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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
(23) Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
The “Bloody Shirt” Elects Grant
A.
In the 1868 presidential election, the Republicans offered Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Although he had no political
experience, the idea was that his war-hero status would carry him to victory.
B.
The Democratic party was hopelessly disorganized. They agreed on their criticism of military Reconstruction, but
little else. The Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour.
1.
Seymour's popularity took a hit when he said he did not support redeeming greenback money at full value.
C.
Consequently, Grant won, narrowly. His main technique was to "wave the bloody shirt," meaning to constantly
remind voters of his military record and that he'd led the North to victory.
D.
The close victory signaled a couple of things for the future: (a) tightly run and hard-fighting political parties and (b)
narrow election margins of victory.
The Era of Good Stealings
A.
Corruption became all too common in the post-Civil War years.
1.
The corruption often came via the railroads, meddling with stock prices, and through corrupt judges.
B.
Of special note were the exploits of "Jubilee" Jim Fisk and his partner Jay Gould. These two came up with, and
nearly pulled off,a scheme in 1869 to corner the gold market to themselves. They tried, unsuccessfully, to
get President Grant involved as well as his brother-in-law.
C.
In New York City, Boss Tweed ran Tammany Hall, a local political district. Boss Tweed used bribes, graft, and
rigged elections to mooch money and ensure continual power for himself and his buddies.
1.
Thomas Nast was a cartoonist who relentlessly attacked Tweed's corruption. Tweed despised Nast
because, although many people in Tweed's district couldn't read about the corruption, they could
understand those "them damn pictures."
2.
Nast's cartoon's brought down Tweed. Samuel J. Tilden gained fame in prosecuting Tweed. Tweed
eventually died in jail.
3.
Tilden would ride the fame to become the nominee for president in 1876 vs. Rutherford B. Hayes.
A Carnival of Corruption
A.
President Grant was an honest man but there was much corruption underneath his administration. He either wasn't
aware of it or failed to properly deal with it.
1.
Many in the Dent family, his in-laws, obtained government "jobs" for themselves.
B.
One of the worst situations was the Crédit Mobilier scandal
1.
The company was constructing the trans-continental railroad and effectively sub-hired itself to get paid
double.
2.
They also gave stock to Congressmen in order to avoid getting busted.
3.
A newspaper finally exposed the scandal, two Congressmen went down, and the Vice President of the U.S.
had even taken payments. Though uninvolved, Grant's name was scarred.
C.
The so-called "Whiskey Ring" also looked bad for Grant. Folks stole whiskey tax money from the government.
Grant's own secretary was involved and, despite him saying "Let no guilty man escape," Grant helped let
the thief off the hook.
D.
Lastly, the Secretary of War William Belknap was caught swindling $24,000 by selling trinkets to the Indians.
The Liberal Republican Revolt of 1872
A.
By the 1872 election, many people had had enough. Reformers started the Liberal Rebpublican Party to clean
things up.
1.
The Liberal Republicans nominated Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, as their candidate.
2.
Strangely, the Democrats also endorsed Greeley since they were so eager to gain office.
a.
Greeley had lambasted the Democrats through his paper, but he was soft on allowing the South to
return to the nation, which the Democrats liked.
B.
The campaigning was nasty, but colorful. Greeley was called an atheist, communist, free-lover, vegetarian, brownbread eater, and co-signor of Jefferson Davis' bail bond. Grant was called a drunk ignoramus and swindler.
C.
Grant won the election handily, 286 to 66.
D.
The Liberal Republicans did spook the Republican Congress into passing some reforms. (1) An amnesty act was
passed which removed restrictions that'd been placed on many Southerners. Also, (2) there was effort to
reduce the tariff rates and (3) to clean up/out the Grant administration.
Depression, Deflation, and Inflation
A.
The Panic of 1873 brought economic troubles.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
1.
It was started by over-spending with borrowed money, this time in railroads and factories. Growth was too
fast and over-extended what the market could sustain.
2.
The causes of the panic were the same old ones that’d caused recessions every 20 years that century: (1)
over-speculation (or over-spending) and (2) too-easy credit given by the banks.
3.
Initially, the panic was sparked when banks and businesses began to go bankrupt. The situation quickly
snowballed from there.
4.
Blacks were hit especially hard. Always last-to-be-hired, and now the Freedman's Savings and Trust Co.
went bankrupt, black Americans lost some $7 million in savings.
B.
The tough times hit debtors hard. They wanted inflationary policies to be pursued. Specifically, debtors wanted
paper money ("greenbacks") printed to create inflation and thus make it easier to pay off debts. This
strategy was called soft money or cheap money policies.
C.
Opponents, usually bankers and the wealthy, favored hard money policies. That is, they favored keeping the
amount of money stable (and backed by gold). To hike up inflation just to pay a debt would be unfair, they
said, since the money paid back wouldn't be as valuable as when it was lent.
1.
Grant vetoed a bill to print more money. Also, the Resumption Act was passed to actually start to
(1) lower the number of greenbacks in circulation and (2) to redeem paper money at face value
starting in 1879.
D.
Cheap money advocates also wanted more silver to be coined—the more money in circulation, the more inflation.
Games were played over the value of silver, but the bottom line is that more silver coins would mean more
inflation and thus make it easier to pay off debt.
E.
Under Grant's lead, the nation entered into a period of "contraction." This meant that the amount of money in
circulation, per person, actually decreased during the 1870's
1.
Contraction likely didn't help the recession, but it did raise the value of the dollar bill. Come 1879, few
people turned in their greenbacks for gold.
F.
The effect of Republican hard money policies was that the Democrats took over the House of Representatives in
1874.
G.
And, the Greenback Labor Party was started in 1878 with the main mission of bringing cheap money policies to
life.
VI.
Pallid Politics in the Gilded Age This content copyright © 2010 by WikiNotes.wikidot.com
A.
The term "the Gilded Age" was a phrase coined by Mark Twain to describe the late 1800's. It hinted that the
times looked good (as if they were gilded or gold-covered), yet if one scratched a bit below the surface,
there were problems.
1.
The Gilded Age largely contained tight and hotly contested political races, much corruption, and shady
business deals.
2.
The Republicans of the day hinted back to Puritan ancestry and were supported in the North and West.
The G.A.R., the Grand Army of the Republic, was a military veteran group that supported
Republicans.
3.
Democrats got most of their support from the South. They were supported by Lutherans and Catholics.
B.
A split developed in the 1870's and 80's within the Republican party.
1.
The Stalwarts were led by Roscoe Conkling.
2.
The Half-Breeds were led by James G. Blaine.
VII.
The Hayes-Tilden Standoff, 1876
A.
Pres. Grant considered running for a third term in 1876. The House soundly voted down that option and Grant
backed off.
B.
The Republicans nominated Rutherford B. Hayes. He was called the "Great Unknown", for obvious reasons.
1.
He was neutral in the Conkling and Blained wars within the Republican party.
2.
And, his greatest attribute, he came from Ohio, an important state in winning the race.
C.
The Democrats nominated Samuel Tilden.
1.
Tilden's claim-to-fame was that he'd nailed Boss Tweed.
2.
Tilden got 184 electoral votes; he needed 185 to win.
3.
20 votes were hanging in the balance due to questionable returns. Picking up only 1 vote would seee Tilden
elected.
D.
Both sides sent people to the questionable states (LA, SC, FL, and OR) and both men claimed victories there.
1.
The question then became, "Which branch of Congress would count the states' votes?" Depending on who
counted, the Democratic House or the Republican Senate, the vote would likely go that way.
2.
Weeks passed and the election was at a stalemate.
VIII.
The Compromise of 1877 and the End of Reconstruction
A.
With a president needed, Congress passed the Electoral Count Act that set up a commission to resolve the crisis.
1.
There were 15 men (from the House, Senate, and Supreme Court) on the commission.
2.
8 men were Republicans, 7 were Democrats
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
B.
The Republicans had the upper hand and were heading toward victory among the disputed states. Democrats were
outraged and began to filibuster to tie up the process.
C.
Finally, a deal was made in the Compromise of 1877. True to a compromise, both sides did some give-and-take.
1.
The North…
a.
Got Rutherford B. Hayes elected as a Republican president.
2.
The South…
a.
Got a pledge that Hayes would removal of military occupation in the South.
b.
This did happen, thus ending Reconstruction. The bad news for the freedmen was that Southern
blacks were now effectively left alone to fend for themselves. The Civil Rights Act of
1875 supposedly gave equal rights to blacks, but the Supreme Court had struck much of it
down. Also, white Southerners began to reclaim a strong hold on power.
c.
Additionally, money would be spent on the Texas and Pacific railroad.
IX.
The Birth of Jim Crow in the Post-Reconstruction South
A.
With the military gone, white Southerners reasserted their power over blacks. Fraud and intimidation were the tools.
B.
Most blacks had no option but to become sharecroppers. They farmed land they didn't own, then paid hefty fees to
the landlord come harvest time. The system was stacked against them so that they'd never get out of debt.
1.
Now "free", blacks likely farmed the same land for the same man as before the Civil War.
C.
Segregation (the separation of the races) also became institutionalized.
1.
First, the states enacted codes called Jim Crow laws that legalized the segregation.
2.
Then, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the federal okay. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) stated that "separate but
equal" facilities for the races were legal.
a.
In reality, however, the races were indeed separate, but the facilities were hardly equal.
b.
Segregation was carried out in nearly all public facilities such as schools, theaters, transportation,
and restrooms.
3.
Violation of these codes could have legal penalties. Or, worse, lynchings of blacks reached a record level as
whites "enforced" the codes themselves.
X.
Class Conflicts and Ethnic Clashes
A.
As well as ending Reconstruction, 1877 was a year of other conflicts…
B.
The 4 largest railroads got together and decided to cut employee wages by 10%. The workers fought back by going
on strike.
1.
This railroad shut-down crippled the nation and President Hayes called in federal troops to stop the unrest
amongst the striking workers.
2.
The trouble went on several weeks but eventually ended with the workers losing on the losing side. This
failed strike showed the weaknesses of the labor movement at the time.
C.
Ethnic clashes were common.
1.
The clashes came when the Chinese competed for low-paying jobs, usually with the Irish.
2.
Most Chinese were young, poor men who'd emigrated to California. They frequently got jobs building the
railroads. After the railroad boom, many returned to China, many stayed and looked for odd jobs.
3.
Irishman Denis Kearney fired up the Irish against the Chinese in San Francisco. The argument was that the
"rice eater" (Chinese) could afford to work for a cheaper wage than the "beef eater" (Irish).
a.
The solution was for Irish gangs to take to the streets and deal their vengeance on the Chinese.
4.
Finally, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. It forbade the immigration of Chinese to
America.
a.
This was the first immigration restriction America passed; until this point in history, immigrants
simply came to America without hindrance.
XI.
Garfield and Arthur
A.
The 1880 election pitted Garfield against Scott.
1.
The Republicans nominated James A. Garfield and, as his running mate, Stalwart Chester Arthur.
a.
Garfield was a "dark horse" candidate (a previously unknown person) but he came from the
critical state of Ohio.
