a shift towards a more conservative, pro-business government
McKinley's Presidency
Made the US a world power
Dingley Tariff of 1877
Gold in Alaska
War with Spain
Significance of Election of 1896
Populist Demise + Modern politics + Urban dominance
Filled with economic changes, political changes, migration and urbanization, and reform efforts
Abundant with raw materials + labor supply
Growing population + transportation
Capital was plentiful
Labor saving technologies
The business benefited from government policies
Talented entrepreneurs
The first route → During the Civil War Congress authorized land grants and loans for the first transcontinental Railroad
Went through the Sierra Nevada mountains to Promontory Point Utah
Four additional routes
In 1883 three other transcontinental railroads were completed
Southern Pacific to Los Angeles + Topeka and Santa Fe to Los Angeles + Minnesota to Seattle
Negative effects
Significant cost but failures as businesses
Exterminated Buffalo and natives who lived in the region suffered
Great Plains changed dramatically and buffalo herds were wiped out
10 new western states have been carved out of the Last Frontier
Oklahoma New Mexico and Arizona remained as territories
The Mining Frontier
Gold rushes and silver strikes kept a steady flow of hopeful Prospectors pushing into Western mountains to earn money
Rich strikes created boomtowns and became Infamous for saloons
Mark Twain started his career as a writer
The Cattle Frontier
The economic potential of grasslands reached from Texas to Canada
Cattle at first was rounded up in Texas by Vaqueros
Texas Longhorn cattle were borrowed from Mexicans and roamed freely Over Texas grasslands ( 5 million)
The invention of barbed wire made it easier to fence cattle
Railroads and Cattle → Construction of railroads opened up Eastern markets for Texas Cattle
The decline of cattle drives
Cattle drives begin to end in the 1880s because of overgrazing and winter blizzards and drought
Cattle Frontier was the arrival of homesteaders who used barbed wire fencing to cut off the open range
While the cattle owners made huge riches using scientific ranching techniques
American eating habits change from pork to beef
Homestead Act of 1862 → Encouraged farming on Great Plains by offering 160 six acres of land to settle on it for 5 years
Problems and solutions
Sodbusters built homes of sod bricks
Hot and cold weather + scarcity of water
The invention of Barbed Wire by Joseph Glidden
Falling prices for their crops and cost of machinery → failure of 2/3 of homesteaders' farms in the Great Plains
Success on the Great Plains
Those who managed to survive adopted dry farming and deep-plowing techniques
Government programs to build dams and irrigation systems saved Western farmers
Changes in Agriculture
Western Farmers concentrated on raising single-crash crops for international and National markets
Large farms were run like factories
Small farms could not compete and were driven out of business
Falling prices
Increased production of crops such as wheat and corn drove prices down
Downward pressure on prices resulting in deflation
Farmers with mortgages faced high-interest rates and the need to grow more and more to pay off old debts
Increase production only lowered prices resulting in a vicious cycle
Rising costs
Victimized by the larger National economy + middlemen took all profit
Railroads would often charge more for short hauls on lines with no competition than long hauls on lines with competition
Local and state governments taxed property and land heavily
National Grange movement
The National Grange of Patrons of Husbandry was organized in 1868 by Oliver H Kelly
It expanded and became active in economics and politics to defend members
Grangers established cooperatives
Successfully Lobby the legislature to pass laws regulating rates charged by railroads and elevators
Granger laws made it illegal for railroads to fix prices by means of pools and give rebates to privileged customers
Farmers alliances
Express their discontent by forming State and Regional groups
Alliances had the goal of Economic and political action
Ocala Platform
National Alliance met in Ocala Florida to address problems in Rural America
Ocala delegates created the Ocala platform that called for significant reforms
Direct election of US senators
Lower tariff rates
Graduated income tax
A new banking system regulated by the federal government
Demanded treasury notes and silver be used to increase the amount of money in circulation
Turner's Frontier Thesis
Settling the frontier was an evolutionary process of building a civilization
Role of Towns and Cities
Historians challenge Turner's Theory by arguing Frontier cities were not a late edition
Urban markets also made Frontier development possible
Americans without a frontier
Closing of the frontier troubled Turner → saw the frontier as a safety valve for releasing American discontent
