SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST

&

THE CLOSING OF THE FRONTEIR 1865-1890

Key Tensions

native americans-->O<--buffalo hunters, railroads

cattlemen-->O<--sheep hearders

ranchers-->O<--farmers

ethnic minorities-->O<--nativists

environmentalists-->O<--big business interest,local governmetn officials, farmers, buffalo hunters

SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST

-THE OLD WEST

• the frontier had pushed out to the eastern edge of the great plains prior to the civil war(1860)
• california and oregon achieved stathood during the 1850's
• the great plains, rocky mountains, inter mountain basin, and deserts of the west were sparsely settled

SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST

- GEOGRAPHY

• west of the 100th meridian the climate of north america becomes "higher and drier"

• american industry would provide the tools to farm and ranch in the west

SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST

-PULL FACTORS

• 1862-HOMESTEAD ACT: promoted settlement of the great plains by offereing 160 acres of public land to whatever person or family would lice and farm the land for 5 years.
• 1862-morrill land grant act: encourage states to use the sale of federal land grants to mountain agrarian and technical use.
• 1863-pacific railway act: authorized the building of the transcontinental railroad. Huge grants of land were given to the railroad companies who in turn sold it to settlers at very low prices

NATIVE AMERICANS

• cheyenne, arapano, shoshones, crow, kiowa, comanche, lakota, and apache were the powerful tribes that would resist this final push of american settlement.
• minesota lakota uprising- lakota were being cheated out of land and money so they revolted.
• back east the industrial revolution led to the killing of allthe buffalo.

RED CLOUDS WAR

• is army builds series of forts along bozemaan trail.
• fetterman massacre- lakota warriors kill every single soldier in fetterman's army of 80.
• redcloud win war

TREATIES 1867 AND 1868

• southern plains (1867)
• northern plains (1868)

NORTHERN PLAINS WARS 1874-1880

• miners and prospectors invaded black hills in dakota territory
• govt. sent calvary to deal with native americans

BATTLE OF LITTLE-BIG HORN

JUNE 25, 1876

• custard loses, which shocks the nation
• "custer's last stand"
• cheyenne surrender and are confined to the reservation in 1881.

END OF A WAY OF LIFE 1880-1900

• nez perce under chief joseph
• apache led by geronimo
• all were degeated and were forced to live on a reservation, exile or imprisioned.

DAVES SEVERALTY ACT 1887

• reformers persuade congress to stop dealing with native americans as seperate nations.
• sincere in the belief that this would benefit native americans
• act was designed to break up tribal organizations.

BUFFALO SOLDIERS

• 9th and 10th calvary
• name given by native americans
• ex-slaves made up army

THE AMERICAN FARMER

• farm on the plains 160 acres is too small

CLOSING OF THE FRONTIER 1890

- US had been settled coast to coast

- frederick jackson turner authored the significance of the american frontier in american history.

THE RISE OF BIG BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY

expansion of big business and industry during the gilded age (1876-1900)

Causes of rapid industrialization

-steam revolution

-railroad fueled economy

       *1st big business in US

       *magnet for financial investment

       *technological advances*

       *aided development of other industries

CAUSES CONTINUED...

-Technological innovation

      *bessemer and openhearth (mass production of steel)

      *refrigerated railroad cars

      *edison*-wizzard of menlo park: lightbulb

      *unskilled and semi skilled labor in abundance

      *abundant capital

      *new talented group of businessmen and  advisors

      *market incresed as U.S population increased

      *govt. willing to help at all levels to stimulate economic growth: direct partnership

      *abundant natural resources

NEW BUSINESS CULTURE

Laissez faire->a moral and economic ideal-no room for govt in the market.

Social Darwinism->herbert spencer: "survival of the fittest", William Graham Sumner (1906): "social darwinism in america"

Protestant(puritan): "work ethic"

Rural-->urban:, work in factories

Industrial production: contributed to northern victory in the war.

Make consumer goods in old war factories

CYCLES OF ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEPRESSION

CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY OR ROBBER BARRONS?

-andrew carngegie: steel industry, vertical consolidation to dominate the industry.

