WESTWARD EXPANSION AND

INDUSTRIALIZATION

Change and Conflict in the American West

Between 1865-1900 (25 year period) the western frontier (West of the Mississippi River) was divided into: 18 new states 4 territories: Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma

Prior to this period and before the end of the Civil War in 1865 the only inhabitants on the frontier were: Indians (300,000) Spanish Missionaries (Southwest) Mormons (Salt Lake) Trappers- Mountain Men Buffalo- 15 million

The Great Plains

By 1890 the land had been settled by: Farmers Ranchers (cattle, sheep) Miners (gold, silver, copper) Merchants, Bankers, and Railroads

Two major obstacles slowed the development of the frontier: Geography and Climate Native Americans

Great Plains development…

Development was assisted by: Military force Government land give-a-ways federal/state loans to railroads Investment by eastern and foreign bankers Disease

Native Americans Treatment of Native Americans:

Reservation Policy- remove to unwanted areas Americanize- assimilate to American culture- abandon tribal

ways

Sand Creek Massacre- 1864- 150 Native American slaughtered by the US Army (mostly women and children)

Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse- two leaders who refused to give up fighting for their land

Battle of Wounded Knee- US Army killed 300 unarmed Native Americans and left their bodies to freeze

Bitter end of the Indian Wars…

Factors that led to the removal of the Indians: Railroads Disease Alcohol Extermination of the Buffalo

People moving West…..

1887 Dawes Act- Government act that forced Indians onto reservations1. broke up tribal governments2. Assimilation- abandon native customs, traditions, way of life3. Land allotments- 160 acres of land developed over 25 years before title given4. Indians dealt with as individuals

Homestead Acts- gave land away to white settlers 160 acres of land $10 fee develop in 5 years for title give

Most land went to: Speculators- real estate agents who sold land at higher prices for a

profit Railroads were given prime land

Hardships of the Great Plains

Extreme Hardships Droughts Floods Fires Blizzards Locust plagues Outlaw Raids Indian Raids Disease

  Settlers Meet Challenges of the Plains

Homes- dugout (home dug into the side of a hill) soddy (stacked blocks of prairie turf)

Clothes- women had to shear sheep and card wool to make clothes

Technical Support for Farmers

Barbed Wire- prevented animals from trampling crops and wandering off

Reaper- sped up harvest saving crops from inclement weather

Steel Plow- made planting more efficient in root filled soil

Steel Windmill- helped with unpredictable rainfall (crop dehydration) by bringing up underground water for irrigation

Efforts to help farmers

Morrill Land Grant Acts (1862 & 1890)- enacted by Congress gave federal land to the states to help finance

agricultural colleges Hatch Act (1887)- federal agricultural

research stations Established…

Agricultural experiment stations to inform farmers of new developments

Economic ProblemsCycle of Debt for farmers Machinery-Expensive and usually required farmers to barrow

money

1. As prices went up farmers would make money to pay off loans

2. As prices dropped they would try and plant as many crops as possible to make up the difference

Farmers would often barrow money to purchase more land to grow more crops to make more money in order to make money to pay off debts (never ending cycle)

Shipping Problems of Farmers -Farmers were at the mercy of the Railroads - Railroads established rates for western farmers that were higher

than the east - Railroads were monopolies (could charge what they wanted

because there was no competition

Farmers Organize…

Farmers Organize to solve their Own Problems Grange(farmer organization)- Oliver Hudson

Kelly (1867) patrons of Husbandry Provided a social outlet for farm families Eventually began a fight against the railroads

Farmers Alliances- included not only farmers but others who sympathized with the situation

Colored Farmers Alliance

Populism

Populism- movement of the people Populist Party (People’s Party)- political effort of farmers to

use politics to solve their problems Party Platform:

Increase money supply Graduated income tax Federal Loan Program U.S. Senate elections by popular vote Single term for president and vice president Secret ballots 8 hour work day Immigration restrictions

Populist Party died out as the – Democratic party came about

Silver or Gold

Bimetallism A monetary system in which the government

would give citizens either gold or silver in exchange for paper currency or checks

