Louisa Dodds
4/30/13
45. Labor Unions
•
Organized groups of workers who together strove for better working conditions, pay, or
other workplace goals (emerged during the era of industrialization)
- Often achieved goals through strikes or collective bargaining
- Examples: National Labor Union (1866-1869) William H. Sylvis, Knights of Labor (secrecy
ended with the election of Terence Powderly in 1879), American Federation of Labor (AFL)
1886 Samuel Gompers
*adjustments in the factory age/industrial era (with the use of strikes, collective bargaining)
*workers banded together to help each other (companionship, news/communication, insurance
plans, food for sick members, social gatherings
*employers resisted change (fired union members, replaced strikers, used court injunction)
~advocacy ~ working conditions ~ violence/riots ~ strikes ~ collective bargaining ~
industrialization ~
46. Knights of Labor
•
organization (founded in 1869 as a secret fraternal organization) to pursue broad-gauged
reforms as well as practical issues such as wages and hours (A.K.A. the Noble and Holy
Order of the Knights of Labor)
-formed 1869, secrecy ended in 1879 with Terence V. Powderly as the Grand Master Workman
(and a recruitment program.)
-labor union that opened membership to a range of workers (white natives, immigrants, women,
African-American) → Department of Woman’s Work headed by Leonora M. Barry
-Powderly disliked strikes, but in March 1885 local Knights (in St. Louis, Kansas City…)won a
victory against Jay Gould’s Pacific Railroad → membership soared and union’s loose structure
could handle the growth. Gould struck back in 1886 (crushed Knights on Texas and Pacific
Railroad) The union lost members and the union’s national leaders were shown to be ineffective.
- Ended (public support was turned away from unions) after the Haymarket Riot in Chicago
(1886)
*known for use of strike (violence; how not to do a union)
~ strikes ~ violence ~ equality ~ Haymarket Riot ~
47. American Federation of Labor
•
A combination of national craft unions that worked to represent the material interests of
labor through collective bargaining (negotiations and contract with owner)
-Created by Samuel Gompers and Adolph Strasser (1886, after the Knights of Labor fell)
“…but first and foremost I want to increase the workingman’s welfare year by year” -Gompers
-Very selective membership (skilled, WASP, native-born…) -Organized by craft
-Interests included wages, hours, and safety conditions (“Living wages” rather than “starvation
wages, “fire trap”)
-largely non-violent (since violence didn’t work) → strikes are used, but goal was the process of
collective bargaining (…to form negotiated bipartisan contract, a practice which is pretty
common now)
-did not intend violent revolution or political radicalism…loyalty to American institutions was
the secret to Gompers’ success
*this effort by Gompers legitimizes labor unions (change through negotiation, non-violent, no
work stoppages)
~Samuel Gompers ~ collective bargaining ~ “cream of the crop” ~ strike ~ craftsman ~
48. Haymarket Square Riot
•
May 4th 1886 demonstration in Chicago’s Haymarket Square to protest the slayings of
two workers in a strike turned into a violent riot after a bomb explosion killed seven
policemen
- workers had been campaigning for an eight-hour workday; police intervened in a strike at the
McCormick Harvester works, and shot and killed to workers
-labor leaders called a protest meeting the nest evening…police ordered them to disperse and
then someone threw a dynamite bomb…
-event was blamed on labor “radicalism” and anarchism
*resulted in public condemnation of organized labor and contributed to the weakening of the
national labor movement
*cities strengthened their police forces and armories
*the Knights of Labor came to an end in the wake of this event
~weakening of the national labor movement ~ violent strike and riot ~ Chicago~
49. Homestead Strike
•
(July 1892) a violent strike in which three company-hired detectives and ten workers
died. Using ruthless force and strikebreakers, company officials effectively broke the
strike and destroyed the union
- strike provoked by wage-cutting at Andrew Carnegie’s Homestead Steel Plant in Pittsburg, PA
→ detectives were hired to drive them off, but the detectives were spotted and fired upon…
-PA governor ordered state militia to impose peace at Homestead
- Carnegie’s partner and manager Henry Clay Frick was shot and stabbed by anarchist Alexander
Berkman on July 23 (Frick survived)
-Homestead works reopened under military guard in late July, and strikers gave up in November
-iron and steel workers against the Carnegie Steel Company
*violence over workers call for “bread-and-butter” goals
~ wages/salary reduction ~ strike ~ union activities/labor agitation ~
50. Collective Bargaining
•
the process in which working people, through unions, negotiate contracts with their
employers to determine their terms of employment (including pay, benefits, hours, leave,
job health and safety policies…)
-workers and owners/stockholders linked through (voting and negotiations) form a contract
-integral part of Samuel Gompers’s Federation of Labor …Gompers accepted capitalism and did
not argue for fundamental changes in it. He wanted labor to have a recognized place in the
system and a greater share of the rewards.