-Rockefeller: horizontal consolidation to dominate oil industry

-JP Morgan: finance, his money with strings attached.

SUPREME COURT CASES

-Munn v. illinois: supreme court upheld that an illinois law regulating what railroads could charge for shipping.

-Wabash v. illinois: federal govt. hold the exclusice right to regulate innerstate trade.

INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT OF 1887*

- creates the 1st regulatory agency to regulate interstate transportation and attempt to cut out abuse by transportation companies (railroads).

- creates interstate commerce commision (i.c.c)

- first break from laissez-faire.

THE TRUST*

- industries that control or monopolize the market are known as trust companies.

- sherman anti-trust act 1890: reduce the ability of the trust to monopolize the market.

- The holding company: JP Morgan : made to get through the loopholes of the sherman anti-trust act.

GOSPEL OF WEALTH

- wealth is no longer looked upon as bad.

-christian duty to accumulate wealth

- viewed as sign of gods approval

-should not help the poor directly

-wealth should act as  a "trustee" for their "poorer brotheren"

 WAGES

- unskilled workers $.10/hour, $5.50/ week

- 12 to 16 hour day

- if injured they were fired

- no job security

WOMEN

- paid half as much as men

-in 1900 20% of workforce was made of women

- expected to work in dangerous conditions

THE MOLLY MAGUIRE'S 1875

- secret org. of irish miners

- mine owners hired the pinkerton agency

- 19 mollies were arrested, tried, convicted and executed

- brought and end to violence

ORGANIZED LABOR MOVEMENT

LABOR UNIONS

NATIONAL LABOR UNION 1867

- fought for an 8 hour work day and abolish convict labor

-"panic of 1873" ended the NLU

- *early labor unions were strong after the civil war

KNIGHTS OF LABOR

- national union

-founded in philadelphia in 1869

- emphasized educational and social reform

GOALS

- 8 hour work day

- abolition of child and prison labor

- increased circulation of greenbacks

- equal pay for men and women

- safety codes in workplace

- abolition of national bank

- proposed federal income tax

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR

- craft union- only skilled workers

- bread and butter union- collective bargaining

- 12 national trade unions

- samuel gombers is chosen to lead AFL

- job security

- better wages

- craft union

- catered to skilled worker

- maintain national strike fund

- pushed for closed shops

INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD

- known as the "wobblies"

- organized unskilled workers

- radical socialist

- violent strikes

- recruited unskilled workers and miners

- Bill Haywood is the leader

- violence was justified to overthrow capitalism

EUGENE V. DEBS: SOCIALIST PARTY

- some workers were drawn to ...

socialism- an economic and political philosophy that favors public instead of private control of preoperty and income, wealth should be distributed equally.

GREAT RAILROAD STRIKE 1877

- workers protested unfair wage cuts

-president hayes sendt federal troops to put down the strike

TOOLS OF MANAGEMENT AND LABOR

      management         l         labor

-scabs                        l  -boycots

-pinkertons                  l  -sympathy demonstration

-lockout                      l  -closed shops

-yellow dog contract     l   -organized strikes

-court injunctions         l   -"wildcat" strikes

-open shop                  l

URBANIZATION: GROWTH OF BIG CITIES

* Urban population doesn't pass rural population until 1920's but is rapidly closing.*

-improvement in transportation

-increased agricultural production

-center of intellectual and cultural growth

-improvement in building technology

ARCHITECTS

- frederick olmstead: designed and supervised the buildings of central park

- daniel chester burnham: chicago exposition

-Roebling*:brooklyn bridge 1883

- other cities hired these architects for city planning

URBAN TRANSPORTATION

- trolley cars

- elevated trains, subways, inter-urban commuter lines operated in many large cities

MAJOR PROBLEMS

- lack of clean drinking water

- removal of human and animal waste

- unpaved streets

- inadequate, poorly built housing

- disease

- high infant mortality rate

- high crime rate

*TENEMENTS*

- multi-story apartments

- many cases single room flat shared

- *dumbell tenement

SOCIOLOGY

SOCIAL WORK ANGELS**

- hull-house established by Jane Addams and Ellen Star in chicago during the 1880's

- Florence Kelly, Julia Lanthrope, Alice Hamilton MD

"THE GUILDED AGE"