People who supported this were known as “Silverites”

Gold Standard A monetary system in which money is backed

entirely by gold Supported by President Cleveland Known as the “Gold Bugs”

1986 election 

--William McKinley- Nominated by the Republican party and committed to the Gold Standard. An Ohioan--William Jennings Bryan- Nominated by the Democratic Party and committed to Bimetallism

Gold Bugs Bankers and Businessman Wanted Gold Standard Wanted less money in circulation

Result: Deflation=Prices fall= Value of money increases= Fewer people have money

Silverites Farmers and Laborers Wanted Bimetallism Wanted more money in circulation

Result: Inflation=Prices rise=Value of money decreases=More people have money

End of Populism

William Jennings Bryan had a tough Campaign and had to overcome people’s fear of inflation with his Silverite Plan

Bryan was defeated by McKinley by over 500,000 votes

With Bryan’s defeat populism collapsed

The Expansion of Industry

The Growth of Industry • By 1920s, U.S. is world’s leading industrial power, due to: - wealth of natural resources - government support for business - growing urban population

Black Gold• Pre-European arrival, Native Americans make fuel, medicine

from oil • 1859, Edwin L. Drake successfully uses steam engine to

drill for oil• Petroleum-refining industry first makes kerosene, then

gasoline

STEEL

Bessemer Steel Process• Abundant deposits of coal, iron spur industry• Bessemer process puts air into iron to remove

carbon to make steel• Later open-hearth process makes steel from scrap or

raw materials

New Uses for Steel• Steel used in railroads, barbed wire, farm machines• Changes construction: Brooklyn Bridge; steel-framed

skyscrapers

An Age of Inventions

Numerous new inventions change the landscape, life, work

The Power of Electricity• 1876, Thomas Alva Edison establishes first research

laboratory - 1880, patents incandescent light bulb - creates system for electrical production, distribution • Electricity changes business; by 1890, runs numerous machines• Becomes available in homes; encourages invention of

appliances• Allows manufacturers to locate plants

anyplace; industry grows

Inventions Change Lifestyles

Christopher Sholes invents typewriter in 1867 1876, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Watson introduces

telephone Office work changes; by 1910, women are 40% of clerical

workers Inventions impact factory work, lead to industrialization

- clothing factories hire many women Industrialization makes jobs easier; improves standard of living

- by 1890, average workweek 10 hours shorter- as consumers, workers regain power in market

Some laborers think mechanization reduces value of human worker

Railroads Encourage Growth

Rails make local transit reliable, westward expansion possible

Government makes land grants,

loans to railroads

- to help settle West

- to develop country

A National Network• 1859, railroads extend west of Missouri River• 1869, first transcontinental railroad completed,

spans the nation

RAILROAD TIME

• Railroads offer land, adventure, fresh start to many• People of diverse backgrounds build railroad under harsh

conditions:

- Central Pacific hires Chinese immigrants

- Union Pacific, Irish immigrants, Civil War vets• Accidents, disease disable and kill thousands

every year

Railroad Time• 1869, C. F. Dowd proposes dividing earth’s surface into 24 time

zones• 1883, U.S. railroads, towns adopt time zones• 1884, international conference sets world zones, uses railroad time

- Congress adopts in 1918

New Towns and Markets

• Railroads require great supply of materials, parts• Iron, coal, steel, lumber, glass industries grow to

meet demand• Railroads link isolated towns, promote trade,

interdependence• Nationwide network of suppliers, markets

develops• Towns specialize, sell large quantities of their

product nationally• New towns grow along railroad lines

Pullman and Crédit Mobilier

• 1880, George M. Pullman builds railcar factory on Illinois prairie

• Pullman provides for workers: housing, doctors, shops, sports field

• Company tightly controls residents to ensure stable work force• Wish for control, profit leads some railroad magnates to

corruption• Union Pacific stockholders form construction company, Crédit

Mobilier - overpay for laying track, pocket profits• Republican politicians implicated; reputation of party tarnished

