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APUSH Entrance Ticket Notes - Semester 2
16-1 THE ACCESSION OF “TYLER TOO”
basically this whole reading can be summarized by saying that some whigs wanted the downfall of president harrison and then bro died 4 weeks later from pneumonia lol. also this guy named john tyler became whig president
16-2 JOHN TYLER: A PRESIDENT WITHOUT A PARTY
whigs whipped out a wild card!!!
no one was surprised that it was basically reforming the us to have a “strongly nationalistic program”
financial reform
whig congress passed a law that ended the independent treasury system and pres tyler signed it
also henry clay (remember him? !!!) sent a bill to congress to establish a new bank of the us called the “fiscal bank”
pres tyler did NOT like centralized banks at all. so he vetoed it :3
whigs were ASTONISHED!!! and were like “yo pres tylerrrr do you wanna sign this bill called the ‘fiscal corporation?’ it’s totally not the same thin-” and were immediately vetoed
whig extremists were like “man tyler sucks!” so they referred to him and “his Accidency” and something else that i probably shouldn’t type on my school account because i dont want to get suspended again lol
influenza then attacked the nation (and was called the “tyler grippe”) and tyler was nearly impeached, and nearly his entire cabinet quit lol
clayites redrafted their tariff bill, and tyler reluctantly signed it (tariff of 1842 - protective measure passed by congressional whigs, raising tariffs to pre-compromise tariff of 1833 rates)
16-7 OREGON FEVER
oregon country was a hUGE wilderness. very big
although oregon was claimed at one time or another by russia, spain, britain, and the US, two dropped out
spain and russia, duh
britain WANTED oregon man. (at least the portion north of the columbia river :3)
was mainly focused on discovery and exploration and occupation
most important colonizing agency was the hudson’s bay company (which was doing well with trading with the natives)
americans also wanted oregon real bad.
were also mainly focused on discovery and exploration and occupation
captain robert gray discovered the columbia river
lewis and clark expedition ranged through the oregon country!
missionaries and other settlers wanted the oregon soil for the US
antagonized native americans tho
american and british pioneers in oregon lived peacefully side by side :33
US divided the territory at the 49th parallel, but the british were unwilling to give up the columbia river
therefore the joint occupation
oregon fever hit some americans real hard in the willamette valley
~5k americans settled south of the columbia river
british, on the other hand, only had around 700 north of the columbia river
16-8 A MANDATE (?) FOR MANIFEST DESTINY
basically whigs vs democrats in a presidential nomination
in comes a surprise candidate! james k polk!!!
james k polk is no stranger. he’d been the speaker of the house of reps for ✌✌ years and govna of tennessee for ✌ years!!!!
he’s described as a “determined, industrious, ruthless, and intelligence public servant”
is also sponsored by andrew jackson
campaign of 1844 is also part of the emotional upsurge called the manifest destiny (belief that the united states was destined by god to spread its “empire of liberty” across north america. served as a justification for mid-nineteenth-century expansionism)
term coined by john o’sullivan
was probably also spread to south america too
expansionist democrats wanted the “reannexation of texas” since the US gave up its claims in 1819 to spain and the “reoccupation of oregon”
“all of oregon or none”
fifty-four forty or fight - slogan adopted by mid-nineteenth-century expansionists who advocated the occupation of oregon territory, jointly held by britain and the US. though president polk had pledged to seize all of oregon, to 54° 40’, he settled on the forty-ninth parallel as a compromise with the british
this slogan was not coined until 1846
condemned clay as a “corrupt bargainer,” dissolute character, and slaveowner (even though polk was a slaveowner too)
whigs countered with slogans like “hooray for clay” and “polk, slavery, and texas, or clay, union, and liberty” cause they sucked up a lot
also lied about a gang of tennessee slaves that had polk’s initials branded on them
clay on the crucial issue that is texas
“great compromiser” clay gambled the presidency away when he wrote a buncha letters appealing to both the north and south???