*brought legitimacy to labor unions (through Gompers’s Federation of Labor)
* a non-violent way to solve workplace problems →bipartisan negotiated contract (a fact by
1920)
~ contract ~ negotiations ~ Samuel Gompers ~ American Federation of Labor ~
51. Urbanization
•
The movement of people to urban areas and the growth of cities (as through immigration
and movement to industrial centers for jobs)
-there were few (government) programs to deal with the vast influx of people → poor living
conditions and overcrowding (in tenements)
-city governments soon developed primary responsibility for immigrants – often traded
employment, housing, and social services for political support
*the primary social and cultural phenomenon of 1877-1882
*closely connected to the emergence of the powerful city political machine (traded services needed by the rapidly growing population- for votes)
~lure of the city ~ department stores ~industrialization ~ crowding ~ slums ~ tenements ~
immigrants~
52. Suburbs: Jackson Heights and Hyde Park
•
Residential areas (primarily the middle class) that developed outside of cites with the use
of public transportation. Hyde Park is a southern suburb of Chicago and Jackson Heights
is a suburb/community in Queens, New York City.
-Hyde Park was Chicago’s first suburb (1850)
- Technologies/transportation systems (streetcar systems, cable lines, electric surface lines,
elevated transit) allowed for lager cities and suburbs to develop
-some people moved away from industrial city centers, and commuting became more common
(no longer “walking cities”)
*as the middle class moved out of cities, immigrants and the working class poured in
*cities became more sprawling and specialized Society was fragmented and stratified. →
middle-class residential rings surrounding a business and working-class core
~urbanization ~ public transportation ~ middle class ~ changing cities ~
53. Central Park by Frederick Law Olmstead
•
New York City’s Central Park (with its winding paths, scenic views, and large open
areas) was designed by Olmstead and contributed to the surrounding community
-Wealthy urged the creation of the park in the hope that it would help the city’s international
reputation
- In 1858, landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted and architect Calvert Vaux submitted a
design called Greensward to a competition (Andrew Jackson Downing was the original force
behind the park) →their design was chosen (Many aspects would become trademarks of
Olmsted's designs.)
-opened for public use in the winter of 1859 (for skating)
-Olmsted served as the chief architect from 1858-1861 (supervised the construction of the park)
-the First Central Park Commission (1857-1870) was appointed by state legislature and was
primarily Republican. After that political control was held more locally. (Democratic Party)
-strict rules about gathering at the park and who could use it how were gradually relaxed →grew
to include attractions like concerts on Sundays (in the 1880s), the zoo, and the Carousel
*first landscaped public park in the U.S.
~social gatherings ~meeting place ~ community ~
54. Frank Lloyd Wright
•
(1867-1959) an influential American architect from Wisconsin
-the idea for skyscrapers was passed on to him from Louis H. Sullivan
- publications (1932): An Autobiography and The Disappearing City ( …a utopian vision for
decentralization that moved city into the country, Broadacre City)
- founded an architectural school at Taliesin, the "Taliesin Fellowship" (apprenticeship program)
-“architecture for Democracy”…and connection to the natural world (Pioneered the concept that
a building should blend into and harmonize with its surroundings rather than following classical
designs.)
