Chapter 13

A T e c h n o l o g i c a l
R e v o l u t i o n
Essential Question
What inventions of the later 1800s revolutionized American
communication?
Technological
Revolution
Samuel Morse rst telegraph
message sent in 1844
revolutionized the world
His simple device kicked off the
Second Industrial Revolution
It was the rst of an explosion of
inventions that would forever
change Americans lives
It has been said that in the future,
this period of time will be
remembered as the Second
Renaissance
Technological
Revolution
In 1865, indoor lighting did not
exist
At the setting of the sun, people
went to bed
If they were wealthy, they could
afford an oil lamp or candle
Refrigeration had not been
invented
Most people used huge ice blocks
which came at high prices
Absolute Zero
Absolute Zero
Absolute Zero
Absolute Zero
Technological
Revolution
In 1860, long distance
communication was agonizingly
slow
Mail took 3 weeks to travel across
the country
Immigrants had to wait months to
hear from home in Europe or Asia
As with any war, 1000s of
innovations took place that would
change the world
Technological
Revolution
Between 1790 and 1860, only
36,000 patents were issued
Between 1860 and 1890 500,000
were issued
European and American business
owners invested large amounts of
money into new ideas
It helped create new industries and
expand on old ones
American standards of living
soared among the highest in the
world
Technological
Revolution
A reason for this explosion was
alternative energy
Most of America ran on coal and
whale oil
Whale oil was difcult to harvest,
limited and expensive
Crude oil was extracted by digging
pits and allowing it to seep into
pools
Edwin L. Drake would change
that
Technological
Revolution
Drake decided to drill
underground for oil
He spent years raising the money
and purchasing the necessary
equipment
In 1859, Drake struck oil and the
modern oil industry was born
Oil reneries sprang up to convert
oil into kerosene used in lamps
Gasoline was a byproduct and was
simply cast away
Technological
Revolution
Thomas A. Edison also pioneered
the use of a new form of energy
Born in 1847, Edison grew up
tinkering with electricity
He worked in New York repairing
stock tickers
He was awarded 40,000 dollars as
a bonus, quit, and began a new
career as an inventor
Edison set to work on inventing an
electric light
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday
Technological
Revolution
Edisons goal was to create an
affordable lightning system to
replace gas lights and lamps
In 1879, he began working to
produce light within a sealed glass
bulb
The trick was nding a material
that would not burn up
The rst known effective element
was bamboo
The light worked off a hand
cranked generator
Technological
Revolution
Edison realized that in order to
make his invention practicable he
would need a central power source
Edison built a power plant in New
York city and set several buildings
alight
This attracted investors and
Edisons idea spread
Soon, there were electric lamps,
fans, printing presses and
appliances
Technological
Revolution
Others came along and improved
upon Edisons technology
Lewis Latimer designed a new and
improved lighting lament
Nicola Tesla, a Serbian inventor
came and worked with Edison
It has been said that many of
Edisons inventions began with
Tesla
Tesla pioneered the use of
alternating current rather than
direct
Technological
Revolution
This led to several public
demonstrations about the dangers
of each
Alternating current could be
carried further than direct which
could only travel 3 miles
Tesla later went to work for
George Westinghouse
Together they led the country in
alternating current
Two rival companies formed,
Edisons General Electric and
Westinghouse Electric
Technological
Revolution
By the turn of the century, 3,000
power stations were lighting 2
million lightbulbs across America
Tesla set out on his own to create a
form of wireless energy
He sought to build a massive
electrical tower to charge the
atmosphere
The design is within the realm of
possibility but he ran out of money
Edison eventually bankrupted
Tesla who died penniless as a mad
scientist
Technological
Revolution
The impact of electricity on
America was incredible
Water and steam powered factories
turned to electricity
Sewing machines became electric
sewing machines
Clothing now came easier, cheaper
and was ready-made
The electric refrigerator made food
more accessible
Technological
Revolution
Despite all these breakthroughs,
they most benetted the wealthy
It would take decades before these
technologies found their way to the
masses
One of the major deterrents from
heading west was communication
Heading into the west meant you
might never communicate with
loved ones again
This changed in the late 1800s
Technological
Revolution
Many inventions were conceived
long before they were made to
work
Many people worked on the
telegraph before Morse as they did
the lightbulb before Edison
The primary means of
communication was the telegraph
Following the Civil War Western
Union Telegraph had 100,000
miles of telegraph wire
By 1900, that number surpassed
900,000
Technological
Revolution
In 1871, Alexander Graham Bell of
Scotland migrated to the US
He arrived to assist people with
hearing difculties
He worked with electrical
equipment to produce sounds for
the deaf
This led him to realize that sound,
other than beeps, could be sent
over an electrical line
In 1876, he invented the talking
telegraph
Technological
Revolution
This invention quickly led to the
telephone
In 1878, the rst telephone
exchange took place in New
Haven, Connecticut
Soon thereafter, President
Rutherford B. Hayes set up a
telephone in the White House
By 1900, 1.5 million telephones
were in use
Chapter 13
A T e c h n o l o g i c a l
R e v o l u t i o n
Essential Question
How did the US Government contribute to the building of the
Transcontinental Railroad?
Technological
Revolution
Before the Civil War, most railroad
lines were short lines
They connected large cities
together
There was not a universal track
width or gauge so tracks in many
regions could not connect
Many people had to switch trains
in route which made the process
time consuming and unpractical
To make matters worse, there were
no signal standards and train
brakes were unreliable
Technological
Revolution
The key event in terms of
transportation occurred directly
after the Civil War
The Transcontinental Railroad was
completed connecting east to west
From there, other railways from
north to south tapped in
Most of the railroad was funded by
the US Government
The government believed it would
improve commerce and the
economy
Technological
Revolution
The Federal Government awarded
massive loans to private investors
Most of the workers on the
railroad were immigrants
Irish workers on the Union Pacic
used pickaxes to level land to lay 6
miles of track per day
Chinese workers were used to
chisel and dynamite paths through
the Sierra Nevada
Workers took pride in their jobs,
often holding competitions for the
amount of track laid per day
Technological
Revolution
Finally, after 7 years of labor, the
transcontinental railway was joined
together
May 10, 1869 the two lines met at
Promontory Point in Utah
A gold spike was driven to signify
the area where east met west
The nation was transformed due to
the railroad
Technological
Revolution
With completion of the railway
across the country, improvements
were made on railways
A standardized rail system, better
brakes, and steel replace iron
Many small towns were
transformed into cities as they
became railway stations
Railroads also led to the creation of
time zones to put everyone on the
same schedule
Technological
Revolution
Railroads created a faster and
more practical means for
transporting goods
They lowered the cost of
production
They created national markets
They created a model for big
businesses
Last of all they stimulated other
industries such as iron
Technological
Revolution
The US emerged as the king of
steel in the mid 1800s
Transforming Iron to Steel was a
process known since the Middle
Ages
The problem was it was very costly
and dangerous
That changed in 1856 with
Englishman Henry Bessemer
Technological
Revolution
Bessemer had a new idea for
creating steel
The Bessemer steel process used
compressed air to purify iron
The process never caught on in
England but was adopted in the
US
Huge iron deposits in Pittsburg
Pennsylvania coupled with the
Bessemer process propelled the US
into the age of steel
Soon the US was outproducing the
world in steel and made effective
use of it
Technological
Revolution
Following the Civil War, New
York grew in size and population
Many workers in Manhattan came
from Brooklyn by ship each day
An idea to build a bridge to
connect the two locations was born
German immigrant and Engineer
John A. Roebling would show the
way
Roebling designed the worlds
largest suspension bridge
Technological
Revolution
The bridge would be supported by
massive steel cables and high steel
towers
It would arch 1,595 feet above the
East River
Shortly after construction began,
Roebling died
His son Washington took up the
task
Huge caissons were built to dig out
the earth for the massive towers
Technological
Revolution
Many died digging in the caissons,
even Washington himself was
disabled from decompression
sickness
Despite the problems and death
toll, the bridge was completed in
May of 1883
The bridge served as a landmark of
American Ingenuity
As darkness fell on the day of its
dedication, 100s of lights ickered
on showing forth the nations
greatest achievement
It is not he work of any one man or any one age. It is the
result of study, of the experience, and of the knowledge of
many men in many ages. It is not merely creation; it is
growth. It stands before us today as the sum and epitome of
human knowledge; as the very heir of the ages; as the latest
glory of centuries of patient observation, profound study and
accumulated skill.
-Abraham Stevens Hewitt
Technological
Revolution
Following the construction of the
Brooklyn Bridge new
achievements were made
In 1871, Chicago experienced a
major setback as re ravished the
city
In the ashes of ruin arose a
landmark structure
Architects Burhham and Root
designed the rst Steel
Construction high rise
The Rand and McNally building
rose to 10 stories using steel
construction techniques
Technological
Revolution
Another building, the Chicago
Reliance, rose 16 stories and became
the rst modern world skyscraper
rimmed with windows
In 1902 the Flatiron building went 22
stories
A competition emerged between New
York and Chicago for the tallest
building
The Chrysler Building rose to 77 oors
The Empire State to 102
Steel and business building replaced
Medieval Cathedrals heralding in a
new age
Flatiron, New
York 22 st.
