Group 3 Flashcards
THE CIVIL WAR #133
133
Time: 1861 through 1865
What: The war between North and South, caused by divisions over slavery and federal power, lasted four years and resulted in the deaths of over 700,000 Americans. Seceding states attempted to withdraw from the Constitutional union, leading to Lincoln’s mission to preserve the union. In the end, the slaves were freed, but white southerners remained committed to keeping their distinct racial superiority and agrarian economy.
President Abraham Lincoln #134
134
Time: 1861 through 1865
Party: Republican
Who: A man always striving to obtain knowledge in his early years and a captain in the Black Hawk War, Lincoln received the Republican party’s nomination after running against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator (he lost, but gained fame). During his 16th presidency, Lincoln unified the Republican Party, brought most of the northern Democrats to the union cause, and- most notably- he issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863 that declared all slaves within the Confederacy would be free forever. He won the re-election in 1864 and encouraged peace throughout the Civil War (and for the Southerners to rejoin the Union quickly). Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in 1865 (whitehouse.gov).
Firing at Fort Sumter #135
135
Time: April 12-14th, 1861
Where: Charleston, South Carolina
What: The official beginning of the American Civil War, Confederate forces fired on the Union-occupied Fort Sumter after the Union tried to re-supply the fort (as supplies were quite low before). While no one was killed officially, the Confederates take over the fort and begin the war between the seven states that succeeded from the Union and the Union itself (Battlefields.org) (AmericanPageant).
Border States #136
136
Time: The Civil War
Where: The Mid-Eastern Region of the U.S.
What: The five states- Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, West Virginia, and Delaware- that had slavery but were not a part of the succession from the Union. To keep them from succeeding, President Lincoln, “insisted that the war was not about abolishing slavery but rather protecting the union.” Originally, the people in the states were vastly divided as to what to do, but ended up siding with the Union also due to the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in then-Union states and the Border states losing many of their slaves. All of the border states were not fully emancipated until the twentieth century (Nps.gov) (AmericanPageant).
Anaconda Plan #137
137
Time: Proposed in 1861
Where: Meant for the Confederacy’s Atlantic and Gulf coasts and the Mississippi River
What: The name given to Lieutenient General Winfield Scott’s plan to cut off Confederacy imports and exports (after he realized the Confederacy didn’t have a strong navy) while using an invasion along the Mississippi River to divide the Confederacy and create a communication route for Union troops. While the blockade was only enforced for a short time (and the plan crumbled due to several other circumstances and the scare of British aid to the Confederacy), Scott has been said to have been one of the only men with a good perspective of what the war would entail (EncyclopediaVirginia.org).
Clara Barton #138
138
Time: Alive 1821 through 1912
Who: One of the first women to work for the Federal government, Clara Barton took up a position in the U.S. Patent Office. More notably in her career, however, she provided aid to people during the Civil War and, after seeing the Red Cross movement in Europe, founded the American Red Cross in 1881. She served as the American Red Cross President for 23 years (RedCross.org.
Emancipation Proclamation #139
139
Time: January 1st, 1863
What: Issued by Abraham Lincoln, it was a proclamation that declared that, “‘all persons held as slaves’ within the rebellious states ‘are, and henceforward shall be free.” The Emancipation Proclamation allowed the acceptance of Black men into the Union Navy and Army and supported the notion that the Civil War was a war for freedom (and not just a dispute over rights of landowners or such). The Proclamation, however, only applied to those states that had succeeded from the Union and weren’t already under Northern control (meaning border states were not included). It did, though, end all conversation of compromise with the South and caused many slaves to flee to Union lines (Archives.gov).
Battle of Gettysburg #140
140
Time: July, 1863
Where: Adams County, Pennsylvania
What: The turning point and deadliest battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg ended hope of a swift end to the war. The Confederate general Robert E. Lee sought to win a battle North of the Mason Dixon line to negotiate an independent nation for the Confederate states, but was beat by Union general George G. Meade and retreated to the south. This was also the battle where general George Pickett made a charge on the Northern lines but was sorely defeated, foreshadowing the eventual loss of the Confederates (Battlefields.org) (AmericanPageant).