Railroad Abuses and Granger Laws

• Farmers angry over perceived railroad corruption

- railroads sell government lands to businesses, not settlers

- fix prices, keep farmers in debt

- charge different customers different rates Grangers sponsor state, local political candidates Press for laws to protect farmers’ interests Munn v. Illinois—Supreme Court upholds states’

right to regulate RR Sets principle that federal government can regulate

private industry

Interstate Commerce Act and Panic and Consolidation

Interstate Commerce Act 1886, Supreme Court: states cannot set rates on interstate

commerce Public outrage leads to Interstate Commerce Act

of 1887

- federal government can supervise railroads

- establishes Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

Panic and Consolidation Legal battle with railroads; difficult for ICC to take action• Abuses, mismanagement, competition almost bankrupt many

railroads• Railroad problems contribute to panic of 1893, depression • By mid-1894, 25% of railroads taken over by financial companies

Big Business

Carnegie Makes a Fortune Andrew Carnegie one of first moguls to make own fortune

New Business Strategies• Carnegie searches for ways to make better products more

cheaply• Hires talented staff; offers company stock; promotes

competition• Uses vertical integration—buys out suppliers to control

materials• Through horizontal integration merges with competing

companies• Carnegie controls almost entire steel industry

Principles of Social Darwinism

Darwin’s theory of biological evolution: the best-adapted survive

• Social Darwinism, or social evolution, based on Darwin’s theory

• Economists use Social Darwinism to justify doctrine of laissez faire

A New Definition of Success• Idea of survival, success of the most capable appeals to

wealthy• Notion of individual responsibility in line with Protestant ethic• See riches as sign of God’s favor; poor must be lazy, inferior

Growth and Consolidation

Businesses try to control industry

with mergers— buy out competitors Buy all others to form monopolies—control

production, wages, prices Holding companies buy all the stock of other

companies John D. Rockefeller founds Standard Oil

Company, forms trust

- trustees run separate companies as if one

Rockefeller and the “Robber Barons”

Rockefeller profits by paying low wages, underselling others

- when controls market, raises prices Critics call industrialists robber barons

- industrialists also become philanthropists

Sherman Antitrust Act Government thinks expanding corporations stifle free competition Sherman Antitrust Act: trust illegal if interferes with free trade Prosecuting companies difficult; government stops enforcing act

Business Boom Bypasses the South• South recovering from Civil War, hindered by lack of capital• North owns 90% of stock in RR, most profitable Southern businesses • Business problems: high transport cost, tariffs,

few skilled workers

Labor Unions Emerge

Long Hours and Danger• Northern wages generally higher than Southern• Exploitation, unsafe conditions unite workers

across regions• Most workers have 12 hour days, 6 day workweeks - perform repetitive, mind-dulling tasks - no vacation, sick leave, injury compensation• To survive, families need all member to work, including

children• Sweatshops, tenement workshops often only jobs for

women, children - require few skills; pay lowest wages

Early Labor Organizing

• National Labor Union—first large-scale national organization

• 1868, NLU gets Congress to give 8-hour day to civil servants

• Local chapters reject blacks; Colored National Labor Union forms

• NLU focus on linking existing local unions• Noble Order of the Knights of Labor open to

women, blacks, unskilled• Knights support 8-hour day, equal pay, arbitration

Unionism

Craft Unionism Craft unions include skilled workers from one or more trades Samuel Gompers helps found American Federation of Labor

(AFL) AFL uses collective bargaining for better wages, hours,

conditions AFL strikes successfully, wins higher pay, shorter workweek

Industrial Unionism ndustrial unions include skilled, unskilled workers in an industry Eugene V. Debs forms American Railway Union; uses strikes

Socialism and the IWW

Some labor activists turn to socialism:

- government control of business, property

- equal distribution of wealth Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), or Wobblies, forms

1905 Organized by radical unionists, socialists; include African

Americans Industrial unions give unskilled workers dignity, solidarity

Other Labor Activism in the West• Japanese, Mexicans form Sugar Beet and Farm Laborers’ Union

in CA• Wyoming Federation of Labor supports Chinese, Japanese

miners

Strikes…..

