US History notes detailing from 1849-1950 PDF

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The notes of this document will go through American history from the period 1840 to 1950 with details on the wars...

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Chapter 28: The Last West and The New South ● South recovering from Civil War ● Lots of Immigration ● The West: Settlement of the Last Frontier ○ “The Great American Desert” ■ Initially ● Great Plains ● Rocky Mountains ● Western Plateau ● VERY DRY ● 15 Million Bison/Buffalo ○ Food, Shelter, etc for Indians ● 250,000 American Indians ■ Over 35 Years ● Frontier Vanished ● By 1900, Buffalo wiped out ○ Hurt Indians, was their main source for food, shelter, clothes, etc. ● AZ, NM, OK only areas left awaiting statehood ● Environmental damage ○ The Mining Frontier ■ California Gold Rush 1849 ■ Gold and Silver strikes ■ Evolution of mining ■ Boomtowns ● Towns emerge overnight ■ Ghost Towns ● People leave boomtowns after gold/silver is depleted ○ Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882 ■ ⅓ of western miners were Chinese immigrants ● Smaller, could fit into small mining passages that Americans couldn’t ■ Nativism ● Too many Chinese ■ Miner’s Tax ● Foreign laborers had to pay $20 a month tax ■ Exclusion Act ● Prohibited Chinese immigration ○ The Cattle Frontier ■ Economic potential of the land ● Texas to Canada ■ Vaqueros or Cowboys ● Were involved in cattle

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Texas Longhorn Cattle ● 1860, 5 million cattle ○ The Farming Frontier ■ Encouraged by the Homestead Act of 1862 ● The Government provided them with land in exchange that they farmed it for 5 years ■ Free land and opportunity ● Native Born and Immigrants ■ 500,000 families took advantage of the Act ■ However, most land wasn’t free ● Was taken by speculators and railroad companies first ■ Problems ● Dry soil ● Extreme weather ● Grasshoppers ○ Ate things ● Loneliness ● Scarce Water and Wood ■ Solutions ● Windmills ● Barbed Wire ● Dry Farming ● Dams ● Irrigation ● Moving The Closing of the Frontier ○ Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis ■ U.S. Census concluded the frontier was now closed ● No more land available ■ “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” ● Frontier experience shaped American culture ○ Promoted independence and individualism ● Powerful “social leveler” that broke down class distinctions ○ Fostered social and political democracy ○ Didn’t see as many gender roles ■ Women could work and vote ● Closing of frontier troubled Turner ○ Worried that closing of frontier would lead to class divisions and social conflict to reemerge ■ Just like in Europe ● Evident who rich and poor were ○ American Indians in the West ■ Dozens of different cultural and tribal groups

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Hopi and Zuni Navajo and Apache ○ Arts and crafts ● Chinook and Shasta ○ Coasts ○ Fishermen ● Sioux, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Crow, Comanche Reservation Policy ● Federal gov’t assigned large pieces of land with definite boundaries ● Most Plain tribes refused to move to reservations, continued to follow the buffalo Indian Wars ● Settlement leads to violence ● Brutal fighting and massacres ● Sioux Wars (1 and 2) ○ Primarily in the Black Hill where gold was found ● Indian Appropriation Act ○ No longer would view tribes as independent nations ○ Nullified all prior treaties and documents ○ Were all just “indians” ● Americans were ignorantly moving in to Indian Land ○ Saw them as savages and all the same ○ Indians just wanted to live and salvage their homeland ○ Americans slaughter them and take everything ● Red River War ● Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, George Custer, Chief Joseph ○ George Custer is ambushed, wants revenge ● Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee ○ Americans arrest and kill Sitting Bull Assimilationists ● A Century of Dishonor by Helen Hunt Jackson ○ Empathized for natives, but said they should be assimilated into American society ● Reformers advocated for: ○ Formal Education ○ Job Training ○ Conversion to Christianity ● Carlisle School ○ Native American ONLY school ○ To make them more white ○ Separated instead of true assimilation