Chrysler, Chicago 77 st.
Empire State New
York 102 st
1902 1931 1931
Chapter 13
T h e G r o w t h o f B i g
B u s i n e s s
Big Business
One of the most successful business
leaders of the late 1800s was Andrew
Carnegie
Carnegie was born in Scotland
His parents worked in the cottage
industry making clothing
The immigrated to the US where his
father had a hard time nding work
The young Andrew went to work for
his family, starting out as a bobin boy at
age 13
Big Business
Three years later he found himself
carrying telegraph messages around
town
His work ethic caused him to become
the telegraph secretary for the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company
While traveling by train he met
Theodore Woodruff, maker of the
illustrious sleeping car
He asked if Andrew wanted to invest in
his company
Andrew took out a loan, invested and
made a fortune
He found the goose that laid the golden
egg
Big Business
Andrew made wise investments his
entire life
In 1870, with the wealth made from
investments, he built his rst steel mill
He imported the Bessemer Process to
his mill and made millions
He was living the American Dream
Nearing the end of his life, he
committed himself to giving back his
wealth
He created the rst free public libraries
Big Business
Andrew Carnegie was not the only
shrewd businessman that made a
fortune after the War
It was an age of growth, prosperity and
most of all, Big Business
John D. Rockefeller was another who,
like Carnegie, made a fortune from
nothing
His father was a traveling salesman,
selling various elixirs and cures
Rockefeller was very studious, he
received a job as a nancial bookkeeper
Big Business
From that job he learned a great deal
about business and money management
Rockefeller went into the produce
business, made enough prot to build
an oil renery
This business expanded rapidly
His success led him to create the
Standard Oil Company in 1870
Rockefeller slowly began to dominate
the oil industry
His company grew to such an extent
that he was able to offer oil far below
the price of competitors
Big Business
As he undersold them, they would go
broke
Rockefeller would then swoop in and
buy their business
Soon, Rockefeller had created a
monopoly
He owned all oil businesses in America
and could therefore set whatever price
he wished
He was not alone, Carnegie had done
the same with steel though the concept
differed
Coke elds
Iron Ore
Steel Mills
Ships
Railroads
Independent oil
reneries
Vertical
Consolidation
Horizontal
Consolidation
Carnegie Rockefeller
Purchases
Big Business
Two market styles emerge under the
Industrialists like Carnegie and
Rockefeller
Oligopoly = A market dominated by a
few large companies
Example: Cell Phone Providers, Health
Care, Movie Companies, Beverage
Companies, Automobiles
Monopolies = A market is completely
owned and controlled by one business
Examples: US Steel, Standard Oil,
NFL, MLB, Microsoft
Big Business
A third type of market structure was
formed called a Cartel
Cartels were loose associations of
business that worked together
They all made the same product
They worked together to limit supply in
order to keep demand high
This would jack up the price of goods
to incredible levels
Big Business
None of these systems were fool proof
Monopolies suffered from government
intervention
Samuel Dodd, Rockefellers lawyer,
found a way to skirt government
restriction laws
He conceived of an idea to form a trust
In 1882, Owners of Standard Oil and
companies allied with it combined their
operations
Big Business
They all joined together on a mutual
agreement of a share of the funds made
by the business
They created a board of trustees which
Rockefeller controlled and managed as
a single unit called a trust
In time, 40 companies joined the trust
Because the companies did not
ofcially merge, they did not violate
legal laws
This new kind of monopoly proved
almost impossible to stop
Big Business
Historians have adopted the term,
Robber Barons to dene these big
business owners
In the Middle Ages, Barons would
build forts on rivers and charge
incredible fees for passage
The term implies that Rockefeller and
Carnegie made their fortunes from
stealing from the less privileged
The took advantage of small businesses,
used the nations resources,
consolidated money into the hands of
the few
To make matters worse, they did
nothing to help those who worked for
them
Big Business
They are also sometimes referred to as
Captains of Industry
Not everything they did was bad
They supplied goods that led to the
construction of skyscrapers and bridges
They helped the transcontinental
railroad reach coast to coast
They created jobs, raised standards of
living
They also used money to create
libraries, universities, museums and
grants of money to students
Big Business
Many Americans grew skeptical of big
business
They pushed governments to respond
and restrict their power
Government ofcials however were
sympathetic to big businesses
They saw how they stimulated the
economy, created jobs and rose the
level of wealth
By the end of the century, American
Telephone, General Electric,
Westinghouse, Dupont were great
American success stories
American business topped all others in
the world
Big Business
Congress did pass a law in 1890
Its purpose was to limit the amount of
control a given business could have on
industry
The law was called the Sherman
Antitrust Act
It outlawed any combination of
companies that restrained trade or
commerce
The Anittrust Act was vague in
wording, open to interpretation and did
little to limit business growth
Chapter 13
T h e W o r k i n g C l a s s
The Working Class
Andrew Carnegie lived the American
Dream
He started out poor and worked his
way to the top
Many immigrants came from Europe
with the same dreams and ambitions
Most however did not achieve those
lofty goals
America, in many ways, was a far cry
from what immigrants heard about in
stories
The Working Class
Around 14 million people migrated to
the US between 1860 and 1890
During the Civil War, work in America
was scarce
The US Government passed the
Contract Labor Act in 1864
This Law allowed employers to enter
contracts with immigrants
Employers would pay the cost of travel
to immigrants in turn for a years labor
Employers soon began to actively
recruit labor from abroad
Many were Irish due to the 1879 potato
famine
The Working Class
In addition to immigration to America,
many Americans began moving into
cities
An estimated 8 to 9 million Americans
ocked to urban centers for work
In 1860, most workers in factories
worked 12 hour workdays 6 days a
week
There were labor laws that mandated
10 hour workdays but most factories
failed to abide by them
Most factories paid people in the
amount of work they produced, not by
the hour
The Working Class
Workers would received a xed price
for a piece of clothing produced, a
cigar, or part
This type of labor was called piecework
labor
It benetted those who worked the
hardest, the fastest and produced the
best quality
Most piecework was performed in what
came to be known as a sweatshop
Employees would work long hours for
low wages in terrible working
conditions
The Working Class
Factory owners always wanted to
increase productivity
They would work their employees
harder and harder
In the past, artisans would produce an
item from start to nish
In order to increase productivity,
factory owners conceived a better
model
The idea was to divide labor into
several jobs
The Working Class
Instead of building an item from start
to nish, a person would only be
responsible for a small portion or task
This increased productivity but it also
took the joy out of work
There began to be a huge disparity
between workers and owners
In the past, owners cared for their
workers, now they saw them as parts of
a machine
One factory owner declared I regard
my people as I regard machinery. So
long as they do my work for what I
chose to pay for them, I keep them,
getting out of them all I can
The Working Class
In order to make a prot, factories
would need high quality work
produced in a short amount of time
They became cruel taskmasters
People were ned for minor infractions
such as being late, talking, reading or
refusing to do a task
Workplaces were not safe
There were no safety regulations
Many people went deaf, lost limbs,
ngers, contracted deadly maladies
such as black lung
The Working Class
Despite the horrendous conditions,
people worked hard
It gave them money like never before
In addition, there were no labor laws
for age
Many children worked rather than go
to school
Children helped their families pay the
bills and enjoy nancial freedom
Like their parents though, most were
physically scarred from the intense
labor conditions
The Working Class
By the end of 1800, 1 in 5 children
between the age of 10 and 16 worked in
the factories and coal mines
Conditions were tolerable at rst but as
the century came to a close revolution
was in the air
Robert Owens in Scotland came up
with a radical idea
It was based on an Enlightenment
Thinker, John Locke
It held that if a person was placed in
the correct environment, their
character would improve
The Working Class
Robert Owen wondered, if workers
were treated well and taken care of,
would production increase?