The largest movement of Americans was not from East to West but from rural communities to cities
Natives occupied the West belong to many tribes and lived in permanent settlements raising corn and livestock
Western tribal groups that lived on the Great Plains had given up farming in colonial times after the introduction of horses
Developed a way of life centered on the hunting of Buffalo
Americans had little understanding of natives and wanted them to develop and assimilate into white culture
Reservation policy
Andrew Jackson's policy of moving Westward was based on the belief that Lance West of Mississippi would remain an Indian country
As wagons moved Westward and Transcontinental Railroad was built federal government began to assign plain tribes large tracks of land with definite boundaries
Tribes refuse to restrict their movements to reservations → continued following Buffalo
Indian Wars
Americans on Native lands led to violence
US Army responsible for massacres
After wars, another round of treaties attempted to isolate tribes on smaller reservations with federal agents promising government support
Gold miners refused to stay off of the native property
Sierra Club aims to preserve natural areas from human interference
Henry Grady spread the gospel of the New South and argued for economic diversity and Laissez-faire capitalism
The growth of cities textile industry and improved railroad symbolized efforts for New South
Birmingham → leading steel producer
Memphis → Lumber industry
Richmond → tobacco industry
South was integrated into National Rail Network
Northern financing dominated the southern economy
Northern investors controlled Southern railroads and the steel industry
Economic growth in the South was hampered by the failure of state and local governments to expand public education
Black farmers were either tenant farmers or sharecroppers
cotton and other crops remain tied to the South's economy
Tuskegee Institute in Alabama taught by George Washington Carver promoted the growing of such crops
Attempts to organize
Most small farmers remained in a cycle of debt and poverty
Farmers' Southern Alliance was founded and the Colored Farmers National Alliance was founded
Both farmers could have United becoming a political force but racial attitudes stood in the way
Redeemers won the support of the business community and white supremacists
Discrimination and the Supreme Court
Civil Rights Cases of 1883 rule that Congress could not be in racial discrimination practiced
Plessy v. Ferguson ruled that Louisiana's law did not violate the 14th amendments guarantee of equal protection of the laws
Jim Crow Laws: required segregated public facilities based on race
Loss of Civil Rights
Although African Americans were able to vote literacy tests, poll taxes, and political party primaries for whites only limited voting
Grandfather clauses: a man could only vote if their grandfather has voted in elections before reconstruction
Discrimination took many forms but usually resulted in lynch mobs
Economic discrimination was keeping out skilled African-American workers
Segregation and discrimination left the South oppressed but not powerless
International Migration Society: helped black immigrate to Africa
Booker T. Washington
Born enslaved but graduated from Hampton Institute
Established industrial and agricultural schools for African Americans in Tuskegee
Atlanta Compromise: the belief that black and white Southerners shared a responsibility to make the region prosper
Thought African Americans should work hard at jobs and not challenge segregation and discrimination
National Negro Business League
Wmphasis on racial harmony and economic cooperation
Responses to Washington
Some criticized him for accepting discrimination
W.E.B. du Bois would demand an end to segregation
The change came slowly to a region that clung to his past
Telegraph by Samuel F. B. Morse
Cyrus w.field invented an improved Transatlantic cable
Telephone by Alexander Graham Bell
Cash register, calculating machine, adding machine
Improved light bulb by Thomas Alva Edison
Technological breakthroughs launched the steel industry
The Bessemer process made cheap steel
Changes in Transportation
People had little choice but to live within walking distance
Horse-drawn cars and cable cars are being replaced by Electric trolleys, elevated railroads, and subways
Brooklyn Bridge made possible longer commutes between residential areas and city centers
Skyscrapers
Taller buildings became profitable and possible through innovations such as the Otis elevator
Became a dominant feature in American urban skylines
Marketing Consumer Goods
Increased output of factories and invention of new consumer products enabled businesses to sell merchandise to large public
Large department stores became popular
Packaged food became common items in American households