The Great Strike of 1877• Baltimore & Ohio Railroad strike spreads to other lines• Governors say impeding interstate commerce; federal

troops intervene

The Haymarket Affair• 3,000 gather at Chicago’s Haymarket Square, protest

police brutality• Violence ensues; 8 charged with inciting riot,

convicted• Public opinion turns against labor movem

Strikes continued…

The Homestead Strike• 1892, Carnegie Steel workers strike over pay cuts• Win battle against Pinkertons; National Guard reopens

plant• Steelworkers do not remobilize for 45 years

The Pullman Company Strike• Pullman lays off 3,000, cuts wages but not rents; workers

strike• Pullman refuses arbitration; violence ensues; federal

troops sent• Debs jailed, most workers fired, many blacklisted

Unions….

Women Organize Women barred from many unions; unite behind powerful leaders Mary Harris Jones— most prominent organizer in women’s labor

- works for United Mine Workers

- leads children’s march Pauline Newman—organizer for International

Ladies’ Garment Workers 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire results in

public outrage

Management and Government Pressure Unions Employers forbid unions; turn Sherman Antitrust Act against labor Legal limitations cripple unions, but membership rises

The Immigrant Experience

Push Factors- problems that cause people to move

Pull Factors- attractions that draw people to another place

People were pushed from Europe due to population growth, hunger, availability of land, and religious persecution

People were pulled to the United States because of the free democratic society, ample farmland, minerals, plains, industry (jobs), and America Letters (letters from relatives who had already migrated).

Transportation

The voyage which once took 3 month now took 2 weeks due to technological advances

Travel was not easy on steerage( open area below the main deck) where people slept in the same room on metal beds, seasickness, spoiled food, overcrowded, and filthy toilets.

Ellis Island

1892- Ellis Island Immigration Station was built in the New York Harbor. Immigrants arriving from Europe often arrived at Ellis Island.

Inspections and Exams Medical Inspections (6 second exam) Physical examination (LHX) Legal Interviews (names shortened) Contract Laborers20 % were denied entrance and had to stay for

treatment or await hearings only 2% were every deported.

Life in the Cities

Main cities (industrial centers) New York Boston Chicago Cleveland

Population booms Ethnic Cities (little Italy, China Town,

etc..)

Immigrants not welcomed

With a lack of education, money, and support immigrants suffered

Immigrants need help Relatives or friends Immigrant Aid Society (met in churches,

groceries, or saloons) Settlement house- community center that

provided aid to immigrants (child care, classes, health clinics, and recreational opportunities)

Political bosses- powerful leaders who ran cities would help the immigrants in exchange for votes

Assimilation- Americanization of immigrants

Nativism- Americans who disliked anyone who was not “native” born

1894- Immigration Restriction League- all new arrivals had to take literacy tests- the President Vetoed it….but began to pass quota laws

Immigration from Asia

Chinese seek gold, jobs, and new opportunities

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882- shut the doors on China by prohibiting immigration from Chinese laborers for 10 years (1st time the US had restricted immigration)

Immigration went from 40,000 to 279 two years later

Angel Island

Angel Island Immigration Station 1910- “Ellis Island of the West” San Francisco Bay, mainly used to restrict Chinese Immigrants

Other Immigrants Japanese Koreans Filipinos Hawaiians

Gentlemen's Agreement- notes between U.S. and Japan where Japanese officials agreed not to allow laborers to emigrate to the U.S.

Immigration from North and South

North- French Canadians- came to US for Civil War and over 900,000 came to US after mainly from Quebec.

Mexico- immigrated to California and Texas to work on farms, railroads, and in mines. Mexican Revolution 1910- brought many more

Mexicans to the US.

Immigrants Still Faced Discrimination

Racism Lower Wages Discrimination Segregated Schools Unwilling to become members of

American Society

Three Great Waves of Immigration

1st Wave- 1820-1870 Northern and Western Europe

2nd Wave- 1880-1920 Southern and Eastern Europe

3rd Wave- 1965-present End of quota system immigration from

everywhere 33 million/12% of the population were

immigrants in 2003