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Dawes Severalty Act 1887 ● Designed to break up tribal organizations ○ Said tribes made them less civilized ● Indians were given land (worse available land) ○ Whites got the good land ● Poverty and disease begin to reduce Native population ○ Only 200,000 people left ■ Changes in 20th Century and Beyond ● 1924, Natives granted citizenship ● 1923, Indian Reorganization Act ○ Promoted establishment of tribal organization and culture ● 3+ MIllion Native Americans belonging to 500 tribes ○ The Latino Southwest ■ Spanish speaking landowners lose their land to white settlers ■ Barrios form ● Ethnic neighborhoods for Spanish people in cities ● Preserves hispanic culture ■ Mexican Americans were hired by American companies to work in agriculture, mining, and railroads ○ The Conservation Movement ■ Deforestation ■ Yosemite and Yellowstone ● First State and National Parks ● Need to keep some of the land pristine ■ Sierra Club ● Have to be outside and enjoy the planet ○ Clean after yourself ■ Arbor Day ● Protect trees ■ Audubon Society ● Birds, hiking trails, river The New South ○ Recovering from Civil War ■ Devastated physically, economically, ■ Wanted to become self sufficient ● Capitalism, shipping, industry ○ Economic Progress ■ Growth of cities ● Warm ■ Industry ● Textile factories ■ Improved Railroads ● Universalized gauges, trains could travel on all tracks

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■ Steel, Lumber, Tobacco Industries prosper ■ Postwar growth Tremendous Continued Poverty ■ Poorest region in the country ● All banks were in the North ○ If you needed a loan, had to take it from the North ● Northern financing dominated the South ■ South’s late start to industrialization ■ A poorly educated workforce Agriculture ■ South still tied to cotton ● Same supply, but less demand ● Hurts economy ■ Tenant farming/Sharecropping ■ George Washington Carver ● Needed to diversify crop production ● Peanuts, Sweet Potatoes, Soybeans ■ Farmers Alliances ● Started groups to unite against upper class and railroads ● Segregated ○ Racist ○ Didn’t want black farmers ○ Hurt the groups, so many black farmers, would help the cause Segregation ■ Redeemers ● Business Democrats ● Believed keeping people separated = social inferiority ○ Wanted to show blacks were lower ■ Played on racial fears to distract people from the concerns of tenant farmers and working poor The Supreme Court ■ Civil Rights cases of 1883 ● Congress cannot legislate against racial discrimination practiced by private citizens ○ Including hotels, railroads, etc. ● Plessy v Ferguson ○ Ruled “separate but equal” facilities were constitutional ● Jim Crow Laws Loss of Civil Rights ■ Political and legal devices kept blacks from voting ■ Poll Taxes, Literacy tests, Grandfather clause ■ Jury Service, Harsher penalties, Unfair Trials

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Lynching Lack of Jobs ● Gave jobs to Whites no matter what Responding to Segregation ■ Ida B. Wells ● Press ● African American voices being heard ■ Booker T. Washington ● Former slave ● Tuskegee Institute ○ Had to prove themselves ● W.E.B. DeBois ○ Didn’t want to prove himself ○ Should have same treatment anyway Changes in Agriculture ■ Farming increasingly industrialized and specialized ● Machines instead of men ■ Mail Order Catalogs ■ Large Expensive machines ■ Large farms run like factories ■ Small farms driven out of business by larger farms Agricultural Issues ■ Falling Prices ● Increased American production as well as increased worldwide production drives down prices ● Deflation ● Vicious debt cycle ■ Rising costs ● Prices high on manufactured goods ● Charged high rates for shipping and storage of crops ● Property and Land taxed heavily National Grange Movement ■ National Grange of Patrons and Husbandry ● 1868, Oliver H. Kelley ● Said that people have forgotten that they need farmers ○ Farmers feed them ● Social and Educational organization for farmers and their families ● Cooperatives ● Munn v Illinois ○ Argued that railroads were running the country and hurting their economy ○ States have the right to regulate local commerce Interstate Commerce Act

