Unit 8: Industrialization & the Great West

Goals of this Unit

• To recognize that America accomplished heavy industrialization in the post Civil War era, spurred by the transcontinental rail network, business grew and consolidated into giant corporate trusts, as epitomized by the oil and steel industries.

• To understand that industrialization radically transformed the practices of labor, immigration, the condition of the working class, and city life as urban growth exploded during the era, eventually leading to unsuccessful union and reform movements.

• To realize that after the Civil War, a rapid expanding white population in the West overcame the Plains Indians fierce resistance and settled the western regions, bringing to a close the long frontier phase of American history.

Industrialization in America

• U.S. becomes largest manufacturing nation in world – why?– Liquid capital – lots of money, assets– Natural resources – great plains, mountains,

California, etc– Immigration – large workforce kept labor cheap– Inventions – help mass production

Railroads• 1865 – 35,000 miles• Congress commissions expansion and grants land to

railroad companies• 1900 – 200,000 miles

• Transcontinental railroad completed in 1869

Railroads• Impact of Railroads?– Eastern and western markets

now linked– Investment and westward

expansion– Western cities boom

• Chicago, San Francisco, Denver

• Problem with industrial centers & railroads spread across 3,000?– Coordination: Time zones

begin in 1883

Titans of Industry• John D. Rockefeller (Standard Oil

Company)– Monopolized oil industry

• Andrew Carnegie (U.S. Steel Corp)– Monopolized steel industry

• Uses “Bessemer process”• U.S. becomes top producer of steel by 1900

• J.P. Morgan– Financier – made millions by making

deals, buying and flipping companies• Leland Stanford– Monopolized Western industry

Plutocracy and Corruption• Plutocracy develops– Rule by the rich

• Wealthy business owners unregulated– Big business and bribed Government

• Numerous scandals fixed by reform• Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)– Aimed to outlaw monopolies

and trusts, limit their power

New Type of Labor• Rise of factories = rise of

factory workers• Pros:– Mass production and

wealth– Job creation– Standard of living rose

• Cons:– Immigration increasing =

wages decreasing– Workers rights minimal

at first

Unions

• Unions ineffective at first – why?– IMMIGRATION, scabs, business owners had gov’t on their

side, job contracts outlawing unions, black lists, etc• Unions gain power and influence:– National Labor Union (1866)– Knights of Labor (1881)– American Federation of Labor (1886)

• By 1900, Unions become more successful– Strikes, collective bargaining, Labor Day

Urbanization• Population in cities triple during

Gilded Age– Steel industry, trolley cars,

skyscrapers• Problems with rapid

urbanization?– Poor sanitation, spread of disease,

crime• Cities began having lights,

plumbing– Telephones, typewriters– Who do these inventions

influence?• Bring women to workplace

Immigration• Old Immigration – Northern and

Western Europe– Britain, Ireland, Germany,

Scandinavia• Shared similar cultures:– Light-skinned– Educated, democratic political views– Came with some money– Mainly protestant

• Who of these groups got the worst treatment?– Irish – uneducated, poor, Catholic

Immigration Shifts

• New Immigration – Southern and Eastern Europe– Poland, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia, Jews

• Very different than Americans:– Different cultures– Little democratic experience– Poor, Catholic or Jewish

• Which group would gain success fastest?– Jewish – came from cities of

Europe…– Knew city-life skills unlike other

immigrants

Immigrants Receive Backlash• “Nativism” begins– Bias against “inferior” foreigners

begin– Saw them as threatening American

culture and way of life– Unable and unwilling to assimilate– Evidence: Little Italy, Little Poland– Scabs

• Statue of Liberty given to America from France in 1886 – irony?– “Give me your tired, your poor, your

huddled masses yearning to be free”• Reform movements for

immigrants and women gain strength

Cultural Advancements

• Americans becoming more literate– Education system growing in America– Libraries spawning across the country

• Music, Art, Poetry, Literature, Theater, Sports all flourish– Barnum and Bailey, “Buffalo Bill”, Baseball, Boxing,

Basketball, Horse Racing, Bicycling

Power of the Press

• Newspapers:– Joseph Pulitzer – New York World– William Randolph Hearst – San

Francisco Examiner, New York Journal

– Both Created a news monopolies– Became rivals

• Effects of Newspapers?– Helped unite nation– National sports rose – baseball– “Yellow journalism” begins• Juicy story, not accurate story