polk barely won the election (170-105; 1.33mil-1.300mil)
Liberty party - antislavery party that ran candidates in the 1840 and 1844 elections before merging with the Free Soil party. supporters of the Liberty party sought the eventual abolition of slavery, but in the short term hoped to halt the expansion of slavery into the territories and abolish the domestic slave trade
16-9 POLK THE PURPOSEFUL
polk - “young hickory”
not an impressive figure 😔
5’8’’
lean
white-haired
gray-eyed
stern-faced
took life too seriously
probably took him out
jackson - “old hickory”
polk wanted a lowered tariff so his secretary of treasury, robert j walker, was like “bet” and so he created a bill that reduced that average rates of the tariff of 1842 from 32% to 25%
walker tariff - revenue-enhancing measure that lowered tariffs from 1842 levels, thereby fueling trade and increasing Treasury receipts
clayites and mid-state citizens were like “nooo please dont do that it’s gonna ruin the american manufacturingsdfjsldkfj”
it didn’t do that
in fact, it proved to be awesome sauce and an excellent revenue producer
polk also wanted a restoration of the independent treasury that was dropped by the whigs in 1841
polk also wanted the acquisition of california and to setlle the oregon dispute
oregon’s “reoccupation” was promised by northern democrats in the campaign of 1844
after southern democrats annexed texas, however, stopped going after oregon
polk, a southerner himself, did not intend on insisting on the 54°40’ pledge, but was basically peer pressured to propose the compromise line of 49°
oregon’s fate was up to britain now, and the british were basically like “ehhh why would we take oregon when the americans are just gonna take it anyway? plus the freaking hudson’s bay company has already monopolized most of it”
britain then proposed the line of 49° and polk was like “dude i just did that” so he gave the issue to the senate, whose members were like “absolutely” and gained oregon :333
people weren’t really happy with the oregon settlement :(( they were like “why do we get all of texas but not all of oregonnn >:(“
senator benton™ of missouri was like “cause britain is weally powerful :( and mexico is weak >:)”
polk actually did something decent in his presidency :p
16-10 MISUNDERSTANDINGS WITH MEXICO
cali was another worry of polk’s, especially since he wanted access to the pacific ocean
demographics of cali were super mixed; 13k spanish-speaking mexicans and ~75k native americans
polk really wanted cali. he considered buying it from mexico but like. mexico and the us were not on speaking terms yknow?
plus the us wanted $3mil for damages from mexico sooo
texas was also a hot topic since the mexican government threatened war against the united states if the us acquired the lone star republic. after texas was annexed, however, united states-mexico relations were severed completely
mexico was still convinced that texas's claims were theirs, even though texans were starting to claim the rio grande river instead of the nueces river, pushing farther into dangerous territory
polk, however, was careful and kept american troops out of the dangerous territory between the rivers
cali was polk’s true love. but rumors said that britain was about to buy/seize cali right out from under polk. so he finally caved and sent a minister (john slidell) to mexico city to bargain for cali, with a max of $25 million
the mexican people wouldn’t even permit slidell to present his proposition
16-11 AMERICAN BLOOD ON AMERICAN (?) SOIL
now polk was kinda screwed lol
january 13, 1846 (at the time of writing this, exactly 179 years ago lol), polk sends down 4k men under general zachary taylor, to march from the nueces river to the rio grande river, near mexican forces, to see if they would fight
they didn’t lol
so polk declares war :DDDDDDDDDD
for unpaid claims
and slidell’s rejection :(((
these reasons kinda sucked so two cabinet members were like “uhh shouldn’t we wait for them to actually do something first” and polk was like “ugh fine”
later that night!
bloodshed.
mexican troops crossed the rio grande and attacked general taylor’s command, leaving 16 americans killed/wounded
polk was kinda ecstatic 💀 and sent a war message to congress and declared war 😭😭
called “jimmy polk’s war”
abraham lincoln introduction
spot resolutions - measures introduced by illinois congressman abraham lincoln, questioning president james k polk’s justification for war with mexico. lincoln requested that polk clarify precisely where mexican forces had attacked american troops
“feisty” americans, especially them southwestern folk, really wanted to “teach the mexicans a lesson” while mexicans wanted to “humiliate the ‘bullies of the north’”
16-12 THE INVASION OF MEXICO
polk did NOTTT want war but it happened anyway lol
only wanted to fight until the US acquired california
the dethroned mexican dictator (santa anna), exiled with his teenage bride in cuba, was like “polk. if i let your blockading squadron let me slip back into mexico, i will sell you mexico’s land.”
polk obviously agrees
santa anna then double-crossed polk :33
rallied his men to defend their land
california bear flag republic - short-lived california republic, established by local american settlers who revolted against mexico. once news of the war with mexico reached the americans, they abandoned the republic in favor of joining the united states
general zachary taylor (remember him!!), aka “old rough and ready” (????? 😭) fought his way across the rio grande into mexico
reached buena vista (key american victory against mexican forces in the mexican war. elevated general zachary taylor to national prominence and helped secure his success in the 1848 presidential election)
taylor’s weakened ~5k men were attacked by santa anna’s ~20k and pushed them back
taylor became the “hero of buena vista” overnight
so obviously america was then like “guys. we gotta go for the heart. we’ve made it this far already.” (aka take mexico city)
general z taylor was like “ehhh i dont think we can win that fight alone”
so general winfield scott was like “i’ll fight the city of veracruz!”