RECONSTRUCTION #141
141
Time: 1863 through 1877
What: During Reconstruction, the President and Congress tried to bring the nation back together and bring the Southern states back into the Union after the Civil War. Efforts by Radical Republicans to protect and provide for the former slaves and hold Confederate leaders accountable were largely unsuccessful. By 1877, the Southern states had been readmitted, and conservative “Redeemers” reestablished control over Southern state governments.
Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (10% Plan) #142
142
Time: December of 1863
Where:
What: A plan centered around reincorporating the Confederate states into the Union, “as peacefully as possible”, the proclamation issued that 10% of the voters in a state would have to swear allegiance to the Union and agree to the emancipation of former slaves in order for the state to be readmitted. Also included in the plan was the pardon of all Confederate members except the high ranking generals and officials. This proclamation was opposed by Radical Republicans who proposed the Wade-Davis bill (applying more extreme conditions for the Confederate states to readmit the Union), but this bill was vetoed by Lincoln (Battlefields.org).
President Andrew Johnson #143
143
Time: 1865 through 1869
Party: Jacksonian Democrat
Who: A frequent advocate for the rights of “the common man”, Johnson was a member of the House of Representatives and Senate, remained in the Senate even during his state’s (Tenesee’s) succession (making him a hero in the North), then the Military Governor of Tennessee, and then nominated by the Republicans for Vice President. As the 17th President (succeeding Lincoln after his death), his presidency was vastly overtaken by the Radical Republicans and- after they had overturned his veto and passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and Johnson had allegedly violated the Tenure of Office Act- the House impeached him (WhiteHouse.gov).
President Ulysses S. Grant #144
144
Time: 1869 through 1877
Party: Radical Republican
Who: A triumphant military hero in the Civil War as he cut the Confederacy in two, ordered Sherman to charge through the South, and faced down Gen. Robert E. Lee until he surrendered, Ulysses S. Grant was the American hope for the end to turmoil. As the eighteenth President, Grant supported Radical Reconstruction in the South, buttressing it at times with military force. He was publicly against the Liberal Republican Reformers and brought members of his Army staff to the White House. After his Presidency, he became a part of a doomed financial firm and fought to produce a memoir to help provide funds for his family (which he finished right before his death, succeeding in his goal) (WhiteHouse.gov).
President Rutherford B. Hayes #145
145
Time: 1877 through 1881
Party: Republican
Who: A Harvard graduate, brevet Major General in the Civil War, Republican member of the House of Representatives, and won the Presidency in a close match between himself and Samuel J. Tilden. As the nineteenth President, Rutherford B. Hayes, “chose men of high caliber” for his Cabinet, even choosing an ex-Confederate and a Liberal Republican (to his party’s dismay). While he promised protection to Black people in the South, he withdrew military enforcement there and sought to regain peace between the two sides (and did gain support from some leaders in the new South). After announcing he would only serve one term, he retired to Spiegel Grove in Ohio and died twelve years later (WhiteHouse.gov).
Black Codes #146
146
Time: Passed 1865 through 1866
Where: Throughout the South
What: Laws that were passed by Southern legislatures that restricted the rights of Emancipated Black persons, especially concerning negotiating labor contracts (i.e. what jobs that African Americans could hold and if they were allowed to leave a job after they were hired). These codes also had an impact as to what kind of land African Americans could own. While the Black codes decreased in power under the Reconstruction Act of 1867, the end of it in 1877 led to many of the effects of the Black codes to be enforced once more. During this time, however, many Northerners were angered by President Andrew Johnson’s lenient Reconstruction policies (Education.NationalGeographic.org) (AmericanPageant).
Freedmen’s Bureau #147
147
Time: 1865 through 1872
What: A Bureau established by Congress to, “provide food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners, including newly freed African Americans.” In addition to this, the bureau also established schools, oversaw contracts between those that were recently free and their employers, and dealt with lands that were either confiscated or abandoned. The bureau, however, heavily depended upon the quality of local administrators and was oft unequally utilized (Senate.gov) (AmericanPageant).