Canning changed the eating habits of Americans with mass-produced meat and vegetable products
Promoted consumer economy and also consumer culture
Government support was evident in railroads
Railroads created a market for goods on a national scale
Mass production Mass consumption and economic specialization
Railroad building promoted the growth of the coal and steel industries
American Railroad Association divided the country into four time zones
Railroads required investment so they developed complex structures in finance, business management, and regulation of competition
Consolidation of competing railroads into integrated trunk lines
Trunk line was a major route between large cities
Cornelius Vanderbilt use millions from the steamboat business to merge local railroads into New York Central Railroad
The company suffered from mismanagement and fraud
Jay Gould made Millions by selling assets and watering stock
Railroads competed by offering rebates
Increase profits by forming pools in which companies agreed secretly to fix rates and share traffic
Financial panic and 1893 Forest 1/4 of railroads into bankruptcy
JP Morgan quickly moved in to take control of bankrupt railroads and consolidate them
competition removed + interlocking directorates
Railroad Power
Customers and small investors for victims of financial schemes
Granger laws passed by Midwestern states were overturned by Supreme Court
Interstate Commerce Act was ineffective at first
Andrew Carnegie and the Steel Industry
Vertical integration: the company would control every stage of the industrial process
United States Steel was the first billion-dollar company
Rockefeller and the Oil Industry
John D Rockefeller founded a company that would quickly eliminate its competition and take control of national oil refineries (horizontal integration)
Standard Oil Trust → controlled 90% of the oil refinery business
Monopoly → dominates a market so much that it faces little to no competition from other companies
Standard Oil group because of new technology and efficient management practices
Controversy Over Corporate Power
Trust → organization or board that manages the assets of other companies
Horizontal integration → company takes control of all its former competitors
Vertical integration → company takes control of all stages of making a product
Holding company → created to own and control diverse companies
Monopoly → dominates Market
Laissez-Faire → economic system between private parties was free from government interference
Conservative Economics
The Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith) → mercantilism included extensive regulation of trade by the government
American industrialists appeal to laissez-faire theory to justify methods of doing business
Social Darwinism
Believe that Darwin's theories of Natural Selection and survival of the fetish be applied to the marketplace
Helping the poor was misguided because it interfered with the loss of nature and would only weaken evolution
Protestant Work Ethic
John D Rockefeller diligently applied the Protestant work ethic → material success was a sign of God's favor and a reward for hard work
Concentration of Wealth
Richest 10% of the US population controlled 90% of the nation's wealth
Industrialization created a class of millionaires that change the standard of living
Business Influence outside the United States
Corps desired to do business in Latin America and Asia
Industries wanted raw materials that could process into finished goods
The growth of business interests around the world was one reason that the United States became imperialistic
Gilded Age book by Mark Twain referred to the superficial glitter of New Wealth
Wages
Americans work for wages that required them to labor 10 hours a day 6 days a week
A large supply of immigrants competing for factory jobs made wages low
The iron law of wages argued that raising wages would only increase the working population and availability of more workers resulting in a cycle
Real wages rose steadily in the late 19th century but most wage Runners could not support a family on one income
Working middle-class families depended on the income of women and children
20% of children worked for less than $380 a year
Labor Discontent
Workers labored in small workplaces that valued artisan skills
Factory work was radically different as workers were assigned just one step in the manufacturing
Immigrants abroad and migrants from rural America had to learn to work under the tyranny of a clock
Working conditions for dangerous and barely any job security
Workers were exposed to chemicals and pollutants causing illnesses and early death
Industrial Warfare
Lockout: active closing of a factory to break labor movement before it's organized
Blacklist: a roster of names of pro-union workers
yellow-dog contract: a contract that included that workers could not join a union as a condition