In Scotland, he purchased a factory
and began a great experiment
His employees worked fewer hours,
were given holidays, sick leave and
their children were educated
His factory prospered and outproduced
many sweat shops
He called his idea, Socialism
The Working Class
Robert Owen decided to take his
experiment to the next level
He purchased land in New Harmony,
Indiana
He would attempt to take his social
experiment to new heights and create
an entire society based on its precepts
The experiment turned into an total
failure
There were many intellectuals but not
enough people willing to do the work
The idea still held ground in the
workplace and it would storm across
Europe and the US
Chapter 13
S o c i a l i s m a n d L a b o r
U n i o n s
The Working Class
In 1890, 9% of Americans held 75% of
the nations wealth
Under the horrible conditions present
in factories, many clamored for change
Socialism, popular in Europe at the
time, came to America in force
Socialists sought to spread the
economic wealth amongst everyone
In 1848, German philosopher Karl
Marx, with the help of Frederick
Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto
The Working Class
This small tract would turn the world
on its head and kill countless people in
the coming century
It was an economic principal based on
a scientic truth
To understand Marx, we must look at
another great thinker of the age,
Charles Darwin
For 5 years, Charles Darwin completed
a vast scientic study of animals and
insects across the world
Darwin observed that life is a constant
struggle for survival
The Working Class
He then theorized that small biological
differences is what helps a species win
out and survive [Natural Selection]
This theory created a whirlwind of
controversy and interest
While Darwins study mainly spoke of
the animal world, many could not help
but tie it to the human race
Another philosopher, Herbert Spencer,
gured evolution held the key to
creating a better society
He coined the term, Survival of the
Fittest
The Working Class
From Herbert Spencer, came the idea
of Social Darwinism
Social Darwinists speculated on who
was the greatest human race and how
you could make the human race better
They sought to purify the weak out
from the human race eugenics
This they did through racial violence
and sexism
It was an idea that became deeply
imbedded
It gave hope to the old royal blood lines
of Europe, that they might somehow be
special again
The Working Class
In the turmoil and excitement that
Darwin produced, came another theory
that linked Darwinism to Economics
Karl Marx took Darwins principals,
and Social Darwinist theories and
applied them to economic systems
He looked at the structure of economies
and political orders
He saw that mankind began as hunters
and gatherers, evolved into monarchies,
then democracies
He looked hard at the state of the
working class
The Working Class
Marx gured that working conditions
would lead to an end of capitalist and
democratic societies
The end would come in revolution,
working class citizens would rise up
and seize control
Together they would usher in a nal
social economic order called
Communism
It would be a society where all worked
together
There would be no rich, no poor, it
would be a utopia
The Working Class
Many eagerly awaited the revolution
With working conditions across Europe
and America in a horrible state, it
appeared it could occur at any time
In America, workers began to band
together to form unions
These labor unions sought better pay,
shorter workdays, and better working
conditions
In 1866, the National Labor Union was
formed, 60,000 members joined
In 1872, they nominated a presidential
candidate
Sigmund Freud
Of all the 20th century thinkers,
few made a greater impact than
Sigmund Freud
Freud was born in Vienna
Austria
He found himself infatuated
with psychic disorders
He studied in Paris with Martin
Charcot who used hypnosis to
treat hysteria
Freud began to use this method
of medicine to treat people
Sigmund Freud
In the 1890s Freud abandoned
hypnosis and instead began to
treat people by talking to them
As he practiced this form of
treatment, he discovered that
neurotic symptoms related to
earlier experiences from
childhood
He noticed that many of the
problems encountered in his
patients could be traced to
sexual incidents during
childhood
Sigmund Freud
Thus many of his early studies
involved sex
He came up with his theories
such as Oedipus Syndrome
Later, Freud began to probe the
psychic phenomenon of dreams
Freud believed that dreams must
have a reasonable and scientic
explanation
Freuds study of dreams led him
into another realm of what
would be psychology
Sigmund Freud
Freud concluded that dreams
allowed the unconscious wishes,
desires and drives to reach
fulllment
They are a uncensored
playground for the mind
In real life, the mind censors its
true desires which are fullled in
sleep
Freud argued that unconscious
drives contributed to conscious
behavior
Sigmund Freud
Freud later developed an
internal model of the mind
He believed that the mind was
an arena of struggle and conict
between three entities
ID = amoral, irrational,
aggressive and sexual desires
SuperEgo = imperatives, rules
and expectations of society
Ego = mediates between the two
and creates personality
Sigmund Freud
Later generation after Freud
have parted ways with Freuds
ideas
Psychoanalysis has become
fragmented
Even though many of his
theories have failed to stand the
test of time, Freud ofcially
created a new scientic realm
It has created modern
psychology, sociology, and
anthropology among others
Sigmund Freud
As a result of people like Freud,
Darwin and Marx, the world
was viewed in a entirely new
way
Marx gave 3rd world nations
hope to take leading roles
Darwin and Freud moved
people away from religion
Darwinists saw the world as a
place of violence and struggle
Freud gave reasons for peoples
actions and in many ways
replaced concepts of morality
and personal accountability
The Working Class
Another massive labor union formed in
1869 called the Knights of Labor
They sought the same reforms but
attempted to make gains without
strikes
In 1885, the power of the Knights
forced railroad owner Jay Gould to
abandon designs on a wage cut
This lead membership to soar to over
700,000
Many new members participated in
strikes that became violent which
tarnished the name
Membership plummeted
The Working Class
A third labor union formed in 1886
called the American Federation of
Labor
This union differed from all others in
that only craftsman were allowed to
join
It was led by London-Born cigar maker
Samuel Gompers
Technically, all craftsman were
welcome to join but women and
African Americans were often excluded
The AFL focused on wages and labor
conditions, where the Knights of Labor
were not united in their desires
The Working Class
The AFL used strikes and boycotts to
be heard
They forced owners into collective
bargaining in which they all met
together to decide on wages
The AFL did not meet the needs of all
workers
In 1905, 43 groups opposed to the AFL
created the Workers of the World
Union or Wobblies
Many were strong socialists and their
strikes were often violent in nature
The Working Class
In 1877 a massive railroad strike
occurred
There was an economic depression that
year and amidst that it was announced
there would be a 10% wage cut
Workers responded by striking
They tried to prevent others from
working which created a clash with the
local militia
Rioters then began to burn and destroy
railroad property in Pittsburg, Chicago
and St Louis
The Working Class
President Hayes mobilized the federal
army to put down the riots
Soldiers red on a crowd of 20,000
rioters
They responded by destroying 5 million
dollars of railroad equipment
This strike set precedence for others
that spread across America
Not all unions were in favor of violent
strikes as witnessed in the Great
Railway Strike
The Working Class
Eugene V. Debs advocated against
violent confrontation
He felt that violence erupted due to
lack of organization amongst laborers
He began a new type of union called an
Industrial Union
It organized union workers into specic
groups under their craft
Together, they sought to receive better
wages and organize strikes in a manner
that was non-violent
The Working Class
From 1881 to 1900 the US faced 24,000
strikes
Some were increasingly violent
In May of 1886, a group of workers
mounted a national demonstration for
an 8 hour workday
In Chicago, the McCormik reaper
factory hired alternate workers to
replace strikers
Workers called these replacements
Scabs
The Working Class
The strike quickly escalated days later
as anarchists joined the rallies
They threw a bomb at police ofcers
which provoked the police to open re
Dozens were killed on both sides
Four anarchists were captured and
hanged for throwing the bomb
The press blamed the Knights of Labor
for the Haymarket Riot
Most Americans thereafter associated
violence with strikes
The Working Class
In 1892, while Andrew Carnegie was in
Europe, his partner Henry Frick cut
wages
Carnegie knew about the wage cut and
left Frick to handle it
The workers at the steel mill called a
strike
Frick had a plan to defeat strikers
He called upon the Pinkertons, a
private police force to put down the
rebellion
The Working Class
300 Pinktertons moved up the
Monongahela River under darkness
When they came upon the gathered
crowd os strikers they opened re
Americans sided with the strikers
Then, anarchist Alexander Berkman
tried and failed to assassinate Frick
Although Berkman was not associated
with the strikers, he ended up tied to it
The Union called off the labor strike
and returned to work
The Homestead Strike ended in
November
The Working Class
The last great riot involved George
Pullman, inventor of the Pullman
Sleeping Car
Pullman enjoyed great success with his
train sleeping cars
So much so that he founded an entire
town to build and manufacture them
Pullman Chicago was a neat business
town where workers had parks, lakes, a
church, paved sidewalks and shade
trees
He was very strict on his workers
though and banned alcohol
consumption
The Working Class
In 1893, during the economic
downturn, Pullman cut wages by 25%
while keeping food and rent prices the
same
A delegation of workers went to him in
protest
In response, Pullman red three of
them causing the workers to go on
strike
Pullman refused to negotiate and shut
down the plant
Workers turned to the American
Railway Union for help
The Working Class
The ARU supported the strike and
called all delegates to strike in protest
260,000 railroad workers joined the
strike across the country
It completely disrupted the railroad
industry, trade and mail services
Railroad owners convened and argued
that the strike was a form of a
monopoly that was breaking the Anti-
trust Act
The US government sided with the
owners and commanded all workers to
return to work
The Working Class
President Grover Cleveland sent 2,500
soldiers to enforce the return to work
A week later the strike was over
This sent a precedent and time and time
again, court orders were issued on
strikers
The US government supported Union
appeals
Labor Unions remained powerless for
the next 30 years
Chapter 14
M o v i n g W e s t
Essential Question
1)What factors pushed or pulled new immigrants west?