general winfield (aka “old fuss and feathers”) was a hero from the war of 1812 and became severely handicapped by the mexican-american war
he also managed to succeed in battling his way up to mexico city
16-13 FIGHTING MEXICO FOR PEACE
polk was afraid to stop the war right as he could secure former mexican territory (cali, nm, etc.) bc that’s suspicious
so he sent the chief clerk of the state department, nicholas p trist, along with general winfield scott’s army
trist and scott arranged a truce with santa anna for $10,000
he agreed! and boosted his defenses!
polk found out about the truce and freaked out, called trist back, trist was like “oh crap im in trouble” and told polk he wasn’t coming home 💀 polk was not happy :ppp
except trist wanted to negotiate, so he signed the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo (ended the war with mexico. mexico agreed to cede territory reaching northwest from texas to oregon in exchange for $18.25 million in cash and assumed debts)
treaty of guadalupe hidalgo gave texas and a huge portion of land that stretched all the way to oregon to the us???? hell yeah! americans get literally ½ of mexico!!!!!!!
us paid $15mil for the land + $3.25mil to assume its citizens claims
conscience whigs - northern whigs who opposed slavery on moral grounds. conscience whigs sought to prevent the annexation of texas as a slave state, fearing that the new slave territory would only serve to buttress/defend the southern “slave power”
conscience whigs did nottt like this completely preventable war, although if they voted for less supplies for the armies, all that land would still probably be mexican
some people that were high on manifest destiny wanted allllll of mexico. :I
if america seized the rest of mexico, it wouldve been super expensive and annoying to deal with
16-14 PROFIT AND LOSS IN MEXICO
mexican-american war was a small war, but cost 13k american lives (although most were taken by disease)
america’s size increased by ~1/3, which was more than the louisiana purchase
american army waged war without defeat or a major blunder!!! hooray!!!!
bri’ish critics even gained respect for the yankees
before the war, uncle sam had been regarded as friendly, but afterwards was feared and regarded to as the “colossus of the north”; was considered a greedy and untrustworthy bully
mexico had shared their territory with their native neighbors, but now that uncle sam picked up their territory, that peace would no longer be there
slavery started becoming a hot topic again :(((
polk requested an appropriation of ~$2mil to buy a peace
david wilmot of pennsylvania came up with an amendment that basically said that slavery should never exist in any of the territories from mexico
wilmot proviso - amendment that sought to prohibit slavery from territories acquired from mexico. introduced by pennsylvania congressman david wilmot, the failed amendment ratcheted up tensions between north and south over the issue of slavery
never became a law, but was endorsed by all the legislatures (except one) of the free states
in a way, the opening shots of the mexican-american war were the opening shots of the civil war
17-1 THE POPULAR SOVERIGNTY PANACEA
politicians were not about to even think about the issue of slavery rn
fire-eaters - southern nationalists characterized by unapologetic defenses of the south and slavery. their radicalism and political brinksmanship won them attention and popularity among white southerners
because president polk was lowkey not about to agree to another presidential term, democrats were reallll anxious
democratic national convention at baltimore turned to this guy, general lewis cass, who was a veteran of the war of 1812
he was also a senator and kinda sucked
although democrats had also been silent about the issue of slavery, cass was not
popular sovereignty - notion advanced before the civil war that the sovereign people of a given territory should decide whether to allow slavery. seemingly a compromise, it was largely opposed by the northern abolitionists, who feared it would promote the spread of slavery to the territories
citizens, politicians, the general public liked popular sovereignty
17-2 POLITICAL TRIUMPHS FOR GENERAL TAYLOR
whigs looooved taylor so much so that they all voted for him :3
they didn’t vote in henry clay ‘cause he made too many enemies and too many speeches
free soil party - antislavery party in the 1848 and 1852 elections that opposed the extension of slavery into the territories, arguing that the presence of slavery would limit opportunities for free laborers
free soil party created a bunch of new ideas within the same general political idea
appealed to industrialists who were annoyed at polk’s reduction of protective tariffs
appealed to democrats that didn’t like polk’s settling for part of oregon while wanting all of texas
appealed to northerners who hated african americans more than slavery