Reconstruction Act (1867) #148
148
Time: 1867
What: A bill describing the terms for the rebel states to enter back into the Union (and thenceforth having full recognition and federal representation in Congress), it divided the South into five military districts (except for Tennessee), demanded a new constitution be written in each state that assured freed men the franchise and was approved by the majority of those voting (even African Americans), made it mandatory that each state ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, and it disenfranchised the prior Confederate leaders (Senate.gov) (AmericanPageant).
13th Amendment #149
149
Time: Ratified on December 6th, 1865
What: An amendment stating that, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been due convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” While not initially passing in the House of Representatives (but, after Lincoln insisted that it be added to the Republican platform for the next election {his re-election}, passing), it was ratified by 3/4ths of the states in 1865. This Amendment acted as an official constitutional solution to the debate over slavery (Archives.gov).
14th Amendment #150
150
Time: Ratified on July 9th, 1868
What: An amendment that granted citizenship to, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States”, including those prior enslaved. The amendment also extended process and equal protection of the law to both federal and state governments. Although Congressman John A. Bingham (an author of the amendment) intended it to enforce the Bill of Rights onto all states, this did not happen until a much later date in history. The amendment also struggled to protect the rights of Black citizens, a key purpose of its creation (Archives.gov).
15th Amendment #151
151
Time: Ratified February 3rd, 1870
What: An amendment that gave all Black males the right to vote. While a critical step in the movement towards equality in the United States (and thought to be one of the final steps), it wasn’t nearly the end of inequality. To thwart the 15th Amendment, legislatures in prior-Confederate states employed devices such as literacy tests and “grandfather clauses” to exclude Black Americans from voting (Archives.gov).
Jim Crow Laws #152
152
Time: Prominently seen from the 1880s to the 1960s
Where: From Delaware to California and from North Dakota to Texas
What: An, “informal system” based on the principal of “separate but equal” (but not really) facilities for Blacks and whites, the Jim Crow Laws were policies that separated people of different races, enforceable by city and state legislatures with one able to be legally punished for breaking them (though mostly enforced by intimidation and violence). The main goal was to prevent racial mixing in public, including segregation in marriages, business, transportation, bathroom facilities, sports, restaurants, movie theatres, blind facilities, and many, many more places (Nps.gov) (AmericanPageant).
Ku Klux Klan #153
153
Time: The Mid-Nineteenth Century and revived in the 1920s
Where: Majorly in the South
What: A terrorist organization that was, “antiforeign, antiblack, anti-Jewish, antipacifist, anti-Communist, anti-internationalist, anti-evolutionist, and antibootleger, but pro-AngloSaxon and pro-Protestant.” Started as a social club for prior Confederate soldiers, the organization began terrorizing Black people and those that allied with them in the South, often dressed in white sheets. Oft aided by officials of the regions, they killed thousands of people (mostly Black southerners) in hatred for Black people and to keep Republicans out of office (mostly the Presidency). Their attacks was a factor in the Republican support of the Fifteenth Amendment and laws such as the Enforcement Acts and the Ku Klux Klan Act (this later deemed unconstitutional in 1882) which convicted some of the Ku Klux Klan members. The financial panic of 1873 distracted the government from the Southern race problem, and the Ku Klux Klan members along with the Democrats, “succeeded in virtually disenfranchising all southern Blacks.” The Ku Klux Klan is still known to be around today (Pbs.org) (AmericanPageant).
Sharecropping #154
154
Time: Following the Civil War until approximately the 1940s
Where: Predominantly in the South
What: A system of agriculture in which Black and white men would rent land and residencies from a plantation owner in exchange for giving the plantation owner a percentage of the crop. However, high interest rates, stringiest landlords and merchants, unforeseeable harvest outcomes, laws favoring landowners (and oft making it so that tenants couldn’t sell their harvest to anyone but the landlord) oft caused high debts of the tenants and kept them binded to the land and creating profit for the landlord. About 2/3rds of the shareholders were white and 1/3rd of the shareholders were Black. Sharecropping was the most prevalent form of agriculture following the Civil War (Pbs.org) (AmericanPageant).