2) What was one key requirement that applicants had to
meet to receive land under the Homestead Act?
Moving West
Many American began moving west in
the late 1800s
There were many motivations for this
mass migration
Some of the factors were forced upon
people [push]
Other factors were due to strong
attraction and personal motivation
[pull]
Regardless of the motivation, many
ventured into a land of adventure and
even death
Moving West
The Civil War displaced thousands of
farmers, slaves, workers and people
seeking a new start
The Mormons ed to escape religious
persecution
Europeans came to America in search
of land and freedom not available in
Europe
Some were even outlaws, escaping
justice
Not everyone was forced
Moving West
Before the Civil War, many owed
west to become rich off of the great
gold rush
After that, migration slowed due to the
issue of slavery
Following the Civil War, there was no
reason not to move west
In 1862, the US Government issued the
Pacic Railway Acts
The government gave large tracts of
land to the Union and Central Pacic
Railroads to open the west
Moving West
After the railroads were built, the
railroad industry sold land for cheap
prices
Cities grew up along railroads, farmers
moved to build crops and take
advantage of shipment lines
The government further encouraged
settlers to move west
In 1862, the Morrill Land Grant was
passed
It gave state government millions of
acres to sell
Moving West
Many moved west and bought up lands
to sell later to settlers
Nothing pushed people west more than
the Homestead Act
For a very small fee, settlers could have
160 acres of land
They had to be at least 21 years old,
build a house and live there for 6
months out of the year
They also had to farm the land for 5
years
The act created 372,000 farms, jobs,
and claimed 80 million acres
Moving West
Not only white Americans ooded west
but immigrants and African American
followed
Ownership of land was a near
impossibility in Europe
Many came from Europe for free land
German immigrants settled along the
great plains
Irish, Italians, Jews and Chinese
immigrants settled along the west coast
They took jobs in mining, building
railroads
Moving West
Mexican Americans became ranchers
and led to the growth of the American
Cowboy
After the Civil War, many African
Americans sought new beginnings in
the west
In 1879, Benjamin pap Singleton led
groups of African Americans westward
He tied it to the bible and the ancient
exodus of the Israelites to the promised
land
They called themselves the exodusters
and over 50,000 headed west
Moving West
America expand westward at an
unprecedented rate
It presented Americans and immigrants
with adventure, hope, land and wealth
However, many of the lands that were
being sold and settled belonged to
Native Americans
Like the century before it, clashes with
Native Americans would distinguish
westward settlement
The treatment of Native Americans
would forever leave a scar on American
history
Chapter 14
C o n f l i c t w i t h N a t i v e
A m e r i c a n s
Conflict with Native
Americans
Easterners called it, The Indian
Problem
As settlers pushed west, how could
Indian lands be used productively for
ranching and farming
To Native Americans, the Problem
was a life or death struggle
They would resist westward advances
in any way they could
When their time ran out, they faced
resignation, fatigue, and heartbreak
Conflict with Native
Americans
Native American hardship began with
the buffalo
Millions of buffalo ranged the Great
Plains
Plains Indians used them for their
meat, hides for shelters and clothing
No part of the buffalo went unused
They traded furs for guns
The also traded for horses, sometimes
stealing, other times capturing them
from the wild
Conflict with Native
Americans
Settlers viewed land as a resource to be
used and proted from
They felt they were justied in taking
Native lands because they could make
them more productive
To Native Americans, settlers were
invaders and thieves
Settlers had no regard for sacred lands
and especially the buffalo
As the transcontinental railroad
connected East to West, settlers and
adventurers killing of the great buffalo
hoards rendered them nearly extinct
Conflict with Native
Americans
Native Americans made their living as
hunters and gatherers
They would travel from place to place
in search of food
With horses and guns, they traveled at
greater distances and lived alongside
the buffalo
War intensied between tribes with
arrival of guns and horses
Feuds were fought frequently over land
and hunting rights
It gave rise to a warrior culture
amongst many tribes
Conflict with Native
Americans
An example of this intensied warfare
can be seen in Shoshone history
From the 1750s on frequent warfare
between the Shoshone, Blackfoot,
Crow, Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho
pushed the Shoshone south and west
Many of the Shoshones original lands
were Montana and Idaho
Some were pushed as far South as
Texas to become the Comanche
As settlers arrived, the government
attempted to tie them to territories
through the use of treaties and
reservations
Conflict with Native
Americans
Most Natives did not understand the
concept of a reservation and left them
only to be arrested or shot
The Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs
{BIA} was created to deliver supplies to
reservations
Widespread corruption within the BIA
lead many supplies to be stolen
The government did attempt to protect
reservations but many hungry settlers
overwhelmed them
Settlers would often kill their buffalo
divert water supplies and even attack
camps
Conflict with Native
Americans
In 1873, Kicking Bird of the Kiowa
declared, [The Indians] have taken
the white man by the hand, thinking
him to be a friend, but he is not a
friend; government has deceived us...
Native Americans lashed out
The broke their treaties and fought
back with increasing violence
By 1871, treaties were worthless
The government would cease to make
them and recognize any chiefs
Conflict with Native
Americans
In the beginning, the US Army
struggled to contain Native resistance
The majority of their forces were in the
South with the Reconstruction effort
They struggled to put down conicts
over such a vast amount of land
On many occasions, the US Army tried
to turn Native tribe against another
Many white proteers made matters
worse by selling arms illegally
Conflict with Native
Americans
Another problem for the US Army was
recruitment
Who would join the army for $13
dollars a month, wear leftover Civil
War Uniforms, and eat rotten food
Many were forced into building forts,
driving settlers from reservations,
escorting the mail, protecting farmers
and railroad workers from raids
Many US Soldiers did not see any
action and over 1/3 deserted
Conflict with Native
Americans
Many battles did occur, most were
violent, heartless, and brutal
The Apache and Navajo Wars started
over land disputed with Mexico
Mexican soldiers killed Geronimos
mother, wife, and 3 children
It lead to a series of wars against
Mexico
Following the Mexican American War,
the US inherited the conict
Fighting did not fully subside until
1906
Conflict with Native
Americans
Other conicts arose in the region of
Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming between
settlers and the Shoshone
Settlers over ran the land to such an
extent that many Natives faced starvation
Frequent attacks broke out
Atrocities nally escalated to complete
war
In 1862, the Shoshone fought the US
Army at the Battle of Bear River in
Southern Idaho
The battle quickly turned to massacre
Over 400 Shoshone were butchered in
terrible and cruel ways
Conflict with Native
Americans
Native Americans and the US Army
met in several battles
Here are some of the biggest
engagements
1864: Sand Creek Massacre
The Southern Cheyenne occupied the
central plains, including parts of
Colorado
They carried out a series of raids on
western settlers traveling along the
many wagon roads to the West
Conflict with Native
Americans
After several skirmishes, The Cheyenne
and Denver Colorados governor
reached a peace agreement
Chief Black Kettle of the Cheyenne set
up camp at Sand Creek
Colonel John Chivington, who had
failed to deal a crushing military defeat
on the Cheyenne, saw a chance for
retribution
In 1864, he took his 700 man army and
descended on the Cheyenne and
Arapaho encampment
Chief Black Kettle tried to replace an
American Flag with a White Flag of
surrender
Conflict with Native
Americans
Chivington didnt care
He and 700 US Soldiers began the
slaughter
Between 150 to 500 Native Americans
were killed in the Sand Creek Massacre
Most of them were women and
children
The next year, many Cheyenne agreed
to move to reservations
The ow of blood was just beginning
Chapter 14
C o n f l i c t w i t h N a t i v e
A m e r i c a n s
Conflict with Native
Americans
The Sioux of the northern plains
[Dakota, Wyoming and Montana]
ercely opposed white expansion
In 1865 the US government infuriated
the Sioux by building the Bozeman
Trail through their hunting lands
Sioux chief Red Cloud launched a 2
year war against the project
The attacks consisted of a coalition of
Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho
Plagued by attacks, the US army began
building forts along the Bozeman Trail
Conflict with Native
Americans
Fort Kearny [near Buffalo Wyoming]
was being constructed as a
headquarters to the area
The Sioux carried out over 50 small
attacks to prevent the fort from being
built
Colonel Henry Carrington advanced
from Fort Laramie to assist
Carrington received under his
command Captain William J.
