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The Growth of the United States

The Growth of the United States . Rural Republic to Urban State 1860 - 1900. Main Ideas. The Growth of Industry and the Economy Labor Movements Urban Growth and Immigration Changes in American Life The West Changes in Politics.

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The Growth of the United States

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  1. The Growth of the United States Rural Republic to Urban State 1860 - 1900

  2. Main Ideas • The Growth of Industry and the Economy • Labor Movements • Urban Growth and Immigration • Changes in American Life • The West • Changes in Politics

  3. The second half of the 19th century brought tremendous growth to the U.S. economy • Natural resources • growing labor supply • growing population • capital • new technology • business friendly policies and practices • talented business leaders

  4. Social Darwinism Charles Darwin’s theories applied to capitalism The strongest and wealthiest would survive, the poor were disregarded Gospel of Wealth To some, religion was more convincing application of Protestant work ethic Also believed that the wealthy had a responsibility to be philanthropic to benefit society “God gave me my wealth” J.D. Rockefeller Laissez-Faire Economic Theories

  5. Consolidation • Until the Civil War, sporadic, inefficient, and incompatible • Cornelius Vanderbilt - New York Central Railroad • New York to Chicago , 4500 miles of track • “trunk” lines • Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) • Pennsylvania Railroad

  6. Linking East to West • Congress gave authority during the Civil War • Divided between Union Pacific and Central Pacific companies • Irish, veterans and Chinese • May 10, 1869, golden spike at Promontory Point, Utah • By 1900, 4 more lines linked East to West

  7. Expansion of Railroads • Increase of miles of track x5 from ‘65-’00 • great impact on American life • market for goods • boost in other industries • 4 rail zones became 4 current time zones • modern stockholder corporation and complex structure of business organization

  8. Moving West • Land Grants • subsidies in loans and land grants • 80 companies took 170 million acres of land • sold extra land to settlers to finance construction • value of government land increased substantially

  9. The Good and the Bad • Positive Consequences • railroads promoted western settlement • linked the East with the West • Negative Consequences • poor construction, rushed • corruption • huge profits, government bribery

  10. More Consolidation • Many existing were overbuilt, unprofitable, mismanaged • unfair rates • Panic of 1893 • J.P. Morgan and others took control of the bankrupt railroads

  11. Results of Consolidation • Eliminated competition • regional monopolies established • stabilized rates, reduced debts • “The public be damned.” • Wm. Vanderbilt

  12. Growth of Industries • Shift from textiles and household production to industrial products • Steel • Oil, petroleum • Electricity

  13. Henry Bessemer • 1850s • air blown through iron produces steel • Minnesota’s Mesabi Range provided the start for this U.S. industry

  14. Andrew Carnegie • 1850s - poor Southern immigrant grew to superintendent of Pennsylvania R.R. • 1870s - produced steel in Pittsburgh • outdid his competitors in distance and technology • “Vertical Integration”

  15. Carnegie Steel • By 1900, was top of the industry • Carnegie retired to pursue philanthropy • Sold for over $400 million to J.P. Morgan • became U.S. Steel • 1st billion dollar industry and largest in the world

  16. Oil • Edwin Drake, 1859 • 1st U.S. oil drilled in Pennsylvania • 1863 - J.D. Rockefeller founded a company that would eliminate all competition

  17. J.D. Rockefeller • Applied new technology and efficient practices to refineries • company grew, cut prices and competition • 1881 - Standard Oil Trust held 90% of market

  18. The Trust Bought and controlled the competition under a single corporation

  19. Sherman Anti-Trust Act • Prohibited “contract, combination, in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce” • U.S. v E.C. Knight Co. (1895) • first challenge • law would be applied only to commerce, not manufacturing • Reforms would be strengthened under Progressivism

  20. New Technology • Samuel F.B. Morse (1844) • 1866 - transatlantic cable • Alexander Graham Bell (1876) • by 1900, cables connected all continents in communication

  21. Other Technology • George Eastman’s Kodak Camera (1888) • fountain pen (1884) • King Gillette’s safety razor (1895) • Thomas Edison • George Westinghouse

  22. Marketing Goods • Needed ways to market products • R.H. Macy (New York) and Marshall Field (Chicago) • places to shop in urban centers • Frank Woolworth • chain retail • Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward • mail order catalogs

  23. Impact of Industrialization • Concentration of wealth • Richest 10% controlled 9/10 of the nation’s wealth • Horatio Alger Myth • Novelist • Wrote about young men who through hard work, luck and honesty could become rich

  24. Discontent Among the Ranks • While industries did offer opportunities for the growth of a middle class, 2/3 of all Americans worked more menial, low-paying jobs • Skills were no longer valued • Conditions, whether in factories or on the railways, were dangerous, unstable, and the compensation minimal • The late 19th century saw a rise in unrest in these workers

  25. Emergence of Labor Unions • National Labor Union (1866) • Noted for its inclusion of women and blacks, though it excluded Chinese • Significant victory was the 8 hour day, and worked hard for social programs • Knights of Labor(1869) • Led by Terrence Powderly • All inclusive • Advocated worker cooperatives, abolishing child labor, trusts and monopolies • People turned away from the Knights after the Haymarket Riot

