United States History

1. United States History Ch. 14: The Western Crossroads Ch. 15: The Second Industrial Revolution Ch. 16: The Transformation of American Society Ch. 17: Politics in the Gilded Age

2. Native American Resistance • The US Gov’t began to force Native Americans onto reservations in the 1850’s • The Bureau of Indian Affairs was responsible for this removal • This cause extreme animosity amongst tribes, leading to several conflicts with white settlers • Sand Creek Massacre: slaughter of over 200 Natives in CO in 1864, for no apparent reasons • Little Bighorn: clash between US 7th Cavalry unit and Sioux in Montana, June 25-26, 1876 • George Armstrong Custer led the Army • Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse led the Sioux • Custer and his men were all killed in the battle, the last victory for the Sioux

3. Native American Resistance • Ghost Dance: a religious movement led by Wovoka, a Paiute spiritual leader; the Ghost Dance incited a massacre of 14 Natives, including Sitting Bull, in 1890 • Wounded Knee: last of the major conflicts, a skirmish between the Sioux and 7th Cavalry at Wounded Knee, SD, resulting in over 150 dead Sioux • Other groups, led by Chief Joseph and Geronimo, resisted reservations peacefully from the 1870’s and 1880’s • Eventually, both leaders reluctantly gave in to the pressure to move to reservations • The government established American Indian schools to quickly assimilate Natives into “white America” • The Dawes Act gave people 160 acres in which to farm, but many Natives were cheated out of their allotment of land

4. Sitting Bull and Chief Joseph

5. Moving West • The US Government gave great incentive for people to move West and establish a life • Homestead Act: granted 160 acres of land to people that promised to develop the land and live there for at least 5 years • Pacific Railway Act: gave land to railroad companies to establish a line connecting East and West • Morrill Act: gave land to states and territories to develop colleges • As of a result, a transcontinental railroad was built from Omaha to Sacramento, completed in 1869 at Promontory, UT • Many different groups moved west as a result of the government incentives and new transportation lines • White Americans: mostly from the East, settled west for less expansive lands • Southern Blacks: hoping to escape racial discrimination and make a life for themselves; thousands left the south, known as Exodusters • Immigrants: mostly from Europe, but also Asia, to work on farms and the railroads • New inventions like the steel plow, harvester, and combines helped make farming easier, but were very expensive

6. “Golden Spike”, May 10, 1869

7. The Cattle Boom • The open plains opened the opportunity at large scale cattle ranching • Cowboys became a job of hard work, but great success, for many after the Civil War, especially for African Americans • Cowboys would herd thousands of cattle and take them on long drives to railheads, towns where the railroad could ship cattle back east • Some of the major railheads were Omaha, NE and Dodge City, KS • Ranchers used public land as grazing land for cattle and sheep • The cattle boom ended by the 1880’s after the invention of barbed wire allowed for farmers and ranchers to fence in their lands

8. The Mining Boom • 1849 saw a major gold rush in California, but even more gold and silver were to be discovered • The largest strike in history occurred in northern Nevada, known as the Comstock Lode • Dozens of towns sprang up overnight, like Virginia City, Goldfield, and expanded cities such as Reno • Other strikes in Arizona and Colorado contributed to booming populations and large cities like Denver and Tucson • William Seward negotiated the purchase of Alaska, known at the time as Seward’s Folly because it was thought that AK was a wasteland • Years after the purchase in 1867, Alaska produce millions in gold, and now oil • Mining communities grew quickly, and were expensive • Fighting over land led to numerous deaths, but eventually, as towns developed, violence was curbed • As mines ran out of minerals, towns disappeared, leaving behind empty buildings and creating ghost towns

9. The Age of Inventions • The 1800’s saw numerous scientific inventions and discoveries that enhanced the lives of people around the world • Oil: Edwin Drake discovered oil near Titusville, PA in 1859, starting a drilling boom for “black gold” • Elijah McCoy furthered the oil boom by creating a system of machine lubricating while the machine was still running • Steel: In the 1850’s, Henry Bessemer created the Bessemer process, a cheap way of manufacturing steel, leading to a boom in steel production • Railroads: cheap steel allowed for more railroads to be built throughout the US • George Westinghouse invented an air brake that could stop trains easier, improving the safety of rail travel • Automobiles: after the creation of the internal combustion engine in 1876, people set out to create a “horseless carriage” • By 1893, the first cars were being built • Airplanes: Orville and Wilbur Wright are credited with the first successful flight • Their experiment took place at Kitty Hawk, NC on December 17, 1903