Fetterman, a distinguished Civil War
hero
He boasted, Give me 80 men and I
ride through the whole Sioux nation
Conflict with Native
Americans
Upon Fettermans arrival, Carrington
was criticized for taking a defensive
stance
Fetterman wanted action, yet he had no
experience ghting Indians
His rst night almost ended in disaster
A loan Indian nearly lured his men to
their destruction by carrying out a hit
and run mission
The Sioux continued their raids, in one
they almost surrounded and destroyed
Carringtons forces
Jim Bridger remarked, soldiers Dont
know anything about ghting Indians
Conflict with Native
Americans
Bridgers comments were prophetic
Encouraged by their success of using
decoys, Red Cloud planned a greater
attack
On December 21, 1866 a small band of
Sioux, led by Crazy Horse, attacked a
Wagon Train along the Bozeman Trail
A larger contingent of Arapaho and
Cheyenne took positions on either side
of the road further north
Fetterman saw the wagons in distress
and sent his men into battle
Conflict with Native
Americans
As he arrived, Crazy Horse and his
men took ight north
Fetterman and his men took the bait
and gave chase
They were soon surrounded,
overwhelmed and slaughtered
81 men in all were killed in the
Fetterman Massacre
The incident led the US to abandon the
Bozeman Trail and assign the Sioux a
reservation in South Dakota
Conflict with Native
Americans
The reservation gave the Sioux the
Black Hills, a land held sacred
Rumors spread of gold in the region
and before long, settlers and gold
diggers appeared in Sioux lands
Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer
was sent to investigate the gold rumor
He reported that the hills cradled gold
from the grass roots down
This announcement was a starting gun
in a massive gold race that enveloped
the region
Conflict with Native
Americans
The US Government attempted to buy
the region from Red Cloud
Sioux Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting
Bull were disgusted at the idea and left
negotiations
They abandoned the reservations
assigned and resumed attacks on
settlers
They gained two improbable victories
in 1875 and were emboldened to wipe
out the US Armies inuence from the
area
The US Army sent three columns of
men out to round up the Sioux and
return them to their reservation
Conflict with Native
Americans
One of the three columns was led by
General Custer and the 7th Calvary
On June 25, 1876 Custer spotted a
small Sioux village near the Rosebud
River
He assumed it was a small contingent
[over 2000], that he could overwhelm
them with a swift attack
He severely underestimated the size of
the Sioux force
He also failed to take into account the
terrain he would be ghting in
Conflict with Native
Americans
Custer divided his forces into three
groups
Major Marcus Reno was to charge
headlong into the village
Major Frederick Benteen was sent to
the upper valley of the Big Horn River
to prevent the Indians from escaping
Custer would attack the village from
the opposite side from Reno
Renos men, number 175, found
themselves ghting for their lives
They took off in retreat heading high
into the bluffs near the village
Conflict with Native
Americans
As Renos men started their retreat
Custer force of 210 men slammed into
the village from the opposite side
Crazy Horse led his army in a sweeping
arc and cut off Custers rear preventing
retreat as Reno had done
Custer was quickly overwhelmed
He ordered his men to shoot their
horses and form and from a carcass
wall to hide behind
The defense did not hold, Custer and
all his men were killed
Conflict with Native
Americans
Reno and Benteen continued ghting
for another day and eventually re-
grouped
The Sioux and their allies meanwhile
mutilated the corpses of Custers men
Their believed that the soul of a
mutilated body would be trapped and
forced to wander earth for eternity
Inexplicably, Custers body was
stripped, cleaned and left
Some believe the Sioux thought he was
a civilian because he was wearing
buckskin, or possibly his short hair was
not worth scalping
Conflict with Native
Americans
The victory was the pinnacle of Native
American resistance
The US would act swiftly to avenge the
defeat that occurred on the centennial
celebration
They area was quickly ooded with US
soldiers, forcing the Sioux to return to
their reservations
Crazy Horse surrendered in 1877
He was later killed by a US soldier as
he resisted arrest
Conflict with Native
Americans
Reservation life was difcult
Many longed for a return to their
original life before the reservations
In 1890, an Indian prophet, Wavoka,
promised a return to the traditional life
if people performed purication
ceremonies
These included the Ghost Dance, a
ritual in which people join hands and
whirl in a circle
The Ghost Dance caught on and spread
wildly
Conflict with Native
Americans
Seeing the Ghost Dance performed,
many soldiers worried an attack was
coming
They plead for reinforcements from the
US Government
Custers 7th Calvary was sent
Hoping to end the Ghost Dances
taking place, Sitting Bull was arrested
As they attempted to take him into
custody ghting broke out
Sitting Bull was shot and killed
Conflict with Native
Americans
Following Sitting Bulls death, 120 men
and 230 women and children surrendered
They were rounded up near a creek called
Wounded Knee in South Dakota
As they were being disarmed, a shot was
red
Soldiers opened re on the crowd
They mercilessly massacred over 200
Sioux
The bodies were left to freeze in a 3 day
storm before being buried
It was a brutal end to Native American
life
Chapter 14
C o n f l i c t w i t h N a t i v e
A m e r i c a n s
Conflict with Native
Americans
I am the last Indian Sitting Bull said
Indeed he was, he was one of the last to
live a life on the plains hunting the buffalo
While many American called for the
destruction of Native Americans, others
were horried
Regardless, both sides of the debate
agreed Natives had to be civilized
They wanted Natives to give up their
traditions, speak English and become
Christians
Conflict with Native
Americans
Christian missionaries ran the
reservations
Tribal Elders were forced to abandon
their religious beliefs and rituals
In 1879, Army Captain Richard H. Pratt
opened the rst Indian School in Carlisle,
Pennsylvania
Children as young as 5, were taken from
reservations to be Americanized
This policy was dubbed, Assimilation
Conflict with Native
Americans
In 1887, the Federal Government changed
its idea on shared land on the reservations
The Dawes Act sought to divide Indian
lands into individual plots
Each Native received 160 acres of land
The Dawes Act would also give Native
Americans citizenship and make them
subject to local and state laws
The idea of farming however offended
most Native Americans
A Native responded, You want me to cut
grass and make hay and sell it and be rich
like a white man. But how dare I cut off
my mothers hair.
Conflict with Native
Americans
Many Native Americans had little interest
in farming
Between 1887 and 1932, many sold their
plots to speculators or were swindled out
of it
2/3rds of the 138 million acres given to
Native Americans as reservation land was
sold back to whites
During the 1880s things got even worse
Settlers began to squat on Native Lands
and take them
Congress even agreed to buy back many
original Native Lands
Conflict with Native
Americans
Vast lands remained unclaimed, many
taken from Natives by the government
The government in turn sold these lands
to settlers
The most famous, the Oklahoma Territory
In 1890, thousands lined up awaiting the
sound of a gun to stake a claim on land
They were called Boomers
Those who took off before the sound of
the gun were called Sooners
It took half a century, thousands of Native
deaths to 950 white Soldiers, to tame the
West
Oklahoma Territory
Oklahoma Territory
Chapter 14
M i n i n g , R a n c h i n g , a n d
F a r m i n g
Mining, Ranching and
Farming
Mining drew more and more people to the
western US
In 1859, the Comstock load was
discovered in Nevada
The Comstock load produced 400 million
dollars in silver over the next 30 years
Pikes Peak in Denver Colorado drew
1000s to what was the Kansas Territory
The Black Hills, opened in 1877 produced
over a billion dollars in gold
It became the single greatest ore
producing mine in the world
Mining, Ranching and
Farming
At rst, miners used antiquated
techniques to nd ore
Then, placer mining was discovered as a
more viable method for searching for ore
Miners would run water over dirt
collected in a box [Placer]
By the 1860s easy to extract ore was
gone, the rest lie deep within the soil,
sometimes trapped in quartz
Many miners did not have the means to
dig deep and thus many early mining
towns became ghost towns
Mining, Ranching and
Farming
When the Spanish arrived in the
Americans they brought with them horses
and cattle
In Argentina, cattle thrived along the
pampas
Similar success was found in Central
America with cattle
Many American settlers were unfamiliar
with cattle driving methods
The early American Cowboy learned from
his Spanish counterpart
Mining, Ranching and
Farming
As the buffalo herds were depleted, cattle
took their place
Prior to the Civil War, most Americans
consumed pork
With the arrival of Texas Cattle Ranches,
Americans switched their taste to beef
At rst, ranchers drove their herds to the
nearest railroad to ship them west for
processing
Cow Towns emerged all over the west
where ranchers drove their herds
Cheyenne, Abilene, Dodge City were
some of the greatest
Mining, Ranching and
Farming
Most cattle were brought from Texas up
the Chisholm Trail to Abilene in Kansas
35,000 cattle were brought up the
Chisholm Trail in 2 decades
Driving cattle north was known as a Long
Drive
The men that drove the cattle were a
tough lot
They included Americans, Native
Americans, African Americans and
Immigrants
They became known as Cowboys
Mining, Ranching and
Farming
Cattle created big business in Texas
Many businessman made fortunes off of
cattle herds and became known as Cattle
Barons
100s of 1000s of cattle were raised in
Texas to be driven north
They grazed on millions of acres of land
once inhabited by the buffalo
By the mid 1880s cattle ranching was on
the decline
Over use of the land, disease, falling
prices led to a major decline
Mining, Ranching and
Farming
Many homesteaders headed west for free
land
Life in the west was tough and labor
intensive
Many parts of the Great Plains did not
have trees
Homesteaders had to made their houses of
dirt called soddies
Clearing the land was rife with danger
There were rattlesnakes, poisonous
spiders
Crops were destroyed be weevils and
grasshoppers
Mining, Ranching and
Farming
Many homesteaders did not make it and
headed back west
The families that stayed learned how to
live a very tough and rugged existence
Families and communities had to pull
together to survive
Women joined men in the elds as equals
Many new technologies emerged to make
life on the homestead easier
Mining, Ranching and
Farming
Mechanized reaper = helped harvest
Barbed Wire = keep cattle conned
Dry Farming = crops on dry land
Steel Plow = cut through dense soil
Harrow = leveled ground
Windmill = brought forth water
Grain Drill = better crop yields
Mining, Ranching and
Farming
In the 1870s the US Government set
forth to save many lands as National
Parks [Yellowstone]
By 1880, the west was closed
In 1893, historian Fredrick Jackson
Turner stated that the wild west had
forever changed the American character
His thesis said that Americans were
adventurous, tough, self improving and
committed to democracy and freedom
The west created literature, shows, myths
and songs about an unparalleled time in
world history
Chapter 14
P o p u l i s m
Populism
American farmers have always struggled
between two forces: Nature and the
Economy
Natural disasters ushered in an era of
struggles for American Farmers near the
turn of the century
Locusts and boll weevils destroyed vast
quantities of crops
Following the Civil War, farmers had
borrowed heavily
Now many farms were failing and the
political cry at the turn of the century
focused on xing farms
The farmers...are the bone and sinew of
the nation; they produce the largest share
of its wealth; but they are getting, they say,
the smallest share for themselves. The
American farmer is steadily losing ground.
