test 1

Question 1

Compromise of 1877

Answer 1

• Made in order for republicans to keep presidency
• Republicans give up/finish reconstruction
• Federal troops, republican controlled pull out of three southern states
• Terrorist organizations move in (KKK) and take control
• Keeps blacks and republicans from voting

Question 2

Sharecropping

Answer 2

• Blacks left impoverished
• Tied to land by debt
• Farm the land, at end of season give a portion of crops to the land owners
• Land typically owned by whites

Question 3

Redeemers

Answer 3

• Conservative, racist, white democrats
• Lead charge against black and republican reconstruction government
• Want to redeem government from the blacks
• Used terror attacks (KKK) and a very powerful propaganda attack
• Government dominated by incompetent blacks
• Blacks ill suited for role they were thrust into
• whites are the natural leaders
• restore the white’s natural place (supremacy)
• Taps into deep seeded racist sentiment
• By 1877 northerners give up on reconstruction, and buy into propaganda
• Very effective propaganda campaign (written into textbooks/history)
• Hollywood pick up redeemer view of history, make movies

Question 4

Disenfranchisement

Answer 4

Stripping away blacks right to vote
-Poll Tax, blacks can not afford the tax
-Literacy Test, administered by whites
included state constitution, very difficult for blacks, easier test given to whites
-Grandfather Clause, if your grandfather voted you are exempt from testing, no black grandfather voted
-Led to powerful democratic south

Question 5

Segregation

Answer 5

Legal in public places
Jim Crowe Laws passed in the south
-Race passed state laws
Plessy V. Ferguson
-Separate but equal
-Supreme court decision blacks were inferior to whites
-If facilities are equal, they could be separate

Question 6

Opening the west

Answer 6

From the plains to the pacific

Last three decades of the 19th century

Question 7

Assaulting the Indians

Answer 7

Indian problem had to be confronted for west to truly be opened
Indian wars
-armed physical attacks on the Indians
Pattern emerges
-Mineral strike brings investors, prospectors, settlers into area
-Encroachment into tribal lands
-rising tension
-bloodshed

Question 8

Sand Creek (1864)

Answer 8

Mineral Strike in Colorado
-Settlers, encroachment, bloodshed
Sand Creek Massacre
Cheyenne living in the area believed they had government protection
Militia led from Denver to massacre Cheyenne
-Scalps taken and hung over opera house in Denver

Question 9

Little Big Horn (1876)

Answer 9

George Custer and approximately 200 men
-Surrounded by 2500 Sioux
-Custer slaughtered, climax of Indian wars
Gold was located in the area, pattern begins and Sioux strike

Question 10

Wounded Knee (1890)

Answer 10

Army attacked and slaughtered approximately 300 Sioux
-Retaliation for Little Big Horn 14 years prior
Estimated 5000 Indians and 7000 settlers/soldiers killed by battle wounds throughout wars

Question 11

Indian Reservations

Answer 11

Government reservation policy 
-set aside areas of mostly traditional Indian lands
-Keep Indians out of path of progress
As minerals were discovered
-treaties rewritten
-reservations redrawn and much land lost

Question 12

Destruction of Buffalo

Answer 12

Buffalo were systematically slaughtered
-army, hunting parties, Native Americans depend on Buffalo for survival
15 million buffalo in great planes
-by 1880s the animal is nearly extinct, remaining buffalo in remote areas of Canada
-you attack the animal, you attack the Indian

Question 13

Indian Reform

Answer 13

Well intentioned, mostly white, Indian reformers mostly from the east, tried to save the last remnants of the Indians
-upset over fighting and Indians being killed in the west
-Wanted to change Indian laws, land, and education
-Turn Indians into farmers (civilize Indians to live like white men)
A Century of Dishonor
-book written by Helen Hunt Jackson
-highlights 100 years of dishonorable dealings with the Indians
-Given to members of congress

Question 14

Dawes Act (1887)

Answer 14

Break up Indian reservation
-Believed the reservation system had failed
-Break up/move away from tribal life
Give land to nuclear families (160 acres or 1/4 square mile)
“Civilization from Savagery”
Take the Indian off of the horse
-Eliminate nomadic existence, put the Indian behind a plow
-Root him to the land and civilization will emerge
Indians did not have proper farming knowledge
Remaining land that was not given to Indians reverted to the government
-sold to white land speculators
-with on 20 years, 60% of the reservations gone
-failed Indian farms reverted to government as well
Focus on private property and individualism
–eliminate community property for the good of the group