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State laws regulating railroad rates ran into numerous problems ● Prices change from state to state ● Said all rates should be the same ■ Interstate Commerce is to be done by the federal government ■ Wabash v Illinois ■ Set up Interstate Commerce Commission ■ Ironically helps the railroads instead of the farmers Farmers Alliance ■ Farmers expressed discontent ■ Scientific farming methods ■ Over 1 million strong ■ Poor white and black farmers join ● Groups, however, are segregated Ocala Platform ■ National Alliance ■ Believe Wall Street and business is controlling the country ■ Platform ● Direct election of Senators ● Lower tariff rates ○ Imports ● Graduated income tax ● Banks regulated by federal government ● Use of silver ● Federal aid to farmers

Gilded Age Politics ● Gilded=Shiny on the outside, not on the inside ● Big business controlled the country ● Social Darwinism ○ Charles Darwin’s idea of survival of the fittest and applying it to wealth and society ■ Wealthy people are the most fit ● Shouldn’t help poor people ● Others thought they should help the poor ● Two-Party Stalemate ○ Candidates didn’t really say much ■ Didn’t want to alienate anyone or say anything controversial ○ Democrats 4-5 times ○ Republicans 4-5 times ● Intense voter loyalty to the two major political parties ○ Major decline in voter participation today compared to back then ● Mugwumps ○ Political flip floppers, would go back and forth on issues

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■ Couldn't take a definite side Voting Blocks ○ Democrats ■ White southerners ● Preservation of white supremacy ■ Catholics ■ Recent immigrants ● Jews ■ Urban working poor (in north) ● Pro labor ■ Farmers ○ Republicans ■ Northern whites ● Pro business ■ African Americans ■ Northern Protestants ■ Old WASPs ● Support for anti-immigration laws Laissez Faire Federal Govt ○ Main Duties of the Federal Govt ■ Deliver the mail ■ Maintain a national military ■ Collect taxes and tariffs ■ Conduct a foreign policy The Presidency as a Symbolic Office ○ Presidents wanted to avoid offending any factions within their own party ○ Gave out federal jobs to ensure he kept voters ■ 1865->53,000 people worked for feds ■ 1890->166,000 people worked for the feds ○ Presidents didn’t really do much or say much 1880 Presidential Election ○ Country is pretty much split in half ○ Garfield (Rep) vs Hancock (Dem) ○ Democrats were united in ideology ○ Republicans were split ■ Stalwarts ● Republicans from the “good old days” ● Presidents who weren’t doing anything ■ Half Breeds ● Republicans that were half loyal to stalwarts and half loyal to progressive ideas ■ Garfield was a half breed, VP Chester Arthur was stalwart ● Satisfied both sides

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● Republicans win 1881, Garfield is assassinated ○ Charles Guiteau ■ Is mad, was promised a civil service job in government ● But Garfield was elected and didn’t give him the job ● Wanted to kill Garfield so Chester Arthur would become president, and he was a stalwart ○ Chester Arthur then sees the stalwarts are crazy, becomes a half breed ■ Plan was all for nothing Pendleton Act, 1883 ○ Civil Service Act ○ “Enough is Enough” ○ A certain percentage of govt jobs had to be EARNED, not given ■ Had to take a civil service exam ○ Countered Spoils System 1884 Presidential Election ○ James Blaine (Rep) vs Grover Cleveland (Dem) ■ Cleveland wins ● Wants to run a frugal and limited govt ○ Interstate Commerce and Dawes Act ○ Helps northerns as well ○ Democrats are starting to move up north ○ Cleveland’s First Term ■ First Democrat since 1856 ■ Opposed bills to assist rich or poor ■ Vetoed over 200 special pension bills for Civil War Veterans ● Many were fake and took advantage of the govt The Tariff Issue ○ After Civil War, Congress raised tariffs to protect new US industries ○ Big businesses wanted to continue this, consumers did not ○ 1885, tariffs earned the US $100 million in surplus ○ Tariffs become a major issue in the 1888 presidential election 1888 Presidential Election ○ Grover Cleveland (Dem) ■ Wanted to lower tariff to help consumers ○ Benjamin Harrison (Rep) *Wins* ■ Didn’t want to lower tariff, would hurt big business ○ Business corridor votes Republican (North) ■ Northern industry controls the election ● Much larger electoral power ○ South votes Democrat, continues to spread up North, however