appealed to a large amount of conscience whigs that condemned slavery
free soil party foreshadowed republican emergence
17-3 “CALIFORNY GOLD”
president taylor would’ve been spared a lot of fighting if he didn’t stir the issue-of-slavery pot
a bunch of people wanted gold after hearing that there was gold in northern cali :DD
california gold rush - inflow of thousands of miners to northern california after news reports of the discovery of gold at sutter’s mill in january of 1848 had spread around the world by the end of that year. the onslaught of migrants prompted californians to organize a government and apply for statehood in 1849
california government tried to restrict non-white participation in gold mining, and people freaked out
outburst of crime ensued, such as robbery, claim jumping, and murder
californians drafted a constitution in 1849 that excluded slavery and then boldly applied to congress for admission
17-4 SECTIONAL BALANCE AND THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
southern slavery in 1850 appeared politically and economically secure
but there was worry in the south because of talk of a political imbalance; there had been 15 slave states and 15 free states
california would disrupt this balance
underground railroad - informal network of volunteers that helped runaway slaves escape from the south and reach free-soil canada. seeking to halt the flow of runaway slaves to the north, southern planters and congressmen pushed for a stronger fugitive slave law
harriet tubman, an illiterate runaway slave from maryland, conducted 19 “raids” into the south and rescued over 300 slaves, including her own parents
1850 - southerners demanded a new fugitive-slave law
the us supreme court suggested that state officials had no right to comply with the old fugitive slave law
some northern states then enacted “personal liberty laws” prohibiting locals from aiding in the capture of runaway slaves
estimated 1,000 runaways/year out of 4mil slaves total in the south
17-5 TWILIGHT OF THE SENATORIAL GIANTS
congress was tweakin out bc of the fire-eater’s southern rumors of secession and free-soil cali wanting entry to the union
october 1849 — southerners announced their intent to secede in 1850
congress’ failure to act led the “immortal trio” (henry clay, john c. calhoun, and daniel webster) to appear on stage one last time
henry clay
73
“great compromiser”
proposed compromises, duh
seconded by 37yo illinois senator stephen a. douglas, the “little giant” (he was 5’4’’)
urged that the north & south should make concessions and that the north partially yield by enacting a “more feasible fugitive-slave law”
john c calhoun
68
lowk dying of tuberculosis
didnt even give the speech himself smh
wanted to leave slavery alone, return runaway slaves, give the south its rights as a minority, and restore the political balance
also secretly wanted two presidents ?? one from the north and one from the south
died in 1850 😔
daniel webster
68
suffering from a liver complaint 👎
wanted a new fugitive-slave law with a lot of enforcing
but as for slavery in the territories, he was like “why would we?” and used god as a scapegoat lol
seventh of march speech - daniel webster’s impassioned address urging the north to support the compromise of 1850. webster argued that topography and climate would keep slavery from becoming entrenched in mexican cession territory and urged northerners to make all reasonable concessions to prevent disunion
turned the tide in the north toward compromise
free-soilers and abolitionists who assumed webster was one of them branded him as a traitor
17-6 DEADLOCK AND DANGER ON CAPITOL HILL
young guard - northern group of newer leaders, who, unlike the elderly old guard, had not grown up with the union
william h seward, a senator from new york, was a strong antislaveryite
saw a future US without slavery
argued that christian legislators must obey god’s moral law AND man’s mundane law
president taylor had fallen under the influence of men like “higher law” seward and kind of wanted texas to take santa fe, new mexico
17-7 BREAKING THE CONGRESSIONAL LOGJAM
pres taylor dies unexpectedly :3
vp millard fillmore takes the reins!
compromise of 1850 - admitted california as a free state, opened new mexico and utah to popular sovereignty, ended the slave trade (but not slavery itself) in washington, d.c., and introduced a more stringent fugitive slave law. widely opposed in both the north and south, it did little to settle the escalating dispute over slavery
henry clay DID like this and delivered over 70 speeches about it to help the north accept it lol
southern fire-eaters were still not having it. one newspaper in south carolina was like “we hate the north as much as we hate hell” shiver me timbers!
but people valued peace over the issue of slavery, so they left it alone for a little while
17-8 BALANCING THE COMPROMISE SCALES
who got the better deal in the compromise of 1850, you ask?
the north. it was clearly the north.