His burdens are heavier every year and his
gains more meager
-Washington Gladden
Populism
From 1873 to 1893, the US railroad
industry failed twice
This had a cascading affect that hurt
business, farmers and the economy
Both sides looked to the Federal
Government for help
Traditionally, the US Government had
stayed out of economic affairs
Their pleas would however cause the
government to take action
Populism
One federal policy that was of concern to
farmers was tariffs
In order to discourage people from buying
products made outside of the US, a tariff
was instituted
Tariffs raised the cost of foreign goods and
encouraged people to buy from home
Americans were divided on the benets of
tariffs
Businesses claimed that tariffs were good
Populism
They said that it protected American jobs
and their prots
Because it reduced foreign competition,
they could raise their prices and turn a
greater prot
Farmers however were against tariffs
They raised the prices of manufactured
goods such as farm equipment
They also caused foreign nations to tariff
American goods which reduced the
amount of money farmers could make
Populism
Whenever the government proposed a
new tariff, farmers protested
Farmers viewed tariffs as proof that the
government preferred eastern
manufacturers to western farmers
Tariffs were not the only concern farmers
had in the late 1800s
The value of money is linked to the supply
of money
If there is a lot of money in circulation, the
value of the dollar decreases
If there is a limited supply, then the value
of money increases
Populism
During an economic crisis, the
government often counters by printing
more money
This, again, causes a drop in value and it
also causes ination
When there is more money in circulation,
the price of goods also increases
Overtime, bread which cost .5 cents a loaf
ends up costing 3 dollars a loaf
People who take out loans enjoy ination
because the money they pay back is less
than they borrowed
Ination benets farmers because it raises
the price of the goods they sell
Populism
In contrast to ination, there can also be
deation
If the government chooses to limit the
supply of money by taking cash out of
circulation it creates deation
The value of the dollar rises, products and
goods cost less
People who lend money, such as banks,
enjoy the benets of deation
Those who take out loans often pay more
when they pay it back
Deation favors owners, not sellers
Populism
The issue over deation vs ination
climaxed when the US government
decided to do away with the Greenback
In 1873, the US experienced an economic
crisis
Until that point in time, the US had been
on the Bimetallic standard
Currency consisted of either gold or silver
coins
In order to stabilize the economy, the
government put the nation on a gold
standard
Populism
This move reduced the amount of money
in circulation, thus creating a deation
based economy
Conservatives, buyers, gold bugs were
pleased
Opposing them were farmers and western
miners who became known as Silverites
They wanted ination and more money in
circulation
Silverites called for free silver, the
unlimited coining of silver dollars
The Greenbacks, who wanted paper
money joined the Silverites
Populism
The Bland-Allison Act of 1878 required
the US government to coin more silver
It was vetoed by President Hayes but
passed by congress
The Act accomplished little because the
US Treasury refused to comply
In 1890 the Sherman Silver Purchase Act
caused the government to coin even more
silver
In 1893, the US gold reserves were
depleted and foreign investors withdrew
their gold
It caused congress to repeal the act
Populism
While the currency debate raged on,
farmers across America joined together
Farmers created the Patrons of
Husbandry, or, the Grange
It helped farmers form co-operatives
It worked a little like Costco or Sams
Club
Farmers bought large quantities of goods
for low prices
The Grange also pushed to improve
farming and reduce costs
Populism
In addition to the Grange, many other
famers alliances were formed
They had great power together to enforce
better prices and cheaper operating costs
Many farmers alliances allowed women as
spokespersons
It was another beginning for women
seeking more rights as citizens
In the 1890s various political parties
began to form out of the farmers alliances
In 1891, the Peoples Party [Populist]
emerged that demanded radical change in
the government
Populism
Their platform included the following
policies:
1) An increase in the circulation of money
2) Unlimited minting of silver
3) A progressive income tax which would
benet farmers and hurt industrialists
4) Government ownership of
transportation and communication
They were in favor of an 8 hour workday
They also joined African American
farmers in their cause
Populism
In 1892 the Populist Party generated
great interest
They nominated a presidential candidate,
James B. Weaver
He lost in a landslide to Grover Cleveland
The coming years saw more economic
disparity
In 1896, the issue was again focused on
gold vs silver/ deation vs ination
Republicans nominated William
McKinley on a gold standard
Populism
Democrats and Populists nominated
William Jennings Bryan after his
powerful Cross of Gold speech
Using images from the Bible, he stood
with head bowed and arms outstretched
and cried out
You shall not press down upon the brow
of labor this crown of thorns. You shall
not crucify man upon a cross of gold
Bryan revolutionized the presidential
campaign
He traveled all across American, giving
speeches wherever he went
McKinley gave his speeches from his front
porch
Populism
Despite all his efforts, Bryan failed to win
the election against McKinley
Like the Civil War before it, Bryan failed
to move American to an agrarian society
Big business and industry would reign
supreme
In 1900, huge amounts of gold were
discovered in Alaska, South Africa and
the Canadian Yukon
This greatly increased the worlds gold
reserves
As the nation adopted a gold standard,
prices began a slow rise much to farmers
enjoyment
Populism died out
Chapter 15
T h e G i l d e d A g e &
I m m i g r a t i o n
The Gilded Age
The late 1800s has come to be referred to
as the Gilded Age
The term was coined by Mark Twain
It means, covered with thin layer of gold
American society at the turn of the
century was lightly covered with wealth
and prosperity
The problem was, that covering pertained
to a small group of wealthy industrialists
and not the general public
There was a widespread abuse of power in
business and government
The Gilded Age
Most Americans accepted a Laissez-faire
allow to be economic system
American businesses favored this model
when it benetted them
They also liked government interventions
In order to stimulate growth, the
government would often give out
subsidies
Sometimes a subsidy was land, in other
times it was money in order to stimulate
growth
To ensure government aid, many Big
Businesses bribed politicians by giving
them money in return for subsidies
The Gilded Age
Sometimes these bribes were legal, other
times they were not
One of the major scandals was that of the
railroad
Congress gave land and money to the
Union Pacic Railroad company to build
the transcontinental railroad
Credit Mobilier was the company hired to
build the railway
They charged far more than the actual
costs involved in making the railroad and
pocketed government money
President Grant made money off of the
scheme as well as the vice president
The Gilded Age
A political spoils system began to develop
Congressman and presidential candidates
were supported by wealthy businessman
Often these candidates were corrupt and
had few qualications
They rode to ofce on money and bribes
Once in power, they would pay back the
business owners by giving them subsidies
Political parties began to form on different
lines