*influence in altering the appearance of American buildings →modern skyscraper, urban skyline
~architecture~ cities and development ~ skyscrapers ~
55. Subways and “El” Trains
•
The development of new technologies and mass transit systems changed the layout of
cities as well as urban life
-streetcars, elevated trains, and subways were constructed in cities → beginning of public
transportation and rapid transit
-the Chicago 'El' started operations in 1892 (second-oldest rapid transit system after Boston.)…is
credited with fostering the growth of Chicago's dense city core (one of the city's distinguishing
features)
-the Interborough Rapid Transit Subway (IRT) was the first subway company in New York City.
… a solution to street congestion and aid to development in outlying areas. (first opened in 1904)
*mass transit systems fostered commuting and widely separated business and residential districts
(middle class moved out of the cities into suburbs)
* formation of suburbs and city with industrial core
~public transit ~ suburbs ~urbanization ~ rapid transit ~
56. Dumbbell Tenements
•
Housing on small city lots that crowded people into cramped apartments. Buildings were
seven or eight stories high, and narrowed in the middle (…so resembled the shape of a
giant dumbbell)
- designed by James H. Ware in the late 1870s (…and with it he won a competition for tenement
design)
-packed about 30 four-bedroom apartments on a lot only 25 by 100 feet
-the indented middle of the dumbbell shape created an air shaft between adjoining buildings, and
provides a little light and ventilation…in case of a fire, it also carried flames from one story to
the next (so these buildings were notorious “fire traps”)
-between four and sixteen families lived on a floor… with two toilets (sanitation/waste
management, smell, and overcrowding were issues)
-in 1890, nearly half the dwellings in New York City were tenements
*crowded unsanitary conditions contributed to the spread of tuberculosis, the leading chief cause
of death in the Unites States until 1909
~overcrowding~ living conditions ~poor sanitation~ fire trap ~How the Other Half Lives by Riis
~ poverty ~
Image from http://www.edteck.com/dbq/dbquest/quest11.htm.
57. “How the other Half Lives” by Jacob Riis
• Book published in 1890 by photojournalist Jacob Riis. (Consisted of both words and
photographs.) Explored the problems of the urban lower class, including tenements and
overcrowding. (poor Lower East Side of New York City)
-“Be a little careful, please! The hall is dark and you might stumble….Here is a door. Listen!
That short hacking cough, that tiny helpless wail—What do they mean?...The child is dying of
measles. With half a chance it might have lived; but it had none. That dark bedroom killed it.”
-many people lived in alleys and basements so dark they could not be photographed until flash
photography was invented in 1887
-Riis mostly attributed the plight of the poor to environmental conditions
-although genuine sympathy was evident, said some of the poor as deserving of assistance while
others were not. He also wrote with prejudice about Jews, Irish and Italians.
* documented crowded unsanitary conditions in tenements
* an informative work (shocked some people)
~ living conditions ~ overcrowding ~ tenements ~ slums ~ NYC ~ poverty ~ poor sanitation~
58. Jane Addams and the Settlement House Movement
•
Jane Addams was a social reformer who founded Hull House in Chicago (1889) which
provided
- Progressive Era settlement house movement (model for settlement house was Toynbee Hall in
East London) Addams was a leader and pioneer of this movement in America
-tried to help immigrants adapt to their new lives and gain entry to America’s middle class –
“…ready to perform the humblest neighborhood services. We were asked to wash the newborn
babies, and to prepare the dead for burial, to nurse the sick, and to ‘mind the children’….”