Question 15

Indian Education Reform

Answer 15

force feed white education to Indians
-remove every trace of savagery
-diet, clothing, names, language
children torn between two worlds
Impact
-much Indian culture lost
-west really opened up

Question 16

Homestead Act

Answer 16

Blueprint for settlement in the west
Prior to civil war, republicans adamant no slavery in the west
-free labor on the free land of the west
Large portions of public domain
-thrown open for settlement
-stake claim on public land for a small filing fee
-work, improve, and live on land for five years, the land becomes yours
-given in 160 acre (1/4 sq. mile) blocks
-idea is to extend agrarian society to pacific
Leads to enormous concentration of wealth
-owned by very few individuals and corporations
Shut down public domain in blocks surrounding RR

Question 17

Mining Frontier

Answer 17

Purse American dream to strike it big
mineral strikes bring in flood of additional prospectors
-primitive mining techniques, pick axe and shovel
-only surface ore obtained
-more ore deeper underground
Companies and corporations purchased land deeds from prospectors
-brought in heavy machines to dig up ground
-concentration of mineral wealth with very few mining companies
-Homestead Mining controlled all the land with in short time of Black Hills Gold Strike

Question 18

Cattle frontier

Answer 18

1870s-1880s
Bonanza (the big strike) cattle operations
ran cattle on huge lots of public domain
Cowboy’s (herders) filed claims, large amounts of land obtained
Bonanza cattle operation was larger then the state of Rhode Island

Question 19

Timber Frontier

Answer 19

Huge portions of former public domain fall into control of few timber companies
-Northern California into pacific northwest
-Redwood trees
Agents descend into Barbary Coast in San Francisco
-Area of ill-repute sailors visited while on shore
hired individuals to file claim for land
-have land turned over to companies
-whole townships turned over to one firm (6x6 square miles)
-enormous concentration

Question 20

Railroad frontier

Answer 20

transportation frontier
after Spanish-American war, link the entire country with iron rail
-from Nebraska west, and California east
-Link in the Great Salt Lake
-Public Domain policy established
-RR right of way granted 100 yards
-20 miles on either side of RR granted to RR in alternating pattern
-closed off government owned land in the 20 mile boundary to public domain
-if someone wanted land, they had to deal with the railroad

Question 21

Rise of Big Business

Answer 21

Transcontinental bonanza
-gave few corporations large amounts of land
-self financed
-building the RR would then generate revenue to bay for building the RR
Homestead act shut down public domain blocks around RR

Question 22

Effects of Industrial Growth

Answer 22

Phenomenal industrial growth in northeast
-increasing machine or factory production
Has transforming effect of country
-becomes worlds largest industrial power
-growing wealth in country
-standards of living elevated, urban growth
Shift from rural to industrial/urban country

Question 23

Scale of Business

Answer 23

Change in size and scale of business enterprise
-big business did not exist pre-civil war
Railroads had huge effect on rise of big business
-Large amounts of iron and steel required
-large amounts of capital needed
-link country together in national market
National Market
-provides ability for goods and towns across the nation

Question 24

Economies of Scale

Answer 24

Key economic scale
-Sell more goods if you have a larger market
-increased production and machinery
-lowered production cost
Those who understood and implemented idea were the most successful
-lower production cost at all costs
-cut labor wages
-not just retail, but in making products as well

Question 25

Carnegie

Answer 25

Dominated iron and steel industry
American success story
-came to US as a small child from Scotland
-Became one of the richest men in the world
Used economies of scale
-lowest cost to produce
-undercut competition
-replaced equipment frequently to prevent loss of stop in production
-when equipment stops working at %, replace it
-Capital investment on equipment paid for itself by keeping production at % (payback period)
Unstoppable due to economies of scale and vertical integration

Question 26

Vertical Integration

Answer 26

One firm controls all necessary steps in production and distribution
-own everything needed to produce, manufacture, and distribute
-raw material, transportation, production, and distribution network
Economies of Scale principles linked to vertical integration
-create self contained environment
-no outside influence

Question 27

J.P. Morgan approached Carnegie Company

Answer 27

Offers to buy some of Carnegie’s firms
-begin negotiations
-better part of billion dollars in 1901 money
-accepted buy-out
-Morgan was prepared to go higher
Morgan puts several steel companies together creating largest industrial enterprise on Earth
-US steel

Question 28

Rockefeller

Answer 28

By 1880s controlled 90% of the countries refineries
Rockefeller Standard and Oil
-before automobile, oil used for energy (kerosene)
-right man, right place, right time
In Cleveland and see’s oil boom in west Pennsylvania
-sees boom and bust pattern in oil
-builds small, highly efficient refinery
Ruthless business owner/competitor
No regulations or laws in place at this time
-monopolistic conditions take control
-no checks and balances on pricing
Economies of scale
-once the market is owned, you become very efficient
-then you can offer quality product at a reasonable price

