1877 - 1920

1865-1900

North? South? West?

Starts emerging as a powerful industrial

and urban center

Economically devastated the and entering

the era a “Jim Crow” and sharecropping

Due to technological advancements,

financial opportunities and government

assistance many Americans move west to

settle the rest of our country

Completed on May 10, 1869 at Promontory Point Utah

Union Pacific built west from Omaha

Central Pacific built east from Sacramento

This linked the East and West Coast

This will help travel and create a larger market for goods and intensify westward expansion

The Mechanical Reaper: Cyrus

McCormick

• Made farming large fields more efficient

Barbed Wire• Allowed farmers to protect their lands

Opened new lands in the West for

settlement and made farming more

prosperous.

By the turn of the century, the Great Plains

and Rocky Mountain region of the

American West was no longer a mostly

unsettled frontier, but was fast becoming a

region of farms, ranches, and towns.

Many Americans had to rebuild their lives after the Civil War

Many moved west to take advantage of the Homestead Act of 1862, which gave free public land in the western territories to settlers who would live on and farm the land.

Southerners and African Americans, in particular, moved west to seek new opportunities after the Civil War.

The years immediately before and after the Civil War were the era of the American cowboy

Marked by long cattle drives for hundreds of miles over unfenced open land in the West

This was the only way to get cattle to market.

The goal was to get the cattle to RR junctions where they were then sent to Chicago to be “processed”

Today many are infatuated with the cowboy lifestyle and the lawless ruckus nature of the Wild West

Many moved west to attempt to strike it rich finding gold or silver

This leads to the founding of “boom towns”

Bars, gambling, prostitution, and fighting

Example: Denver Colorado

As Americans moved West the encroached

on Native American Lands

Americans wanted Native lands-ranching,

gold etc

Tried to push them on to other reservations

Natives Americans did not want to move

any more, led to violent resistance

Army was ordered to move Sioux off land, found gold

7th Cavalry unit, led by George Armstrong Custer, attacked the Sioux (Lakota)

Sioux were led by Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse

On June 6, 1876 Custer and all 264 of his men were annihilated by the Sioux warriors

Greatest Indian triumph AKA: Battle of Little Big

Horn

December 29th, 1890

Soldiers (7th Cav.) were

sent to disarm the a

group Sioux Indians

Something happened

and the soldiers opened

fire

The soldiers killed and

estimated 300 men,

women, and children

As the population moved westward, many

new states in the Great Plains and Rocky

Mountains regions were added to the

United States. By the early twentieth

century, all the states that make up the

continental United States today, from the

Atlantic to the Pacific, had been admitted.

1877-1920

When 1607-1776

From English, Scottish, Irish, German, Dutch

Motives Political, Religious, Economic

Slavery

Settled Atlantic Coast – inland to Appalachian Mountains

Contributions European Culture: language, government etc

Problems Conflict with the Native Americans

New way of life in unfamiliar area

When 1776-1850

From Western Europe

Motives Political, Religious, Economic

Slavery

Settled NE Cities

West to start farms

Contributions New Technologies: Railroad,

farming

Educational Ideas: Kindergarten

Problems Religious conflict: Catholics vs.

Protestants

When 1877-1924

From S & E Europe Asia (China, Japan)

Motives Economic, political, religious

Settled Cities , Industrial Ports

Ghettos, West Coast

Contributions Sweat shop and industrial labor

Railroad construction

Problems Adjusting to new customs

Hostilities from Americans

Immigration Limitations

Prior to 1871, most immigrants to America came from northern and western Europe

During the half-century from 1871 until 1921, most immigrants came from southern and eastern Europe (Italy, Greece, Poland, Russia, and present-day Hungary and Yugoslavia), as well as Asia (China and Japan).

Like earlier immigrants, these immigrants came to America seeking freedom and better lives for their families.

During this period, immigrants from Europe entered America through Ellis Island in New York harbor. Their first view of America was often the Statue of Liberty, standing nearby, as their ships arrived following the voyage across the Atlantic.

Chinese workers

helped to build the

Transcontinental

Railroad.

Immigrants worked in

textile and steel mills

in the Northeast; the

clothing industry in

New York City

Slavs, Italians, and Poles worked in the coal mines of the East.

They often worked for very low pay and in dangerous working conditions to help build the nation’s industrial strength.

The process of making them Americans

Immigrants began the process of assimilation into what was termed the American “melting pot.”

While often settling in ethnic

neighborhoods in the growing cities, they

and their children worked hard to learn

English, adopt American customs, and

become American citizens.

The public schools served an essential

role in the process of assimilating

immigrants into American society.

Despite the valuable contributions

immigrants made to build America during

this period, immigrants often faced

hardship and hostility.

There was fear and resentment that

immigrants would take jobs for lower pay

than American workers, and there was

prejudice based on religious and cultural

differences

Mounting resentment led Congress to limit immigration through the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Immigration Restriction Act of 1921.

These laws effectively cut off most immigration to America for the next several decades; however, the immigrants of this period and their descendants continued to contribute immeasurably to American society.