-Hull House offered classes (English, cooking, sewing…) provided medical care, shower
facilities , a reading room…also encouraged immigrants to preserve heritage through folk
festivals and art
-many of the settlement workers were women (some college grads)
*worked to improve the lives of immigrants (lobbied against sweatshop conditions and child
labor)
*movement helped to foster a new attitude about poverty (as needing and deserving of
assistance) → expansion or the field of social work
*Hull House served as an example and model for other settlement houses (Robert A Woods’s
South End House in Boston (1892), and Lillian Wald’s Henry Street Settlement in New York
(1893)…more than 400 by 1910)
~acceptance of immigrants ~ social reform ~ settlement house ~ Hull House ~
59. Ellis Island
•
Immigration center in New York harbor. (in use 1892-1854)
-island served as an arsenal until 1890, and was then transformed into an immigration station
-was a small city with dormitories, a hospital, a post office and showers
-over 12 million people entered U.S. here between 1892 and 1894 (from steerage in ships, since
those who arrived first or second class had only a fast on-boar examination)
-Congress acted to bring immigration under federal control and keep out undesirables (1891)
→“the nearest earthly likeness to the Final Day of Judgment, when we have to prove our fitness
to enter Heaven”
-examiners attempted to look at the physical, mental, and emotional health of immigrants
-for most immigrants, the whole process took less than five hours…despite rumors, no more than
three percent were turned away in a given year
*the most common port of entry for immigrants (busiest migration center in the eastern United
States)
~immigration ~ examination/inspection ~ NYC, Statue of Liberty ~
60. The “New Immigrants”
•
(beginning 1880s) immigrants from southern and eastern Europe who tended to be poor,
non-Protestant, and unskilled…causes for moving were largely economic
-before the 1880s, most immigration to the United States had been from northern and western
Europe
-new immigrants tended to stay in close-knit communities, and retain their language, customs,
and religions (ethnic enclaves/ghetto) →tried to keep traditional culture for themselves and their
children while adapting to life in new country
-tended to marry within their group (more than did the native-born)
- approximately 8.4 million arrived between 1880 and 1910 (with peak at 1908)
-not necessarily regarded as white or equal by native-born Americans (sneering names such as
“wop” or “dago” = Italian, “greaseball” = Greek…)
-Chinese and Japanese immigrants to California
*found new freedoms, new confinements, a different language, a new set of customs and
expectations
*immigrants shaped the city as much as it shaped them (troubled the mainstream society more
than any other previous group, anti-Catholicism and anti-Semitism, foreign language
newspapers)
*church, school, immigrant associations, and fraternal societies shaped the way immigrants
adjusted to life in America (and their preservation of language, religion, and heritage helped
shape the country)
~ethnic enclaves ~ cultural mosaic ~ nativism ~adaptation~ industrialization ~ urbanization~
61. Acceptance of Immigrants: Cultural Mosaic, Melting Pot, Nativism
-cultural mosaic is a “salad bowl” type of integration where traditions and languages are kept
(and treasured)…this is the opposite of Social Darwinism
~Jane Addams fostered this approach (cultural festivals at Hull House)
~west was cultural mosaic (Anglos, Chinese, Mexicans, Indians, immigrants)
-melting pot represents an assimilation of immigrants, and their integration in to American
society (adapt or shed their ways in order to fit in)
~public schools (mainstream, to teach how to be “American” and raise educated citizens)
-nativism is attitudes, actions and policies that favor native populations over immigrants
~Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Emergency Quota Act of 1921, National Origins Act of
1924,
Gentleman’s Agreement to end Japanese immigration in 1905
*nativist laws made it very hard for immigrants to enter the United States until 1965
*the acceptance or exclusion of immigrants affected the their ability to get jobs and survive in
American society
*influence of attitudes especially evident in urban areas (ethnic enclaves, immigrants looking for
work)
~ attitudes towards immigrants ~ cultural traditions ~ assimilation ~
62. Ethnic Enclaves
•
Groups of immigrants (of common ethnicity) formed in cities and maintained some
