Social (1865-90) Flashcards
3
Describe urbanisation from 1865-90
- Chicago population grew from 30k (1850) to 1m (1890)
- Chicago a railroad centre that served upper-Midwest as hub for lumber, meat and steel production
- Cities evolved from commercial centres for rural areas to urban centres in themselves after the CW
3
Describe living conditions from 1865-90
- Rapid urban growth led to poor quality housing
- Those with wealth soon moved from slums to suburbs
- Development of ‘boss’ system
2
Describe the ‘boss system’
- Corrupt mayor who would sell rights to basic utilities (housing, transport, etc) to highest bidder
- Provide employment and housing for immigrants and AA from South in return for vote in election (vote buying)
7
Describe some key aspects of the North 1865-90
- Forefront of Civil Rights
- Home of banking and commerce
- Railroads connected national trade
- Urbanisation fuelled by immigration and industrial expansion
- 1860’s to 1890’s = 10 million immigrants
- Fears of a socialist revolution
- No/few trade unions
7
List some reasons for division within the North
- Divisions between old and new immigrants and ethnic tensions
- Class divisions with emerging Robber Barrons
- Railroad tensions
- Urbanisation
- Disunity of working class
- Gang tensions
- Radical fringe
5
Describe how immigration caused divisions in the North
- Between ‘districts’ of immigrants
- Between ‘new’ and previous generation immigrants
- Divisions immigrants brought with them
- ‘Nativism’ = protection of ‘traditional’ American values from foreign influence
- ‘Yellow Peril’ = immigrants from China, didn’t speak English, hardworking and cheap labour; Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
2
Describe how railroad tensions caused divisions in the North
- ‘Freight rates’ (the amount charged by the railroad corporations to move goods)
- Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, enables ICC to regulate railroads and freight rates
2
Describe how urbanisation caused divisions in the North
- Overcrowding, poverty, poor housing and poor hygiene
- Immigrants from all over forced to live in close quarters, exacerbating violence
2
Describe how disunity of the working class caused divisions in the North
- Fledgling but divided trade union movement
- Serious divisions due to immigration and competitive labour prices
2
Describe how the radical fringe caused divisions in the North
- Fears of a socialist revolution
- Haymarket Bomb 1886
4
List some key aspects of the South 1865-90
- New South emerged - modernising and embracing new technologies
- Greater industrialisation encouraged by railroads
- Focus on cotton market
- Limited black education/rights + little land redistribution
5
Describe the cotton market in the South
- Britain made other arrangements for cotton during the Civil War
- USA’s market share in 1867 smaller than 1857
- Lack of cash in the economy for cotton production
- Yet Southern industrialisation remained focused on cotton in textile factories in the South
- 1870s glut
2
Describe black education in the South
- Government-sponsored education fell through very quickly when money ran out
- Prevented black leadership in business or politics
5
Describe black rights in the South
- 1873 Slaughter House cases (14th Amendment did not prevent states setting their own citizens rights rules)
- 1883 Civil Rights cases
- 1883 the Court struck down 1875 Civil Rights Act
- Jim Crow laws
- Rise of racial violence and populism
4
Describe the divisions within the South
- Divisions between white plantation owners and black sharecroppers
- Land class division
- Divisions among black citizens over whether to be radical or moderate in pursuing goals
- Colfax Massacre 1873 exposed violent divisions
4
Describe the shifts in Northern immigration 1865-90
- Shift in population to Northern and Eastern industrial/urban hubs of New York, Chicago, Pennsylvania, etc
- Unlike earlier scandinavian and german immigrants who had settled into rural areas
- Debate between optimistic ‘melting pot’ vision of America vs pessimists warning of strained ethnic relations
- NY pop doubled 1860-90
2
Describe Northern Gang Violence 1865-90
- Orange Riots in New York in 1870 and 1871 led to deaths of 8 and 60 people respectively
- Irish gangs terrorised Italians, Jews and Poles in Chicago’s South Side in 1870s
Orange riots - conflict between Irish protestants and catholics
4
Describe evidence of the New South
- railroad mileage doubled in 1880s
- made it possible to develop new industries such as coal mining in West Virginia
- City of Birmingham, Alabama had plentiful supplies of coal, iron and limestone nearby became centre of steel industry
- James Buchanon Duke revolutionised tobacco industry through machinery - factories could produce 100k cigarettes a day
4
Describe key aspects of the West 1865-90
- Filled with pioneers, Native Americans and Cowboys
- Rapid settlement and homesteaders
- Development of cattle industry fed Eastern cities
- Many Chinese immigrants worked in construction
pioneers - farmers who took advantage of natural resources in West
1
Describe evidence of rapid settlement in the West
half pop of Nevada and Arizona were foreign born by last quarter of 19th century
7
Describe reasons for divisions within the West
- Native American policy - battles
- Railroads cut through bull culls, cutting off NA food supplies
- NA infringement encouraged by US army and Bureau of Indian Affairs, but also ordinary Americans
- Homestead Act’s 160 acres not enough to make a living
- Ghost Towns
- Pioneer settlers vs ‘big agriculture’
- The Granger movement
5
Describe the Granger movement
- Formed 1867
- helped farmers with loans and advice
- the ‘Grange’ was hostile to railroad companies
- support peaked in 80s - led to ICC
- support would shift to ‘Farmer’s Alliance’ movement, which was more openly political and demanded currency reform and lower tariffs
3
Describe the North’s divisions with the South/West 1865-90
- North continued to prosper as industrial, ethnic and urban hub
- Remained the most influential
- e.g. Chester Arthur’s attempts to reduce tariffs struggled as Congress raised as many as he cut down
4
Describe the South’s divisions with the North 1865-90 (political divisions)
- ‘New South’ still evokative of ‘Old South’
- Still harboured feelings of defeat
- Endless complaints against ‘carpetbaggers’ and ‘scalawags’
- New redeemer governments increasingly distant from DC
5
Describe the South/West’s divisions with the North 1865-90 (farming divisions)
- Farmers in South and West regulary dependent on Northern borrowing
- Borrowing based on expected levels of harvesting
- Yet market instability and price falls plunged many into debts
- Led to support of low interest rates and expanded money supply
- Ideas vehemently opposed by industrial North
5
Describe immigration 1865-90
- 10m immigrants
- Majority from Britain, Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia, Netherlands and Switzerland
- Open door policy until 1882
- Statue of Liberty erected in 1886 - symbol of welcome and promise
- 1890, 56% of labour force in manufacturing and mechanical industries were foreign born or of foreign parentage
8
Describe pull factors for immigration 1865-90
- Space - America had vast plains where farm settlements were far apart. Growing cities had plenty of room e.g. NYC largest city in world by 1900 and still growing
- Natural resources - massive natural resources: oil, timber and minerals.