Republicans supported big business while
democrats favored the under privileged
such as farmers
The Gilded Age
President Rutherford B. Hayes attacked
the spoils system
When elected into ofce he turned his
back on Republicans
He red employees who came to ofce
through bribes, including the VP
He did not seek a second term in ofce
and with the enemies he made, he likely
would have lost
James A Gareld won the presidency
He was a republican who desired to
reform the spoils system
The Gilded Age
His term in ofce however was cut short
A jaded employee, whom Gareld had not
hired into a government ofce, Charles
Guiteau shot and killed Gareld
The murder created a public outcry for
the spoils system
Vice President Chester Arthur became the
next president
He helped pass the Pendleton Civil
Service Act which tested a government
ofcials background before being
appointed
It also stopped federal employes from
contributing campaign funds
The Gilded Age
In 1884, a Democrat was voted into ofce
for the rst time since 1856
Grover Cleveland rode to ofce promising
to clean up corrupt practices
Cleveland second term in ofce was not
nearly as successful
A worldwide economic slump left many
Americans with poor pay or without work
Cleveland did little to help suffering
Americans
He fought against unions, repealed the
Sherman Silver Act
The Gilded Age
In 1896, William McKinley defeated
William Jennings Bryan for the
presidency
He favored gold over silver for the nations
monetary system
He instituted tariffs and the economy
began a slow but steady incline
In 1901, McKinley visited Buffalo, New
York for an exposition
Leon Czolgosz, a mentally unstable man,
an anarchists, shot and killed the
president as he greeted the public
Immigration
In the late 1800s, America experienced a
new wave of immigrants
Many came eeing religious persecution,
others seeking better jobs and land
In the 1880s a violent streak of pogroms,
Jewish killings, swept across Russia
Many came to America seeking a new
beginning
In 1860, the population of the US was
31.5 million
Between 1865 and 1920 an additional 30
million people came to America from all
over the world
From 1865 to 1890, most immigrants
came from Germany, Britain and Ireland
Between 1890 and 1920, Greeks, Italians,
Slavs, Jews and Armenians arrived
Until the 1880s the US allowed the
individual states to decide who could
settle and who could not
That changed in 1891 when the federal
government took over
They began to segregate people into who
was worthy to enter and who was not
Ellis Island, off of New York became the
Golden Door where most Europeans were
allowed to pass freely
Immigration
On the west coast, Asians arrived at
Angel Island
Chinese immigrants helped build the
railroad, then settled and began farmers
Asians were highly discriminated against
and many were turned away
Those who were granted passage often
had to work for lower wages than their
European counterparts
In 1882, the US Government passed the
Chinese Exclusion Act
Most people of Chinese ancestry were
turned away at Angel Island
It was not repealed until 1943
Immigration
Many Japanese immigrants also came to
America
At rst, they moved to Hawaii after the
US annexed it in 1898
They worked on sugar plantations and as
farmers
From Hawaii a steady stream of Japanese
immigrants came to California
There they became great farmers and
helped the agricultural industry
In 1913, California passed the Alien Webb
Act which banned Asians, mainly
Japanese, from the right of owning land
Immigration
In 1902, congress began an initiative to
bring farming into desolate New Mexico,
Arizona Southern Texas and California
Canals and waterways were built turning
desert into lush farmland
Many Mexicans immigrated, especially
during the Mexican Civil War in 1910
They earned better pay and built
railroads, mines and farms
When the immigration act of 1921
restricted Europeans from coming to
America, many more Mexicans came
By 1925, Los Angeles had the largest
Spanish speaking population outside of
Mexico
Immigration
Chapter 15
C i t i e s a n d r e f o r m
As settlers poured into Americas large
cities, it became difcult to accommodate
them all
Many early colonial homes had been
swallowed by the city and became dens of
lth
240,000 people lived per square mile in
New York in deplorable conditions
Prior to the Civil War, cities in America
were quite small
They only extended, at most, 3 to 4 miles
in any direction
That was rapidly changing
Growth of Cities
In the late 1800s new forms of
transportation transformed cities
Where it was popular to once live by your
workplace, now people commuted
Elevated trains began to appear in New
York in 1868
Cable cars appeared in San Francisco in
1873
Electric trolleys appeared in Richmond
Virginia in 1888
Subway systems in Boston in 1897
Finally, automobiles replaced horses
beginning in 1910
Growth of Cities
Cities, rather than growing out, began to
grow up with skyscraper housing units
The rst housing units were made from
old factories
Business owners converted old industrial
buildings into dank apartments called
tenements
Dozens of people were crammed into
small rooms
This gave rise to the term, slums
Crime and disease was frequent in
tenements
Growth of Cities
Major cities at the turn of the century
were incredibly lthy
Horses still pranced through the streets
dropping waste that no one cleaned up
Many factories ran on coal and the air
was lled with lth and smog
Factories pumped toxic waste into major
rivers, many animals in the Great Lakes
went extinct
Cities had open sewers and rats were
everywhere, spreading disease
Fire was also a constant threat, in 1871,
the Great Chicago Fire destroyed over
18,000 buildings
Growth of Cities
Cholera, Malaria, Tuberculosis,
Diphtheria and Typhoid Fever ravished
cities
Thousands of people died of multiform
diseases
In the tenements of New York, 6 in 10
babies died before their rst birthday
In 1896, over 400 people in New York
died of heat stroke in tenements
Chicago, the department of health
estimated that 80% of the diseases were
preventable
Growth of Cities
Slowly, changes began to be implemented
that helped clean up the lth and stop
disease
The greatest change came after Jacob Ris
reported, lectured and showed pictures in
a tour around the nation called, How the
other Half Lives in 1890
Dumbbell tenements were built that
forced all apartments to have at least one
window
Reservoirs, were built and water ltration
implemented
In 1901, water was treated with chlorine
Growth of Cities
During the Gilded Age, many became
pro-active for reform
The Middle Class were shocked by the
poverty and lth of their cities
Many Americans grouped together in
order to improve city conditions
In New York, women formed the New
York Charity Organization
They helped the destitute and taught
immigrants child raising, cooking and
cleaning
On many occasions they encouraged
immigrants to take upon them American
values
Ideas for Reform
Another movement began to grow out of
the horrible living conditions
It was called the Social Gospel Movement
and it attempted to apply the teachings of
Jesus directly to society
Instead of blaming immigrants for crime,
lth and alcoholism, they decided to treat
the problems that drove people to habits
They sought to improve working
conditions and improve wages
Ideas for Reform
The tall, stately lady who led us placed her Bible on the
bar and read a Psalm...and then one of the older women
whispered to me softly that the leader wished to know if
I would pray. It was strange, perhaps, but I felt not the
least reluctance and kneeling on the sawdust oor, with
a group of earnest hearts around me, and behind
them...a crowd of unwashed, unkempt, hard looking
drinking men, I was conscious that perhaps never in my
life, save beside my sister Marys dying bed, had I
prayed as truly as I did then.