Compromise of 1877 #155
155
Time: 1877
What: An agreement that officially ended the dispute for the 19th presidency, it allowed the Republican Candidate Rutherford B. Hayes to become the president if he would withdraw all federal military from the prior-Confederate regions, this officially ending Reconstruction and causing for a return to the white-only, primarily Democratic governing of the southern states. As Rutherford B. Hayes was in a tight race with Democratic candidate Samuel Tilden and violence was threatening to ensue from both sides, Congress established a bipartisan electoral commission who, with the Compromise of 1877, agreed on Hayes for the Presidency (NCPedia.org) (AmericanPageant).
GILDED AGE #156
156
Time: 1865 through 1900
What: The term Gilded Age comes from a Mark Twain novel. Twain implied that, like a gilded piece of jewelry, the age looked glorious on the outside but was basically rotten on the inside. America experienced unprecedented growth in invention, industry, immigration, urbanization, and wealth, as well as corruption, suffering, and social unrest. The three core themes of this period are the development of an industrial economy, urbanization, and the expansion of the West.
President James Garfield #157
157
Time: 1880 to 1881
Party: Republican
Who: A college professor, Republican representative in the Ohio Senate, supporter of a reunited United States during secession, a major general in the Civil War, the leading Republican in the House of Representative (while serving 18 years), and a “dark horse” nominee for the Republicans, James A. Garfield won the presidency by a small margin. As the, “last of the log cabin Presidents”, he, the twentieth President, remained just in his elections for official positions and had a confirmed victory when the Senate approved one of his electing decisions. However, in a railroad station in 1881, an attorney who had wanted and been denied a consular post shot Garfield and he died a few months later from infection and internal hemorrhage (WhiteHouse.gov).
President Chester A. Arthur #158
158
Time: 1881 through 1885
Party: Republican
Who: A lawyer, Quartermaster General of the State of New York in the Civil War, Collector of the Port of New York, skewed in his operating for his party (rather than the government), and supporter of Conkling against President Garfield, Chester A. Arthur became the twenty-first President, succeeding Garfield after he was assassinated. As President, he turned on his old political friends and became, “a champion of civil service reform.” Arther also tried to lower tariff rates and signed the Tariff Act of 1883, becoming a major issue between the Republican and Democratic parties. During his term, the first general Federal immigration law was enforced (excluding immigration from China). He did not win re-election (but was respected by the public) and died in 1886 from a known chronic kidney disease (WhiteHouse.gov).
President Grover Cleveland #159
159
Time: 1885 through 1889 AND 1893 through 1897
Party: Democratic
Who: A lawyer from Upstate New York, he became involved in political proceedings only three years before his first presidency. He was elected Mayor of Buffalo and then Governor of New York, and was elected with the support of Democrats and reform Republicans, those latter not in favor of the Republican candidate. He was the first Democratic president elected after the Civil War. As the twenty-second president, he rejected support for any economic group and vetoed bills providing pension to Civil War Veterans (whose claims were not oft valid). He also signed the Interstate Commerce Act (regulating railroads) and tried to reduce high protective services. Although he lost the twenty-third Presidency, he won the twenty-fourth Presidency and faced a major depression. He decided to deal with the Treasury crisis rather than with more economic matters and eventually help to sustain the Treasury’s gold reserve. He cruelly treated railroad strikers and generally had harsh policies, causing his party to abandon him after his second presidency. He retired in New Jersey and died in 1908 (WhiteHouse.gov).