Question 29

Horizontal Integration

Answer 29

One firm controlling all of the firms in the industry

-If you control all the firms, it is a monopoly

Question 30

Trusts

Answer 30

Trust form of business organization
-Standard oil combines small companies into one large company
-set up board of trustees to run corporation
-control the stock of the company
-Hides the relationship between the companies
-public sees multiple companies
Gives the corporation stability and eliminates competition
“Stability and order”
-public relation campaign set up to avoid attacks and hatred
-eliminated price gouging/supply and demand
-makes prices stable
Received kickbacks from RR companied for shipping on their railroad
-discounted rates for high volume of shipping
-took competitions rebates as well
-under the table payments

Question 31

Gilded Age

Answer 31

Mark Twain placed the term/label on the time period
-Gaudy, materialistic, excess
Time of conspicuous consumption
-people have so much money, they don't know what to do with it
-spend money to awe observers
Bradley-Martin Ball
-extravagant affair in NYC
-costume ball - historical figures
-some costumes 10,000 or more in price
-made the front page of newspapers
-occurred during the worst depression in the US to date
Multiple Houses/Mansions built
-summer homes, living homes, cottages
-separate building for child quarters

Question 32

Social Darwinism

Answer 32

Positive view to rise of big business and Gilded Age
Application of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection to society
-“Survival of the fittest”
-by natural law, everything worked out the way it should and the strongest survive
-defends the status quo
-do not get involved in reform or helping others
Compared to Darwinism in the natural world
In social world, natural selection leads to progress
-people did not want to interfere with progress
Industrial elite supported social Darwinism
-Sumner, a Yale professor big proponent
-few have money and live in luxury
-price to pay for progress
Charles Darwin appalled his theory being applied to the social world
Many were not hardcore social Darwinism believers
-Carnegie gave most of his money away after being purchased by Morgan
-set up free public library for people to improve themselves

Question 33

Big Business negative view/response

Answer 33

early regulations
-RR largest industry in America, brings in the most revenue
-more revenue then federal government
-becomes first target of reform
Felt government has no business interfering with business practices
-private property and private business
Most Americans still farmers
-upset over cost of using railroad
-ask government for help fighting RR
-farmers had to deal with one RR for transporting goods
-RR had monopoly and priced transportation accordingly
-farmers felt ripped off
-asked state legislature for help
-long haul practices got farmers attention
-long hauls cost less then shorter trips
RR defended practices by economies of scale
-more people use long lines, charge less
-have higher cost for short, independent lines (used by less people)
A lot of farmers involved in asking for help

Question 34

Railroads regulations/state laws

Answer 34

regulate elevator storage rates
regulate freight rates
RR responds by going to court
-claim intervening in business is un-American

Question 35

Wabash Case (1886)

Answer 35

railroad freight regulation case
state legislation cannot regulate business corporations involved in interstate commerce
power to regulate interstate commerce lies with congress

Question 36

I.C.C (1887)

Answer 36

RR reformers turn to congress
1st federal regulatory body 
Interstate Commerce Committee 
-Primarily set up to reform railroad
-ensure railroad rates are reasonable and just
-ruled in favor of the railroads
Initially ICC does not have much impact

Question 37

Workers condition in industrial America

Answer 37

long hours, low pay, dangerous conditions, child labor
can ask government for help and/or organize and unionize
Business practices are unregulated
Conditions so poor, unions should have started earlier and spread faster then they did

Question 38

Factors against unions

Answer 38

Myth of mobility
-work hard and save money, you could end up in the millionaires club
-does happen, but not on a large scale
Americans then and now do not have an accurate sense of how upward mobility happens
-Known as the American dream
-encouraged to keep workers working hard, without revolt, believed it could happen to them
Individualism
-Did not think they would be stuck as a worker forever
Diversity of the American work force
–employers hired divers workers to keep work force divided
-race, ethnicity, beliefs
Bitter employer opposition
-unions violate the laws of nature
-employers against unions
violated social Darwinism theory

Question 39

Railroad strike (1877)

Answer 39

First major strike in American history
-nationwide strike
Turns attention to the labor problem
Hits the biggest industry in America at the time
Leads many Americans to realize they are facing conditions they have never seen before
-class warfare
Series of wage cuts cause workers to strike
-strike spreads
-approximately 2/3 of the nations rail system shut down
-arteries to the economy shut down
Enormous amounts of violence and property destruction
-railroad houses, stations and roundhouse’s destroyed
-Lives lost
Fear nation may be on the verge of a revolution
-Federal troops sent in, strike smashed