Yellow Journalism

• Also used for political, economic gains

• Spanish American War (1898)

• San Francisco Earthquake (1906)

Industrial Revolution’s Effects:

• Many setbacks, but standard of life overall improved• Majority of population leaves agrarian lifestyle, move

to cities• Issues of corruption, immigration, worker rights all

met with eventual reform• Debate between Thomas Jefferson vs. Alexander

Hamilton finally solved: who won?• Hamilton’s idea of an industrial, big-city America has

come to fruition

Westward Expansion

• Main problem with expansion?– Native American problem

• Federal Government’s Agenda:– Clear out Indian presence in the west to allow for

white settlement

The “Indian Wars” (1864-1890)• Series of skirmishes, battles, and massacres• Overtime, new advancements in weaponry give U.S.

advantage– Colt .45 revolver, Winchester rifle

• Reservation system:– Lands reserved for Indians to protect from white settlers

• Problems:• America’s misconception of Indian political structure leads to

conflict– Overestimating a chief’s authority and representation

• Indians never received promised food & supplies from federal government in exchange for land

• Conditions are harsh on reservation – cold, barren, unfamiliar land – many die

Massacres and Battles• Sand Creek Massacre (1864)

– Col. J.M. Chivington and his troops encircled and killed up to 150 Indians in Colorado

– Many were women and children• Fetterman Massacre (1866) – American

soldiers securing “Bozeman’s Trail” to gold in Montana– 81 soldiers ambushed and killed in Wyoming by

the Sioux tribe• Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) –

Government made peace with Sioux, abandon use of trail

• 1874 – Gold discovered in South Dakota on Sioux reservation– Set the stage for “Custer’s Last Stand”

Massacres and Battles• Battle of Little Bighorn (1876)• General George Custer sent in

with 400 cavalry soldiers to remove Sioux

• Met by a coalition of 10,000 Indians led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull

• All American troops killed, including Custer– Battle and previous massacres

reduce Indian-White relations to an all-time high for hostility

Massacres and Battles• Chief Joseph and Nez Perce

tribe defeated at Battle of Bear Paw Mountain– Relocated to reservation in

Kansas• Apache, led by Geronimo, in

Southwest very hostile– Apache every hard to subdue– Geronimo eventually caught and

imprisoned in Oklahoma

Native Americans Defeated

• Indians subdued because:– Railroads– Increasing white population in America– Diseases– Buffalo population decreasing– War

• Indians lose 50% of their during Gilded Age

Efforts to Help Indians• Missionaries sent in to reservations to convert

Indians– Efforts led to Battle of Wounded Knee– Over 200 Indians massacred for practicing

outlawed traditional dance– Marks the end of the “Indian Wars”

• Dawes Severalty Act (1887) – goal was to anglicize Indians:– Indian land to be owned by individuals, not tribes– Indians could become U.S. citizens after 25 years– European immigrants were becoming citizens after

only 3 years– Carlisle Indian School opens in 1879

• Forces assimilation• Indian children trained to be “white”• “Kill the Indian, save the child”

• Dawes Act successful in it’s goal of killing Indian way of life

The Wild, Wild West

• Growing urban populations in East increase demand for food

• Ranching and beef become big business in west– “Cowboys” drove herds across plains

to east – very inefficient– Newly built railroads begin to

transport cattle back east• Cowboys only existed 20 years,

but became a popular image of American West

Farmers• Homestead Act (1862) and “land rushes” (in

Oklahoma) encourages western settlement• Farming was not as easy in western states– Land was fertile, but very dry

• “Dry farming” system starts:• Farmers would plow dew into top few inches of soil– Effective, but created a dusty layer of power on top of

soil…– Would lead to the 1930s Great Dust Bowl

• By 1890, U.S. Census Bureau determines there is no longer a “discernable frontier”

Farmers• New inventions allow for mass production• Farming transformed into “cash crop” farming• Farmers transport product by railroad– (Refrigerator car invented in the 1880s)– Farmers became at the mercy of railroads

• Farmers unite to gain political power:– Greenback Labor Party (1868)– The Grange (1869)– Farmers Alliance (1870s)– Populist Part AKA People’s Party (1891)