President Benjamin Harrison #160
160
Time: 1889 through 1893
Party: Republican
Who: A lawyer and Colonel of the 70th Volunteer Infantry after the Civil War, he served in the United States Senate where he, “championed Indians. homesteaders, and Civil War Veterans.” With much support from his party (although he himself made no political bargains), Benjamin Harrison won the twenty-third presidency. During his presidency, he established much foreign policy, signed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and dealt with the overarching tariff problem by writing in reciprocity provisions. The prosperity in the country soon evaporated, however, and he lost out the election to Cleveland (even though his party did re-nominate him). He returned to Indianapolis and died eight years later in 1901 (WhiteHouse.gov).
President William McKinley #161
161
Time: 1897 through 1901
Party: Republican
Who: A brevet major of volunteers after the Civil War, lawyer, member of the House of Representatives for 14 years, the leading Republican tariff expert, and then governor of Ohio, William McKinley was focused on interests of the public and not private affairs. During his twenty-fifth presidency, he enacted the highest tariff in history and was majorly focused on foreign policy. Forced by public pressure, he delivered the message of neutral intervention in the Spanish and Cuban War, while Congress declared the declaration of War for the freedom and independence of Cuba. McKinley was open to the public opinion and acted upon it, the United States annexing the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. After winning his second term, he was shot while standing at the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition by an anarchist and died eight days later (WhiteHouse.gov).
Booker T. Washington/Atlanta Compromise #162
162
Time: Booker T. Washington alive 1856 through 1915 and the Atlanta Compromise Speech given on September 18th, 1895
Who/What: Booker T. Washington was an African American educator and leader and advocate for a fair treatment of Black people. In his Atlanta Compromise speech- one of the, “most significant speeches in American history”- he appealed to white Southerners by saying he would motivate Black people to become, “proficient in agriculture, mechanics, commerce, and domestic service” while motivating them to uphold common labor. He spoke that advantages for Black people would come from constant struggle instead of oppression. He also said that Black people were not desiring social integration, but a commonplace in the foundation of rights and progress and urged white people to provide Black people with opportunities for economic advancement. While his speech was widely disseminated and he was praised heavily for it (making him, “the most influential Black leader and educator in the United States between 1895 and 1915”), he was also heavily criticized (a notable critic W. E. B. Du Bois) for his advocating for racial subordination (GeorgiaEncyclopedia.org).
Plessy v. Ferguson, #163
163
Time and Place: 1896 in the Supreme Court
What: A case that upheld the legality of the segregation laws by saying that “separate but equal” did not go against the fourteenth amendment. As a man named Homer Plessy got on a whites-only section of a intrastate railroad car and argued in court with his “Citizens’ Committee to Test the Constitutionality of the Separate Car Law” backing him that “separate but equal” accommodations were unconstitutional. Plessy lost in the New Orleans court system, appealed to the Supreme Court, and was once more ruled against (almost unanimously, the exception being John Marshall Harlan) in the Supreme Court. The “separate but equal” system upheld the Jim Crow System until the 1950s (Archives.gov) (AmericanPageant).
Homestead Act #164
164
Time: 1862
What: A federal law stating that any adult U.S. citizen or to-be U.S. citizen that had never taken up arms against the U.S. government could buy 160 acres of surveyed government land from the government for around $30, so long as the adult remained settled on it for at least five years and did something to improve it (such as building a house upon it). The act vastly helped to increase Westward expansion and gave some families the opportunity to start a new life, but ended up mostly benefitting speculators, railroads, and cattle owners as only about 80 million acres of the 500 million acres went to homesteaders. Some land was also infertile, to the disappointment of the homesteaders (Archives.gov) (AmericanPageant).
Pacific Railway Act #165
165
Time: 1862
What: By the usage of land grants and government bonds, the Pacific Railway Act aided in the funding of the United Pacific transcontinental railroad. As many private companies were wary of completing the task without Federal aid, Congress passed the act that granted that the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific could build a railroad along the 32nd parallel. The railroad was completed in 1869, shortening travel across the country from a months to around a week. However, though, the railroad impeded on much American Indian land, furthering the possession of Native territory (Archives.gov) (AmericanPageant).