Question 40

Homestead strike (1892)

Answer 40

Pittsburgh homestead for Carnegie company
Iron and steel workers strike for better pay and right to organize
Carnegie left the country during the strike
-Stayed at his castle in Scotland
-Preached enlightened view in right to organize, but failed when tested
Frick left in charge of company
-Very unenlightened
-called in strike breakers
-called in private army of hundreds of Pinkerton detectives via river
-violent battle erupts, strike smashed within 6 months
Stunning blow for basic heavy industry regarding unionizing

Question 41

Pullman Strike (1894)

Answer 41

Company town outside of Chicago
-Model town ran by George Pullman
Made product with household name
-Pullman Cars (Sleeper cars)
After a series of wage cuts, workers strike
-Strike spreads to railroad
Pullman made the cars, and operated the cars on the rail
-rail workers go on strike to support other workers
-Workers were predominantly black
-Approximately 2/3 of the western railways shut down during the strike
Federal troops sent in and the strike was smashed
-Court order issued stating strike is illegal
-American Railway Union is involved
–led by Debs
If strike does not stop, leaders were to be arrested
-Stated strike violated Sherman Antitrust Act
-Act set up to stop/restrain commerce
-first time act is effectively enforced
-Debs is jailed as a democrat, but returns as a socialist

Question 42

Knights of Labor

Answer 42

first major, emerging union
joined together due to skills being threatened with the spread of machinery
-sense of upward flow being broken and stopped
Leadership of the union did not believe in striking
-did not believe wage earning class exists is America, only in Europe
-Virtually everyone welcome in the union, including women and blacks
-Union implodes due to no strike practice
Led by Powderly

Question 43

American Federation of Labor

Answer 43

Led by Gompers, had a different philosophy then the Knight of Labor
-approached organization of laborers differently
-accepted big business, capitalism, individualism, and a permanent wage earning class
Wanted concrete (material) gains for the workers
-“Bread and butter” unionism
-better pay, conditions and hours
-did not want to overturn the system, just a bigger piece of the pie
Organized by skill, not industry
-various unions joined under one umbrella
-focused on skill workers (elite)
-Gompers understood you cannot organize unskilled workers
–replaceable
–have no leverage
Will get what they can, for those they can
-narrow and limited focus
-union triumphs
-Becomes the biggest union in the country
Leaves mass of industry wage workers out of the union
-leaves door open for other unions

Question 44

Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.)

Answer 44

Semiskilled and unskilled workers
-"Wobblers"
Radical unionism
-large focus
-for a period of time was a large force to be reckoned with
-preach revolution
-many strikes
Government has a large part in ultimately smashing IWW

Question 45

Immigration Numbers

Answer 45

Surge of immigrants to America
-Approximately 25 million people came to the country
-even with large flow of immigrants, percentage of immigrant population remained virtually unchanged
Children born to immigrants in America were considered American citizens
Not all of the 25 million immigrants stayed in America
-many came to work, then return to their home country
Visibility of immigrants is changing
-coming to America, taking our jobs

Question 46

Immigrant Visibility

Answer 46

Significant change in the 1880s
-massive shift in Europe where the immigrants are coming from
-southern and eastern Europe lead large wave of immigration
Prior to 1880s northern Europe had large waves of immigration
-northern Europe is industrializing
-less need for people to leave the country
Southern and eastern Europe are still farming countries
-not as advanced industrially
-lower standards of living
-want to leave for a better life
-agriculture collapse in southern Europe, cannot compete with American farming

Question 47

New vs.Old Immigrants

Answer 47

Old immigrants from northern Europe
New immigrants from southern and eastern Europe
-Americans live in a hyper conscience racial society
-small differences are not that small
-not Anglo-Saxon
-may not be fit for American inclusion
-had different religious views, Americans upset new immigrants are not protestant
Make pilgrims and thanksgiving a big deal
-try to give immigrants something to look up to
-pilgrims were protestant
Native born Americans saw new immigrants as inferior
-lived on land as peasants
-lived in small villages in traditional garb
-once in America, style of living and garb go unchanged

Question 48

Nativism

Answer 48

Anti-immigrant sentiments
Doors to European immigration remain wide open
-In the 1900s, 60% of laborers were foreign born
-Europe was industrializing, Americans needed cheap labor
Large numbers of Chinese immigrants come to America
-predominantly in the west coast
-White, native born workers were anti-Chinese
-feared wage standards will drop
large anti-Chinese sentiment leads to exclusion act