10. The Age of Inventions • Telegraph: invented in 1837 by Samuel Morse, transmitted messages by a series of taps of electrical current • By the 1860s, telegraphs were everywhere, especially along railroad lines, making communications easier • Telephone: invented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell, who called it a “talking telegraph”, or telephone • By 1900, millions were around America • Led to the creating of American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) • Thomas Edison invented many practical items • Telegraph that could send up to 4 messages at once • Phonograph (record player) in 1877 • Light bulb in 1879 • Led to widespread production of electricity • Used D/C current to power electric lights • George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla later developed a transformer that send A/C electricity over long distances • Held over 1000 patents for various items • Did most of his work at a lab in Menlo Park, NJ, earning him the nickname “the Wizard of Menlo Park” with an assistant named Lewis Latimer

11. The Rise of Big Business • The American economy is based on capitalism • Also known as the free enterprise system • Individuals are free to control their own financial destinies, free from government control • Supply, demand and profit determine prices • A new economic idea, created by Karl Marx, called for the government to equalize society, known as communism • Americans began to buy into social Darwinism • “survival of the fittest” in the business world • Based on Charles Darwin theory of evolution • Before the Civil War, most companies were small, but the late 1800s saw the rise of corporations • Corporations sell stock, in which stockholders get a share of the profits, or dividends • Trusts were formed to maximize profits and reduce competition • Several companies are run as one in a trust • Monopolies were formed if a trust took control of an industry • Monopolies can set prices to whatever, without producing quality products since they are the only company producing

12. Carnegie Steel and Standard Oil • Andrew Carnegie was a steel tycoon of the late 1800s • Eventually, using vertical integration (consolidation), he bought related industries in steel making • Iron and coal mines, transportation lines, etc. • Since he controlled all aspects of production, he could sell steel much cheaper than competitors • He eventually sold Carnegie Steel to J.P. Morgan for $500 million in 1901, but also donated over $350 million • Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company • Like Carnegie, he also employed vertical integration to expand, but he also used horizontal integration • His company controlled other companies selling the same product • In this case, he bought other oil companies or tried to control those he couldn’t • Eventually, he controlled over 90% of the oil industry in the United States • He was also a philanthropist, donating over $550 million in his lifetime

13. Railroad Giants • Millions were made from the railroad industry as well • Cornelius Vanderbilt purchased thousands of miles of track, controlling shipping and transportation • George Westinghouse, inventor of the air brake and A/C transformer, made railroads safer, allowing trains to carry more cars at faster speeds • George Pullman was a designer of railroad cars that were more practical and comfortable • He built a large factory outside Chicago in 1880 • Near the factory, he built a town for the workers to live, but was very controlling, causing frustration among workers and residents

14. 19th Century Marketing • Companies began to mass advertise their products, encouraging consumers to buy • Product names, billboards, packaging, newspapers and magazines displayed new products • New mail order companies like Montgomery Ward and Sears-Roebuck offered goods by catalog and shipped them to customers • Department stores were also created, selling a wide variety of products • Macy’s, Woolworth’s, JCPenney’s and Marshall Field’s were born in late 1800s

15. Working Conditions and Gov’t Intervention • Citizens became frustrated with large corporations, calling for government intervention • Sherman Antitrust Act (1890): law passed to prevent companies from forming trusts and gaining monopolies over industries • However, the law was too vague to be effective, so companies continued to grow • The gap between rich and poor grew bigger, but the government offered little help • Companies relied on cheap labor, and continued to pay meager wages to the working class • Immigrants filled most factory jobs, but women and children did as well • African Americans flooded cities looking for work, occasionally gaining employment • There were no rules on conditions, hours worked, etc. of workers during the late 1800s • People worked 6 days a week, at least 10 hours a day commonly, for very little pay • Injuries and death occurred often • Women, children and minorities worked the same hours for less pay