Granger Laws #166
166
Time: The late 1860s and early 1870s
Where: Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois
What: A set of laws that regulated the fees that grain elevator companies and railroads placed on the transportation of farmers crops. The movement being started by the farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley, the increase in the railroad industry and its power was becoming a notable problem for many farmers. The laws were quickly repealed, through, but do represent, “the first attempts at regulating a private monopoly.” The laws prompted several later Supreme Court cases (such as Munn v. Illinois and Wabash v. Illinois) (CS.Stanford.edu) (ThoughtCo.com).
Dawes Severalty Act (1877) #167
167
Time: 1877
What: An act allowing the federal government to divide up Indian reservations for use of individual settlements and government funding. Passed under President Grover Cleveland, the act was aimed at assimilating Native Americans into U.S. society and “civiliz(ing)” them by forcing them to focus on agriculture and farming, rewarding those that accepted the act with U.S. citizenship. Those that didn’t however, couldn’t become U.S. citizens and didn’t get to keep their tribal land. The tribal land- over 90 million acres- was sold to non-native U.S. citizens with the profits going to the U.S. government. The Native Americans who did accept the act were not accustomed to the new life, were being given (oft infertile) land at a small portion of the size they had before (Nps.org (AmericanPageant).
Wounded Knee Massacre #168
168
Time: 1890
Where: Dakota (northern Plains)
What: A battle in which the U.S. Army fought the Dakota Sioux for the Sioux practicing the “Ghost Dance” (which the U.S. government had outlawed) and over the argument of whether or not Sioux land would be divided up for reservations under the Dawes Severalty Act. After a band of Lakota were imprisoned near Wounded Knee Creek by U.S. soldiers after a firmer suppression of the Ghost Dance had been enforced, a gun discharged from the tribe caused the U.S. military to open fire, with twenty-nine U.S. soldiers and two hundred Native Americans dying. The massacre became and is a place for remembrance for the Native Americans (Loc.gov) (AmericanPageant).
Boss Tweed #169
169
Time: 1823 through 1878
Where: New York
Who: A corrupt politician in New York, William “Boss” Tweed rose to power by ascending through various local offices and making political connections. He crafted a deal in which some family men and not solely the rich were exempt from the draft in New York City, forcing the Federal Government to accept his plan. With this fame, and by paying the state legislature of New York hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, he had the New York legislature grant power in New York to local officials rather than those in the state capital. While in power, his “Tweed Ring” was making millions from the bribes and favors he compiled, as well as from money he exploited from “city advancements”. This corruption of government created a unhealthy civil society, but Boss Tweed did inevitably help the immigrants and the poor in New York. He was later convicted and sentenced to prison (BillofRightsInstitute.org).
Social Darwinism #170
170
Time: Popularized in the late nineteenth century
What: A set of ideologies that centered around, “survival of the fittest”, saying that the wealthy and highly ranked were there because they should be and as they, “won a natural competition” and that they owe nothing to those of lesser social status or the poor. It was based on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, a theory that was focused on biological diversity in animals in plants, and has been used between the late nineteenth century and today to buttress imperialism, racism, eugenics, and social inequality. During the time of its height, it popularly justified U.S. imperial ventures, such as the Spanish-American War (History.com) (AmericanPageant).
Bessemer Process/Carnegie Steel #171
171
Time: The Bessemer Process invented in 1855 and Carnegie Steel founded in 1892
Where: Carnegie Steel was in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
What: Andrew Carnegie, seeing the need for iron products during the Civil War, switched from railroads and telegraphs to the ironworking industry, founding the Keystone Bridge Works. He used his recent railroad connections as places to sell his steel, but still wanted to spend less and become more efficient in making steel. So, he utilized the Bessemer process at his Homestead steel works plant, a process invented by Henry Bessemer that blew air through the iron to oxidate it and purify it. By 1889, Andrew Carnegie became the leading producer of steel and one of the wealthiest men in America (as the steel business picked up quite a bit). Carnegie Steel officially merged into the United States Steel Company and Andrew Carnegie went on to explore other ventures, giving away about 90% of his fortune to the public good (Blogs.Loc.gov) (SteelMuseum.org).