Question 49

Exclusion Act (1882)

Answer 49

Lumps together Chinese, idiots, and lunatics

• bans any from entering the country
• belief is Chinese are racially inferior
• caused by fear of immigrants

Question 50

Rise of industrial city

Answer 50

Cities growing so fast, they are choked with high numbers of poor people
-with increase, basic social services struggled
-sanitation, paving the streets
Cities filled with high numbers of poor people
-real estate prices rise
-land rented in smaller and smaller spaces
-massive overcrowding of tenement slums

Question 51

tenements and bosses

Answer 51

rise of tenement neighborhoods
-dumbbell tenement becomes popular
-4 apartments per floor, 8 stories high
-leads to subletting and sleeping in shifts
Approximately 1000 people per acre in Manhattan
-mass overcrowding
Cities ran by party bosses, republican and democratic
-corrupt/buy-offs
-not reformers, but politicians
-wanted political power
Machine government
-ran cities with an iron fist
Immigrants supported government
-leaders gave favors for support
-collected favors during election times
-padded votes with deceased immigrants
-controlled the election machines
Native born saw political machines
-did not like them, blamed immigrants

Question 52

Agrarian Radicalism

Answer 52

expansion and decline
-tremendous expansion during this time, but small farmers are declining
-rising costs, declining prices
-prices farmers receive for their crops is declining
–leads to more production, overstock, and even lower prices
-costs off the farm rise for machinery, railroads, oil, power, fuel
–more money to industries and big business
-farmer status is declining
–hicks, hayseeds, people that have been left behind by their city cousins
farmers turn to political parties for assistance
-political parties little to no help

Question 53

Conservative Ascendancy

Answer 53

Status quo is just fine
-do not want to challenge corporations
Two burning issues
-tariff and money question
Tariff
-tax on imported goods, usually a high tax
-helpful if you produce the same goods domestically
-not helpful for farmers that must buy off the farm products
Money Question
-how much money should be in circulation
-deflation, specifically in farming
-less money to farms
-as a class, farmers are huge debtors
-expansion funded by borrowed money, sharecropping still occurs
-income going down, the value of money increasing
–farmer/debtor with decreasing funds, the farm will go under
-increased revenue for banks and wall street
Debtors wanted increased money supply
-believed wall street was keeping money supply artificially low by holding and backing money with gold
-deflation crushed debtors
-big guys win, little guys lose

Question 54

Grange

Answer 54

Farmers organize and start a social organization
-rapidly expands
originally set up to combat social isolation on the farm

Question 55

Farmers Alliance(s) (1880s)

Answer 55

grass roots organizations
-more radical the Grange
-realize grange will not be enough to affect change
-farmers stream into alliance
–white and black, even in the south
Recommend deposit crop into government warehouse
-receive payment up to 80% of the value for the crop in scrip (paper money)
-can use money (backed by crops) to pay down their debt
-plan shot down, deemed too radical
farmers further radicalize
-feel neither political party cares about them
-form the populist party

Question 56

Populist Party

Answer 56

People’s party
-farmers break off and create their own party
Silver
-wanted money backed by silver
-bi-metal money system
Platform
-graduated tax system
-shorted work days, 8 hour federal regulations
-change in money supply
-wanted to appeal to farmers and laborers
–limit corporate powers
-appeal to the average person
–very large amount of wage earners and laborers
Party grows rapidly in 1890s
-hard hit people of depression of 1893 stream into party
Democratic party moves in and steal populist party’s thunder
-still farmer based
-solid democratic white south
-Jim Crowe laws in south strip blacks right to vote, done to stop populist party
-takes up cause to use money backed by silver

Question 57

Election of 1896

Answer 57

Democratic nomination William Bryan
-farmer from Nebraska
-not a populist candidate, but speaks to the party
-takes up cause of coining silver
Populist party faced with a decision
-stick with their party, or vote for Bryan
-Bryan not pure populist
-Decide to back Bryan
Bryan tours country, giving speeches from the back of trains
Republican nominee William McKinley
-McKinley makes speeches from his porch in Ohio
-traveling like Bryan is undignified
-Develop huge amounts of money for the election
-big business back McKinley
-McKinley prints more pieces of literature then there are American people to give Americans
Close election, Bryan get 48% of the popular vote
Turning point
-old America (farmers) vs. New America (Big Business)
-after election, depression begins to go away
-more gold discovered leading to an increased money supply
The end of the populist party came with te defeat of Bryan