free state cali tipped the scales in the senate permanently against the south
southerners needed more slave territory to “restore the ‘sacred balance’”
if they couldn’t get these territories from mexican land, they’d get them from the caribbean
texas was to be paid $10 millie for debt
fugitive slave law - passed as part of the compromise of 1850, it set high penalties for anyone who aided escaped slaves and compelled all law enforcement officers to participate in retrieving runaways. strengthened the antislavery cause in the north
aka the “bloodhound bill”
fleeing slaves could not testify in their own behalf; denied jury trial
anthony burns — a runaway slave from virginia — was captured in boston and had to be removed from the city
“we went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, compromise union whigs and waked up stark mad abolitionists”
the fugitive slave law was a super mega blunder by the south
north now had bad vibes with the south :(((((
when the war broke out, the north was economically and morally stronger than the south
17-9 DEFEAT AND DOOM FOR THE WHIGS
1852 - democratic party was like “ok guys who do we nominate to be president??” KNOCK KNOCK 💥 IT’S FRANKLIN PIERCE
whigs were like “who is frank pierce??”
democrats said “the young hickory of the granite hills!”
except this guy was lowkey weak and indecisive :3
pierce was victim to a groin injury 😔 so he fell off a horse once 😔😔 coining him to be the “fainting general” 😔😔😔
had no opps tho !!!
he revived the democratic commitment to territorial expansion and endorsed the compromise of 1850, fugitive slave law and all
whigs lowkey missed an opportunity to nominate pres fillmore or senator webster, but they turned to “old fuss and feathers,” winfield scott!!!
democrats bragged with the motto “we polked ‘em in ‘44, we’ll pierce ‘em in ‘52”
antislavery whigs wanted scott as their nominee (lowkey didnt like his platform), but southern whigs voted for webster (had no other options lol) (also webster died 2 weeks before the election)
pierce wins the election by a landslide!
marked the end of the whigs
17-10 EXPANSIONIST STIRRINGS SOUTH OF THE BORDER
victory of the mexican-american war + california gold rush = manifest destiny 📈
british territories were getting a little too close to the US >:(( so the US and the government of would-be-colombia (new granada) met to create an important treaty
guaranteed american right of transit across the isthmus
led to the construction of the first “transcontinental” railroad
clayton-bulwer treaty - signed by great britain and the united states, it provided that the two nations would jointly protect the neutrality of central america and that neither power would seek to fortify or exclusively control any future isthmian waterway. later revoked by the hay-pauncefote treaty of 1901, which gave the US control of the panama canal
the south LUSTEDDD for new slave territory, and they would go through central america to get it
william walker lowkey tried to acquire central american territory before; even tried taking baja california and turn it into a slave state before president pierce withdrew recognition and walker kinda just. got assassinated by a honduran firing squad
basically when polk was president he considered offering spain $100 millie for cuba but spain was like “no cuba’s too good for you people lol”
south took this idea and RAN with it
southern adventurers went on two expeditions to cuba in hopes of overtaking the island, but all of them kinda died.
spanish officials in cuba seized the american steamer black warrior and president pierce lowkey was about to provoke a war with spain, of all nations
england, france, and russia were unable to help spain in these trying times ✊😔
ostend manifesto - secret franklin pierce administration proposal to purchase or, that failing, to wrest militarily cuba from spain. once leaked, it was quickly abandoned due to vehement opposition from the north
urged that the administration offer $120 millie for cuba
if spain refused, the US would be “justified” for taking it themselves
17-11 THE ALLURE OF ASIA
the acquisition of oregon and cali made the US a sort of pacific would-be power
opium war - war between britain and china over trading rights, particularly britain’s desire to continue selling opium to chinese traders. the resulting trade agreement prompted americans to seek similar concessions from the chinese
president tyler lowkey wanted in on the trading
treaty of wanghia - signed by the US and china, it assured the US the same trading concessions granted to other powers, greatly expanding america’s trade with the chinese
he got his trading!
treaty of kanagawa - ended japan’s two-hundred-year period of economic isolation, establishing an american consulate in japan and securing american coaling rights in japanese ports
17-12 PACIFIC RAILROAD PROMOTERS AND THE GADSDEN PURCHASE
transportation problems after the mexican-american war were very common 😔
cali and oregon were just a faraway dream from DC lol
they even freaking made a song about how hard it was to get to the west coast
lowkey people were like “uhh maybe this whole ‘west coast’ thing should stay a dream; there’s like no way we can get there without dying!”
freaking camels were proposed to get there 😭
“ships of the desert”
americans didn’t take to them
transcontinental railroad was proposed and highly promoted
north and south were fighting again bc they were like “no!!!1! the railroad should go in this area!!!!”