Transcontinental Railroad #172
172
Time: Finished in 1869
What: With Asa Whitney of New York fiercely arguing for the creation of a connecting railroad, the discovery of gold, frontier settlement increasing, successful railroads in the East, and the need for a better postal service in the West, the Southern Pacific Railroad was built along the 32nd parallel (the least expensive route to build the railroad). Inspired by this and after Theodore D. Judah incorporated the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California in their plans for a railroad and Abraham Lincoln saw the benefits of it (militarily wise and though the bonding of the Pacific Coast to the Union), the Union Pacific Railroad was built and connected to the Central Pacific Railroad, creating the Transcontinental Railroad (Loc.gov).
Frontier (Turner) Thesis #173
173
Time: 1893
What: Spoken by historian Frederick Jackson Turner at the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition, the thesis outlined that once American expansion into the western frontier was ended, Americans, “will continually demand a wider field for its exercise.” This thesis proved to ring true in later years as Turner’s calling for a new frontier abroad clings to the U.S. tried expansion into Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam (Pbs.org).
Standard Oil/John D. Rockefeller #174
174
Time: Standard Oil: 1870 to 1911 and Rockefeller alive from 1839 to 1937
Where: Companny founded in Ohio
Who/What: John D. Rockefeller along with his brother William Rockefeller and Samuel Andrews, Henry M. Flagler, and Stephen V. Harkness founded the Standard Oil Company of Ohio which centered upon oil refining, cost-saving, and waste-reduction. Standard Oil searched for markets for refinery by-products and- by Rockefeller’s guide- found ways to purify oil. The Standard Oil Trust created many Standard Oil companies across the country and, by the 1870s, controlled 95% of American refineries. It was one of the first multinational corporations and became a symbol of the trusts and monopolies found in the Gilded Age. While the Supreme Court found the company in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and split the company into 34 separate companies, Rockefeller’s wealth did not decrease and he has been known as the world’s first billionaire. (Guides.Loc.gov) (AmericanPageant).
Sherman Antitrust Act #175
175
Time: 1890
What: Known as, “one of the first congressional attempts to regulate big business for the public good”, the Sherman Antitrust Act was a the first federal statute that outlawed monopolistic businesses. As trusts (where many stockholders combine their shares to one set of trustees) were dominating many big businesses and state courts generally sided with the trusts, the Sherman Antitrust Act was passed almost unanimously in the Senate and unanimously in the House to help the public good. It was revised in 1914 (Archives.gov) (AmericanPageant).
U.S. Steel Corporation/J.P. Morgan #176
176
Time: Corporation: 1901 through Present and J.P. Morgan alive from 1837 to 1913
Where: Founded in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
What/Who: J.P. Morgan, known as America’s most powerful banker of the time, merged the Carnegie Steel Corporation with nine other steel business to create the U.S. Steel Corporation, creating the largest corporation in the world. The corporation was capitalized at $1.4 billion. J.P. Morgan, born rich as the son of J.S. Morgan, was heavily interested in business growing up and formed the J.P. Morgan and Company. He, listening to Charles Schwab, merged the ten steel companies and the U.S. Steel Company remains prominent today. While Morgan did help stabilize American financial markets, he was heavily interested in his art collection and died in 1913 (BillofRightsInstitute.org) (History.com).
Chinese Exclusion Act #177
177
Time: 1882
What: Known as, “the first major legal restriction on immigration in U.S. history”, the Chinese Exclusion Act ceased most immigration from China into the U.S.. Lasting until essentially 1968 (adapted, but still generally enforced), this act was made under the idea that the entry of the Chinese, “endangered the good order of certain localities” (Archives.gov) (AmericanPageant).