- Land was cheap
- Economic opportunity - rapid industrialisation, 2nd largest money market, entrepreneurism
- Wages considerably higher in skilled trade
- Freedom of religion
- Pamphlets
- Railroads
3
Describe how railroad employment encouraged immigration 1865-90
- provided loans at low rates of interest
- classes in farming
- building of churches/schools
2
Describe a pamphlet that encouraged immigration 1865-90
- Minnesota, The Empire State of the North-West (1878)
- claimed it could support 5m people
7
Describe push factors for immigration 1865-90
- Overcrowding and shortage of land in Europe
- Youngest in European families could expect little inheritance
- Lack of opportunity - Europe was still a class-dominated society
- Unemployment in Europe - economic depression, agricultural mismanagement and mechanisation
- Religious persecution
- Repeal of Japanese emigration ban in 1885
2
Describe religious persecution in Europe 1865-90
- Regular attacks against Jews in Russia triggered by the assassination of Alexander II in 1881
- Number of Jewish immigrants rose from 5k (1880) to 90k (1900)
1
Describe the impact of the Japanese repeal on emigration in 1885
Most went to Hawaii to work on sugar plantations
5
Describe the economic reaction to immigration 1865-90
- Economic fear of immigrants being a drain on natural resources bred a culture of ethnic intolerance, especially in NE with rapid social change
- Trade unions, led by Samuel Gompers strongly opposed Chinese labourers
- New tide of immigration closed off traditional escape route of discontented Easterners through closures of settlements of available land
- Local Assembly 300
- Chinese Exclusion Act 1882 and Foran Act 1885
2
Describe Local Assembly 300
- Skilled Belgian and British glass workers brought under contract at lower wages in Kent, Ohio and Baltimore
- 1882, 2 unions of skilled glass workers amalgamated to oppose contract labour
2
Describe the Foran Act 1885
- Banned foreign contract labour
- Did not extend to skilled workers needed for new industries
6
Describe wider social discrimination 1865-90
- English workmen targeted by New York Herald Tribune
- Many ethnicities stereotyped by Atlantic Monthly
- Anti-semitism most prominent form of ethnic discrimination - Jews had been barred from voting until early-19th century in America
- Some hotels and clubs displayed ‘no jews or dogs admitted here’ signs
- Crowded tenement housing for immigrants
- Speed and intensity accentuated discrimination
4
Describe Nativism 1865-90
- Policy of protecting interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants
- Led by trade unions, more extreme protestant christians, social reformers who saw immigration as exacerbating existing problems in cities
- American Protective Association
- Contradictonary feelings over assimmilation within communities
3
Describe the American Protective Association
- Protestant extremist group
- Established 1887 in reaction to increasing enrolment in Catholic schools
- Led by Henry Bowers
5
Describe the growth of Chinese immigration 1865-90
- Swelled in California after California Gold Rush 1849 and construction of Union Pacific Railroad in the 60s
- Most worked on Central Pacific railways
- Provided half of SFs workforce
- Census data shows that Chinese immigration grew from 63k men (1870) to 106k (1880s)
- They were known to be cheap, hard-working and caused few social problems
3
Describe the fear of the ‘yellow peril’
- Panic of 1873 accentuated fears of cheap Chinese labour
- By 1879, President Hayes was warning of the ‘present Chinese invasion’
- Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
3
Describe the Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
- Prevented Chinese immigration for 10 years by denying right of citizenship (with exceptions)
- Renewed in 1892 and continually thereafter
- finally repealed in 1943
2
Describe the National Woman Suffrage Association
- Formed 1869
- tied markedly less popular female suffrage to black vote movement
Which territory granted women unrestricted franchise in 1869?
Wyoming territory