VICTORIAN AMERICA

MAJOR CHANGES

-us population trippled

-economy changing agricultural→industrial

-population shift from rural to urban

-frontier settle and closed by 1890

-US becomes a world power

THE GUILDED AGE:

POLITICS

- democrats and republicans

 - inefficiency in congress due to the requirement that had a full quorum had to be present to vote on a bill

POLITICS OF EQUILLIBRIUM

-two party stalemate

-intense voter loyalty to the 2 major parties

-well defined voting blocs

DEMOCRATS

*opposed increase in tariff, favored inflation*

-white southerners (preserve white supremacy)

-catholics

-recent immigrants (jews)

-urban working poor

-most farmers

-NYC controlled by democrats

REPUBLICANS

 *favored increased protective tariff*

-northern whites (pro-business)

-african americans

-northern protestants

-most of middle class

-G.A.R.

REPUBLICANS CONTINUED..

-very laissez-faire federal government

• tariff was main source of income for federal govt
• deliver mail
• maintain national military

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS OF THE GUILDED AGE

-brought largest number of voters

-improved communications centralized campaigns

-no president during this period served 2 consecutive terms

1880 ELECTION: FACTIONS OF REPUBLICAN PARTY

1. stalwarts: led by senator roscoe conklin or new york-spoils system

2. half-breeds: james blaine, sen. of maine, interest in local politics

3. mugwumps: wanted to clean up govt. and favored civil service reform. wanted trained experts to run the govt. bureaucracy

5 MAJOR ISSUES OF THE GUILDED AGE

1. regulation of big business by government

2. civil service reform for federal bureaucracy

3. veteran pensions

4. tariff for protectioin of american industry and to raise money for federal government

5. currency: base money on gold to keep money scarce or print more money based on gold and silver to create inflation.

HARD TIMES ON THE FARM (1876-1900)

- farmers had to produce 2X as much in the 1890's than in the 1870's.

- farmers were at the mercy of the railroad.

- the railroad charged high rates to makeup for rebates

SHARECROPPING

- tenants on land owned by plantation owners

- sharecropper was bound to the land because they couldn't pay their debt.

 FARMERS ORGANIZE:

THE GRANGE MOVEMENT

-1st organization in 1870's

-set up cooperative associations

-social and educational components

-lobbying for "granger laws"

-rapidly declined by late 1870's

FARMERS ALLIANCE

- begun in the late 1880's (tx first)

- more political but less social than grange

- ran candidates for office

GREENBACK PARTY 1878

- third party

- James B. Weaver, future leader of populist party

POPULIST (PEOPLES) PARTY

-majority were alliance members

-representatives of labor organizations & other reformers

-attempted to break the stalemate

THE SILVER ISSUE

*- "crime of '73"--> demonetization of silver

*- bland-allison act of 1878: limited silver coinage to 2-4 million per month

POPULIST PARTY PLATFORM

-government regulation of railroads

-secret ballot for voters

-direct selection of senators

-initiative: citizens can initiate legislature

-referendum: citizens allowed to vote on what becomes a law

-recall: can recall elected official from office

OMAHA PLATFORM

-abolition of national bank

-direct election of senators

-australian secret ballot

-re-monetization of silver

-abolition of pinkerton detective agency

-8 hour workday for govt. employees

OMAHA PLATFORM CONTINUED

ECON. REFORMS

-graduated income tax

-prohibition of alien land ownership

-sub-treasury plan: treasury dept. would establish branch banks that would issue low interest loans to farmers

-inflation

GOLDBUGS V. SILVERITES

-Goldbugs(republicans) want scarce money backed by gold and high tariffs

-Silverites(democrats) favor bi-metallism and low tariffs

-Cleaveland, even though he was a democrat, he believed in the laissez-faire and gold standard.

1896 ELECTION

(candidates)

-william Mckinley(1843-1901) incumbant candidate

-william jennings bryan: candidate in 1896,1900, and 1908 elections: "you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold"

SIGNIFICANCE OF 1896 ELECTION

-McKinley wins!-1st modern president (active)

-political stalemate is broken

-populist party absorbed by democratic party