The “Old” West and the “New” SouthMining

•Gold Rush in 1848 – Pike’s Peak & Comstock Lode•Placer Mining•Boomtowns & Ghost towns•Immigrants are attracted to the West - opportunity•Chinese Exclusion Act 1882 – 1st restrictive policy against immigration•Value of gold and silver might drop

The “Old” West and the “New” SouthCattle

•Profits from the long haul attracts many people•New technology•Use of railroads becomes popular•The term “Cowboy” is used to describe those involved with the cattle frontier

Consists of African Americans known as Exodusters

The “Old” West and the “New” SouthFarming

•Homestead Act of 1862 - Morrill Land-Grant Act•Railroads•Effect on natural resources•Bonanza farms•Cycle of debt – low prices & high costs•Exodusters•Rise of the Populist Movement

The “Old” West and the “New” SouthHomestead Act of 1862 – 160 acres of land•21 years of age and head of family•American citizen or immigrant who has applied•Ten dollar fee•Build a house - live there 6 month per year•Farm land for 5 consecutive years*Example – Oklahoma Land Run ca 1893

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ycMhMM2UFs

The “Old” West and the “New” SouthNative Americans

•Most groups are forced onto reservation•Conflicts developed – The Sioux Wars

Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, & Custer – Little Big Horn Chief Joseph and the Nez Pierce Ghost Dance Movement – Last resistance – Battle of Wounded Knee

•Helen Hunt Jackson – “A Century of Dishonor” – Highlights the actions taken against Native Americans•Dawes Severalty Act – Effort to break up tribes and force assimilation

The “New” South•Recovering from the war – push for self-sufficiency

Capitalism – Laissez-FaireIndustry – Tax cutsRailroadsCheap labor

•Major cities – Birmingham, Memphis, Richmond•Mainly agriculture – poor – profits to the North •Poor education•Decline in cotton prices•Cycle of debt•Farmers start to align themselves

The “New” SouthSegregation•Redeemers – Democrats who won the support of businesses and supremacists•Supported by Supreme Court – Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) – “Separate but Equal”•Rise in Jim Crow Laws•Ida B. Wells & Booker T. Washington lead resistance and demand an end to economic, political, social, segregation

Changes in Agriculture•South – over half of white farmers & three-quarters of black farmers were tenant farmers or sharecroppers•Farmers became dependent on expensive machinery to compete•Global competition drove prices down•Money supply was causing deflation•Taxes were placed on land but not on income•Monopolies kept the prices of manufactured goods high •Shortage of credit, liens, debt, foreclosures, poverty

The Rise of PopulismPopulist Platform

•Increased circulation of money•Unlimited minting of silver•Supported a progressive income tax – The more you make the more they take•Government ownership of communication & railroads•Endorsed a 8 hour work day to gain urban support

PresidentialCandidate

Vice PresidentialCandidate

PoliticalParty Popular Vote Electoral Vote

Grover Cleveland (R) Adlai Stevenson Democratic 5,553,898 46.02% 277 62.4%

Benjamin Harrison (B) Whitelaw Reid Republican 5,190,799 43.01% 145 32.7%

James Weaver (G) James Field Populist 1,026,595 8.51% 22 5.0%

John Bidwell (Y) James Cranfill Prohibition 270,889 2.24% 0 0.0%

Other (+) - 25,846 0.21% 0 0.0%

Election of 1892

PresidentialCandidate

Vice PresidentialCandidate

PoliticalParty Popular Vote Electoral Vote

William McKinley (B) Garret Hobart Republican 7,112,138 51.02% 271 60.6%

William Bryan (R) Arthur Sewall Democratic 6,510,807 46.71% 176 39.4%

John Palmer (G) Simon Buckner National Democrat 133,537 0.96% 0 0.0%

Joshua Levering Hale Johnson Prohibition 124,896 0.90% 0 0.0%

Charles Matchett Matthew Maguire Socialist Labor 36,359 0.26% 0 0.0%

Other (+) - - 20,937 0.15% 0 0.0%

Election of 1896

The Rise of PopulismGovernment Legislation

Bland-Allison Act 1878 - •Government was required to purchase and coin more silver and add it to the money supply•Passed by Congress – vetoed by Hayes – Overridden by CongressSherman Silver Purchase Act 1890 - •Increase amount of silver but in small quantities•Treasury notes could be exchanged for gold or silver. This caused a depletion in the gold reserves so it was repealed

The Rise of PopulismGovernment Legislation

Interstate Commerce Act 1886 –•Required railroad rates to be “reasonable and just.”•Regulated prices of shipping between states•Special rates and rebates were illegal•Established the Interstate Commerce Commission Sherman Anti-Trust Act 1890 – •Curb the power of trusts and monopolies but the enforcement was weak.

The Wizard of Oz or PopulismYellow Brick Road---Gold Standard in the country

Scarecrow---Farmers (no brains by society's standards, but smarter than given credit for)

Cowardly Lion---William Jennings Bryan (not a coward, but a leader, as lions are usually dominant)

Tin Man---Industrialization (doesn’t have a heart, but doesn’t hate either)

Dorothy’s Slippers---Silver exchange (YES they are red in the movie; this was done to make them stand out. In the original book the slippers were silver. Remember the slippers hold the power until the end, because silver was the exchange. Once back in Kansas they were gone, just as silver was overtaken by the Gold standard.)

Dorothy---Level-headed, innocent humans

Wizard---Politicians (trying to be all things to all people)

Winged Monkeys---Plains Indians (Remember the mid-western view of farming, and having to deal with the Indians; they were not bad people but could be swayed by good and evil.)

Wicked Witch of the East---Bankers who have nothing for farmers

Wicked Witch of the West---Nature (water kills and the farmers need water)

Good Witch of the North---Northern businesses that could seemingly do everything well, and were educated

Munchkins---Little people of society (middle class and below)

Emerald City---Washington, D.C.

Tornado---The idea of “change”