-Frances Willard
Reformers Entering a Salon
Thousands of men and women gathered in
other groups to help the poor
Some determined that simply giving
money to the poor did not help
Instead, they took residence in a house in
a poverty stricken area
There they sought to learn the source of
the problem by living among the poor
These Settlement Houses became places
for people to share their heritages, learn
new crafts and seek help for problems
Many evolved into clubs for children to
keep them off the streets and away from
crime
Ideas for Reform
Those who worked in settlement houses
did so as volunteers
They earned little to no pay
By 1910 there were over 400 of them,
lled with college graduates and women
Many later moved on to careers in
education, nursing and social work
While it did not necessarily change
opinions it did create a greater awareness
and open mindedness
Ideas for Reform
The establishment of settlement houses
and reformer initiatives led to Sociology
Sociology is the study of people and
behaviors
Despite the gains, many Americans once
again adopted a policy of nativism
Immigrants, Asians in particular, found
themselves discriminated against
School began teaching only the English
language
People took oaths to only vote for and
support protestants
Ideas for Reform
Near the turn of the century, there was a
growing initiative to end the consumption
of alcohol
It was called the Temperance Movement
The Prohibition Party, The Womens
Christian Temperance Union and the
Anti-Saloon League all sought to end the
consumption of alcohol
They all viewed that alcohol was at the
center of all of the problems in cities
Progress was slow at rst
Three states agreed to go completely dry
Maine, Kansas and North Dakota
Ideas for Reform
In 1873, Anthony Comstock founded the
New York Society for the Suppression of
Vice
Its purpose was to clean up prostitution,
drugs, gambling and alcoholism
They saw that passage of a law that
prohibited the sending of obscene
descriptions and depictions
Those included information about
contraceptives
Many addictive medicines also were
attacked by reformers and outlawed
Ideas for Reform
Ingredients: Alcohol and Morphine
Bayer Heroin Cough Suppressant: Cured cough and
Morphine addiction
Chapter 14
P o p u l i s m [ C o n s o l i d a t e d ]
Populism
The issue over deation vs ination
climaxed when the US government
decided to do away with the Greenback
In 1873, the US experienced an economic
crisis
Until that point in time, the US had been
on the Bimetallic standard
Currency consisted of either gold or silver
coins
In order to stabilize the economy, the
government put the nation on a gold
standard
Populism
This move reduced the amount of money
in circulation, thus creating a deation
based economy
Conservatives, buyers, gold bugs were
pleased
Opposing them were farmers and western
miners who became known as Silverites
They wanted ination and more money in
circulation
Silverites called for free silver, the
unlimited coining of silver dollars
The Greenbacks, who wanted paper
money joined the Silverites
Populism
While the currency debate raged on,
farmers across America joined together
Farmers created the Patrons of
Husbandry, or, the Grange
It helped farmers form co-operatives
It worked a little like Costco or Sams
Club
Farmers bought large quantities of goods
for low prices
The Grange also pushed to improve
farming and reduce costs
Populism
In addition to the Grange, many other
famers alliances were formed
They had great power together to enforce
better prices and cheaper operating costs
Many farmers alliances allowed women as
spokespersons
It was another beginning for women
seeking more rights as citizens
In the 1890s various political parties
began to form out of the farmers alliances
In 1891, the Peoples Party [Populist]
emerged that demanded radical change in
the government
Populism
Their platform included the following
policies:
1) An increase in the circulation of money
2) Unlimited minting of silver
3) A progressive income tax which would
benet farmers and hurt industrialists
4) Government ownership of
transportation and communication
They were in favor of an 8 hour workday
They also joined African American
farmers in their cause
Populism
In 1892 the Populist Party generated
great interest
They nominated a presidential candidate,
James B. Weaver
He lost in a landslide to Grover Cleveland
The coming years saw more economic
disparity
In 1896, the issue was again focused on
gold vs silver/ deation vs ination
Republicans nominated William
McKinley on a gold standard
Populism
Democrats and Populists nominated
William Jennings Bryan after his
powerful Cross of Gold speech
Using images from the Bible, he stood
with head bowed and arms outstretched
and cried out
You shall not press down upon the brow
of labor this crown of thorns. You shall
not crucify man upon a cross of gold
Bryan revolutionized the presidential
campaign
He traveled all across American, giving
speeches wherever he went
McKinley gave his speeches from his front
porch
Populism
Despite all his efforts, Bryan failed to win
the election against McKinley
Like the Civil War before it, Bryan failed
to move American to an agrarian society
Big business and industry would reign
supreme
In 1900, huge amounts of gold were
discovered in Alaska, South Africa and
the Canadian Yukon
This greatly increased the worlds gold
reserves
As the nation adopted a gold standard,
prices began a slow rise much to farmers
enjoyment
Populism died out
Chapter 15
T h e G i l d e d A g e &
I m m i g r a t i o n
The Gilded Age
The late 1800s has come to be referred to
as the Gilded Age
The term was coined by Mark Twain
It means, covered with thin layer of gold
American society at the turn of the
century was lightly covered with wealth
and prosperity
The problem was, that covering pertained
to a small group of wealthy industrialists
and not the general public
There was a widespread abuse of power in
business and government
The Gilded Age
One of the major scandals was that of the
railroad
Congress gave land and money to the
Union Pacic Railroad company to build
the transcontinental railroad
Credit Mobilier was the company hired to
build the railway
They charged far more than the actual
costs involved in making the railroad and
pocketed government money
President Grant made money off of the
scheme as well as the vice president
The Gilded Age
A political spoils system began to develop
Congressman and presidential candidates
were supported by wealthy businessman
Often these candidates were corrupt and
had few qualications
They rode to ofce on money and bribes
Once in power, they would pay back the
business owners by giving them subsidies
Republicans supported big business while
democrats favored the under privileged
such as farmers
Presidential campaigning surrounded the
idea of eliminating government corruption
The Gilded Age
James Gareld rode into the presidency
promising to end government corruption
A jaded employee, whom Gareld had not
hired into a government ofce, Charles
Guiteau shot and killed Gareld
The murder created a public outcry for
the spoils system
Vice President Chester Arthur became the
next president
He helped pass the Pendleton Civil
Service Act which tested a government
ofcials background before being
appointed
It also stopped federal employes from
contributing campaign funds
The Gilded Age
In 1884, a Democrat was voted into ofce
for the rst time since 1856
Grover Cleveland rode to ofce promising
to clean up corrupt practices
A worldwide economic slump left many
Americans with poor pay or without work
Cleveland did little to help suffering
Americans
The next president was William McKinley
who was elected in 1896
The Gilded Age
He instituted tariffs and the economy
began a slow but steady incline
In 1901, McKinley visited Buffalo, New
York for an exposition
Leon Czolgosz, a mentally unstable man,
an anarchists, shot and killed the
president as he greeted the public
The nations politics at the turn of the
century was in chaos
Immigration
In the late 1800s, America experienced a
new wave of immigrants
Many came eeing religious persecution,
others seeking better jobs and land
In the 1880s a violent streak of pogroms,
Jewish killings, swept across Russia
Many came to America seeking a new
beginning
In 1860, the population of the US was
31.5 million
Between 1865 and 1920 an additional 30
million people came to America from all
over the world
From 1865 to 1890, most immigrants
came from Germany, Britain and Ireland
Between 1890 and 1920, Greeks, Italians,
Slavs, Jews and Armenians arrived
Until the 1880s the US allowed the
individual states to decide who could
settle and who could not
That changed in 1891 when the federal
government took over
They began to segregate people into who
was worthy to enter and who was not
Ellis Island, off of New York became the
Golden Door where most Europeans were
allowed to pass freely
Immigration
On the west coast, Asians arrived at
Angel Island
Chinese immigrants helped build the
railroad, then settled and began farmers
Asians were highly discriminated against
and many were turned away
Those who were granted passage often
had to work for lower wages than their
European counterparts
In 1882, the US Government passed the
Chinese Exclusion Act
Most people of Chinese ancestry were
turned away at Angel Island
It was not repealed until 1943
Immigration
Many Japanese immigrants also came to
America
At rst, they moved to Hawaii after the
US annexed it in 1898
They worked on sugar plantations and as
farmers
From Hawaii a steady stream of Japanese
immigrants came to California
There they became great farmers and
helped the agricultural industry
In 1913, California passed the Alien Webb
Act which banned Asians, mainly
Japanese, from the right of owning land
Immigration
In 1902, congress began an initiative to
bring farming into desolate New Mexico,
Arizona Southern Texas and California
Canals and waterways were built turning
desert into lush farmland
Many Mexicans immigrated, especially
during the Mexican Civil War in 1910
They earned better pay and built
railroads, mines and farms
When the immigration act of 1921
restricted Europeans from coming to
America, many more Mexicans came
By 1925, Los Angeles had the largest
Spanish speaking population outside of
Mexico
Immigration
As settlers poured into Americas large
cities, it became difcult to accommodate
them all
Many early colonial homes had been
swallowed by the city and became dens of
lth
240,000 people lived per square mile in
New York in deplorable conditions
Prior to the Civil War, cities in America
were quite small
They only extended, at most, 3 to 4 miles
in any direction
Growth of Cities
Cities, rather than growing out, began to
grow up with skyscraper housing units
The rst housing units were made from
old factories
Business owners converted old industrial
buildings into dank apartments called
tenements
Dozens of people were crammed into
small rooms
This gave rise to the term, slums
Crime and disease was frequent in
tenements
Growth of Cities
Cholera, Malaria, Tuberculosis,
Diphtheria and Typhoid Fever ravished
cities
Thousands of people died of multiform
diseases
In the tenements of New York, 6 in 10
babies died before their rst birthday
In 1896, over 400 people in New York
died of heat stroke in tenements
Chicago, the department of health
estimated that 80% of the diseases were
preventable
Growth of Cities
Slowly, changes began to be implemented
that helped clean up the lth and stop
disease
The greatest change came after Jacob Ris
reported, lectured and showed pictures in
a tour around the nation called, How the
other Half Lives in 1890
Dumbbell tenements were built that
forced all apartments to have at least one
window
Reservoirs, were built and water ltration
implemented
In 1901, water was treated with chlorine
Growth of Cities
Another movement began to grow out of
the horrible living conditions
It was called the Social Gospel Movement
and it attempted to apply the teachings of
Jesus directly to society
Instead of blaming immigrants for crime,
lth and alcoholism, they decided to treat
the problems that drove people to habits
They sought to improve working
conditions and improve wages
Ideas for Reform
Near the turn of the century, there was a
growing initiative to end the consumption
of alcohol
It was called the Temperance Movement
The Prohibition Party, The Womens
Christian Temperance Union and the
Anti-Saloon League all sought to end the
consumption of alcohol
They all viewed that alcohol was at the
center of all of the problems in cities
Progress was slow at rst
Three states agreed to go completely dry
Maine, Kansas and North Dakota
Ideas for Reform
In 1873, Anthony Comstock founded the
New York Society for the Suppression of
Vice
Its purpose was to clean up prostitution,
drugs, gambling and alcoholism
They saw that passage of a law that
prohibited the sending of obscene
descriptions and depictions
Those included information about
contraceptives
Many addictive medicines also were
attacked by reformers and outlawed
Ideas for Reform
Ingredients: Alcohol and Morphine
Bayer Heroin Cough Suppressant: Cured cough and
Morphine addiction