American History—Chapters 13 and 14

Great Plains

• Great Plains—Grassland that extend through the western part of America • Native Tribes • Many different tribes (Iowa, Sioux, Cheyenne) • Hunted and followed buffalo (tepees) • Issues with White Man • Wanted to move west for land, gold, RR • Different views on land ownership • RR forced the government to get involved

White Man vs Indians

• Massacre at Sand Creek • 150 innocent Cheyenne women and children dead • Treaty of Ft. Laramie • Bozeman Trail—hunting trail used by the Sioux • Treaty of Ft. Laramie—some Sioux signed this, said they would live along the Missouri River • Sitting Bull (Sioux Leader) did not sign this treaty • Black Hills (GOLD!!!) • George Custer—US general in charge of the 7 th Calvary, supposed to make sure the Indians didn’t interfere • Battle of Little Big Horn---Custer’s Calvary was surrounded and killed by Sitting Bull and others

Government Solves the Problem??

• Assimilation • Force the minority group to give up beliefs to fit into the main culture of the dominant group • Tried to force the Native Americans to live more like white people. • Dawes Act • Act that tried to Americanize the Native Americans • Gave them 160 acres to work with…problem was that most of the good land was stolen back by the white people • Main Problem: Death of the buffalo due to over hunting by whites

End of the Indian Problems

• Battle at Wounded Knee • Sitting Bull and others used the Ghost Dance to try to get their land back/get rid of the white people.

• US Military saw this as a threat and surrounded • Gun went off, US Army attacked and killed over 300 Native Americans • Last major battle between the Native Americans of the Plains and the US Army

Cowboy Time

• Longhorns • Cattle that the Spanish brought over • Vaqueros—Mexican Cowboy’s • Why so popular?

• Demand for beef was high, especially in cities • Long Drives—Cowboys would herd cattle, transport them to RR and then ship them all over the country • Cowboy Life • All different races and color (Mexicans, Whites, Blacks, Native • Very difficult—most were done by the age of 40, weather, stampedes, Indian attacks all made it very dangerous • Cattle Industry fell apart because of bad weather, overgrazing of land, and barbed wire.

Moving to the Plains

• Transcontinental RR • Government bought a bunch of land to build a RR that went across the country • Central Pacific (Sacramento) and Union Pacific (Omaha) were the 2 companies that built it.

• Caused people to move out west • Homestead Act • Gave 160 acres of free land to anyone that would settle and farm the area of the Great Plains • Successful in Iowa/Minnesota (good land) • Not so successful in other places b/c of bad land, cattle drives and angry Native Americans

Moving West Again

• By 1890, most of the land in American was owned by white people (govt. or citizens) • Life was very difficult • Soddy---sod homes that people lived in (no trees) • Natural disasters, Indians, loneliness • New Inventions helped make it easier to farm • Morrill Act • Gave money to establish Agricultural Colleges (ISU) • Helped improve farmers productivity

Farming is not easy

• Difficulties • Have to buy expensive machines to be successful • Low crop prices made it hard to pay back debts • Shipping Prices on RR were outrageous • Drought made it impossible to grow things…farmers began to go into more and more debt.

• It cost more to take wheat from the Dakotas to Minneapolis than it did to take wheat from Chicago to England • Started to work together to get rights..

Farmers…Assemble

• Grange • Organization created by Oliver Kelly • Farmers would work together to improve lives • Main target was the RR • Farmers Alliance • Came after the Grange • Tried to improve financial conditions (loans, interests) • Populism • Movement of the People (political movement) • Farmers need political power…formed the Populist Party

Farmers and Politics

• Populist Party • Demands: more money in circulation, income tax reform, federal loan program, 8-hour work day (non-farmers) and better conditions.

• Successful in the west, able to elect a handful of senators and governors.

• Ideas from the Populist Party would become the platform of the modern Democrat Party • Government is responsible for fixing social and economical problems.

Economy is bad…like today??

• Panic of 1893 • RR went bankrupt and farmers were in debt • People began to panic and the stock market crashed • Thousands of banks closed, 20% Unemployment • What should money be made of?