south wanted it BAD cause the north already had everything economically stable
james gadsden was this really prominent s. carolina railroad guy that was appointed minister to mexico
gadsden purchase - acquired additional land from mexico for $10 million to facilitate the construction of a southern transcontinental railroad
people were kinda tweaking out about this cause $10 million for literally just a desert the size of s. carolina was NOT acceptable lol
senate approves it anyway :3
17-13 DOUGLAS’S KANSAS-NEBRASKA SCHEME
democratic senator stephen a douglas was like “guys we really need this railroad”
also he was nicknamed “little giant” ???? idk if that’s relevant 💀
proposed that the nebraska territory be split in two: kansas and nebraska; their status regarding slavery put up to them with the usage of popular sovereignty!!!!
kansas-nebraska act contradicted the missouri compromise of 1820 (booyah!)
many southerners took one look at kansas and said “that one is gonna be ours for the taking”
“whatever congress passes it can repeal” banger quote
congress was having WORDS with douglas and vice versa lol
he finally convinced congress to accept it as law
17-14 CONGRESS LEGISLATES A CIVIL WAR
kansas-nebraska act – proposed that the issue of slavery be decided by popular sovereignty in the kansas and nebraska territories, thus revoking the 1820 missouri compromise. introduced by stephen douglas in an effort to bring nebraska into the union and pave the way for a northern transcontinental railroad
lowkey made compromise with the south extremely difficult
shattered the democratic party
created the republican party
22-1 THE IRON COLT BECOMES AN IRON HORSE
hey guys and welcome back to another letsplay of ap us history
so basically, after the civil war, government was super into the nation’s industrial expansion
when pres lincoln was shot (1865), there was around 35,000 miles of railroad
by 1900, there was around 192,556 miles of it
railroad building had issues tho
it was costly and risky
it wasn’t worth it to build railroads connecting smaller towns until they grew in size and importance
land grants to railroads were made in broad belts
within these belts, railroads were allowed to choose alternate mile-square sections in sort of a “checkerboard fashion”
22-2 SPANNING THE CONTINENT WITH RAILS
because the south had seceded from the union during the civil war, the rest of the union was like “oh ig that means the railroad is ours to make then”
the union pacific railroad (because it belonged to the union) was commissioned by congress to build this railroad starting from omaha, nebraska
for each mile of track completed, the company was granted 20 square miles of land
for each mile of track completed, the builders received a fat federal loan, from $16,000 on flat land to $48,000 on mountainous land
construction workers, including irish “paddies,” worked with incredible haste
broke records by laying 10 miles of rail in one day
rail laying in california was taken over by the central pacific railroad
the “big four” far-seeing men were the chief financial backers of the enterprise
included governor leland stanford and collis p. huntington
other workers, such as the ~10,000 chinese laborers, “proved to be cheap, efficient, and expendable”
the “wedding of the rails” finally occurred near ogden, utah, in 1869
union pacific built 1086 miles of railroad while the central pacific built 689 miles
however, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows (as we know). the transcontinental railroad line divided the great bison herds and nearly drove them to extinction
22-3 BINDING THE COUNTRY WITH RAILROAD TIES
four other transcontinental railroad lines were completed by 1900
northern pacific railroad connected lake superior to puget sound in 1883
atchison/topeka/santa fe railroads completed in 1884
southern pacific linked new orleans to san francisco
22-4 RAILROAD CONSOLIDATION AND MECHANIZATION
“commodore” cornelius vanderbilt, a “burly, boisterous, white-whiskered… clear-visioned” man, welded together the new york central network with the western lines
steel rails, which vanderbilt popularized, was safer and more economical because it could bear a heavier load
the westinghouse air brake, adopted in the 1870s, enhanced efficiency and safety
the pullman palace cars, aka “gorgeous traveling hotels,” were also condemned as “wheeled torture chambers” and “potential funeral pyres” because of their wooden cars being equipped with kerosene lamps
22-5 REVOLUTION BY RAILWAYS
railroads became the country’s biggest businesses :D
railroads were like rivers in the sense that farm settlements would pop up nearby them
railroads also played a leading role in moving people and food and raw materials east and west
railroad companies also advertised a lot in europe in order to gather immigrants to sell land grants to
however, the land felt the impact negatively :(
in iowa, illinois, kansas, and nebraska, settlers plowed the tallgrass prairies
in the dakotas and montana, cattle displaced buffalo, which were hunted to near-extinction
in michigan, wisconsin, and minnesota, white pine forests became lumber as the land became neighborhoods
up until the railroad, every freaking town had a different time zone???