Private Guards and State Militia: forces used by employers to put down strikes
Court injunction: judicial action used by the employer to prevent or end the strike
Tactics by Labor
Workers were divided into best methods for defending themselves
Collective bargaining: the ability of workers to negotiate as a group with an employer over wages and working conditions
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
Railroad companies cut wages in order to reduce costs
Strike on Baltimore and Ohio Railroad spread across 11th streets and shut down 2/3 of countries rail lines
Rutherford B Hayes used federal troops to end the labor dispute
National Labor Union
Founded in 1866 + sought to unite all laborers, regardless of skill level or race
Called for an eight-hour workday and advocated for social reforms such as the abolition of child labor and convict labor
Knights of Labor
Founded in 1869 by Uriah Smith Stephens
Sought to unite all laborers, including women and African Americans, and advocated for worker ownership of factories
Organized a number of successful strikes, including the Great Southwest Railroad Strike of 1886
Haymarket Bombing
On May 4, 1886, a protest rally in Haymarket Square in Chicago turned violent when a bomb was thrown at police officers, killing one officer and injuring many others
The incident led to a crackdown on labor unions and the arrest and execution of several labor activists
Became a symbol of the struggle between labor and capital
American Federation of Labor
Founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers
Sought to unite skilled workers in specific trades and industries, rather than all workers
Focused on collective bargaining and improving wages, hours, and working conditions for its members
Was more successful than previous labor organizations in achieving its goals
Homestead Strike
Occurred in 1892, workers went on strike after the company, owned by Andrew Carnegie, announced a plan to cut wages
The company hired armed guards to protect its property and hired replacement workers, known as "scabs," to continue production
The strike turned violent when the guards and the striking workers clashed, resulting in several deaths and injuries
The National Guard was eventually called in to restore order and protect the replacement workers
Pullman Strike
Occurred in 1894 when workers for the Pullman Palace Car Company went on strike to protest wage cuts and the firing of union leaders
The American Railway Union supported the strike and refused to handle Pullman cars, causing a nationwide transportation crisis
The federal government intervened, obtaining an injunction against the strike and sending troops to enforce it
Ultimately unsuccessful and led to the imprisonment of Debs
Helped to galvanize the labor movement and increase public support for labor unions.
Immigration increased + settled in cities and worked in factories.
Child labor is prevalent in many industries.
Women continued to work in factories, facing discrimination and lower pay than male workers.
The gap between the rich and the poor continued to widen
The labor movement gained strength and saw some successes, but still faced challenges for better wages and working conditions.
Push (factors in which people are fleeing) and pull (attractions from adopter country
The poverty of farmworkers from political turmoil and mechanization of farmwork
Overcrowding and joblessness + escape from religious persecution
Old immigrants
Came from northern or western Europe
Protestant + literate and skilled + quick to assimilate
Came from countries with democracy + not completely poor
New Immigrants
Came from southern or Eastern Europe
Not majorly protestant + illiterate and unskilled + reluctant to assimilate
Came from countries with radical ideas + arrived in poor
Immigrants from Asia
After the California gold rush, many Chinese people came
Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 → 10-year end of immigration of Chinese
Melting pot → assimilation
Immigrants moved to cities to seek economic opportunities + left farms
Patterns of Urban Development
Upper and middle classes move to streetcars suburbs to escape the pollution poverty and crime of the city
Ethnic neighborhoods
Never really understood to increase profits landlords divided all housing into small and windowless rooms creating slums and tenement apartments
Dumbbell tenements were buildings constructed with open ventilation shafts in the center to provide windows
Overcrowding and filth-promoted diseases
Immigrant groups created distinct ethnic neighborhoods
They would maintain their own language, culture, church, temple, and Social Club
They worked hard to achieve the American dream
Explosive growth renewed populist protests and nativism
Labor unions motivated by economic concerns
Employers benefited from competition among workers