traditions while adjusting to new life in America
-attempted to retain traditional culture by peaking their native language, practicing own religious
faith, reading their own (foreign language) newspapers, and establishing schools
-social organizations and mutual aid societies to maintain ties among members of the group
-school and religious gathering place were the most important institutions in immigrant
communities
*culturally distinct minority communities
~ immigrants ~ cultural mosaic ~ acceptance of immigrants ~ urban life ~ mutual aid societies ~
63. Ethnic Mutual Aid Societies
•
Social organizations/immigrant associations that uphold and maintain immigrant groups
-helped find newcomers jobs and homes (unemployment insurance health insurance, looking out
for one another)… “we visit our sick, and bury our dead”
-Irish Benevolent Society, Jednota Ceskyck Dam, National Council of Jewish Women…
*offered fellowship to immigrants in a strange land
~ethnicity ~ urban life ~ tradition/heritage ~ immigrants ~
64. “Machine Politics”
•
Formed in cities as the population grew rapidly and the existing government did not have
the resources to provide the needed services
-explosive urban growth connected to powerful city political machine since services were needed
and the machines traded services for votes
-political machine may have found immigrants jobs, donated food and clothing to help people
make it through crisis, ran picnics, contributed to hospitals, orphanages, and other worthy
neighborhood causes(…but bosses also took for themselves and became wealthy)
-people who were not really qualified to hold government jobs, did (because of who they knew)
*played an important role in coping with urbanization
*traded services for votes
~ Tweed and Tammany Hall ~ graft ~ political control ~
65. William Marcy “Boss” Tweed and Tammany Hall
•
Tweed was the successful leader of a political machine in New York City (run from
Tammany Hall)
-Tweed (nearly 6ft and 300lbs, an imposing figure) rose through the ranks at Tammany Hall
-created the New York County Court House in downtown Manhattan (“the house that Tweed
built”)…designed to cost $250,000 but bill was $2,870,464.06
-Tammany’s George Washington Plunkitt coined the term honest graft to describe “legitimate”
profits made from advance knowledge projects (not plainly corrupt)
*model political machine (which fell in 1872)
*Tweed Ring plundered New York for tens of millions of dollars
*machine offered valued services in an era when neither government nor business lent a hand
~New York City ~ political machine ~ graft ~ political control ~
66. Thumbnail Sketch of America 1877: Ethnic Makeup, Life Expectancy, Eating Habits,
Courtship, Marriage and Child Rearing
-9/10th of population was white and about 1/10th was black (66,000 American Indian, 108,000
Chinese, 148 Japanese)…dominant members of society were white Anglo-Saxon Protestants
-most people lived on farms or in small towns (…though the rush to cities was about to begin)
-average family had three children (this is less than the average in 1800)
-life expectancy was about 43 years (it had increased), but life expectancy was less for blacks
and other minorities who often lived in unsanitary rural areas
- meals tended to be heavy (even breakfast could be several courses)…food was cheap, families
ate homegrown produce in the summer and “put up” (saved) for the winters
-children were to be seen and not heard
-croquet (first outdoor game designed for play by both sexes) frequently served as setting for
courtship
-people married later and tended to have fewer children
-Middle class home a “haven from the world” led by a virtuous wife (Cult of
Domesticity…women were in charge of raising children (Republican
Motherhood)→increasingly isolated from the world of work…family as an emotional and social
unit
- lengthier periods of formal schooling, older children spent more time in adolescence (continued
to live with parents into late teens and early twenties)
-in lower class (factory workers, laborers, immigrants) life was not so comfortable (tenement
life, children working or in public schools)→families driven apart by daily routine, but had to
join forces to survive in industrial economy
* strict codes standards of dress, manners, and sexual behavior
~home/family life ~ middle class ~ working class ~ children ~
67. Stalwarts and Mugwumps
-Mugwumps (“honesty in government” politicians) were reformers who crusaded for lower
tariffs, limited federal government, and civil service reform to end political corruption.
