Summer Assignment Brinkley Readings Selections of Chpt 16, Chpt 17 & Selections of Chpt 18

Summer AssignmentBrinkley Readings Selections of Chpt 16, Chpt 17 & Selections of Chpt 18

Transcontinental RR • Union Pacific (Omaha) going west & Central Pacific (Sacramento) going east • Promontory Point, Utah (May 1869) • created 4 time zones out of necessity • Thousands of Chinese workers (no organized labor, hard workers, few demands, low wages) • Post 1869 need new jobs (violence, discrimination & class/ethnic conflict) • Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) – no entry for 10 yrs, no naturalization for those already in– renewed 1892 & 1902

Cattle • “Long drives” – east Texas to Chicago – lost a lot herd on the way • Chisholm Trail (Abilene, Kansas) railhead • More land going to ag rather than grazing • Barbed wire (Glidden)

Romanticized West • Cowboy – myth vs reality – the “natural man” • The Frontier (“closed” 1890) • Frederick Jackson Turner’s thesis • Democratizing politically & socially • Independence & individualism • Pragmatism • Safety valve

Native Americans • Threats to way of life • Bureau of Indian Affairs – generally incompetent • War against buffalo – (sport, fads, food & hides, rrdevel) - Almost wiped out 1875 • Distrust – Sand Creek Massacre (1864) Cheyenne • Outright Hunting – mining & settler conflicts • Little Big Horn (1876) Sioux (Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse)-unity • Chief Joseph (1877) Nez Perce • *Resistance by Ghost Dance-whites retreat, buffalo return • Wounded Knee (1890) Sioux – role of machine guns • Assimilation – Dawes Severalty Act(1887)

American Industrial Growth • Labor supply • Tech innovations • Entrepreneurs • Gov’t assistance of business • Domestic market for manuf. goods

Big Changes • Iron/steel industry & rr interrelated • Petroleum- lubricant & then multiple uses • Dawning of auto industry – by 1910 total social influence • Beginning of corporate r&d - corp/univ partnerships • Scientific management – Frederick Taylor • Mass production & assembly line • Corporations- new ventures so costly needed size & capital corps provide – lure of limited liability • Managerial style – hierarchy of control (middle management) • Corporate integration – vertical & horizontal

Captains of Industry or Robber Barons • Carnegie – steel industry – vertical integration • Morgan – buys out Carnegie – US Steel(billion $ comp) • Rockefeller – Standard Oil – prime ex of monopoly /horizontal

Who holds the power(and how did he get it)? • Trusts shift to holding companies (lots of power in hands of the few) • Corp. size grew, costs cut, complex industrial infrastructure, new mrkts, more jobs, mass production • Hugely controversial • Undemocratic or Protestant work ethic on steroids? • Corrupt rise to power or ingenuity of self made men? • Gap bwtn rich & poor growing • Series of recessions blamed on monops.

New Theories • Social Darwinism • Gospel of Wealth • Horatio Alger myths OR • Gov’t should shape econ/society • Henry George • Edward Bellamy

Workers • Massive influx • Domestic – rural migrations • Foreign – 1865-1915 huge #s – recruitment of unskilled • Increased ethnic tensions • Vulnerable @ work – conditions & cycles • Centralized control of factory work (no control or connection to product) • Women – threatened social values • Children – social ill but laws weak or bypassed

Early Union Attempts • Mostly failures • Middle class viewed unions as troublemakers/radicals/ foreigners • “Molly Maguires” – seen as violent intimidators • Great Railroad Strike (1877) -1st major nat’l labor conflict • Rioted, destroyed equip. • Militias called out • Conflicts no longer local issues • Workers frustrated w/management & gov’t’s protections • Fragility of unions

Knights of Labor – Terrance Powderly • Accepted almost everybody • Broad themed philosophical goals • Temporarily popular & then disbanded • American Federation of Labor – Samuel Gompers • Limited membership • Skilled craftsmen • Allowed women to reduce wage threat • Wages & conditions primary concerns

Protests & Strikes • Haymarket Square (1886 – Chicago)- public meeting re:8hr day – bomb thrown/police killed • Symbol of social chaos, radicalism & anarchy • Homestead Strike (1892 – Pittsburgh) • Wage cuts w/out collective bargaining • Brought in Pinkertons & then militia to protect “scab”workers • Public opinion anti union • Setback in steel industry union movement till 1930s • Pullman Strike (1894 – Chicago) • Wages cut but no rent cuts in company town • Eugene Debs leads call for walk off & boycott • Owners link pullmans to mail cars so fed. court issues injunction (supported by Cleveland) & Debs jailed • Strike folds

Why organized labor didn’t work…yet • Wages not keeping up w/COL • Lost legislative challenges • Strikes ineffective • Unions represented small % of workers • Women, unskilled, minorities, immigrants • Ethnic/racial/language barriers • Shifting/transient workforce • Belief in next generation moving to management

Urbanization • Massive immigration (southern & eastern Europe) b/c opportunities • Nativism inspires xenophobic organizations @ all levels • Quality of housing for poor not a concern • South – former slave quarters • Cities – tenements (large occupancy & low rent) • How the Other Half Lives – Jacob Riis

City Planning • Public spaces & services • Public park as counter to congestion • Frederick Law Olmstead – Central Park • Museums & libraries – cities as source of knowledge • “City Beautiful” Movement – Euro inspired-revitalize old sections w/new impressive structures • Daniel Burnham’s “Great White City” (1893 Chicago World’s Fair) – whole-scale redesigning – attempted but not achieved • “Back Bay”–out ward expansion • Boston marsh zone neighborhood • Skyscrapers – upward expansion • Passenger elevators, steel girder construction, architectural design

City Strains • Crime • Fire – “great fires” destroyed large areas • Less flammable building materials • Professional fire dept. • Disease • close quarter living & working conditions • Indigence • Pollution – as related to health issues • Public Health Services (TB, poisonings) • *public health as responsibility of fed. gov’t – forerunner of OSHA (1970)

Changing Nature of Economy • Economy of scarcity to abundance (Simon Patten) • Chain stores – A&P, Woolworths (nat’l network) • Greater variety & low prices • Mail-order Catalogs- Montgomery Ward, Sears & Roebuck • Rural areas included in trends & tech

Entertainment & Life’s Extras • Meant “going out” – public places • Amusement parks, movie palaces, vaudeville houses, dance halls, saloons, sports… • Race, class & gender all factors – high brow/low brow • Men – spectator sports & gambling (baseball #1) • Working class leisure • New found time but not $ • Street camaraderie • Saloons –“regulars”–ethnic basis, political connections, dark vices • Movies – 1st true mass enter. medium • “Birth of a Nation” – had real plot (totally racist but elaborate) • Role of “Pragmatic” thinking • Encouraged by Darwinism • Gov’t promotion of higher ed. – “land grant” institutions

Summer Assignment Brinkley Readings Selections of Chpt 16, Chpt 17 & Selections of Chpt 18