• Gold vs Silver • Gold—less coins, cause deflation (wealthy like) • Silver—more coins, cause inflation (poor like) • Election of 1896 • William McKinley (Rep) defeated William Bryan (Dem) • Very sectionalized—was the end of the Populist Movement

Chapter 14 Expansion of Industry

We are growing…

• Growth • After the Civil War, the US began to grow like crazy • By 1920, we were the leading industrial producer in the world • Natural Resources, government support, cheap labor, lots of people…

Inventors are smart people

• Many Inventions helped make the US strong • Edwin L Drake—Steam engine that drilled for oil – Oil boom (Kentucky, Ohio, Penn) – Initially oil made into Kerosene (gasoline was thrown away) – Eventually, they kept gasoline around • Bessemer Process—takes the carbon out of raw iron, makes the steel much easier to use – RR, Barbed wire, farm equipment, bridges, skyscrapers (Willam Jenny)

Inventors are smart people

• More Inventions • Thomas Edison—light bulb – Found ways to make electricity safe to use – Changed how people lived, traveled (electric street cars), business (located anywhere, open all night, safer) • Christopher Sholes—invented the typewritter • Alexander Graham Bell—invented telephone • All of these inventions changed the world – More jobs for women – Made life easier, more modern

RR Time Again

• Transcontinental RR • Completion was critical to the west being settled • Conditions working on the project were horrible – Central Pacific (Chinese) and Union Pacific (Irish and Blacks) worked in horrible conditions – Over 2000 people died making this RR • Completed in 1869—Utah “Golden Spike” • RR Time • Before, each city would have separate times (12:00 in Chicago, 12:10 in NYC)—Problems • CF Dowd—Divide the earth into 24 time zones, map

RR Causes Growth

• Business and Towns Expanded • Why Mediapolis is where it is • Chicago, Minneapolis, etc… • George Pullman • Built RR cars that people could sleep on • Tried to create a whole town around his factory, control the lives of workers (didn’t work) • Credit Mobilier • RR Scandal involving Grant’s administration • Grange • Kept fighting the RR companies for fair prices • Interstate Commerce Act—gave the government the right to set fair prices for RR activity

Andrew Carnegie

• Andrew Carnegie • Became rich buy controlling the steel industry • Wanted to make products the cheapest and hired the best employees (incentive based) • Controlling the industry • Vertical Integration—buying out all the suppliers (coal/iron fields, RR, etc) • Horizontal Integration---buy out all the rival steel companies

John Rockefeller

• John Rockefeller • Made millions of dollars in the oil industry • Created Standard Oil Company • Complete Control of Oil Industry • Merger—type of horizontal integration where companies come together or merge • Standard Oil Company—a bunch of oil companies merged together to create this company) • Formed a trust, led by Rockefeller, could now underbid any other oil company.

• Trusts are not a legal type of merger

Social Darwinism

• Social Darwinism • Belief that the smartest, hardest working people would be the most successful in business. • Came from Charles Darwin’s book on natural selection, “only the strong will survive” • Made the business world more competitive, people tried to make more money • Embraced by Rockefeller and Carnegie

Opposition

• Robber Barons • People were mad at both Carnegie/Rockefeller • Made a ton of $ but didn’t do much to improve conditions for workers.

• Also were able to run other companies out of business by under-bidding. • Both men did donate much back to community • Sherman Anti-Trust Act • Made it illegal to have a trust that interfered with free trade between states/countries.

• Very difficult to enforce, hard to define what was a trust • More business’ have consolidated (join together)

Changes in the workplace

• Difference between North and South • North was growing, South remained the same • South was dependent on the North (RR, etc) • Eventually able to improve industry (forestry, mining, tobacco) • Changes in the Workplace • Came together (unionized) to protest bad working conditions • 12 hr. days, 7 days a week, no vacation, sick leave, employment, or disability, young children worked..

• Injuries were very common, hundreds died each year in preventable work injuries.

Unions

• National Labor Union/Knights of Labor • Early unions, open to everyone • 8 hr. work day and equal pay • Craft Unions (American Federation of Labor) • Skilled workers from all different trades • Samuel Gompers • Industrial Unions (American Railroad Union) • All Laborers (Skilled/Unskilled) Eugene Debs-leader • Similarities • All of these used boycotts and strikes to get demands that they wanted, all were able to improve the workplace

Socialism

• Socialism • Government has total control of business, wealth, and property • Related on some levels to Communism • Eugene Debs • Mary Harris Jones (Mother Jones) • Fought to give women/children more rights in workplace

Government Intervention

• Different Occasions when Govt. took control • Great Strike of 1877---RR Strike, ended by govt. troops • Haymarket Affair---riot that occurred in Chicago, many left dead • Homestead Strike—steel workers went on strike, attacked the people that worked in their place “scabs” • Pullman Company Strike • Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire---Fire that killed 146 women, only had one exit in place.

• Even today, the Union remains powerful!