2.
The Democrats nominated Gen. Winfield Scott, the Civil War hero.
3.
Garfield won the election, but found himself trapped in the middle of the Republican feud between the
Stalwarts and Half-Breeds.
4.
Garfield's Secretary of State James Blaine (Half-Breed leader) battled his arch-enemy, Stalwart Roscoe
Conkling (Stalwart leader) at every chance.
B.
Garfield was assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau in September of 1881.
1.
Guiteau said he was a Stalwart, like V.P. Chester Arthur, and his lawyers essentially used the insanity
defense saying he didn't know right from wrong.
2.
Regardless, he was found guilty and hanged.
C.
As vice president, Chester Arthur became president.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
1.
Despite being considered a partisan politician, Arthur was actually reform-minded. He largely stood firm
against his Stalwart buddies in their quest for the riches that come with power
2.
The Pendleton Act was the height of political reform. It was called the "Magna Carta of civil service
reform" meaning itrequired merit to get jobs, not simply knowing someone in a high position.
3.
The Civil Service Commission awarded jobs based on performance rather than on how much "pull" a
person had (how many buddies they had in high places).
4.
The Pendleton Act first affected only 10% of federal jobs, but it (a) stopped the worst offenses of giving
jobs to buddies and (b) it set the tone for civil service reform in the future.
XII.
The Blaine-Cleveland Mudslingers of 1884
A.
The Republicans nominated James G. Blaine for president in the 1884 election.
1.
Reform-minded Republicans didn't like this choice and went over to the Democrats. They were called
"Mugwumps", supposedly with "their mug on one side and their wump on the other".
B.
The Democrats nominated Grover Cleveland as their candidate.
1.
The mudslinging reached the worst level up until that point during the campaign. A popular topic was
Cleveland's affair and the child it had produced some 8 years earlier.
C.
Despite the drama that Cleveland had fathered a bastard love-child, he won the election.
XIII.
“Old Grover” Takes Over
A.
Grover Cleveland was a Democratic president during a string of Republicans in the White House. He had a laissezfaire capitalism mindset, which made business folks very happy.
B.
He helped bridge the North-South gap by naming two former Confederates to his cabinet.
C.
Cleveland was a man of principle who tried to do the right thing. His initial thought was to award jobs based on
merit (civil service reform).
D.
Two former Confederates were named by Cleveland to his cabinet. He tried to follow the merit system (jobs went to
the qualified), but was largely unsuccessful with this approach.
1.
When pressure mounted, Cleveland fired about 80,000 of 120,000 federal employees. 40,000 were
Republicans dismissed to open up jobs for Democrats.
E.
Military pensions were a pain to Cleveland. The G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) had considerable political
clout and was mostly Republican. They pushed several bills through Congress that gave pensions to loads
of veterans; many of the bills were simply money-grabbers.
1.
Cleveland was a Democrat and not a veteran himself, thus he was in an awkward position to halt military
pensions. Still,Cleveland did veto many of these military pension bills.
XIV.
Cleveland Battles for a Lower Tariff
A.
Cleveland had an unusual problem—a budget surplus. He couldn't justify the government profiting off of the people
by taking in more than the government needed.
B.
There were two ways to get rid of the surplus: (1) increase the spending by inventing things to spend it on, or (2)
taking in less by cutting taxes. Cleveland chose the second option.
C.
The extra surplus money largely came in from the tariff. Many people wanted it lowered. Businesses, which benefit
from inflated foreign prices that a tariff provides, wanted to keep it high.
1.
Pres. Cleveland asked Congress to reduce the tariff. The issue became a divisive one with Democrats
favoring the lower tariff and Republicans favoring a higher one. Republicans began building their
"war chest" of money for the next presidential campaign.
D.
The tariff issue came to a full head of steam in the election of 1888.
1.
Cleveland was up for re-election by the Democrats, Benjamin Harrison was up as the Republican.
2.
Harrison won in a very close race in 1888. Cleveland became the first president voted out of office since
Martin Van Buren.
XV.
The Billion Dollar Congress
A.
After being out of the White House for 4 years, the Republicans were eager to assert their power in Congress.
B.
The Republicans found their leader in Speaker of the House Thomas "Czar" Reed. Reed was a tall man, super
debater, and had an acid-sarcastic tongue that cut at opponents. He ran the House of Representatives like a
dictator.
1.
Democrats planned to fight back by not answering to roll call and thus not achieving a quorum (minimum
number necessary for a meeting).
2.
Czar Reed solved the quorum battle by counting Democrats as present if they were there but hadn't
answered the roll call.
C.
With his quorum met, Czar Reed got down to business and had many bills passed…
1.
The first "Billion Dollar Congress" where the U.S. government doled out that much money for the first
time.
2.
Pensions were liberally given to veterans.
3.
More silver was purchased.
4.
The McKinley Tariff (1890) hiked rates to roughly 48%, the highest peacetime rate ever.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
a.
The tariff was a double-edged sword: business folks loved the protection it gave, but farmers
disliked the fact that manufactured goods were now more expensive.
XVI.
The Drumbeat of Discontent
A.
In 1892, a new political party emerged—the Populist Party (AKA the People's Party). It was made up of unhappy
farmers and sprung out of the Farmers' Alliance.
B.
The Populists demanded…
1.
Inflation through "cheap money" policies of printing paper money and coining silver. They felt inflation
would make it easier to pay off their debts. This was their top priority.
2.
Other desires were: a graduated income tax (a person pays more with a higher salary); government
regulation of railroads, the telegraph, and telephone; direct elections of U.S. senators by the
people; initiative and referendum (so people can propose and pass laws themselves); a shorter
working day; and immigration restrictions.
C.
The Populist Party did surprisingly well in the election. They got 22 electoral votes by winning four western states.
D.
The South was reluctant to vote for the Populists due to race reasons. The Populists had reached out to Southern
blacks so Southern whites turned away. After the election, Southern whites tightened the screws on blacks.
1.
Literacy tests and poll taxes were used more than ever to prevent blacks from voting.
2.
"Grandfather clauses" were employed to allow anyone to vote whose grandfather could (thus only whites
were grandfathered in).
XVII. Cleveland and Depression
A.
"Old Grover" Cleveland won the election and became president again (after 4 years off).
B.
However, the Depression of 1893 soon began. It was the first recession or depression during the industrial age. This
completed the almost predictable, every-20-year cycle of panics during the 1800s (panics occurred during
1819, 1837, 1857, 1873, and 1893).
1.
Nearly 8,000 U.S. businesses went out of business in 6 months. Railroads went under too and soup kitchens
popped up to feed wandering hoboes.
C.
There were other money problems to deal with…
1.
Cleveland now had a budget deficit, whereas he'd enjoyed a surplus before.
2.
The nation's gold supply was getting dangerously low.
a.
The Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890) had created a cycle: the government had to buy silver
and print paper money to pay for it, the people could then turn in the paper money for
gold, which they did.
b.
The nation's gold supply once dipped below $100 million, the safe minimum.
1.
Meanwhile, Cleveland had a malignant tumor removed from his mouth. If he'd died, Vice
President Adlai Stevenson would've taken over. Stevenson was a "soft money"
advocate and the gold problem would've likely worsened.
c.
Congress debated repealing the Sherman Silver Purchase Act.
1.
A young 30-year old named William Jennings Bryan became the foremost spokesman
for silver and "cheap money."
2.
Despite the arguing, the Sherman Act was repealed.
d.
The exchange of paper money-for-gold continued still. This time the gold reserves fell to only #41
million.
1.
Finally, Cleveland turned to J.P. Morgan. Morgan and his banker-friends agreed to lend
the U.S. government $65 million in gold (of course the bankers made $7 million
in profit).
2.
This deal restored confidence and largely stemmed the problem.
XVIII. Cleveland Breeds a Backlash
A.
Grover Cleveland, who'd been seen as a "common-man's president", looked sneaky in his dealings in gold and with
J.P. Morgan.
B.
Cleveland was embarrassed again by the Wilson-Gorman Tariff.
1.
Democrats had promised lower tariffs. The Wilson-Gorman barely changed the McKinley Tariff at all.
Worse, the Wilson-Gorman law allowed for a 2% income tax on income over $4,000. The
Supreme Court struck this down, but it looked like Cleveland and the government was giving in to
the rich "fat-cats."
C.
The Republicans began to benefit from Cleveland's recent actions.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
(24) Industry Comes of Age
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
The Iron Colt Becomes an Iron Horse
A.
Railroads skyrocketed after the Civil War. Track mileage increased from 35,000 miles in 1865 to over 192,000
miles by 1900.
B.
Congress encouraged this boom by giving millions of acres of land to the railroad companies. The total acreage was
greater than the size of Texas.
1.
The land given to the railroad companies was in a checkerboard fashion along the track. Since it adjoined
the track, it's value likely increased and the railroad company would then sell it for a huge profit.
C.
There were arguments on both sides…
1.
People said giving land for railroad companies to profit just wasn't right. Pres. Grover Cleveland fell in this
category. He felt this system was wrong and ended it.
2.
Others said the railroads were what gave the land most of its value. And, the value of the railroads
themselves to the nation was undeniable.
Spanning the Continent with Rails
A.
The ultimate goal for the rails was a transcontinental railroad (from coast to coast). The only question had been
whether to build the transcontinental railroad in the North or South. With the South seceding from the
nation, the North would get the railroad.
B.
Congress commissioned the Union Pacific Railroad to push westward from Omaha, Nebraska to California.
1.
For their efforts, the Union Pacific got (a) pay, (b) free land, (c) loans for more land or building.
2.
The Crédit Mobilier company made fantastic profits.
a.
Insiders in the company managed ridiculous profits for themselves through sneaky deals.
3.
They also bribed Congressmen to look the other way.
4.
Irish workers ("Paddies") did most of the labor on the Great Plains. Clashes with Indians were frequent.
C.
The Central Pacific Railroad started in California and pushed eastward.
1.
Leland Stanford headed up the railroad efforts from California.
2.
He and his partners made fabulous profits but kept themselves clean and bribe-free.
3.
Chinese laborers did most of the work.
D.
The transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 near Ogden, Utah. As a symbolic measure, a golden spike was
driven into the track. The nation was connected by two ribbons of steel from coast to coast.
Binding the Country with Railroad Ties
A.
By 1900, four more transcontinental lines had been constructed.
1.
The Northern Pacific Railroad from Lake Superior to Puget Sound.
2.
The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe from Kansas to California.
3.
The Southern Pacific line went from New Orleans to San Francisco.
4.
The Great Northern linked Duluth, MN to Seattle.
a.
This line was constructed by James H. Hill, perhaps the greatest railroad constructor. He built
railroads with a sense of public duty and shipped in cattle for the locals.
B.
There were drawbacks to railroad construction as well. Some communities waged all they had on a railroad line
increasing the value of the town. Oftentimes, tracks were laid that turned out to go "from nowhere to
nothing." Bankruptcy usually followed.
Railroad Consolidation and Mechanization
A.