  26. Emergence of Labor Unions • American Federation of Labor (1886) • Samuel Gompers • Directed local unions of skilled workers • Not inclusive of all workers • Worked for basic economic goals, not reform • Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911) • Haymarket Riot • Among crowd were 200 anarchists • Violence broke out during a general strike in Chicago • Someone threw a bomb as police tried to break up the protests • Americans concluded that unions were radical and violent

  27. The Business Response to Unions • Lockouts - closing the factory to break labor movements before they can happen • Blacklists - circulation of pro-union names • Yellow-dog contracts - agreement to not join a union • Use of guards and militia • Court injunctions

  28. Union Demonstrations of Power • Homestead Strike (1892) • Carnegie’s Homestead Steel Mill near Pittsburgh • Response to cuts in wages by 20% • Strikers defeated after 5 months • Pullman Strike(1894) • Response to wage cuts and firing of workers’ delegation members • Union boycott impacted lines across the nation • Supreme Court approved use of court injunctions to make workers go back to work

  29. Growth of Cities • Product of Industrialization, changing economy • Poverty • Tenements • Jane Addams and the Hull House • Salvation Army • Skyscrapers, parks and public transportation • Reflects new use of resources (steel) in architecture, and the transfer of changes in municipal politics • Journalism • “yellow journalism” • Ladies Home Journal

  30. Influx of Immigrants • 1866 - 1915 • Haven from persecution, poverty, blight, and revolutions • Hope for prosperity and the American dream • Nativism • Chinese Exclusion Act • Gentlemen’s Agreement

  31. Rise of Segregation • “Jim Crow” • Lynching • Between 1882 and 1892 more than 1200 persons lynched • Lasting impact of Plessy case (1896) • W.E.B. DuBois • NAACP

  32. New Forms of Entertainment • Vaudeville • Baseball • Amusement Parks • Newspapers and magazines • Ragtime and jazz music • Nickelodeons and Movie theatres built • Barnum and Bailey Circus • Buffalo Bill’s Wild West

  33. Arts in the Gilded Age • Literature • Mark Twain, Edward Bellamy and Stephen Crane • Architecture • Richard Morris Hunt, Henry Hobson Richardson, Louis Sullivan • Art • James McNeill Whistler, Mary Cassatt

  34. Traditional Perspectives of the West • Geography • Time • Appearance - myth vs. reality

  35. Three 19th Century Empires • Mining • Cattle • Farming

  36. Frederick Jackson Turner • “Significance of the Frontier in American History” • More than one “west” • Frontier means . . . • Democracy and Individualism • Closure of West

  37. “Cowboys and Indians” • Cowboys • 35,000 men from ‘64-’84 • 25% African American • 12% Mexican • 63% Caucasian • Texas to Kansas • Cooperation and Interdependence

  38. Indians • 1600s - 10 million estimated • 1865 - 300,000 • disease and warfare • Most concentrated in West

  39. Indian Policy • Buffalo • 1865 - 12-15 million • 1885 - a few hundred remained • Weaken tribes • Bring more settlers, tourists West • “Pacification”

  40. Pacification • 1874 - Comanche defeated at Red River Way • Custer’s Last Stand • 1877 - Nez Perce defeated • 1886 - Apache defeated • 1876 - 1890 - Sioux battle government • 1889 - Wounded Knee

  41. Dawes Severalty Act (1887) • Imposed through the 1930s • Make farmers out of Indians • Acceptance = Citizenship • Government remained trustees of land • Hard to enforce

  42. Changes in Agriculture • Mechanization • New lands opened • Specialization of products • Changes in the market

  43. Lack of Control • Business cycles • Creditors • Transportation • Unreliable labor • Price structures • “laissez-faire”

  44. To produce or not to produce . . . • “We were told two years ago to go to work and raise a big crop, that was all we needed . . . and what came of it? Eight cent corn, ten cent oats, two cent beef, and no price at all for butter and eggs - that’s what came of it. Then the politicians said that we suffered from over-production.” • John D. Hicks, The Populist Revolt

  45. The “Agrarian Myth” • Jeffersonian ideals • Superiority of farmers in American society • Organizations formed to reclaim that situation

  46. The Grange Movement • “granary” • Association founded in 1867 • Encouraged supportive legislation • Encouraged cooperation, community

  47. Munn v. Illinois • Decided in 1877 by Supreme Court • Upheld the right of a state legislature to regulate railroad rates • “Common carriers exercise a sort of public office, and have duties to perform in which the public is interested … their business is, therefore, ‘affected with a public interest.’” • Chief Justice Waite

  48. Emergence of Political Organizations • Farmers and Laborers’ Union of America • Northwest Farmer’s Alliance • Colored Farmers National Alliance

  49. The Omaha Platform • Permanent union • Wealth for Workers • Government owners of railroad • Government ownership of communication systems • Distribution of currency • Owners of land must use it

  50. Populism • The People’s Party • anti-monopoly • denounced Social Darwinism and “laissez-faire” • Individual had become a commodity • Wealth unevenly distributed • Included farmers, laborers, and Socialists • Most came from the West or South

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