~They were best known for their role in helping to elect Grover Cleveland to the
presidency in 1884
~included cartoonist Thomas Nast, editor George William Curtis of Harper’s Weekly,
and editor
E.L. Godkin of Nation
~were mainly from among the educated and upper class
-Stalwarts steadfastly supported their party and system of graft and patronage (which they
considered acceptable)
~faction of the Republican Party that opposed the civil-service reform policies of
President
Rutherford B. Hayes and sought unsuccessfully a third presidential term for
Ulysses S. Grant.
~ Among Stalwart leaders were Roscoe Conkling of New York and Chester A. Arthur,
vice president under James A. Garfield
*mugwumps worked to end the pervading corruption in politics
*stalwarts depended on the loyalties and grafts of politics
~honesty in government ~ graft ~
68. National Women’s Suffrage Association
•
An organization that worked to secure women the right to vote. While some suffragists
urged militant action, it stressed careful organization and peaceful lobbying.
- Founded by Susan B. Anthony in 1890 (she had tried to vote in 1872 presidential election and
refused to pay the $100 fine…)
-Carrie Chapman Catt became president in 1900
-by 1920 it had nearly two million members
-hosted and participated in large and theatrical suffrage parades, and held major annual
conventions
- sponsored several newspapers and a suffrage press that published pamphlets, broadsides and
books.
- stressed that women's special virtue made them indispensable to politics (would use their votes
to create a better society)
*organization and peaceful lobbying to win vote
~nineteenth amendment ~ women’s suffrage ~ gender equality ~ voting ~
69. Dewey and Public Education
•
(1859-1952) Dewey was an eminent thinker of the Progressive movement, was a
dominant figure in American education
-suggested alternative to the drill-and-recitation teaching methods of the nineteenth
century…Dewey’s School and Society (1899) said ideas should be grounded in experience.
-In Experience and Education (1938), he said that education should be based on the child’s
psychological and physical development, and world outside the schoolroom.
- Dewey saw that with the decline of local community life and small scale mostly rural life,
young people were losing valuable opportunities to learn the arts of democratic participation, and
he concluded that education would need to make up for this loss
*His most valuable and enduring contribution came from the ideas and methods (more
applicable education than recitation) → change in public education
*Father of Modern Education
~experiential learning ~ education ~ children ~ progressive education ~
70. Plessy vs. Ferguson, 1862
•
1896 Supreme Court case that established the doctrine of “separate but equal” and upheld
a Louisiana law requiring that blacks and whites occupy separate railway cars.
* The court applied “separate but equal” to schools in Cumming v. County Board of
Education(1899)…doctrine was overturned in 1945, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
*segregated schooling added a devastating financial burden in the south
*one of the Civil Rights Cases (Fourteenth Amendment barred state governments from
discriminating on account of race but did not prevent private organizations or individuals from
doing so) → Jim Crow
~ racial equality ~ blacks and whites~ segregation ~ “separate but equal” ~
71. Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862
•
Gave large grants of land to the states for the establishment of colleges to teach
“agriculture and the mechanic arts” (also known as the Land Grant College Act)
- was introduced by a congressman from Vermont named Justin Smith Morrill. He envisioned
financing agricultural and mechanical education, and wanted to assure that education would be
available to those in all social classes.
-fostered 69 “land grant” institutions, including the state universities of Wisconsin, California,
Minnesota, and Illinois
-Land grant colleges of the Midwest were open to women from their outset (where as other
colleges of the time were not) → spurred a nationwide trends toward coeducation
*new colleges and universities 1880-1900…as colleges expanded, their function changed and
their curriculum broadened (away from classical and toward “reality and practicality”)
*government encouragement of higher education (for greater availability)
~education ~ colleges and universities ~ state funding ~ state schools ~
72. Private Universities
•
Private philanthropy (from fortunes built up through the industrial age) were used to
spurn the growth of higher education
-Leland Stanford gave $24 million to endow Stanford University on his California ranch, John D.