Back east where railroads were already built, changes were occurring. Cornelius Vanderbilt began consolidating
the New York Central line. This meant he bought up the little railroad lines into his one company.
1.
The results of railroad consolidation were cheaper fares/rates and faster travel times.
B.
There were technological advances too.
1.
Vanderbilt began to use steel rails, instead of iron. Steel was stronger, lasted longer, and didn't rust as fast
as iron.
2.
A standardized gauge (distance between tracks) made things uniform.
3.
The Westinghouse air brake was invented which was much more efficient and safe.
4.
Pullman Palace Cars (luxury passenger cars) were built and were very popular for travelers.
5.
Other developments like the telegraph to communicate when tracks were open, double-tracking, and then
the block signalmade railroad travel safer.
C.
Despite advances, accidents and tragedies on the track were not uncommon.
Revolution by Railways
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
A.
The railroad network had the effect of physically linking the nation and psychologically impacted the way people
looked at the country.
B.
The greatest impact that railroads had was on business and industrialization.
1.
Eastern and western markets were now linked.
2.
Investors could pour money into new markets.
3.
Travel was eased and the wide open west beckoned settlers as much as ever.
4.
Farmers were taken out west and ore mined from the soil was shipped back east.
5.
Cities boomed out west, notably Chicago, and the cities back east were brought whatever the West had to
offer.
6.
Fortunes and millionaires were also made by the railroads.
C.
The land itself was also impacted by railroads.
1.
The Midwestern plains became Midwestern cornfields and the great herds of buffalo began to die off ("go
the way of the buffalo").
D.
Before trains, cities and towns simply operated on their own local time. Since accurate timing was critical in safely
running trains, time zones were created so that everyone would be coordinated.
VI.
Wrongdoing in Railroading
A.
Railroading also had a large share of corruption.
1.
The worst case was the Crédit Mobilier scandal where railroad men subhired themselves to get paid twice
and bought Congressmen to go along.
2.
Jay Gould boomed and busted railroad stock, making profit for himself all the way along.
a.
A common technique was "stock watering" where railroads would artificially talk up the company
so the stock would zoom upward.
B.
Other railroad tricks included…
1.
Frequent bribes (AKA "kickbacks") were given to governmental officials and major customers.
2.
The formation of "pools" (formally called "cartels") where competitors agreed to cooperate as if they were
one mega company.
3.
Rebates were given to large companies that shipped large quantities of goods. The complaint was that this
created two rates: a cheap rate for the big companies and an expensive rate for the little guy.
Railroads said they were simply rewarding their valued customers.
4.
Free passes were often given to members of the press to ensure good publicity.
VII.
Government Bridles the Iron Horse This content copyright © 2010 by WikiNotes.wikidot.com
A.
America has always believed in free enterprise—the notion that the government should stay out of private business.
There was always the belief that in a free enterprise system anyone can rise from rags-to-riches or even
millionaire.
B.
Slowly the people/government did respond to the railroads and their shenanigans.
1.
Farmers led the protest in the economic recession of the 1870's. Groups like The Grange pushed for
regulation.
2.
In the Wabash case, the supreme court said that states cannot regulate interstate trade 9only congress can0.
This meant that if any regulation were to be done, it would have to be by the U.S. Congress, not
the local states.
3.
Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act (1887) that outlawed rebates and pools. It also required
rates to be openly published and banned charging low rates for the long haul (to big businesses
that shipped large quantities) and higher rates for the short haul (to small farmers who shipped
small quantities).
a.
Although the law intended to help the commoner, the powerful found ways around it. For
instance, lawyer Richard Olney coldly concluded that the law can
actually help railroads—it gave the public the image of government regulation when in
reality the law did very little.
C.
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone as a part-time hobby while teaching the deaf to speak.
D.
Thomas Edison, the "Wizard of Menlo Park," came up with the light bulb along with many, many other inventions.
VIII.
Miracles of Mechanization
A.
Between 1860 and 1984 the U.S. rose from the 4th largest manufacturing nation to the 1st. The reasons were…
B.
Liquid capital (money or a millionaire class) emerged to build new businesses.
C.
Natural resources had always been a great asset in America. Those resources were now being put to full use.
1.
For example, the Mesabi iron ore range of Minnesota was powering the national need for iron and steel.
D.
Immigration on a huge scale kept labor cheap.
E.
New technological advances were developed…
1.
Eli Whitney started mass production and interchangeable parts.
2.
Other inventions aided business and included: the cash register, the stock ticker, the typewriter (which
brought women to work), the refrigerator car, the electric dynamo, and the electric railway.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
IX.
The Trust Titan Emerges
A.
Titans or giants of industry eventually began to emerge in each major business.
B.
Andrew Carnegie switched from railroading to become the master of the steel industry with the U.S.
Steel Corporation.
1.
Carnegie used vertical integration to grow his business. This meant he bought out businesses that he used
in the production process. For example, he'd buy the land that held the ore, then he'd buy the
machines to dig it, then the ships and railroads to ship it, then the factories to forge it. Rather than
pay a company along the way, he owned each step of the process.
C.
John D. Rockefeller nearly monopolized the oil industry.
1.
Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company used horizontal integration to take over the industry. In vertical
integration, Standard would either force a competitor out of business or buy them out to grow even
larger.
2.
Rockefeller was very successful. The Standard Oil Company controlled 90-95% of the oil in the U.S. To
get that large, he was ruthless in his tactics. It was said that his unofficial motto was "let us prey"
(on the little companies).
3.
He used a technique called interlocking directorates where his own men would be placed on the board-ofdirectors for "competitors." Their decisions would be to cooperate with their "competitors", not
compete.
D.
J.P. Morgan was a financier, not an industrialist, who gained great power and wealth. He used interlocking
directorates by putting his own people on the boards of struggling companies then controlling them as one
unit.
X.
The Supremacy of Steel
A.
Steel became king after the Civil War. Steel built the industrial revolution.
1.
Right after the Civil War steel was expensive and used sparingly, as for cutlery.
2.
Within 20 years, the U.S. had become the world's top steel producer and by 1900 the U.S. made more steel
than Britain and Germany combined.
B.
The main advance was the Bessemer Process where cool air is blown over red hot iron to burn off the impurities
and produce stronger and cheaper steel.
C.
A second reason for the growth of American steel was that the U.S. was blessed with loads of iron and coal, the two
main ingredients for steel.
D.
When the Bessemer Process and the materials were added to a seemingly endless labor supply, steel boomed.
XI.
Carnegie and Other Sultans of Steel
A.
Andrew Carnegie, the son of Scottish immigrants, was the classic rags-to-riches story.
1.
He worked his way up through good old-fashioned hard work.
2.
He started as a bobbin-boy in a cotton mill making $1.20 per week.
3.
His next stop was as a telegraph errand boy, then telegraph operator, then as a railroad executive's
secretary.
4.
After gaining some capital in railroading, Carnegie entered the steel industry.
5.
Carnegie's U.S. Steel Corp. became dominant in steel largely because of his administrative abilities and
knack for hiring excellent people.
a.
By 1900, U.S. Steel produced 1/4 of the nation's Bessemer steel. Carnegie made $25 million, tax
free.
B.
J.P. Morgan was the premier financier of the day. Morgan made his money not by making anything, but by
making deals—deals in railroads, insurance, banks, etc.
1.
Carnegie was ready to retire in 1900 and wanted to sell U.S. Steel. A deal was made where J.P. Morgan
bought Carnegie's steel empire for $400 million.
2.
Carnegie devoted the rest of his life to philanthropy—giving the money away. He gave $350 million to
build libraries, support the arts, and to other charities.
3.
J.P. Morgan wasted no time and quickly built U.S. Steel into the world's first billion dollar company (it was
valued at $1.4 billion).
XII.
Rockefeller Grows an American Beauty Rose
A.
"Drake's Folly" started the oil boom with a gusher in Pennsylvania. Kerosene (for lamps) enjoyed a mini-boom but
its days were numbered.
1.
Just as whaling (as chronicled in Herman Melville's Moby Dick) was replaced by kerosene, kerosene would
be replaced by electricity and the electric light bulb.
2.
Kerosene did foreshadow the age of oil, however. The internal combustion engine was being perfected at
roughly the same time.
B.
At first the oil industry was wide open to all. But, John D. Rockefeller got a leg up on the competition with
his Standard Oil Company. Standard Oil eventually sold 95% of all oil sold in the U.S.
1.
Rockefeller was criticized for his business practices as being ruthless.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
2.
He used horizontal integration to buy up competitors.
3.
Or, he simply drove competitors out of business. "Undercutting", where he charged less for oil than the
market price just to drive competitors under, was a common practice. This helped earn him the
nickname "Reckafellow."
4.
His tactics were aided by "economies of scale" where large companies produce a cheaper product and thus
put even more pressure on the "little guy."
C.
Other trusts emerged as well including Gustavus F. Swift and Philip Armour, the meat packers and hot dog
makers.
XIII.
The Gospel of Wealth
A.
As a filthy-rich class emerged, so too did various views on wealth…
1.
Some, like Rockefeller, felt their wealth came from God. This was similar to the old divine-right
monarchies of Europe.
2.
Carnegie spoke of a Gospel of Wealth saying the rich had a moral duty to spread the wealth (like
spreading the Gospel).
3.
Perhaps the most common idea was Social Darwinism.
a.
Social Darwinism transposed Charles Darwin's new evolution and survival-of-the-fittest theories
from biology to society.
b.
The Social Darwinism idea said that the reason certain people were at the top of their business was
because they were the best adapted at running that industry. The opposite, of course,
would apply to anyone at the bottom of the social or economic ladder.
c.
Strangely, it was a minister that did the most to promote Social Darwinism. Rev. Russell
Conwell became rich himself while delivering his sermon/lecture Acres of
Diamonds thousands of times. His theme was that people earn their lots in life, either
good or bad.
B.
By the later 1800's, a plutocracy or rule by rich plutocrats, had replaced the old slavocracy of antebellum days.
1.
The rulings that only the U.S. Congress could regulate interstate trade left big business largely unregulated.
The businesses could easily bribe state legislators to vote pro-business.
2.
Also, corporate lawyers used the 14th Amendment to the benefit of the corporation. The amendment was
written to give former slaves citizenship rights, but corporate lawyers got corporations classified
as legal people with full citizenship rights as well.
XIV.
Government Tackles the Trust Evil
A.
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) was enacted in attempt to outlaw trusts or monopolies.
B.
The law forbade "combinations" such as…
1.
"pools" or cartels—where "competitors" got together and behaved as one mega-company.
2.
interlocking directorates—where the same people sat on the board-of-directors of "competitors", then
made the same decisions for each company, and thus the "competitors" behaved as one megacompany.
3.
holding companies—where the holding company bought up controlling shares of stock in a group of
competitors, then managed each "competitor" as one mega-company.
C.
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was not effective because (a) proving combinations exist, especially with pools, can be
difficult, and (b) it lacked real teeth in enforcement.
D.
In 1914 the anti-trust movement finally gained real muscle to enforce its provisions.
XV.
The South in the Age of Industry
A.