16. Labor Organization • People became fed up with working conditions and began to organize labor unions • Knights of Labor: created in 1869 to petition companies for better pay, 8 hour days, equal pay, and end of child labor • The Knights of Labor spurred other unions, leading in 1886 to the Great Upheaval, a year of continuous strikes and violence • Haymarket Riot: workers in Chicago went on strike for an 8 hour workday, but violence ensued over 3 day, killing several • Companies often refused to honor union workers requests and fired union supporters • A new union formed in 1886 called the American Federation of Labor (AFL) • In 1892, workers at a Carnegie mill in Homestead, PA struck against a wage cut, killing 16 in the Homestead Strike • In 1894, workers of the Pullman Plant in Chicago went on strike • In support of the American Railway Union and leader Eugene Debs, railroad operators stopped the trains • The government ordered an end to the strike because it froze mail delivery and interstate commerce, with President Grover Cleveland sending in the army to end the strike, destroying the union and the Pullman Strike

17. Immigration of the 19th Century • From 1800-1880, over 10 million people moved to the United States, mostly NW Europeans • From 1880-1910, over 12 million people moved to the United States • Many were Eastern and Southern European, but many Arabs and Japanese came as well • Catholics, Jews, and Greek Orthodox religions were common • Most came escaping poverty or persecution, riding in the steerage section of ships • Most immigrants first sight of America came in New York at Ellis Island or Angel Island in San Francisco • Both were used to process immigrants • From there, immigrants spread to cities throughout the country

18. Immigrant Life • Immigrants lived, often times, in crowded cities with few services and low wage job • Ethnic neighborhoods sprung up in many cities, which still exist today • Neighborhoods often spoke the native tongue, followed customs, etc. • Many groups formed to help immigrants adjust, financially and educationally • Health care and jobs were also provided by these benevolent societies • Immigrants often tried to assimilate into American culture, especially the second generation • Most did the “dirty work” of the nation, working long hours for little pay, barely able to survive

19. Nativism • Nativists are those that are against immigration • Thought immigrants were too different to be Americans • Also felt they stole jobs from Americans and lowered wages • The government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, prohibiting Chinese immigration to the US • Other groups endured constant discrimination throughout the country • The Immigration Restriction League formed in 1894, hoping to make literacy tests for immigrants mandatory • Congress tried several times to make it law, but President Grover Cleveland rejected it

20. Growth of Cities • Steel framed skyscrapers made cities grow upward in the late 1800’s • The elevator’s invention by Elisha Otis in 1853 allowed for skyscrapers to be built • Mass transit expanded, such as electric trolleys and subways, making travel around cities quicker • Suburbs developed around cities, making it easy for someone to work in the city but live outside the city • Upper class families spent money freely, lived in lavish homes, donated to causes, etc. • Demand for educated workers increased the middle class, with many jobs given to women (for lower wages) • The poor lived in harsh, crowded conditions • Some lived in tenements, crowded apartment buildings • Services such as sewer and garbage pick up were rare, so disease and filth was rampant • Jobs were low paying, and residents struggled to make ends meet

21. Daily Life in Cities • Few programs existed to help the poor in the late 1800’s • People like Jane Addams created settlement houses • Community service centers to help the poor (Hull House in Chicago) • Provided educational opportunities for the immigrant population • Education: states passed compulsory education laws, so school enrollment increased, but schools for immigrants and blacks were substandard • Newspapers, books and magazinesincreased in circulation • Yellow journalism, a form of “sensational” storytelling, became popular in order to sell papers • Sports were more popular • Baseball, basketball and football were the most popular • Theatre, especially vaudeville (short plays), increased in popularity • A new form of music called ragtime, made famous by Scott Joplin, became very popular

