Frederick Jackson Turner: The Frontier in American History

Federal land policy and the completion of the transcontinental railroad led to the rapid settlement of American west

1862 – Congress passed Homestead Act which allowed 160 free acres to any “head of household”

Leaders of the farmers organization realized they needed to build a base of political power

Populism – the movement of the people – was born in 1892 with the founding of the Populist, or People’s Party

THE PANIC OF 1893Nationwide

economic problems took center stage in America in 1893

Railroads went bankrupt, the stock market lost value, 15,000 businesses and 500 banks collapsed,

3 million people lost their jobs – putting unemployment at 20%

SILVER OR GOLD?

The central issue of the 1896 Presidential campaign was which metal would be the basis of the nation’s monetary system

Bimetallism (those who favored using both) vs. those that favored the Gold Standards alone

BRYAN AND THE“CROSS OF GOLD”

Republicans favored the Gold standard and nominated William McKinley

Democrats favored Bimetallism and nominated William Jennings Bryan

Despite Bryan’s stirring words, “You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold,” McKinley won the 1896 election

BRYAN’S CROSS OF GOLD SPEECH

THE END OF POPULISMWith McKinley’s

election victory, Populism collapsed, burying the hopes of the farmer

Populism left two important legacies: 1) A message that the downtrodden can organize and be heard and 2) an agenda of reforms, many of which would be enacted in the 20th century

In 1859, Edwin Drake used a steam engine to drill for oil

This breakthrough started an oil boom in the Midwest and later Texas

At first the process was limited to transforming the oil into kerosene and throwing out the gasoline: a by-product of the process

BLACK GOLD

NEW USES FOR STEEL

BROOKLYN BRIDGE SPANS 1,595 FEET IN NYC

The railroads, with thousands of miles of track, were the biggest customers for steel

Other uses emerged: barbed wire, farm equipment, bridge construction (Brooklyn Bridge- 1883), and the first skyscrapers

THE AGE OF THE RAILROADS

By 1869, tracks had been laid across the continent (Golden Spike - Utah)

Immigrants from China and Ireland and out-of-work Civil War vets provided most of the difficult labor

Thousands lost their lives and tens of thousands were injured laying track

the unchecked power of the railroad companies led to widespread abuses and then reforms

The transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. The Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads met in Promontory Point, Utah

and laid a Golden Spike

RAILROADS SPUR OTHER INDUSTRIES

The rapid growth of the railroad industry influenced the iron, coal, steel, lumber, and glass businesses as they tried to keep up with the railroads demand for materials

The spread of the railroads also led to the growth of towns, new markets, and opportunity for profiteers

BIG BUSINESS

Rockefeller, Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Morgan

“J.P. Morgan”

“John Rockefeller”

SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT

In 1890, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act made it illegal to form a monopoly (Trust)

Prosecuting companies under the Act was not easy – a business would simply reorganize into single companies to avoid prosecution

Seven of eight cases brought before the Supreme Court were thrown out

(REAL TRUST)

LABOR UNIONS EMERGE

As conditions for laborers worsened, workers realized they needed to organize

The first large-scale national organization of workers was the National Labor Union in 1866

The Colored National Labor Union followed

Knights of Labor

Noble Order of the Knights of Labor 1869 Membership open to all (no limits on

race, gender, type of skill) “An injury to one is an injury to all” 8-hour workday and “equal pay for equal

work” for men and women Peaked in 1886 with 700,000

members

CRAFT UNIONS

Craft Unions were unions of workers in a skilled trade

Samuel Gompers led the Cigar Makers’ International Union to join with other craft unions in 1886

Gompers became president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL)

He focused on collective bargaining to improve conditions, wages and hours

STRIKES TURN VIOLENT

Several strikes turned deadly in the late 19th century as workers and owners clashed

The Great Strike of 1877: Workers for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad struck to protest wage cuts

Other rail workers across the country struck in sympathy

Federal troops were called in to end the strike

THE HAYMARKET AFFAIR

Labor leaders continued to push for change – and on May 4, 1886 3,000 people gathered at Chicago’s Haymarket Square to protest police treatment of striking workers

A bomb exploded near the police line – killing 7 cops and several workers

Radicals were rounded up and executed for the crime

THE HOMESTEAD STRIKE

Even Andrew Carnegie could not escape a workers strike

Conditions and wages were not satisfactory in his Steel plant in Pennsylvania and workers struck in 1892

Carnegie hired Pinkerton Detectives to guard the plant and allow scabs to work

Detectives and strikers clashed – 3 detectives and 9 strikers died

The National Guard restored order – workers returned to work

THE PULLMAN STRIKE

After the Pullman Company laid off thousands of workers and cut wages, the workers went on strike in the spring of 1894

Eugene Debs (American Railroad Union) tried to settle dispute which turned violent

Pullman hired scabs and fired the strikers – Federal troops were brought in

Debs was jailed

POLITICS IN THE GILDED AGE

As cities grew in the late 19th century, so did political machines

Political machines controlled the activities of a political party in a city

Ward bosses, precinct captains, and the city boss worked to ensure their candidate was elected

MUNICIPAL GRAFT AND SCANDAL

Some political bosses were corrupt

Some political machines used fake names and voted multiple times to ensure victory (“Vote early and often”) – called election fraud

Graft (bribes) was common among political bosses

Construction contracts often resulted in “kick-backs”

The fact that police forces were hired by the boss prevented close scrutiny

URBAN PROBLEMS

Problems in American cities in the late 19th and early 20th century included:

Housing: overcrowded tenements were unsanitary

Sanitation: garbage was often not collected, polluted air

Famous photographer Jacob Riis captured the struggle of living in

crowded tenements

Transportation: Cities struggled to provide adequate transit systems

Water: Without safe drinking water cholera and typhoid fever was common

Crime: As populations increased thieves flourished

Fire: Limited water supply and wooden structures combined with the use of candles led to many major urban fires – Chicago 1871 and San Francisco 1906 were two major fires

Harper’s Weekly image of Chicagoans fleeing the fire in 1871

URBAN PROBLEMS

URBAN PROBLEMS

URBAN PROBLEMS