Whereas the Industrial Revolution mostly benefited the North, the South by 1900 was still struggling.
1.
The South still produced less than before the Civil War and the farming was split up into small chunks,
often done bysharecroppers who "rented" the land.
B.
James Buchanan Duke gave the South a boost when the cigarette industry took off. His American Tobacco
Company made him a fortune, enough to earn his namesake Duke University in Durham, NC.
C.
Henry W. Grady, editor of the Atlanta Constitution, urged Southerners to beat the Yankees at their own game of
industry. Still, old ways die hard and industry was slow to grow in the South.
1.
The railroads were stacked against Southern industry as well. Rates for manufactured goods going
southward were cheaper than northward. Rates for raw materials favored the South.
D.
Cotton mills did begin to emerge down South.
1.
The benefits of the mill jobs were mixed. It meant jobs, but it also meant cheap labor and the desire to keep
labor rates low—often half of what Northern mill hands earned. Still, the mills were a thankful
blessing to many Southerners.
XVI.
The Impact of the New Industrial Revolution on America
A.
Despite its drawbacks, the Industrial Revolution caused the overall standard of living for Americans to improve.
B.
The old Jefferson vs. Hamilton dispute had also been solved: Jefferson's ideals of small-town agriculture was being
trumped by Hamilton's big-city business.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
1.
Lifestyles changed as well. The "can see, 'til can't see" farmer became a factory worker that labored from
whistle to whistle.
2.
Women gained increasing roles in business as well as secretaries and in clerical jobs.
a.
This "new woman" was idealized by the "Gibson Girl," illustrations by Charles Dana Gibson of
attractive, stylish, and athletic women active outside of the home.
b.
Still, this increased role in the workplace shouldn't be over-stated. The traditional role of women
as manager of the household was still the top "job" for women.
C.
Society had been transformed from self-employed farmers to employed wage-earners.
D.
The Industrial Revolution flooded the American market so businesses began to look overseas; American
imperialism would soon follow.
XVII. In Unions There Is Strength
A.
The rise of industry meant the rise of the factory worker. This yielded both good and bad results.
B.
The positive was that (a) there actually were jobs and (b) that the overall standard-of-living did in fact rise.
C.
There were also many negative effects…
1.
Immigration was increasing which meant wages were cheap. For employers, replacement of "uppity" or
troublesome workers was easy enough with eager immigrants.
2.
Workers united in unions in hopes of finding strength in numbers. The union's main weapon of striking
was still not very effective because…
a.
Employers could hire lawyers to wrangle around the issues.
b.
"Scabs," or part-time replacement workers could be brought in and union leaders could be
intimidated or beaten down.
c.
Big-business could call on the courts to order strikers back to work.
d.
Big-business could mandate "ironclad oaths" or "yellow dog contracts" where workers pledged
to not join a union.
e.
Big-business could "black list" troublesome workers meaning no other employer would hire that
person.
f.
Some businesses ran "company towns" where workers were paid "scrip" (not real money but
company money good at the company store). Workers were also given easy credit
meaning they usually got themselves into debt and never gotout.
D.
In a broader sense, the idea of Social Darwinism pervaded society and lended workers little pity. It said a person's
lot in life was the result of his or her own doing (or lack of doing)—the rich had earned their position and
the poor had the same opportunity to do so.
XVIII. Labor Limps Along
A.
Labor unions began to grow in number after the Civil War.
B.
The National Labor Union (1866) lasted 6 years and had 600,000 members—skilled, unskilled, and farmers.
1.
Par-for-the-times, blacks and women were only slightly sought after and Chinese immigrants were
excluded.
2.
Their goals were (a) arbitration (settlement by a mediator) of worker complaints and (b) an 8 hour workday
(which was granted to government workers).
3.
The 1873 depression ruined the National Labor Union.
C.
The Knights of Labor began in secrecy and then came out in 1881.
1.
It welcomed skilled and unskilled, women and blacks. The only people banned were "non producers":
liquor dealers, professional gamblers, lawyers, bankers, and stockbrokers,
2.
The Knights sought workers' cooperatives (to pool their money and resources), better working conditions,
and the 8 hour workday.
3.
They had some success, led by Terence V. Powderly. They got the 8 hour day in several places and pulled
off a successful strike against Jay Gould's Wabash Railroad (1885). After this their numbers
bloomed to 750,000 members.
XIX.
Unhorsing the Knights of Labor
A.
The Knights became active in a series of May Day strikes. The strikes had mixed results. but more importantly, the
strikes hurt the Knights public image.
B.
The "Haymarket Square Incident" occurred in Chicago in 1886. There strikers were intermingled with a handful
of anarchists calling for overthrow of the government.
1.
A bombing took place and a handful of bystanders, including police, were killed or injured. The anarchists
were the likely culprit, but the public placed blame on the Knights and unions.
2.
Eight anarchists were arrested; five were given the death sentence and the other three were given hefty
sentences. They were eventually pardoned by Governor John P. Atlgeld in 1892. These actions
were unpopular and cost him reelection.
C.
The end result of the Haymarket Square incident was a distrust in unions and a decline in their membership.
XX.
The AF of L to the Fore
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
A.
The American Federation of Labor (called the "AF of L")was started by Samuel Gompers in 1886.
1.
The AF of L was made up of small, independent unions. They were tied together by their association with
the AF of L.
2.
Gompers desire for workers was summed up simply as "more." He sought what unions always seek: better
wages, shorter hours, better working conditions.
3.
Gompers wanted "trade agreements" to allow the "closed shop" (businesses closed to non-union members,
or in other words, you must join the union in order to work there).
4.
His main weapons were the boycott and the strike. To boycott, "We don't patronize" sign would be placed
on unpopular businesses. To strike, union dues would build up funds to hopefully see them
through the strike.
B.
The AF of L was made up of skilled craftsmen. Unskilled workers were not included because they were too easily
replaced and thus weakened the union. (This exclusion of unskilled workers is a notable difference from the
CIO which came later and included the unskilled).
C.
They eventually garnered 500,000 members and were criticized as the "labor trust." Still, this amounted to only
about 3% of the labor force in the U.S.
D.
Around 1900, views on labor unions began to turn for the better. Workers were allowed to organize (unionize),
collectively bargain, and strike. The most symbolic achievement for workers was the passage of Labor Day
(1894) where workers, ironically, take the day off from work.
E.
The rise of unions could be summed up as a long battle that was just beginning.
1.
Strikes, negotiations, firings, hirings, etc. were to still very much to come.
2.
In the grand scheme of things, despite unions' constant efforts, labor unions in the 1800's were largely
ineffective mostly due to the never-ending stream of immigrants which always assured an eager
labor force.
(25) America Moves to the City
I.
The Urban Frontier
A.
The population of the U.S. doubled between 1870 and 1900. The population of cities tripled. Cities grew outward,
but also upward.
1.
Cities grew outward thanks to the electric trolley. The old "walking city" of Europe had expanded to
become larger than was practical to walk across. People now rode trolleys.
2.
Cities grew upward thanks to skyscrapers. Working in Chicago in the 1880's, architect Louis Sullivan was
the father of the skyscraper. He used steel, concrete, newly invented elevators, and the motto
"form follows function." A bit ahead of his time, his techniques would later influence Frank
Lloyd Wright and become accepted.
B.
Cities attracted people from the farms partly due to jobs, partly to the excitement of the city, partly due to advances.
1.
Cities had city lights, indoor plumbing, telephones, and skyscrapers. There were department stores like
Marshall Field's in Chicago and Macy's in New York.
2.
New York's Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883. The suspension bridge came to symbolize American
ingenuity, technology, commerce, and can-do attitude.
C.
Author Theodore Dreiser captured big-city life (for both good and bad) in his novel Sister Carrie. In a nutshell, it's
about the struggles of a young woman who wants to leave boring country life for the hustle-bustle of
Chicago. She finds upward mobility by sleeping with men she thinks are her ticket up the social ladder.
Notably, Dreiser was a "realist" writer—Carrie's life and Chicago are written about plainly, without "sugar
coating", and rather depressingly.
1.
There was another way for country folks to gain a bit of the big city—via mail order catalogs. Companies
like Sears andMontgomery Ward sent catalogs yearly and people could buy anything in the
catalog and have it sent to their rural homes.
D.
The rapid growth of cities had negative effects as well, mainly in sanitation.
1.
Trash piled up in the streets, drinking water was poor, sewage systems were ineffective, air quality was
terrible, animal droppings were everywhere. The result was unhealthy and unclean conditions in
the streets.
2.
Slums popped up as well. They were far too over-populated and far to unsanitary. Those two conditions
simply added to one another literally making the slums death-traps.
a.
An early godsend was the "dumbbell" apartment. Getting clean air into the tenement apartments
was a problem. The dumbbell apartment had an air shaft vertically down the through the
building to let in air. It wasn't perfect, but was much healthier than a cubicle box shaped
apartment with no air shaft.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
b.
People usually moved up and out of the slums. The slums would then be re-inhabited by the next
wave of immigrants.
E.
A notable statistic occurred in 1920: for the first time, America was more urban than rural. That is to say, more
people lived in cities (of 2,500 people or more) than in the country.
II.
The New Immigration
A.
Immigration was speeding up and it was changing.
B.
Before 1880, most immigrants to America were from "Old Immigration."
1.
They came from northern and western Europe—Britain, Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia. They largely came
from nations with some democratic backgrounds and were of the fair-skinned Anglo-Saxon type.
2.
They were Protestant (except for the Irish and a few Germans).
3.
They were generally better educated and with a bit of money behind them.
C.
Around 1880, things changed over to "New Immigration."
1.
They came from southern and eastern Europe—Poland, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia. They largely came from
nations with little democratic traditions.
2.
They were usually Catholic, uneducated, and were generally penniless.
D.
In 1880 they made up 19% of immigrants; 1910 they were up to 66% of immigrants.
E.
They generally came to areas consisting of their home-country neighbors. Places popped up like "Little Italy" and
"Little Poland." Americans felt these newcomers could not or would not melt into the American way of
life.
III.
Southern Europe Uprooted
A.
The New Immigrants came to America for many reasons: the population in Europe had grown very fast, there had
been wars, there was discrimination, but the main reason for emigrating to America, as usual, was
economic opportunities. Trans-Atlantic steamships also made passage easier.
1.
American businesses loved the immigration boom. It meant a steady and cheap labor force.
B.
Jews emigrated largely to New York City. They were unusual in that they'd come from cities of Europe and brought
their city-life skills.
C.
Many young men (about 25% of the immigrants) came to America not to live, but to work and then return to
Europe.
D.
Immigrants struggled between keeping Old World customs and adopting the New World. To keep the old, Catholics
set up school systems, their were foreign language newspapers, ethnic restaurants, theaters and social clubs.
The children of the immigrants normally grew up "American" and become wholly "American."
IV.
Reactions to the New Immigration
A.
Immigrants were left on their own once entering America. City bosses, such as the infamous Boss Tweed of
the Tammany Hall district in New York City, pretty much ran the immigrants' lives.