United States v. Wong Kim Ark, #178
178
Time and Place: 1898 in the Supreme Court
What: A case that debated the phrase of, “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” in the Fourteenth Amendment. After a man named Wong Kim Ark, born in San Francisco to parents who were Chinese citizens, left the country to visit his parents and then was denied re-entry as it was claimed he was not a U.S. citizen, the case was taken to the Supreme Court. The court ruled 6-to-2 in Wong Kim Ark’s favor saying that-because he was born in the U.S. and his parents were not directly working for the Chinese government- the Fourteenth Amendment instantly made him a citizen (ConstitutionCenter.org).
American Federation of Labor #179
179
Time:
What: Centered around the wants of workers, the AFL strove to negotiate with employers for a, “better kind of capitalism” that involved improved wages, hours, and conditions for workers. Starting out as a grouping of smaller craft unions proposed by Samuel Gompers, it grew into a federation of over 500,000 people by 1900, all of them skilled workers (and, up until the mid 1900s, most every member was a white male). Gompers led the corporation every year (except one) for four decades until his death, and the AFL is still around today (USHistory.org) (AmericanPageant).
Haymarket Square Riot #180
180
Time: 1886
Where: Chicago, Illinois
What: Starting as an industrial workers rally in Haymarket Square to protest the Chicago police killing several laborers the day prior and taking a sharp turn when one of the protesters threw a bomb at the police, and seven police officers and at least one civilian died. In the conviction for the event, eight men who were labeled as anarchists were convicted in a trial where the jury was thought to be biased and there was no solid evidence against the eight. Four of them were hanged, one committed suicide, and eventually the three others were pardoned. The event in Haymarket square led to widespread xenophobia, whereas the aftermath caused a mix of anti-labor sentiment and feelings of a wrongful conviction of the eight (History.com) (AmericanPageant).
Homestead Strike #181
181
Time: 1892
Where: A Carnegie steel plant in Homestead, Pennsylvania
What: One of the deadliest labor-management conflicts in the history of the U.S., the Homestead Strike was an armed battle between labor workers in the Carnegie steel plant in Homestead against Pinkerton detectives (hired by Carnegie). Carnegie’s support of Henry Clay Frick’s proposal to cut worker’s wages in Homestead pitted him against the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers (some of them and the other working at the Homestead factory being locked out after denying the cut in pay). The conflict involved federal troops and ended up killing 10 and wounding 60, with the workers initially winning but receiving so much public backlash for their brutal treatment of the Pinkertons that Carnegie was able to cut wages and increase the work day (the Pinkertons were criticized too, however). The strike took place in the nationwide movement for labor rights and helped gain support for the Populists (History.com) (AmericanPageant).
Omaha Platform/Populist Party #182
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Time: Around 1892
What: Known officially as the “People’s Party”, the Populist Party was founded in a convention in 1892 under the goals laid out in the Omaha Platform, a preamble written by Ignatius Donnelly that proposed a graduated income tax, a secret ballot, the direct election of Senators, the eight-hour work day, and, most notably, the, “unlimited coinage of silver.” The Party represented Western and Southern farmers who thought that Eastern businessmen and big corporations were getting the priority by the U.S. economic policy. Several of their principals were enacted in the later New Deal Eras. The party emerged in the early 1890s and is, in some ways, still around today (ConstiututionCenter.org) (HistoryMatters.Gmu.edu) (AmericanPageant).
Cross of Gold Speech (William Jennings Bryan) #183
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Time: Speech: July 9th, 1896 and William Jennings Bryan: 1860 through 1925
Where: The Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois
What/Who: Jenning Bryan, a former Congressman from Nebraska who aspired to become the Democratic nominee for the Presidency, had been building support for himself in the prior years. At the Democratic Convention, he used a dramatic speaking style and rhetoric as he advocated for the ratio of silver to gold to be 16 to 1 (this would have increased the amount of money in circulation and helped many farmers). In his speech, he advocated that people would not be, “crucified on a cross of gold,” and the overall support he received that night led him to be nominated for the Democrats. His fierce speech and party’s unrest foreshadows future divisions over the government’s positioning on economic policy (MillerCenter.org) (HistoryMatters.gmu.edu).