Nativists fault alarmed that immigrants would take jobs and liquidate culture
Social Darwinists believed Southern and Eastern Europeans were biologically inferior to English and German heritage
Contract labor law of 1885: restricted temporary workers to protect American workers from competition
Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty stood as beacons of freedom and liberty
Anti-immigrant feelings later led to the quota acts of the 1920s
Political machines: tightly organized groups of politicians
Each machine had a boss politician who gave orders
Tammany Hall in New York started Social Clubs and developed into power centers to coordinate business immigrants and the underprivileged for votes
Brought modern services into the city
Stole millions from taxpayers in the form of grants and fraud
Hull House: started by Jane Addams, taught English to immigrants
Children took advantage of public education and opportunities of the industrial economy
The expanding middle class
Growth of large Industries incorporations created jobs for colored workers
Middle management was needed to coordinate the operations
White collared workers increased more than a fourth of all nonagricultural employees
The Gospel of Wealth
Andrew Carnegie wrote the Gospel of Wealth
Argued that the wealthy had a moral responsibility to carry out projects of Civic philanthropy to help members of society and better themselves to improve Society
Carnegie distributed more than 350 million of his fortune to libraries, universities, concert halls, and other public institutions
Working woman
Most women were young and single
Some women with access to higher education broke into professions such as doctors, lawyers, college professors
Worked for lower wages and salaries than men
Growth of suburbs
Low-cost abundant land
Inexpensive transport
Apread of new construction methods
All white communities because of ethnic and racial prejudice
Many people enjoyed having privacy
The Professions
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr argued that the law should evolve with the times and respond to changing needs
Clarence Darrow argued that criminal Behavior could be caused by a person's environment
The popular press, amusements, music, spectator sports, football, and amateur sports all became popular within this time
Due to the reduction in working hours, improve transportation, advertisement, and decline of restrictive values
Books of criticisms → Progress and Poverty (Henry George) + Looking Backward (Edward Bellamy)
Religion and Society
all religions adapt to the challenges of modern urban living
Cardinal James Gibbons → inspired devoted support of old and new immigrants by defending the Knights of Labor
Dwight Moody → helped generations of evangelists
Salvation Army → provided basic needs to homeless and poor + preached Christian Gospel
Social Gospel Movement
Protestant clergy preached Social Gospel → importance of applying Christianity to social problems through reforms
Walter Rauschenbusch → worked in Hell’s Kitchen to take up the cause of social justice
Social Workers → Jane Adams (Hull House) created the foundation of labor
Families in Urban Society
Divorce rates increased + reduction in family size
Many children in labor to afford basic living standards
Voting Rights for Women
Cady Stanton + Susan B. Anthony found American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) → secure votes for women
Temperance Movement
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (Frances R. Willard) + Anti-Saloon Leauge → powerful political force
Carry A. Nation → created sensation by raiding saloons
Urban Reforms
Grassroot efforts + corruption in city gov
Realism + Naturalism → focused on the reality of society
Painting + Architecture → adapted different styles
Frank Lloyd Wright → known for his innovative, organic architectural style, which he called "organic architecture."
Preparation for Change → Laissez-faire policies dominated business and policies but reform would change the vision
Federal Land Grants
provided railroad companies grants for construction
led to corruption → Credit Mobilier → bribe gov officials and pocked huge profits
Interstate Commerce Act (1887)
Designed to regulate the railroad industry, particularly in regard to monopolistic practices
Required railroad rates to be "reasonable and just," and publish their rates to refrain from offering rebates and other discriminatory practices
Created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to oversee the implementation of the law.
Wabash v. Illinois
Struck down state attempts to regulate interstate commerce + ruled that only the fed gov had the power to regulate commerce that crossed state lines and that states could not regulate railroads that operated in multiple states
Led to the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission and the passage of the Interstate Commerce Act.