B.
Eventually, people's social conscience kicked into gear.
1.
Protestant clergy called for Christian charity. They called for the "social gospel" where churches should
address social issues and problems.
2.
Leading preachers of the social gospel were Walter Rauschenbusch (German Baptist) and Washington
Gladden (Congregational).
C.
Most notable of social reformers of the late 1800's was Jane Addams.
1.
Addams founded Hull House in Chicago (1889). It was a "settlement house"—immigrants came there for
counseling, literacy training, child care, cultural activities, and the like.
2.
A well-known spin-off of Hull House was the Henry Street Settlement in New York run by Lillian Wald.
D.
Settlement houses became hot-beds for activism.
1.
Women in particular began to be active in issues, particularly in addressing discrimination against women
for jobs.
2.
Jobs for women, were few to begin with, and depended on a woman's race, ethnicity, and class. Each
"brand" of woman was pigeon-holed into a certain group of jobs.
3.
Still, the big cities generally offered more opportunities in jobs and entertainment than the small towns
back home.
V.
Narrowing the Welcome Mat This content copyright © 2010 by WikiNotes.wikidot.com
A.
With the boom of immigration, "nativism" (bias against foreigners) reappeared from its 1840's roots. By the 1880's
it was the "New Immigrants" being looked down upon.
1.
The Old Immigrants from northern Europe disliked the New because they were poorly educated, poor,
Catholic, were from the "inferior" regions of Europe, and had high immigration and birth rates.
2.
In simple dollars-and-sense, these New Immigrants would work for pennies. This kept everyone's wages
low. Also, immigrants were used as scabs (strike-breakers) and were hard to unionize due to
language issues. This fostered even more resent.
3.
Politically, they had no democratic background. They came from areas of dictatorships, socialism, and
some were anarchists. These ideas mingled in natives minds and spawned fear.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
B.
Nativist organizations emerged (reminiscent of the old Know Nothing Party of the 1840's and 50's).
1.
The American Protective Association (APA) gained millions of members and urged voting against
Catholics.
C.
Eventually laws followed people's feelings.
1.
The first law restricting immigration to America was passed in 1882. It banned paupers (a very poor
person), criminals, and convicts.
2.
Another law in 1885 forbade importing workers under contract at substandard wages.
3.
Other laws banned more "undesirables" and literacy tests kept many immigrants out until 1917.
4.
A red-letter law was passed in 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act. It banned the immigration of Chinese.
This was the first immigration law to specifically target and ban a specific ethnicity.
D.
Ironically, the Statue of Liberty (1886) was given to the U.S. by France during the days of such anti-foreigner
feelings. PoetEmma Lazarus words were inscribed on the bottom: Give me your tired, your poor Your
huddled masses yearning to be free,…"
VI.
Churches Confront the Urban Challenge
A.
Changes in city were also affecting the churches.
1.
In the shift to the cities, churches seemed to be losing their place in society.
2.
Many people began to question the motives of the churches. The established churches largely had
established church-goers. They seemed to be materialistic and happily stagnant. It was as if the
wealthy parishioner didn't want to get his hands dirty dealing with the issues of the poor.
B.
Within this set of circumstances, religious changes would occur…
1.
Some preachers had been influenced by Unitarianism of the the 2nd Great Awakening days. These liberal
groups spun their own twist on religion: they rejected a literal interpretation of the bible, rejected
original sin of mankind, and pushed for the social gospel.
2.
Dwight Lyman Moody started the Moody Bible Institute and pushed for Christian charity and kindness.
His goal and achievement was connect biblical teachings and Christianity to modern city life.
3.
The Roman Catholic and Jewish faiths were growing largely in numbers due to the New Immigration.
4.
America had 150+ varieties of faiths by 1890. A good social gospel example was the Salvation
Army which helped anyone struggling to make a go of things by doling out soup.
5.
A new religion emerged: Mary Baker Eddy started the Church of Christ, Scientist (AKA "Christian
Science"). The main belief of Christian Science was healing through prayer, not through medical
treatment.
6.
Membership in the YMCA or YWCA (the Young Men's/Women's Christian Association) grew quickly.
They mixed religion with exercise and activity.
VII.
Darwin Disrupts the Churches
A.
Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859. His theory of evolution argued that higher forms of
life had evolved from lower forms of life via random mutation and survival-of-the-fittest.
1.
At first, scientists rejected Darwin's views. Many people followed Frenchmen Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's
version of evolution saying things that happened during an organism's life could be the surviving
factor (not necessarily genetic mutation). By the 1920's, Darwin's view was largely accepted by
scientists.
B.
Darwin's review thus rejected divine creation. Three groups were now in a culture war…
1.
"Fundamentalists" believed the bible as it is written, without any errors. They accepted Genesis 1:1 that
states, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
2.
Liberal Christians blended evolution with divine creation. They justified evolution as acts of God.
3.
"Modernists" rejected religion and accepted Darwin's theory of evolution and his rationale for the
beginnings of life and of life's variety.
VIII.
The Lust for Learning
A.
Education continued to march forward. The idea of "free compulsory eduction," paid for by taxpayers, was a reality,
but generally only up to the 8th grade.
1.
High schools were now growing and were to 6,000 in number by 1900.
2.
Other areas of education grew: (a) kindergartens, (b) "normal" (teacher training) schools, and (c) the fast
growth of parochial schools (especially Catholic).
B.
Adults were left out of this system. But, many adults participated in the Chataqua movement. It was a series of
lectures, a descendant of the earlier "lyceum" circuit. Many well-known speakers, like Mark Twain, spoke.
C.
Stats reflect the benefits of education: the illiteracy rate fell from 20% (1870) to 10.7% (1900).
IX.
Booker T. Washington and Education for Black People
A.
In the post-war South, many still struggled, especially blacks. They were largely poor and poorly educated.
B.
Booker T. Washington developed a plan for bettering the lots of blacks.
1.
He developed the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. It was a normal school for black teachers and taught
hands-on industrial trades.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
2.
George Washington Carver studied the peanut, sweet potato, and soybean there and came up with many
uses for them: shampoo, axle grease, vinegar, and paint.
3.
He felt the way for blacks to advance in the South was through bettering themselves economically. Social
justice would come later.
C.
Washington's largest critic was W.E.B. DuBois.
1.
DuBois was a Harvard intellectual. He criticism was that Washington's method put blacks in a little box of
manual labor only.
2.
DuBois help start the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and called
for the "talented tenth" of the black community to be given full access and equality.
D.
On a day-to-day level, many blacks related much better to Washington and his practical approach.
X.
The Hallowed Halls of Ivy
A.
Upper education expanded after the Civil War.
1.
Women gained more colleges, often in the Midwest, like Vassar.
2.
Black colleges emerged, like Howard University in Washington D.C. and Atlanta University.
B.
Two laws helped the growth of colleges: the Morrill Act (1862) and then the **Hatch Act (1887). They provided
money to states for "land-grant colleges." A focus was on agricultural research at the universities.
1.
They gave birth to 100+ colleges and universities, such as University of California, Texas A&M, and Ohio
State.
C.
Philanthropy or private donations went a long way for colleges. Examples included Cornell, Stanford University
from railroad tycoon Leland Stanford, and the University of Chicago from John D. Rockefeller.
D.
Johns Hopkins University became the first top-rate graduate school.
XI.
The March of the Mind
A.
With new topics like evolution, universities began to struggle to reconcile science with religion. The "solution" was
to drop moral instruction.
B.
The curriculum changed as well.
1.
Traditionally, the curriculum consisted of languages, notably Latin and Greek for bible study, and grammar
or rhetoric. Universities in America had been started to train preachers.
2.
Now, the movement was toward a more practical curriculum. Also, the elective system became very
popular as it gave students choices of classes.
3.
The reform of education jumped forward when chemist Dr. Charles W. Eliot was named president of
Harvard. Symbolically, he changed Harvard's motto from Christo et Ecclesiae (for Christ and
Church) to Veritas (Truth).
C.
Medicine and med-schools improved.
1.
Louis Pasteur (pasteurization) and Joseph Lister's (antiseptics) work helped move medicine from
superstition to science. People now understood germs and life expectancy rose.
D.
Henry James wrote influentially on psychology with books like Principles of Psychology and Pragmatism (saying
America's contribution to any idea was its usefulness, or not).
XII.
The Appeal of the Press
A.
Books had always been popular, but by 1900 people were starving to read. Libraries and newspapers satisfied that
urge.
B.
The Library of Congress opened in 1897 and Andrew Carnegie had given $60 million to build local libraries across
the U.S.
C.
Newspapers were on the rise as well with the invention of Linotype. People were hungry to read the latest goingson.
1.
Joseph Pulitzer (New York World) mastered sensational reporting, called yellow journalism after his
comic "The Yellow Kid."
2.
William Randolph Hearst (San Francisco Examiner) was also a yellow journalism editor and put together
a newspaper empire made of a chain of newspapers.
3.
Daily newspapers immensely helped unify the U.S. People were now much more on the "same page,"
literally, as someone in another section of the nation. Notably, this is when the popularity of
national sports, especially baseball, took off since one could follow his team each day.
4.
Drawbacks rose however: one as the influence of advertisers in the expanding newspaper business; another
was that reporting was focussed more on selling papers than on accuracy (a "juicy" story was
better than an accurate story).
5.
The establishment of the Associated Press (AP) and their accuracy helped balance the yellow journalism.
XIII.
Apostles of Reform
A.
Magazines were popular, such as Harper's, Atlantic Monthly, and Scribners.
B.
Editor Edwin L. Godkin's liberal magazine Nation was very influential.
1.
It was read by intellectuals and thinker-types and was reform minded.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
2.
It pushed for civil service reform (government jobs based on talent, not connections), honest government,
and a mild tariff.
C.
Henry George wrote Progess and Poverty which examined the relationship between those two concepts. His theory
was that "progress" pushed land values up and thus increased poverty amongst many.
1.
His solution to the distribution of wealth was to propose a 100% tax on profits—a very controversial
proposal.
D.
Edward Bellamy published the novel Looking Backward. It's character fell asleep and awoke in the year 2000 to an
ideal society. His solution was that the government had taken over all business, communist/socialist-style,
and everything was rosy. Intellectual-types enjoyed discussing the book and its ideas.
XIV.
Postwar Writing
A.
People read like wildfire after the Civil War. "Dime novels" were very popular, especially about the Wild West with
characters like "Deadwood Dick."
1.
Harlan F. Halsey wrote about 650 dime novels and became rich.
B.
Gen. Lewis Wallace wrote Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It countered Darwinsm with faith in Christ and sold 2
million copies.
C.
A very influential writer was Horatio Alger. He wrote rags-to-riches stories, usually about a good boy that made
good. They allchampioned the virtues of honesty and hard work that lead to prosperity and honor. His best
known book was titled Ragged Dick.
D.
Walt Whitman revised his classic "Leaves of Grass." He also wrote "O Captain! My Captain!", inspired by
Lincoln's assassination.
E.
Emily Dickinson became famous as a poet after she died and her writings were found and published.
XV.