Rockefeller founded the University of Chicago ($34 million)…
-other industrialists established Cornell (1865), Vanderbilt (1873), and Tulane (1884)
-After the Civil War, educational opportunities increased for women. (Women’s colleges
expanded to include Vassar (1865), Wellesley (1875), Smith (1875), Bryn Mawr (1885), Barnard
(1889)…)
*new colleges and universities 1880-1900…as colleges expanded, their function changed and
their curriculum broadened (away from classical and toward “reality and practicality”…science
and engineering, student and teacher in close relation, )
~private wealth ~ education ~ colleges and universities ~
73. Booker T. Washington and Tuskegee Institute
•
Washington was an ex-slave who put his educational ideas into practice at Tuskegee
Institute in Alabama by helping students to train in various trades and professions
- Tuskegee opened in 1881, with limited funds, four run-down buildings, and only thirty students
-Washington served as the first President of Tuskegee Institute
-by 1900, Tuskegee was an industrial and agricultural school, with over 46 buildings, and
instruction in over thirty trades to fourteen hundred students
-stressed patience, manual training, and hard work…said blacks should focus on economic gains;
go to school, learn skills, and work their way up the ladder → “no race con prosper till it learns
that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem”
*philosophy became known as the Atlanta Compromise, and many whites welcomed it.
(acknowledged white domination and called for slow progress through self-improvement, not
lawsuits or agitation. Blacks should acquire property and show they were worthy of their rights.)
*gain relative equality through economy and wealth (efficiency and practical skills as keys to
advancement for African Americans)
~education of blacks ~ equality ~higher education ~ trades ~ Atlanta Compromise ~
74. W.E.B. Du Bois and “the Niagara Movement”
•
Du Bois was an educated sociologist and African American author who led in an equal
rights movement (Niagara Movement)
-Du Bois was born to poor parents in Massachusetts in 1868…studied in Tennessee, Berlin, and
at Harvard before he took a research position at the University of Pennsylvania (sociology)
-studied the condition of blacks (crime in Philadelphia’s seventh ward, and the effect of urban
life)…The Philadelphia Negro (1898) suggested crime stemmed from environment, and when
environment is changed (as through the use of education) people change too
-The Souls of Black Folk (1903) openly attacked Booker T. Washington and the Atlanta
Compromise, and instead urged African Americans fight for civil right, aspire to professional
careers, and get a college education. (integrated schools, education of “talented tenth” to be a
trained intellectual leaders)
-movement focused on equal rights and the education of African American youth. Rejecting the
gradualist approach of Booker T. Washington, members kept alive a program of militant action
and claimed for African Americans all the rights afforded to other Americans
*Niagara Movement spawned later civil rights movements
~ equality ~ higher education ~ immediate action ~
75. Social Gospel: Salvation Army, YMCA. YWCA
•
Social gospel focused as much on improving the conditions of life on earth as saving
souls for the hereafter. It was preached by a number of Protestant ministers, its adherents
worked for child-labor laws and measures to alleviate poverty
-sermons called on church members to fulfill their social obligations, an d adults met before and
after the regular service to discuss social and economic problems…children were excused from
sermons and encouraged to make the church a center for social as well as religious activity
-the most active Social Gospel leader was Washington Gladden (Congregationalist minister and
writer)
-The Salvation Army, originated in England with William Booth and was brought to US by
George
Scott Raiton…provided aid for those in need
- YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association), “healthy mind, healthy spirit, healthy body,” a
room and
meal, and athletic facilities (first was a “home away from home” for sailors and
merchants at the
Old South Church in Boston on December 29, 1851)
-YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association), 1858 first appearance in the U.S. when New
York City and Boston opened women's residences, “To eliminate racism and empower
women.”