Not the red baron…they are scary and ruthless but with a ton more

money

Railroads

Bought and

merged numerous

railroads together

Oil industry

Standard Oil

Eliminated

competition

Controlled all

aspects of

production

Steel industry

Controlled all

aspects of

production

World’s largest

steel maker

US Steel

Finance

Profited by loaning

money to businesses

Merged many large

corporation together

Influenced railroads,

steel, insurance,

electric, and various

other industries

Limited Liability

Owned by shareholders

Raise money by selling stocks

After 1870 most new business were

corporations

Process for converting iron ore into steel

Increased steel output

Steel Producing Region-Rust Belt (PA)

Light bulb

Electricity as a source of power and light

Phonograph

Telephone

The Assembly Line

Workers preformed

specialized tasks

Items advanced

Increased amount

that could be

produced

Reduced cost to

consumers

Airplane

1903

As the nation’s industrial growth continued, cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and New York grew rapidly as manufacturing and transportation centers.

Factories in the large cities provided jobs, Workers’ families often lived in harsh

conditions, crowded into tenements and slums.

The rapid growth of cities caused housing

shortages and the need for new public

services, such as sewage and water

systems and public transportation.

New York City began construction of the

world’s first subway system around the

turn of the twentieth century, and many

cities built trolley or streetcar lines

There were problems, now time to advance and get better

Excesses of the Gilded Age

Income disparity, lavish lifestyles

Practices of robber barons

Labor ConditionsDangerous working

conditionsChild laborLong hours, low

wages, no job security, no benefits

Company townsEmployment of

women

Political CorruptionCorruption Graft and Scandals were in every

level of government in the late 1800sParties were controlled by party “bosses

Government controlled by the people

Guaranteed economic opportunities

through government regulation

Elimination of social injustices

Muckrakers• Helped bring reform

issues to the public• Journalist, writers,

artist• Investigated and

exposed corruption The Jungle

• Upton Sinclair• Showed the working

conditions of the meat packing industry

Changes were needed to eliminate the influence of political party bosses

New forms of government (commissioner-style and city-manager-style) to meet needs of increasing urbanization

Referendums: voters decided whether a

bill or amendment should be passed

Initiative: allowed voters to petition the

legislator to consider a proposed law

Recall: a petition used to force elected

officials out of office

Primary: allowed voters to select candidates

Secret Ballots: prevents anyone from knowing who you voted for

17th Amendment: direct election of U.S. Senators

Sherman Anti-Trust Act: Prevents any business structure that “restrains trade” (monopolies)

Clayton Anti-Trust Act: Expands Sherman Anti-Trust Act; outlaws price-fixing; exempts unions from Sherman Act

States began passing and enforcing child

labor laws

All laborers

Led by Terrance Powderly

Equal wages

Better work conditions

Eliminate gap between labor and capital

Idealistic political reform

Skilled laborers

Samuel Gompers

Move power

benefits for workers

Realistic short term

goals

Railroad

Eugene V. Debs

Better conditions &

wages

Clothing, textiles

Better work conditions

No sweatshops

A result of the formation of these labor

unions was the idea of Labor Strikes

What is a labor strike?

1886

All laborers

Demanding shorter workday

Turned violent

Decline of Knights of Labor

1892

Steel

Wanted higher wages

Turned very bloody

National guard suppressed

1894

Railroad

Protesting lay offs & company town

Turned Violent

President asked the army to suppress the

strike

Eugene Debs imprisoned

Even though many Americans did no t like

the labor unions and many of the strikes

turned violent, the Unions did produce

some beneficial results

Limited Work Hours• 40 hour work week

Regulated Work Conditions

Minimum wages

Workers Compensation

By 1914 all but one state set minimum

ages for workers

Many established limits on child labor

Children’s Bureau was created to

investigate child labor violations

The first 3 Presidents of the 20th century

were known for their Progressive

Legislation

Teddy Roosevelt (R), William Taft, (R) &

Woodrow Wilson (D)

Teddy RooseveltConsumer ProtectionsPure Food and Drug ActMeat Inspection ActBusiness Regulation Strengthen government

control Break up trusts

(monopolies) Improved labor

conditions

Woodrow WilsonFinical Reform Lowered tariffsGraduated income

taxesCreated the Federal

ReserveBusiness Reforms Reduce unfair

competition Increase government

power to regulateReduced labor hours

Was a forerunner of modern protest movement

Benefited from strong leadership

Susan B. AnthonyEncouraged women to

enter the labor force during World War I

19th Amendment: Women gain the right to vote

Laws: Laws in the south that hindered

African-American advancement and

started segregation

Intimidation and crimes were directed

against African Americans (lynchings).

African Americans looked to the courts to

safeguard their rights.

The Supreme Court ruled that “separate

but equal” did not violate the 14th

Amendment, upholding the “Jim Crow”

laws

Many Southern African Americans moved

to Northern cities in search of jobs and to

escape poverty and discrimination in the

South

Led an anti-

lynching crusade

and called on the

federal

government to take

action.

Believed the way to equality was through vocational education and economic success; he accepted social separation.

Created the Tuskegee Institute: a vocational school

Believed that education was meaningless without equality.

He supported political equality for African Americans by helping to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).