Literary Landmarks
A.
Writing was going through a change of flavor: in the early 1800's "romanticism" ruled (for example, The Last of the
Mohicans), by the late 1800's "realism" took over (for example, Sister Carrie). The switch to realism was
spawned by the industrial revolution and growth of cities.
B.
Kate Chopin wrote openly about adultery, suicide, and the ambitions of women in The Awakening (1889).
C.
Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Mark Twain took that pseudonym since he'd worked on a Mississippi riverboat
as a boy and that was the captain's yell to mark the depth. He was already famous with the story "The
Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".
1.
He traveled through the West and wrote Roughing It (1872) recounting the trip. It was a mix of truths, halftruths, and tall tales, and readers loved it.
2.
He co-wrote with Charles Dudley Warner The Gilded Age (1873) that laid bare the questionable politics
and business of the day.
3.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) told of the likable huckster and school-skipper and his gal Polly.
4.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) told of buddies runaway Huck and runaway slave Jim as they
rafted down the Mississippi. The book was immensely popular and influential. Ernest Hemingway
later said, "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain
called Huckleberry Finn."
D.
Bret Harte wrote of the West in his gold rush stories, especially "The Luck of Roaring Camp" and "The Outcasts of
Poker Flat."
E.
William Dean Howells, editor of Atlantic Monthly, wrote about common people and controversial social topics.
F.
Stephen Crane wrote brilliantly and realistically about industrial, urban America in Maggie: A Girl of the
Streets (1893). It old of a girl-turned-prostitute and then suicide.
1.
His most famous work was The Red Badge of Courage (1895) about a Civil War soldier and his sacrifice.
G.
Henry Adams, grandson of John Adams, wrote a history of the early U.S. and The Education of Henry Adams, his
best known.
H.
Henry James, brother of philosopher William James, usually wrote about innocent Americans, normally women,
thrown amid Europeans. His best works were Daisy Miller (1879), The Portrait of a Lady (1881), and The
Bostonians (1886).
I.
Jack London wrote about the wilderness in The Call of the Wild (1903), White Fang, and The Iron Heel.
J.
Frank Norris's novels criticized corrupt business. The Octopus (1901) was about railroad and political corruption
and The Pit was about speculators trading in wheat.
K.
Two black writers gained prominence using black dialect and folklore.
1.
Paul Dunbar wrote poetry, notably with "Lyrics of Lowly Life" (1896).
2.
Charles W. Chesnutt wrote fiction, notably The Conjure Women (1899).
L.
As mentioned prior, Theodore Dreiser was the champion of realism with his novel Sister Carrie (1900). Carrie
moved in with one man then eloped with another (who was already married), then left them both for a
career on stage. It morality of the novel was shocking to proper society.
XVI.
The New Morality
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
A.
"Modern" times and morality were changing, or perhaps more accurately, morality didn't change but was
challenged.
B.
Two sisters, Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin published a periodical that shocked proper, Elizabethan
society. Woodhull announced her belief in free love, they both pushed for women's propaganda, and
charged that respectable Henry Ward Beecher had been having a long affair.
1.
Anthony Comstock made it his mission to stop all moral threat. Armed with the "Comstock Law," he
collected dirty pictures and pills/powders he said abortionists used.
C.
The "new morality" began to take place in the form of higher divorce rates, increased birth control, and more open
sex talk. These changes had largely been prompted by the increased independence of women that there own
jobs provided.
XVII. Families and Women in the City
A.
Families were stressed in the new urban society.
1.
On the farm, another child was another helping hand; in the city, another child was a liability—another
mouth to feed. Thus,birth rates declined. Under the stress of the city, divorce rates shot up.
B.
Paradoxically, people seemed more lonely in crowded cities than on farms. Families became critical companionship.
C.
Feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman published Women and Economics, a classic of feminism. She (1) shunned
traditional femininity, (2) said there were no real differences between men and women, and (3) called for
group nurseries and kitchens to free up women.
D.
Ladies still pushed for female suffage. The push for the right to vote had taken a time-out to push for blacks' rights;
now the push was on again.
1.
The National American Suffrage Association was started in 1890 with Elizabeth Cady Stanton (from the
old Seneca Falls Convention of 1848) and Susan B. Anthony.
2.
A new leader was Carrie Chapman Pratt. She changed the argument from "women deserve to right to
vote since they're equal" to "women deserve the right to vote in order to carry out their traditional
roles and homemakers and mothers."
a.
This new argument linking voting to traditional women's roles seemed to pay dividends. Western
states, which had always been more accepting of an independent woman, began to give
women the right to vote (Wyoming being the first).
E.
Women's Clubs popped up in cities and garnered some 200,000 members in 1900.
F.
Female suffrage was reserved to white women only. Black women found other causes: Ida Wells led a nationwide
push against lynching and helped start the National Association of Colored Women (1896).
XVIII. Prohibition of Alcohol and Social Progress
A.
The movement to prohibit alcohol gained steam as well as corner bars were everywhere in the city. The argument,
mostly by women, was that alcohol and the bars kept the men drunk, took the family's wages, and increased
violence at home.
B.
The National Prohibition Party (1869) got a handful of votes, though not many, for president.
C.
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (1874) was more aggressive. It was led by Francis E.
Willard and Carrie A. Nationwhose trademark was to literally walk into a bar and chop it up with a
hatchet.
D.
The Anti-Saloon League (1893) increased the push against alcohol by singing anti-liquor songs.
E.
Gains were made…
1.
On a local level, some states/counties banned alcohol, led by Maine.
2.
On the national level, the 18th Amendment (1819) was the culmination of the prohibition movement.
Amendment 18 (AKA "Prohibition") simply banned alcohol in the U.S. It was short-lived.
The 21st Amendment repealed the ban on alcohol.
F.
Notably other crusades popped up at the same time: the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
and theAmerican Red Cross (1881) led by Clara Barton, the famous Civil War nurse.
XIX.
Artistic Triumphs
A.
In the early days of America, art had been on hold while the nation was built. By the end of the 18th century,
American art was coming into its own.
B.
Many new artists emerged…
1.
James Whistler lived an eccentric life. His best-known painting was of his mother.
2.
John Singer Sargent painted portraits of European nobility.
3.
Mary Cassat painted women and children, as with her "The Bath" showing a mother bathing a small girl.
4.
George Inness painted landscapes.
5.
Thomas Eakins painted realistically, as seen in his graphic surgical painting "The Gross Clinic."
6.
Winslow Homer was perhaps the most "American" painter. He typically painted scenes of daily New
England life and the sea. Homer's topics included schoolhouses, farmers, young women, sailors,
and coastlines.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
7.
Sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens made the Robert Gould Shaw (leader of 54th black regiment in the
Civil War) memorial in Boston Common.
C.
Music made steps with symphonies in Boston and Chicago and New York's Metropolitan Opera House.
1.
Black folk tunes were giving birth to jazz, ragtime, and blues. These genres would later spawn country and
rock 'n roll, as by Elvis Presley.
2.
Thomas Edison invented the phonograph which recorded sound and music for playback.
D.
Architecture mimicked older, classical styles.
1.
Architect Henry H. Richardson designed buildings with his trademark high-vaulted arches in his
"Richardsonian" style. His style was very ornate and reminiscent of Gothic cathedrals. The
Marshall Fields building in Chicago was his masterpiece.
2.
The Columbian Exposition (1893 in Chicago) revived classical architectural forms and setback realism or
Louis Sullivan's new "form follows function" style.
XX.
The Business of Amusement
A.
American entertainment went to the national level. This was due to increased free time due to hourly jobs in cities
and increased national unity due to newspapers.
B.
Phineas T. "P.T." Barnum (who quipped, “There’s a sucker born every minute,” and “the public likes to be
humbugged.”) andJames A. Bailey started the circus and adopted the slogan, "The Greatest Show on
Earth".
C.
Wild west shows were popular. "Buffalo Bill" Cody's was well-known. It featured Annie Oakley who shot holes
through tossed silver dollars.
D.
Baseball, became very popular. Baseball was emerging as the clear "American pastime" and a professional league
started in the 1870's.
E.
Horse racing was also being organized and would soon become the nation's second national pastime. The first
Kentucky Derby was run in the early 1870's, even before the first World Series.
F.
Other sports emerged: (1) basketball was invented by William Naismith in 1891, (2) people liked the rugged nature
of football, and (3) boxing took on gloves and became more of a spectator sport.
G.
Two crazes hit at the end of the 1800's—croquet and bicycling. Croquet was considered risqué because it exposed
women's ankles and encouraged flirting.
(26) The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution
I.
II.
The Clash of Cultures on the Plains
A.
The West, after the Civil War, was still largely untamed. It was inhabited by Indians, buffalo, coyotes, Mexicans,
and Mormons.
B.
The American Indians found themselves caught in between their own traditions and the westward-pushing white
man.
1.
Indians fought one another as with the Comanche over the Apache, the Chippewa over the Cheyenne, and
the Sioux over the Crow, Kiowa, and Pawnee. By this time, the Sioux had become expert
horsemen and effectively hunted buffalo on the Spanish beasts.
2.
Whites' diseases were still striking at Native Americans. And, whites struck at the massive buffalo herds.
C.
Relations between Indians and the federal government were strained at best.
1.
Treaties were made at Fort Laramie (1851) and Fort Atkinson (1853). The agreements started the system
of reservationswhere Indians were to live on certain lands unmolested by whites.
2.
Whites didn't understand Indian society and that a "chief" didn't always exactly sign an agreement for an
entire group or area. There were many chiefs representing many areas or even no area.
3.
Indians expected help from the federal government in return for their lands. The help (food, blankets,
supplies) often never got there or were swindled by corrupt officials.
D.
After the Civil War, the U.S. Army’s new mission was to clear out the West of Indians for white settlers to move in.
1.
The so-called "Indian Wars" took place roughly from 1864-1890 (from the Sand Creek Massacre to the
Battle of Wounded Knee). It was really less of a war than a long series of skirmishes, battles, and
massacres.
2.
At first, the Indians actually had the advantage because their arrows could be fired more rapidly than a
muzzle-loading rifle. The invention of the Colt .45 revolver (the six-shooter by Samuel Colt) and
Winchester repeating rifle changed this.
3.
Notably, one-fifth of the U.S. Army out West was black, the "Buffalo Soldiers" as the Indians called them.
Receding Native Population
A.
Violence out West began just before the Civil War ended.
1.
Col. J.M. Chivington's troops circled then killed 400 Indians who thought they'd been given immunity. This
was the infamousSand Creek Massacre (1864).
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
2.
Two years later, the Indians struck revenge in the Fetterman Massacre. The Sioux sought to stop the
Bozeman Trail to Montana's gold and killed Capt. William J. Fetterman and his 81 soldiers.
3.
These two tic-for-tac massacres set the stage for terrible Indian-white relations and started the Indian wars.
B.
Just after Fetterman, the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) was made between the federal government and the Sioux.
The government gave up on the Bozeman Trail and the huge Sioux reservation was established. The treaty
looked promising but was short-lived.
1.