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Billion Dollar Congress ○ Made a lot of money ○ McKinley Tariff ■ Raised tariff on imports to 48% ■ Hurt farmers, forced them to buy more expensive American goods ○ Increased Civil War pensions ■ Prices of goods increased, needed to increase pensions ○ Sherman Antitrust Act ■ Outlawed trusts ■ Trusts led to monopolies ● Could decide price, market, supply demand ○ Sherman Silver Purchase Act ■ Increased the amount of silver ● Not enough to satisfy the farmers and miners ● Too little too late ○ Tried to protect voting rights of African Americans ■ Bill didn’t pass 1892 Presidential Election ○ Frontier closed ■ More states established ○ Cleveland (Dem) *Wins* ■ Comes back ■ Wants to lower tariff again ● People now agree, prices are too high ○ Harrison (Rep) ■ Wants to keep the tariff to protect business ○ Weaver (Populist) ■ People’s party ■ Worried about big business ■ Lots of votes from farmers ● Gain momentum, force other two parties to adopt their ideas Populist Party ○ “People’s Party” ○ Got almost 1 million popular vote ○ Several Congressional Seats ■ Gave them a voice in Congress Omaha Platform in 1892 ○ Abolition of National Bank ○ Direct Election of Senators ○ Govt ownership of RR, telephone, telegraph ○ Restriction of immigration ○ 8 hour work day for govt ○ Secret ballot

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○ Use of silver ○ Single terms for P & VP Panic of 1893 ○ Over speculation, overbuilding, inflation ■ Unstable circulation of currency ○ Stock Market crashed ○ RR’s go bankrupt ○ Farm foreclosures ○ High Unemployment ○ Soup Kitchens ○ Gold Reserve ○ Coxey’s Army 1896 Election ○ Issue of Bi-Medtallism ■ Gold and Silver currencies ● Farmers wanted silver for inflation ○ Sell goods for higher prices ○ Gold/Silver Bug Campaign Pins ■ Showed support for candidates ○ William Jenning Bryan ■ Democrat ● But took on the Populist Platform ■ Gold and Silver ■ Lots of travelling and lots of speeches ○ William McKinley *Wins* ■ Republican ■ Gold only ● Good for business, bad for consumers ■ Made the very high McKinley Tariff ● Supported another high tariff ● Supported by business, not farmers ■ “Front porch” campaign ○ Bryan loses, but actually wins a lot of states ■ Surprising for such a daring campaign ○ Results ■ Gilded Age ends ■ Republicans -> Party of business ■ End of Populist Party ■ People no longer care about frontier ● Want to go to cities Gold Triumphs Over Silver ○ 1900, Gold Standard Act ■ Confirms the nation’s commitment to the gold standard

Post Civil War Industry, The Incorporation of America ● People who moved out west did not get great land ○ Good land was taken by speculators and RRs ○ Moved to cities for opportunity ● 1900s, America was leading industrial power in the world ○ Lots of changes which made life easier for people ● Causes of Rapid Industrialization ○ Steam Revolution of the 1830s-1850s ○ Railroad fueled growing US economy ■ First big business in US ■ A magnet for financial investment ■ The key to opening the west ■ Aided the development of other industries ● Technological Innovations ○ Bessemer and open hearth process ■ Makes steel and reduces carbon while making it, respectively ○ Refrigerated cars ● Could move perishable items without them spoiling ○ Inventions ■ Edison ● “Wizard of Menlo Park” ● Light bulb, phonograph, motion pictures ■ Ediphone ■ Telephone ■ Alternate Current ● Electricity in private homes and everywhere ■ The airplane ■ Model T Automobile ● Henry Ford ● Also started trend of mass production ○ Assembly line and scientific management made more efficient production ○ Unskilled and semi-skilled labor in abundance ■ Immigrants ○ Abundant capital ■ Lots of money ○ New, talented group of businessmen and advisors ■ Entrepreneurs ○ Market growing as US population increases ○ Govt willing to help at all levels to stimulate economic growth ○ Abundant natural resources ● The reorganization of Work