22. Political Machines • Political machines were well organized political parties in city governments that were very successful in getting their candidates elected to office • Political bosses offered jobs, political favors and services to residents of the cities • They dictated who the residents should vote for, ensuring the success of the machine • They often tried to help the poor, so they were popular amongst the immigrant population • NYC’s Democratic machine was known as Tammany Hall and was very successful • Political machines were very corrupt • Voting fraud was common • Many officials practiced graft, or illegally obtaining money from public funds • Officials often received kickbacks, or bribes, for various acts that were favorable to those paying the bribes • The most notorious of corruption was in NYC’s Tammany Hall, led by William “Boss” Tweed • Estimated to have received over $200 million in graft and kickbacks from 1865-71 • Tweed was convicted of fraud and extortion in 1873 after Thomas Nast revealed the corruption in political cartoons in Harper’s Weekly

23. The Gilded Age and Reform • Mark Twain coined the term “Gilded Age”, meaning for something to be covered in a thin layer of gold • American society was very corrupt, while a small degree of prosperity covered that corruption • The main issue of government corruption was the spoils system, giving government jobs based on friendship and/or political support • The Republican Party was a proponent of reform, but the issue split the party • Two factions divided the Republican Party • Stalwarts: those opposed to civil service reform, led by Roscoe Conkling • Half-Breeds: those supporting civil service reform, led by James G. Blaine • President Rutherford B. Hayes did not seek reelection in 1880 because of the factions • As a result, Half-Breed James Garfield was the presidential nominee, with Stalwart Chester Arthur as the vice-presidential nominee • Garfield won the presidency and took over in 1881

24. James Garfield 1881

25. Chester A. Arthur 1881-1885

26. Garfield and Arthur • Four months after his inauguration, Garfield was shot • Charles Guiteau was an unstable man upset at Garfield for not receiving a government job • His thoughts were that Arthur would further the Stalwart cause • President Arthur responded in 1883 with the passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Act • The law required tests and merit as means to obtain a government job • Many Stalwarts refused to support Arthur in the election of 1884, nominating James G. Blaine • The Half-Breeds supported Democrat Grover Cleveland, who won the election despite accusations against his character

27. Grover Cleveland 1885-1889, 1893-1897

28. Cleveland’s Presidency • Cleveland continued the reform measures of the civil service system • More and more jobs in the government began to require tests • This angered many members of his party • In 1888, he was opposed by Benjamin Harrison, the Republican nominee • Grandson of William Henry Harrison, the 9th president • Lost the popular vote, but won the electoral vote • Set back the reform efforts by rewarding Republican supporters and freely spending money

29. Benjamin Harrison 1889-1893

30. Populist Movement • The changes in urban life of the time also influenced change in rural farm life • Prices for machinery and shipping of farm products continued to rise • Supply was high, so prices for goods were low • This forced most farmers to borrow and many lost their farms • Farmers organized a movement known as the Grange to help farmers • Helped to purchase equipment in bulk to lower prices for farmers • Fought the railroads rates for shipping and help to standardize the rates • Helped lead to the passage of the Interstate Commerce Commission that was designed to regulate the railroads, but did not have power to enforce the laws regarding railroad rates

31. Money Issues • Farmers wanted the government to print more greenbacks, causing prices to increase and making it easier to pay off loans • In 1873, the government decided that greenbacks could only be redeemed for gold • The gold standard caused the money supply to decrease • Outrage caused the government to pass two laws in regards to silver money • Bland-Allison Act (1878) • Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890) • Did not buy enough silver to make a difference, however

32. Populist Politics • The Populist Party formed in 1892 to address the plight of farmers and their supporters • They nominated James B. Weaver for president, who lost to Grover Cleveland, who won a second term after losing his reelection to Harrison in 1888 • A major railroad company failed in 1893, leading to the Panic of 1893, an economic depression that caused widespread unemployment • President Cleveland worried about the Sherman Silver Purchase Act • However, new silver discoveries caused its price to plummet, and eventually leading to a strain on gold supplies and the repeal of the law

33. Election of 1896 • Republican William McKinley favored the gold standard • Democrat Williams Jennings Bryan favored free coinage of silver • The Populists supported Bryan, thus the party faded from existence • Bryan made his famous “Cross of Gold” speech during this election process, criticizing McKinley’s support of the gold standard • McKinley won the election, and, coupled with improving conditions for farmers, led to the end of the Populist movement • However the movement laid the groundwork for future reform movements

34. William McKinley 1897-1901