Six years later, in 1874, gold was discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota (on the Sioux reservation)
when Col. William Armstrong Custer led a "geological" expedition into the Black Hills.
C.
The Battle of Little Bighorn (1876) (AKA "Custer's Last Stand") followed.
1.
Led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, some Sioux stubbornly refused to go to the reservation.
2.
Custer led about 400 cavalry against Crazy Horse who was labeled as a "hostile" Indian. Custer faced some
10,000 Indians, about 2,500 warriors. All 200+ or so of Custer's detachment were killed, including
Custer himself, "Chief Yellow Hair."
3.
The Little Bighorn battle brought the U.S. military out for revenge and sealed the Indian-white relationship
as little better than warfare.
D.
The Nez Perce tribe, led by Chief Joseph, revolted when the government tried to force them onto a reservation.
They bugged out over some 1,700 miles, across the Rocky Mountains, and fled for Canada.
1.
They were caught and defeated at the Battle of Bear Paw Mountain only 40 miles from the Canada
border. Chief Joseph "buried his hatchet" and gave his famous speech saying, “From where the
sun now stands I will fight no more forever.”
2.
The Nez Perce were sent to a Kansas reservation where 40% died from disease.
E.
The Apache of the Southwest were troublesome to the Army. Led by Geronimo, the military chased him and the
Apache into Mexico where he proved to be a very wily adversary.
1.
The apache, and Geronimo, were eventually caught, imprisoned in Florida and then Oklahoma.
F.
The Indians were subdued due to (1) railroads, (2) diseases, (3) lack of buffalo, (4) war, and (5) the loss of their land
to white settlement.
III.
Bellowing Herds of Bison
A.
There was an estimated 15 million buffalo around by the end of the Civil War. The buffalo herds diminished largely
due to the railroads.
1.
The railroads literally split the Great Plains into sections. This decreased the buffalo's ability to roam
around. Even more detrimental, railroads brought more and more whites who put more and more
pressure on them.
B.
Buffalo were killed (a) for hides, (b) for sport, and (c) to kill off the Indian way of life.
C.
By 1885, an estimated only 1,000 survived, mostly located in Yellowstone National Park. The vast majority died off
or "went the way of the buffalo."
IV.
The End of the Trail
A.
By the 1880's, the people were beginning to recognize the plight of the American Indian. Helen Hunt Jackson's
book A Century of Dishonor helped outline the injustice done to Indians by the U.S. government. Her
novel Ramona had the same effect in fiction form.
1.
Native Americans faced a stark decision: to join modern times, stick with traditional ways, or somehow try
to mix both.
2.
Many whites wanted to try to help the Indians "walk the white man's road."
3.
Others felt the tough policies of containing Indians on reservations and punishing "hostiles" was the way to
go.
B.
Missionaries were eager for Indians to convert to the Christian religion. They helped convince the government to
outlaw the "Sun Dance."
1.
Later, the "Ghost Dance" fad swept through the Sioux nation and prompted the Battle of Wounded
Knee (1890).
2.
Wounded Knee was not a battle but a massacre. 200+ Indians were killed, essentially killed for dancing.
This battle marked the end of the Indian Wars. By this time, all Indians were either on reservations
or dead.
3.
1890 was also the year that the federal government said there was "no discernible frontier"; that is to say
that by 1890, the West was won, or lost, depending on the viewpoint.
C.
In 1887 the Dawes Severalty Act was passed. Its overall goal was to erase tribes and set the Indians on the road to
"becoming white." It was a very insulting law…
1.
Although the Indians were truly "Native Americans" and the whites were the immigrants, the law said
that Indians could become U.S. citizens after 25 years if they behaved as the U.S. government
preferred (like "good white settlers").
2.
Looking back, this policy seems absurd since a European stepping off the boat in 1887 would receive
citizenship in just a few short years, not 25.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
3.
The Carlisle Indian School which opened in 1879 exemplifies the ambitions of the Dawes Act. Carlisle's
goal was was train Indian children in whites' ways. The children were completely immersed in
white culture and grew up that way. Carlisle's results were successful in their goal by following
"kill the Indian, save the child" policies.
a.
A notable graduate of the Carlisle School was Jim Thorpe, likely one of the best all-around
athletes in American history. He played professional football, professional baseball,
professional basketball, and won Olympic gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon.
4.
The Dawes Act held the goal of killing the Indian way of life, and largely succeeded. In 1900, Indians held
only 50% of the land they'd held just 20 years prior.
a.
The forced-assimilation policies of the Dawes Act would rule until the Indian Reorganization Act
(1934) was passed. By then, things had changed too much.
V.
Mining: From Dishpan to Ore Breaker This content copyright © 2010 by WikiNotes.wikidot.com
A.
At Pike's Peak Colorado, gold was discovered in 1858 and "fifty-niners" flooded to the hills to dig. Most prospectors
didn't find much or any gold, but many stayed to mine silver or farm.
B.
The Comstock Lode of silver was discovered in Nevada shortly after Pike's Peak. The lode was extremely
productive: $340 million dollars worth was unearthed. In 1864, Nevada became a state almost overnight.
C.
There was a routine to the growth of mining towns…
1.
First, gold/silver was found as in Virginia City, Nevada. When word got out, they grew like wild—too fast
for their own good. These boomtowns were nicknamed "Helldorados" because of their
lawlessness.
2.
Saloons and bordellos quickly came to town, and a general store for supplies.
3.
Later, if the town remained, a post office, school, sheriff, and an opera house for entertainment might
arrive.
4.
For many towns, when the minerals ran out, the townsfolk simply left and the town became a ghost town.
D.
Notably women in these western towns gained a certain independence they lacked back East. Women found jobs in
traditional female roles (like cooks or store clerks) as well as prostitutes. Still, they were making money for
themselves.
1.
a.
The independence and equality of western women is best seen in many states granting women the
right to vote—Wyoming (1866), Utah (1870), Colorado (1893) and Idaho (1896).
E.
Mining life was captured and mixed into American folklore by stories by Bret Harte and Mark Twain.
VI.
Beef Bonanzas and the Long Drive
A.
As cities back East boomed in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the demand for food and meat increased
sharply. Theproblem then became—how to get the western cattle to the easter cities? The solution was the
railroads.
1.
Beef became big business. Stockyard towns like Kansas City and Chicago gave birth to "beef barons" such
as the Swift and the Armour families.
B.
Much of the cattle was in south Texas, where the railroads hadn't reached yet. The problem then became—how to
get the Texas longhorns to the railroad. The solution was the "long drive", a cattle drive from Texas to the
Kansas railroads.
1.
Cowboys wound round up a herd then drive them northward across plains and rivers.
2.
Their destination was the stockyards in towns like Dodge City or Abilene in Kansas, Ogallala, NE, and
Cheyenne, WY.
3.
These towns became famous for the Wild West activities—hard liquor, wild women, gambling, shootouts,
and their famous lawmen like Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hickock.
C.
The days of the cowboy driving cattle across the prairie on the long drive were short-lived. Several factors ended the
days of the open range…
1.
Sheep herders came in and nibbled the grass off too short for cattle to feed.
2.
Several years of drought dried up the grass and hard freezes took their toll.
3.
Mostly, when railroads came to Texas, there was no need to drive cattle. The invention of barbed wire (and
wire promoterSamuel Glidden) fenced in the land and the cattle business changed from roaming
the open range to staying on a ranch.
a.
Ranching had become big business and big power, evidenced by the Wyoming Stock'-Growers
Association who controlled the state.
D.
Despite being around only 20 years or so, the image of the American cowboy riding free across open land was
deeply emblazoned on the American psyche.
VII.
The Farmers’ Frontier
A.
The Homestead Act (1862) offered 160 acres of free land. Settlers only had to pay a small fee and improve the land,
meaning build a small cabin on it. Alternately, the land could be purchased flat-out for $1.25 per acre.
1.
Either way, the Homestead Act was a great deal. Some 500,000 settlers took up the offer and headed west.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
2.
Settlers often had a rude awakening—due to its sparse nature, 160 acres of western land seemed much less
than 160 acres back east.
a.
Settlers often were forced to give up due to drought, extreme cold or heat, or simply because 160
acres wasn't enough to sustain a family.
3.
Fraudsters accompanied the Homestead Act. Speculators grabbed up 10 times as much land as real farmers
in hopes of turning a profit one day. Some hucksters built a twelve by fourteen cabin on the land,
twelve by fourteen inches.
B.
Ever since the railroads came through, people realized that the American west, though dry, was actually fertile. The
trick was to get water to the soil.
1.
Wheat prices soared due to worldwide crop failure and American settlers pushed farther and farther
westward, even west of the 100th meridian. This line also the 20-inch rainfall line, the amount
generally necessary to grow crops.
2.
Geologist John Wesley Powell, who'd shot the rapids of the Colorado River, had warned that the land was
too dry.
a.
Farmers developed "dry farming" to deal with the sparse rain. With this technique, farmers would
plow the dew into the top few inches of soil. The system worked but it created a dusty
layer of powder atop the soil. In the 1930's the Great Dust Bowl would result.
b.
A more drought resistant strain of wheat was imported from Russia and corn was replaced by
easier-to-grow crops.
3.
The federal government irrigation projects would eventually dam up the Missouri and Columbia Rivers.
Irrigation would suck the Colorado River so that it would peter out and never make it to the sea.
VIII.
The Far West Comes of Age
A.
The West boomed in population during the 1870's to 1890's and new states were ready to join the U.S. Several were
admitted in one block vote: North and South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming.
B.
The Mormons finally banned polygamy (marrying multiple wives) in 1890 and Utah was then admitted as a state in
1896.
C.
The Oklahoma territory was opened to settlers in a "land rush" in 1889. Many jumped the starting gun and snuck out
to the land "sooner" than the others—earning the nickname of the "Sooner state." Most land rusher
participants went home empty-handed but Oklahoma became a state by the end of 1889.
IX.
The Fading Frontier
A.
The census bureau announced in 1890 there was no longer a discernible frontier in America.
B.
The loss of frontier and land made people worry that it'd be gobbled up for good. Yellowstone was obtained by the
federal government as the first national park in 1872. Yosemite and Sequoia parks followed in 1890.
C.
Frederick Jackson Turner wrote of the "Turner Thesis" saying that the frontier had played an important role in
American history and in people's psychology.
1.
Turner wrote, "American history has been in a large degree the history of the colonization of the Great
West."
D.
Americans could always just up-and-leave, go westward, and start over (called the "safety-valve theory").
1.
City-dwellers typically did not move out West since they had no farming skills or money for equipment.
The western cities (Chicago, Denver, San Francisco) did grow as workers sought jobs there. But,
even the possibility of frontier land may have kept wages up since employers wouldn't want to
lose valuable employees.
2.
Immigrant farmers were the ones to typically take up the western land to farm.
E.
The west saw several cultures bang heads: Native Americans, whites, Hispanics, Asian, and the immense role of
government holding much of the land.
F.
The Great West was captured in word and on canvas by writers like Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Helen Hunt Jackson,
Francis Parkman and painters George Catlin, Fredric Remington, and Albert Bierstadt.