americans called the day the continent was divided into four time zones, “the day of two noons”
the railroad also made millionaires
a new aristocracy arose with “lords of the rail,” knocking down the old southern “lords of the lash”
22-6 WRONGDOING IN RAILROADING
“corruption lurks nearby when fabulous fortunes can materialize overnight” banger quote textbook, banger quote
jay gould — most adept “ringmaster” of scamming, essentially
“stock watering” was a term that referred to making cattle bloated before selling them to get the most money
old cornelius vanderbilt didn’t care about the law and his son, william h. vanderbilt, didn’t care about the public
the “Pool” — an agreement to divide the scamming business in a given area and split the profits
22-7 GOVERNMENT BRIDLES THE IRON HORSE
people began to wonder if the nation escaped from the power of slavery to be trapped in the power of money
and although the american people were built on the power to respond to political injustice, they were slow to combat economic injustice
an 1870s depression led the farmers to protest against being put into bankruptcy! hooray!
wabash, st. louis & pacific railroad company v. illinois — a supreme court decision that prohibited states from regulating the railroads because the constitution grants congress the power to regulate interstate commerce. as a result, reformers turned their attention to the federal government, which now held sole power to regulate the railroad industry
interstate commerce act — congressional legislation that established the interstate commerce commission, compelled railroads to publish standard rates, and prohibited rebates and pools. railroads quickly became adept at using the act to achieve their own ends, but it gave the government an important means to regulate big business
basically just prohibited rebates (partial refunds) and pools (dividing scamming businesses) and required railroads to publish their rates publicly
also forbade unfair discrimination against shippers and outlawed charging more for a short haul than for a long one over the same line
also set up the ICC (interstate commerce commission) to administer and enforce the new legislation
22-10 THE SUPREMACY OF STEEL
“steel is king!11!!!” — people back then, probably
steel making (mainly rails for railroads) → “heavy industry” → “capital goods” → “consumer goods”
steel was a scarce commodity in the post-abraham lincoln america
a lot of iron went to rails and bridges
steel was still expensive tho, mainly used for cutlery
vanderbilt was forced to import rails from britain
however! within twenty years, the US poured out over 1/3 of the world’s steel
how, you ask?
great question!
bessemer process — refers to the innovation in steel production where air was blown on molten iron to remove impurities, allowing steel to be produced cheaply at mass quantities. a portent of gilded age industrialization, it was famously used by andrew carnegie at his steelmaking factory in homestead, pennsylvania
named after some british inventor even though an american discovered this process beforehand smh
22-11 CARNEGIE AND OTHER SULTANS OF STEEL
andrew carnegie was a 13 year old scotsman when he came to america in 1848 :P
got a job as a “bobbin boy” for $1.20 a week (textile mill worker)
climbed the ladder fast
succeeded in life by picking high-class associates and eliminating middlemen
was not a monopolist!! he disliked monopolies!!!!
by 1900 he was producing a fourth of the nation’s bessemer steel
j. pierpont morgan !!!! aka “jupiter” morgan made quite the reputation for himself for being the financial giant of the time
did not believe that “money power” was dangerous, except in dangerous hands, didn’t think he himself was dangerous
1900 — morgan vs carnegie :((
carnegie wanted to turn steel into money by selling his holdings
morgan was a THE steel guy everyone knows
carnegie was gonna backstab morgan!1!!!1!
so carnegie and his agents haggled with morgan until morgan finally agreed to buy out carnegie for over $400 MILLION DOLLARS
carnegie, now filthy rich, gave most of his money away (~$350 million)
morgan then took the carnegie holdings and adding some to it, capitalizing at ~$1.4 BILLION DOLLARS, making it america’s first billion-dollar corporation (larger than the estimated wealth of the US in 1800)
22-12 ROCKEFELLER GROWS AN AMERICAN BEAUTY ROSE
EMERGENCE OF OIL 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🔥🔥🔥🔥
traces of oil in streams had been bottled for medicinal purposes
1859 — “drake’s (🤨) folly” poured out its “black gold”
bOOM IT’S OIL!!!!!
kerosene, derived from petroleum, was the first major product of the baby oil industry
produced a brighter flame than whale oil!!
by 1885, 250k of thomas edison’s lightbulbs (!!) were in use, and by 1900, ~15 million were used
by 1900, oil was used for automobiles!!!!
john d. rockefeller did not drink, smoke, or swear!