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The assembly line ■ Improved industrial efficiency ■ Led to mass production ● Each person had a single job ● Could put out more goods faster ● Employees were also very replaceable ○ Scientific management ■ Make factories as efficient as possible New Business Culture ○ Laissez Faire, Ideology of the Industrial Age ■ Individuals should compete freely in the marketplace ■ No room for govt in the market ○ Social Darwinism ■ Herbert Spencer ■ Combined ideas of wealth and Charles Darwin’s survival of the fittest ● The rich people were the “fittest” ● If you help the poor, you are interfering with the laws of nature ● Delaying evolution by preserving the unfit ○ Protestant (Puritan) “Work Ethic” ■ Women had to teach their children to be good citizens ■ American dream to make it to a higher class of life ● Support family New Types of Business Entities ○ Pool ■ An agreement between competing business concerns to establish controls over production, market, and prices for common profit ● Informal agreement to “work together” to all make a common profit ○ Trust ■ A combinations of firms or corporations for the purpose of reducing competition and controlling prices in a business or an industry ● Leads to monopolies ■ Horizontal Integration ● Buy up every business in your area of interest ● John D. Rockefeller-Standard Oil ○ Bought out all competition, created a monopoly ■ Vertical Integration ● Controlling all factors of production ○ Kelloggs (Cereal) ■ Farms ■ Plastic Bags ■ Box factories ■ Transportation ● Andrew Carnegie-> U.S. Steel

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○ Used both vertical and horizontal New Financial Businessman ○ The Broker ■ J. Piermont Morgan The Gospel of Wealth ○ Written by Carnegie ○ Religion in the Era of Industrialization ○ Russell H. Conwell ■ Wealth no longer looked upon as bad ■ Viewed as a sign of God’s approval ■ Christian duty to accumulate wealth ■ Should not help the poor (Carnegie didn't believe this) “On Wealth” ○ Andrew Carnegie ○ The Anglo-Saxon race is superior ○ Inequality is inevitable and good ■ When you see people with more than you, you work harder ○ Wealth should act as “trustees” for their “poorer brethren”

The Growth of the American Labor Movement ● Workers were the ones really running factories and making the money for the businesses ○ But weren’t making very much money ■ Bad conditions, couldn’t support their families, etc. ● Child Labor ○ 2 worries ■ Children shouldn’t be in factories ● Other workers didn’t want them to take their jobs ● Reformers wanted them to go to school and learn ○ Immigrant families needed the money from their working children ● Labor Unrest, 1870-1900 ○ Workers begin to strike ■ Refuse to work ● Line up outside the business with signs ○ Let public know that business mistreats workers ○ Molly Maguires, 1875 ■ Irish Americans in the coal mines ■ James McParland ● Created a secret society of workers ■ Businesses start to expose their radicalness ● Accused them of kidnapping and murdering ○

Bully Boys

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The Corporate Pinkerton Agents Security guards/Private Investigators ● Would beat down protestors during strikes ● Spied on workers to prevent strikes Management vs. Labor ○ Tools of Management ■ “Scabs” ● Non-union workers who work during strikes ○ Take jobs away ■ P. R. Campaign ■ Pinkertons ■ Lockout ● Shut down the building and lock strikers out ○ Counteracts strikes ■ Blacklisting ● Puts workers on blacklists ○ Other corporations would hire them ■ Yellow-dog contracts ● Contracts for workers to not join unions ■ Court...