Regional differences 1890-1920 Flashcards
What changed the face of America between 1890 and 1914?
Urbanisation - vast increase in urban populations and in the range of economic activity (similar expansion of big cities in Europe and the wider world)
What had happened to the population of NYC?
It had already double between 1870 and 1890; by 1910 it had doubled again.
Describe the population of other cities.
By 1900, there were 38 American cities with a population of 100,000 or more. These cities were magnets for new inhabitants, resulting in astonishing population density and creating new markets.
Describe urbanisation in the South.
The development of the oil industry in Texas and Louisiana led to the expansion of established cities like New Orleans, and started the growth of some major cities of the future, like Houston and Atlanta.
What did the Southern economy continue to be dominated by?
Plantation products such as tobacco, sugar and, above all, ‘King Cotton’. Urbanisation moved more slowly and on a smaller scale than in the industrial Northeast.
Describe the Western economy.
It was still distant and isolated, dominated by extractive industries, subject to sudden booms and busts, and heavily dependent on Eastern financial interests for investment.
Describe urbanisation in the West.
There were sudden spurts of expansion and urbanisation, as with the growth of the port cities on the West coast, and Denver in Colorado.
In the late 1890s, what did the Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush stimulate?
Rapid development in Alaska itself and in the Pacific coast ports of Seattle and San Francisco.
What was the gold rush important economically for?
Almost doubling the size of US gold reserves, at a time when the debate about the gold standard was at its peak and the money supply depended upon the size of gold reserves.
What was the chief importance of the gold rush?
Sparking the wider economy of the West
What else boosted the Wests coast ports?
The Pacific war against Spain and the increasing trade with China - Potrero Point in San Francisco became an important centre for shipbuilding and maritime trade.
Where were there extensive pockets of poverty?
In many of the big cities and in many poorer regions, such as Appalachia. Growth was punctuated by periods of depression.
What did Farmers and Industrial workers respond to?
Farmers reacted strongly against hard times in the 1890s. Industrial workers responded to low wages and harsh conditions by organising trade unions and resorting to strike action.
What were the negatives of the stock market and banking system?
They were often unstable and unreliable, leading to demands for regulation and reform - 2 major financial crises, the Panics of 1893 and 1907, intensified the reaction against big business.
What happened at Homestead in Pennsylvania in 1892?
Major outbreak of industrial unrest - 13 steelworkers were killed in a pitched battle against strike-breakers brought in by the Carnegie Steel Company.