X.
The Farm Becomes a Factory
A.
Farming changed too. Farmers used to grow and make whatever they needed. They now switched to growing "cash
crops"—crops to be sold, not eaten or used. Other items would be purchased.
1.
If a desired item wasn't at the local general store, farmers could buy anything via mail order
catalog. Montgomery Wardsent its first catalog out in 1872.
B.
Inventions turned farms into food-factories.
1.
Steam driven tractors could plow much more land than by mule or oxen.
2.
The "combine", a mix of reaper and thresher, harvested much more wheat.
3.
The drawback of these machines was that farmers got themselves into loads of debt. Many went bankrupt.
The end result was that the small farmers faded and huge mega-farms emerged.
C.
California agriculture was amazing. They were extremely large and extremely productive.
1.
Migrant Mexican and Chinese workers were paid very little; profits were hefty.
2.
The refrigerator car was invented in the 1880's and California fruits and vegetables began moving eastward.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
XI.
Deflation Dooms the Debtor
A.
The economy bounced back, worldwide, in the 1880's. Markets went up, farmers produced more crops, and food
prices dropped. In this situation, the farmer was the one to suffer.
1.
Grain farmers were at the whim of world crop prices. A bumper crop, in say Argentina, meant American
wheat farmers faced ruin.
B.
The two major concerns of the farmer were (1) low crop prices and (2) deflated currency.
1.
Crop prices generally dropped due to the increased production that machinery could generate.
2.
Deflated currency meant that it was more difficult to pay off debts.
a.
Farmers faced two problems here: (1) low crop prices meant they'd need to grow more crops to
pay the debt (which meant lower crop prices again), and (2) there was
literally less money in circulation making it tougher to get their hands on money. Less
money in circulation was called “contraction.”
C.
The farmers operated at a loss each year, which mounted their debt, and sent them into a spiral toward foreclosure.
Interest rates ran between 8 and 40%.
D.
After "losing the farm," farmers typically became "tenant farmers" where they lived on and worked, but did not
own, the land. This situation was similar to the sharecroppers in the South after the Civil War.
XII.
Unhappy Farmers
A.
If debt wasn't enough, farmers also faced drought, heat, prairie fires, floods, locust swarms that would eat everything
but the mortgage, and the boll weevil decimated Southern cotton.
B.
The government added insult-to-injury by taxing farmers to death. Their lands were assessed too high meaning their
taxes were too high.
1.
The farmers' assets (land) were in the open, by comparison, Easterners could hide their assets (stocks and
bonds) in safe-deposit boxes.
C.
Perhaps the farmers' biggest enemy was the railroads.
1.
Farmers relied on the railroads to get the crops to the market. Farmers were at the railroads' mercy.
2.
Middlemen got a hefty cut by buying from the farmer, storing the grain, then selling to the railroad shipper.
3.
Railroad rates were high. Any disgruntled and complaining farmer just saw his crops left at the railroad
station to rot.
D.
In 1890, 1/2 of Americans were still farmers (although the number had been dropping since colonial days).
1.
Though big in numbers, they had a major weakness in that they were not organized. Whereas factory
workers were organizing in labor unions, farmers did not.
2.
Two reasons cut at any farm organization: (1) farmers were/are by nature individualists and independentminded; they rely on themselves, not on the "hide-behind-safety-in-numbers" theory of labor
unions, and (2) from a practical sense, farmers were simply too spread out geographically to
organize.
XIII.
The Farmers Take Their Stand
A.
The Greenback movement (push for paper money) had shown how farmers were disgruntled back in 1868.
B.
In 1869, the Grange (officially the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry) was started by Oliver H. Kelley.
The Grange wasa national farmers' organization aimed at advancing farmers' agenda.
1.
The initial goal was social in nature—to have "get-togethers" for isolated farmers. By 1875 it had 800,000
members.
2.
The Grange then added helping the farmers' lot in life to their goals. Especially, the Grange wanted to get
the trusts off of farmers' backs.
a.
They set up "co-ops" (cooperatively owned stores) so farmers wouldn't have to sell to one grain
elevator.
b.
They tried, and failed, to produce their own farm machinery.
c.
They got into politics, had some success in the Midwest, and sought to regulate railroads. These
were called "Granger Laws."
d.
They faced a major setback in the Supreme Court's Wasbash case which said the states could not
regulate interstate trade (meaning the railroads).
C.
Overall, the Grange had mixed results…
1.
On the good side, in 1878, they elected 14 members of Congress. They also stirred a sleeping lion in the
American farmer.
2.
On the bad side, in 1880, the Greenback Party nominated Granger James B. Weaver for president but he
got a measly 3% of the vote.
XIV.
Prelude to Populism
A.
In the 1870's an organization very similar to the Grangers emerged—the Farmers' Alliance. Their goals were the
same also: to socialize and to push the farmers' agenda.
1.
The Alliance swelled to over 1,000,000 by 1890, but could've been even bigger. It excluded tenant farmers,
share-croppers, farm workers, and blacks.
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
2.
A separate Colored Farmers' National Alliance was started for black farmers. It gained 250,000 members.
B.
Out of the Farmers' Alliance a new party was spawned—the People's Party, also known as the Populist Party.
They agreed on the following:
1.
To fight the "money trust" on Wall Street.
2.
To nationalize railroads, telephone, and the telegraph.
3.
To start a graduated income tax (graduated meaning steps or levels, where the tax rate is higher the more a
person earns).
4.
To start a "sub-treasury" to provide loans to farmers.
5.
To call for the unlimited coinage of silver.
C.
Of these goals, the coinage of silver rose to the top of the list. It sparked the most fire amongst the farmers and their
leaders.
1.
William Hope Harvey wrote a pamphlet called Coin's Financial School. It laid out the arguments for silver
and was illustrated with such scenes as a gold beast beheading a silver maiden.
2.
Ignatius Donnelly was elected to Congress from Minnesota three times on the silver stance.
3.
Mary Elizabeth Lease said farmers should raise "less corn and more hell." And she did just that, earning
her the nicknames of "Mary Yellin'" or the "Kansas Pythoness."
D.
In 1892, the Populists won several seats in Congress. Their candidate, again James B. Weaver, earned over
1,000,000 votes.
1.
They were hindered by racial tensions in the South. Their challenge was to join the North and join up with
city workers to make a political party with a rural/urban one-two punch.
XV.
Coxey’s Army and the Pullman Strike
A.
The Panic of 1893 fueled the passion of the Populists. Many disgruntled unemployed fled to D.C. calling for change.
1.
Most famous of these people was “General” Jacob Coxey. “Coxey’s Army” (AKA the "Commonweal
Army") marched on Washington with scores of followers and many newspaper reporters. They
called for:
a.
Relieving unemployment by a government public works program.
b.
An issuance of $500 million in paper money. Both of these would create inflation and therefore
make debts easier to pay off.
2.
The march fizzled out when they were arrested for walking on the grass.
B.
The Pullman Strike in Chicago, led by Eugene Debs, was more dramatic.
1.
Debs helped organize the workers of the Pullman Palace Car Company.
2.
The company was hit hard by the depression and cut wages by about 1/3.
3.
Workers went on strike, sometimes violently.
4.
U.S. Attorney General Richard Olney called in federal troops to break up the strike. His rationale: the
strike was interfering with the transit of U.S. mail.
5.
Debs went to prison for 6 months and turned into the leading Socialist in America.
XVI.
Golden McKinley and Silver Bryan
A.
The presidential election of 1896 was an important one. It essentially asked, then answered, the question, "Will the
U.S. base its money on gold, silver, or both?" It also saw disgruntled and restless workers going up against
the conservative and worried business class.
B.
The Republicans nominated William McKinley.
1.
McKinley was "safe" in that he was pro-tariff, had a respectable Civil War record, a respectable
Congressional record, and had a friendly mannerism.
2.
McKinley's right-hand-man was Mark Hanna, a businessman through-and-through. Hanna held very probusiness ideas and wanted to get McKinley elected so government could help business.
3.
Hanna organized the entire campaign. They were a bit indirect about the gold/silver issue, but they leaned
gold.
C.
The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan.
1.
The Democrats were a bit lost without a leader until the young (36) Bryan came forward. He was a super
speaker, called the "boy orator of the Platte" (a river in his home state of Nebraska).
2.
Bryan "wowed" the convention crowd with his Cross of Gold Speech saying, "You shall not press down
upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."
Bryan was formerly nominated by the Democrats.
3.
This speech made the gold/silver issue the top issue in the election.
a.
The Democrats then stole the Populist Party's main push—they called for the value and coinage of
silver at a ratio of 16:1, gold-to-silver.
b.
Fearing a McKinley win, Populists largely favored joining the Democrats in what could be called
a "Demo-Pop" Party.
XVII. Class Conflict: Plowholders Versus Bondholders
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06 APUSH (23-26) (1865-1898) American Pageant Outline
A.
In 1896 election was heated. William Jennings Bryan went on a blitz of campaign speeches. He once gave 36 in one
day.
B.
The idea of silver money rose to near religion status. Silver was going to save the poor.
1.
Both sides threw around wild economic accusations and played on people's economic fears.
C.
McKinley's campaign amassed $16 million (the most up to that time), whereas Bryan's only drummed up $1 million.
D.
McKinley, and Mark Hanna, played on people's fears in the week before the election.
1.
They hinted that, if Bryan were elected, people need not report to work the next morning because their job
would be gone.
2.
They initiated rumors that workers were considering paying in 50 cent pieces rather than dollars.
E.
McKinley won the election 1896 easily, 271 to 176 electoral votes. Bryan carried the South and West, McKinley
carried the Northeast, Midwest, and far West.
F.
The election was important in that (a) gold was decided upon as America's economic basis, (b) it was a victory for
business, conservatives, and middle class values (as opposed to the working class), and (c) it started 16
years of Republican presidents (and 8 of the next 36 years).
XVIII. Republican Standpattism Enthroned
A.
William McKinley, as president, was safe in his decisions. He didn't ruffle feathers and tried to stay close to public
opinion.
B.
With the gold/silver issue decided, the tariff became the lead issue.
1.
It was decided that the Wilson-Gorman Tariff wasn't bringing in enough money.
2.
So, Congress worked through the Dingley Tariff Bill. It eventually raised tariff rates to 46.5%, higher, but
not as high as some had wanted.
C.
The gold issue was settled.
1.
Congress passed the Gold Standard Act (1900) saying people could trade in paper money for gold. Just
knowing and trusting that meant there was no need to do that. This brought economic calm and
stability.
2.
Also, there was a gold rush in Alaska, the "Klondike gold rush." Lots of new gold, also from worldwide
sources, brought the inflation that the silverites had long wanted.
D.
The economy rebounded as well in 1897, McKinley's first year in office. This was due to…
1.
The 1893 recession had run its course and it was time for growth.
2.
McKinley likely brought a sense of calm both in his pro-business policies and by simply having the
gold/silver question answered. The economy, and especially Wall Street, never likes uncertainty.