Antitrust Movement
Response to the growing power and influence of large corporations
Sought to regulate the power of monopolies and trusts and promote competition in the marketplace
Sherman Antitrust Act: (1890) it prohibits monopolies and trusts that restrict trade or commerce
United States v. E. C. Knight Co.: (1895) ruled that the Sherman Antitrust Act could not be used to break up the E. C. Knight Company + Sherman Antitrust Act applied only to commerce, not manufacturing
Foreign Policy and the Economy
Gov could use foreign policy to shape economic changes
Civil Service Reform
The assassination of President Garfield pushed Congress to remove gov jobs from patronage
Pendleton Act of 1881 → set up Civil Service Commission + created a system by which applicants for fed jobs based on competitive examination
politicians adapted reform by depending less on armies of the party worked and more on fun campaigns
Money Question
Debtors, farmers, and start-ups wanted soft money in circulations→ enable them to borrow money at lower interest rates + pay off loans
After the panic of 1873 Americans blamed the gold standard for causing depression
Creditors and investors wanted hard money → currency backed up by the gold standard
Greenback party
Advocated for increasing the circulation of paper money not backed by gold, known as "greenbacks"
Attracted support from debtors, farmers, and laborers who were hurt by deflation and the high cost of borrowing money
Demand for silver money
Western miners + farmers and debtors wanted the minting of silver money in addition to gold money → increasing the money supply would stimulate the economy and help them pay off debts
Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890: required the government to purchase large quantities of silver and issue paper currency backed by both gold and silver
Silver standard
"Silverites," pushed for the adoption of a silver standard, which would make silver the sole basis for the nation's currency
This idea was opposed by "Goldbugs," who believed that the country's currency should be backed only by gold
The debate over the silver issue became a major political issue and was a key factor in the presidential election of 1896
Tariff Issue
High tariffs → raised prices for consumers
Industry growing rich at the expense of rural America
Importance of patronage + campaigning + political strategy
Popular politics
Reps more on state-level + Dems in cities
High turnout → strong party identification and loyalty
Party Patronage
Mugwumps → reps that didn’t support Patronage
Campaign strategy → making obj for politicians was to hold onto office by offering patronage
Omaha Platform
1892 Populist Party platform
Called for free coinage of silver, graduated income tax, direct election of senators, and government ownership of railroads and telegraphs
Election of 1892:
Populist Party emerged as a political force with James B. Weaver as its presidential candidate
Democrats nominated Grover Cleveland, who supported tariff reform and opposed free silver
Republicans nominated Benjamin Harrison, who supported the protective tariff and opposed free silver
Cleveland won the election, making him the only president to serve non-consecutive terms
Panic of 1893
Caused by overbuilding and over-speculation, resulting in a 20% unemployment rate
This led to the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1893, which worsened the already declining economy
Gold Reserve Act
1900 act that required gold to be the only standard for redeeming paper money
Pullman Strike
1894 nationwide railroad strike in the United States that pitted the Pullman Palace Car Company against the American Railway Union
The strike was broken up by federal troops, which caused a wave of riots and violence across the country
Tariff Reform (Wilson-Gorman Triff in 1894)
A moderate reduction in tariff rates
Income tax
Jobless on the March
March to Washington → Coxey’s Army → demanded gov spend $500 mil on public work programs to create jobs
Coin's Financial School: (William Hope Harvey)advocated for the free coinage of silver. It was widely circulated during the debates over standards
Election of 1896:
Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan, who supported bimetallism (free silver) and ran on the slogan "Cross of Gold"
Republicans nominated William McKinley, who favored the gold standard and had support from business interests
Populist Party nominated Bryan as well, but the party was divided and lost its momentum
McKinley won the election, signaling a shift towards a more conservative, pro-business government
McKinley's Presidency
Made the US a world power
Dingley Tariff of 1877
Gold in Alaska
War with Spain
Significance of Election of 1896
Populist Demise + Modern politics + Urban dominance