*helping the impoverished was becoming more socially acceptable… encouraged efforts to offer
aid (initially in connection with religion)
~aid ~ poverty ~ urban tenements ~ religion~
76. The Great Depression of 1893
•
An economic depression, about four years in duration, during which 20 percent of the
workforce was eventually unemployed
-causes included the dramatic growth of the federal deficit, withdrawal of British investments
from the American market and the outward transfer of gold, and loss of business confidence
-the bankruptcy of the National Cordage Company was the first among thousands of U.S.
corporations that closed banks and businesses
*March of Unemployed (1894) Populist businessman Jacob Coxey led a march on Washington
*Pullman Strike (1894)
*recovery would be helped by war preparation
~ economic ~ unemployment and strikes ~ Grover Cleveland ~ Billion-Dollar Congress ~
77. The Billion-Dollar Congress
•
Congress passed a billion-dollar appropriation of funds for state tax refunds,
infrastructure improvements, Navy modernization, and pension payments (1890)
-in 1888, election gave the Republicans the presidency and both houses of Congress (seemed to
have broken stalemate and become majority party, but Democrats used “disappearing quorum”
to stop interfere with discussion in Congress)
-1890 laws: Dependent Pensions Act (1 million individual received about $160 million),
Sherman Antitrust Act attempted to regulate big business, Sherman Silver Purchase Act tried to
end problem presented by silver…
Democrats labeled it the “Billion-Dollar Congress” for spending that much in appropriations and
grants
*loss of Treasury reserves put the economy in a precarious position when an economic panic
occurred in 1893
*Congress passed a record number of significant laws that helped shape later policy and asserted
authority of federal father than country wanted to accept…Republicans lost Congress to
Democratic party in 1890
~ Democrats ~ Republicans ~ economy ~ federal funds ~
78. Grover Cleveland, “The Most Hated Man in America”
•
President Cleveland was in office at the time of the Panic of 1893, and he failed to stop
the drain from the federal reserve or turn the economy around.
- Democrats’ Grover Cleveland defeated the Populist candidate and past president in 1892, and
the Panic of 1893 struck almost as soon as he took office
-Cleveland believed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 was at fault for the panic, so he
repealed the act (November 1, 1893)
-Repealing this act was probably necessary since it responded to international finance, reduced
amount of gold leaving the country, and boosted business confidence over the long run…but it
did not bring economic revival or help the stock market (businesses continued to close,
unemployment rose, farm prices dropped)
-Cleveland resorted to selling gold bonds to replenish the gold reserve, and aroused rage in doing
so (especially when bankers reaped profits in Feb. 1895)
*hatred of President Cleveland grew as he continually failed to help the country out of economic
panic…became a scapegoat for the country’s economic ills
~ economy ~ Democrats ~ Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 ~
79. Status Quo Politics
•
Maintaining the same political style and power balance in government (deadlock between
Republicans and Democrats existed from the 1870s through 1894)
-1870s and 1880s were dominated by the Civil War generation…party loyalties were strongly
rooted in Civil War tradition, ethnic and religious differences, and perhaps class distinctions →
voters clung to their old parties, shifts were infrequent, and there were few “independent” voters
-parties were evenly matched and elections were closely fought (in three of five presidential
elections 1876-1892, victor won by less than one percent of vote)…ideas were similar and no
party dominated
-for millions of people, the Democrat’s Grover Cleveland was to blame for economic ills →the
Democratic party split
-third party (People’s or Populist party) helped to break up the status quo
-election of 1894 broke deadlock when Democratic party lost, Populists gained somewhat, and
the Republicans became the majority party
*Republican doctrines of activism and national authority became more attractive…as Americans
became more accepting of the use of government power to regulate the economy, the way lay
open to the reforms of the Progressive Era and the New Deal
~Congress ~ presidency ~ Democrats ~ Republicans ~ Populist ~