also he kinda did little things (like organizing the standard oil company of ohio)
also controlled 95% of all oil refineries in the US by 1877
rockefeller hardly showed any mercy! he thought he was “obeying a law of nature” and that the “time was ripe” for aggressive consolidation
22-13 THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH
“gospel of wealth guys. preach 🙏” — andrew carnegie, probably
basically that the wealthy were only temporary
obliged to assume moral responsibility for the uplift of the less fortunate
“the man who dies rich dies disgraced”
social darwinists — believers in the idea, popular in the late nineteenth century, that people gained wealthy by “survival of the fittest.” therefore, the wealthy had simply won a natural competition and owed nothing to the poor, and indeed service to the poor would interfere with this organic process. some social darwinists also applied this theory to whole nations and races, explaining that powerful people were naturally endowed with gifts that allowed them to gain superiority over others. this theory provided one of the most popular justifications for U.S. imperial ventures like the spanish-american war
23-2 THE ERA OF GOOD STEALINGS
although most businesspeople had decency and honor, there were enough bad apples to pollute the whole atmosphere with corruption
“the man in the moon… had to hold his nose when passing over america”
two millionaire partners named “jubilee jim” fisk and jay gould (remember him?) were tearin it 🔼 on the financial dance floor
fisk was the “brass”
gould was the brains
together, they made a plan in 1869 to corner the gold market
however, this plan would only work if the federal treasury held back from selling gold
they freaking worked on getting president grant to drive the price of gold upward
price of gold plunged instead :(
tweed ring — a symbol of gilded age corruption, “boss” tweed and his deputies ran the new york city democratic party in the 1860s and swindled $200 million from the city through bribery, graft, and vote-buying. boss tweed was eventually jailed for his crimes and died behind bars
23-3 A CARNIVAL OF CORRUPTION
the president’s cabinet at this time sucked. royally.
crédit mobilier scandal — a construction company was formed by owners of the union pacific railroad for the purpose of receiving government contracts to build the railroad at highly inflated prices - and profits. in 1872 a scandal erupted when journalists discovered that the crédit mobilier company had bribed congressmen and even the vice president to allow the ruse to continue
highly inflated prices were around 348% :3
in 1874-1875, the “whiskey ring” robbed the US treasury of millions, so pres grant said “let no guilty man escape!” except one of the guilty men was his own private secretary so he pretty much pardoned the guy
23-6 PALLID POLITICS IN THE GILDED AGE
gilded age — a term given to the period 1865-1896 by mark twain, indicating both the fabulous wealth and the widespread corruption of the era
the majority party in the house of reps switched six times out of the eleven sessions during most of the gilded age
democrats and republicans almost saw eye-to-eye on a lot of issues
however, they were super competitive against each other 😭
republican voters tended to adhere to their puritan lineage
democratic voters (including their lutheran and roman catholic members) tended to adhere to “faiths that took a less stern view of human weakness”
patronage — a system, prevalent during the gilded age, in which political parties granted jobs and favors to party regulars who delivered votes on election day. patronage was both an essential wellspring of support for both parties and a source of conflict within the republican party
a “stalwart” faction, led by “lord” roscoe conkling (a US senator from new york) honored the system of swapping civil-service jobs for votes
against the conklingites were the “half-breeds” who were interested in civil-service reform, led by james g. blaine (maine)
james g. blaine and roscoe conkling stalemated each other and deadlocked their own parties
23-10 CLASS CONFLICTS AND ETHNIC CLASHES
end of reconstruction - 1877
following the panic of 1873, the explosive atmosphere was a byproduct of the long years of the long years of the “great depression” and deflation
great strike of 1877 — wage cuts by the baltimore and ohio railroad company triggered a forty-five day strike that engulfed maryland, new york, pennsylvania, illinois, and missouri. one hundred people died in the unrest
failed
failure of the great strike of 1877 exposed weaknesses
federal courts, US army, state militias, and local police all helped keep the engines of big business operating at max speeds and full throttle
meanwhile, racial and ethnic fissures among workers fractured labor unity :DDDD
by 1880, cali counted 75k asian newcomers, or around 9% of their entire population
most came from guangdong, china
those who stayed in america were usually without a wife or family so no kids :(
in san fran, irish denis kearney told his followers to abuse chinese immigrants
kearneyites, many of whom were immigrants themselves, hated the chinese because they were competition for cheap labor
chinese exclusion act — federal legislation that prohibited most further chinese immigration to the united states. this was the first major legal restriction on immigration in US history
lasted from 1882 to 1943, or 61 years
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