Talking points March 1 1

TALKING POINTS Class topic outline for March 1st meeting RECAP Eras we have been talking about recently Rapid Growth and Changes in the American Economy 1865-1900 (Chapters 16-18) o The transcontinental railroad completion in 1869 meant that the country was finally connected east to west (pp. 441-445). At the same time, telegraph lines were connected coast-to-coast. o What followed for the 35 years between 1865 (end of the Civil War) and 1900 (turn of the century) was rapid change and major economic growth (except in the South). o During this time - The American population more than doubled (from 31 million in 1860 to 76 million in 1900) mostly due to the arrival of many immigrants. (Ch. 19) - The American West changed rapidly (Ch. 16): The railroads provided transportation for settlers and the government provided cheap land, so homesteaders moved into the Plains. (pp. 425-428) Minerals (like gold, silver, copper, coal, etc.) were discovered in the Plains and in the West, so miners and prospectors moved in. (see map p. 440) The Indians tried to fight back against the white men moving to their land. They won one major battle Custer s Last Stand, 1876, in Wyoming -- but soon afterwards were forced onto reservations (pp.414-421; see reservations map, p. 420), especially when the buffalo herds they depended on were systematically destroyed (p. 416). The railroads created a business opportunity for Texas cattle ranchers. They started cattle drives, moving their herds from south Texas to distant rail depots so the cows could be shipped to Chicago and from there to the east coast (pp. 421-425). The cowboy era and the cattle drives only lasted about 33 years (1867 to 1890), but the cowboys became a fixed part of American culture, popularized by (1) f Buffalo Bill s Wild West Show (touring 1883 to 1913); (2) popular dime novels about the West and gunslingers; (3) movies, starting with silent movies 1894 to 1927, continuing through talkies in the 1930s, and then the TV era starting in the 1950s). o The American economy changed rapidly during this time (Ch. 17): - Industries of all types expanded very quickly in the period 1865-1900. New technology changed factories (with the source of power to run machines changing from watermills in the early 1800s to wood-fired steam power in the 1840s to coal-powered steam then to coal-powered turbines, creating electricity in the 1890s). (pp. 436-438). New technology made all kinds of new things people wanted. Farmers bought steel plows, McCormick s reapers, steel windmills, and barbed wire. Offices bought the first telephones and typewriters, starting in the 1870s. (Many of the office jobs working these went to women. Previously, most womens jobs were in textiles.) Edison was the most famous inventor of this period. He patented the electric light bulb (1879), the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the microphone. [Edison s film studio made close to 1200 films in the silent film era, most of them shorts shown in penny arcades.] His nickname was the wizard of Menlo Park. [NOTE: There s one major thing Edison lost out on. In the 1890s, there was a major competition between the two electrical systems AC and DC. Talking points March 1 1

Edison s light bulb ran on direct current (DC) while the Westinghouse electrical system (and Tesla s inventions) ran on alternating current (AC). Westinghouse finally won the battle by building an AC system using a transformer to step up the electrical voltage for long-distance transmission and stepping it back down for use in homes. This system was safer, more efficient, and less expensive system than Edison s. An AC system lit up the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 (see picture, p. 486). That pretty much settled the issue. Next Section for Discussion 1. The new railroad system and the new industries of the growing economy and their rapid growth led to some differences in viewpoint between differing parties, like: The railroads vs. the farmers and ranchers over prices for shipping produce and livestock (Ch. 17, pp. 444-45) The railroads vs. the public over the financing (by govt loans and grants of land) for building of the railroads (Ch. 17, pp. 444 47) [e.g., Credit Mobilier, p. 444] The industrial owners vs. other smaller industries, who felt that the big owners forcibly drove them out (unfairly using holding companies and mergers to acquire and consolidate the smaller ones into the bigger company) (Ch. 17, pp. 446-47) The workers vs. the industrial owners about the conditions under which they labored, their low wages, their long hours, and their unsafe working conditions on the job. (Ch. 18, pp. 456 464) The workers vs. their employers as the workers attempted to organize into labor unions to press for better wages and working conditions. (Ch. 18, pp. 458-464) The workers vs. their early attempts at unionization when few of them agreed on who should be included in the unions. [Few accepted all -- some groups excluded certain types of unskilled laborers, women, and blacks.] (Ch. 18, p. 458 462) 2. The political situation was changing, with many of the workers and immigrants attempting to get support or make changes to make their lives better [Ch. 18-19] Women became labor organizers and then political organizers (pp. 462 464) The government tended to support management (the big railroad and industrial owners), like by sending troops to break up strikes and to use the law (i.e., court orders or injunctions) to limit or prohibit strikes by workers (pp. 464). 3. The Gilded Age (meaning gold-plated) was a term used to describe this time, an outwardly growing and thriving of the American economy while there was corruption and dirty dealing in the industries, causing workers anger (p. 465) One bright spot was the reform of the civil service system, changing the political spoils system to more of a merit system by a civil service exam (pp. 465-66) The government tended to support management (the big railroad and industrial owners). For example, the govt sent troops to break up laborer strikes and to use the law (i.e., court orders or injunctions) to prohibit strikes by workers (pp. 464). The government tended to support management (the big railroad and industrial owners). For example, the govt sent troops to break up strikes and to use the law (i.e., court orders or injunctions) to prohibit strikes by workers (pp. 464). Women pushed for suffrage (i.e., to get the right to vote) (pp. 467-69). a. They were opposed on social grounds -- by people who believed that a woman s place was only in the home and that opinionated women would split families and cause divorces. Talking points March 1 2

b. They were opposed by businessmen -- because they believed that women would push for a shorter workday and safer working conditions. The liquor industry, especially, opposed womens suffrage because the womens movement was often linked to the temperance (or anti-liquor) movement (which the women saw as contributing to domestic violence). c. They were opposed by Southern politicians because they were afraid that the issue of who had the right to vote would bring up their denying the right of black people to vote -- affirmed in the 14 th and 15 th amendments (p. 467) -- which the South was passing Jim Crow laws to prevent. 4. Politically, two major political issues dominated in this era: tariffs and the gold standard Politicians argued over tariffs, meaning a tax on imported goods sold in the US (pp. 466 67). Business and industries wanted high tariffs; farmers didn t. Farmers started a Populist movement, demanding cheaper money and more direct participation in government (like a change to elect senators by direct popular vote and to allow direct voting by the public on initiatives, recalls, and referendum votes). These measures eventually passed, and the Populists gained even more support during and after the Panic of 1893. (pp. 470 72). The banks and the govt wanted the gold standard for the nation s money, but farmers wanted a bimetal currency (backed by gold and silver) (pp. 472-473). [NOTE: Wm. Jennings Bryan s Cross of Gold speech (p. 473) is really a rural values vs. big city argument or a no farms, no food argument (still heard now).] 5. There was rapid growth of urban areas [Ch. 18, pp. 475-477 and Ch. 19] In the US, cities grew for a variety of reasons (pp. 476-77). (1) They had an efficient farming system to get food to the cities. (2) They had a number of new inventions and discoveries (like of steam engines, then electricity) that made power-driven machinery that helped increase production in factories. (3) They had developed mass methods of transportation (like trains and trolley cars) to move goods and people. (4) They had made changes that allowed people to live in cities better like discovering the importance of city sanitation and advances in medicine to understand and treat common city illnesses. (5) Cities were exciting places. They were where the jobs were, for one thing, but there were also museums, libraries, entertainments, sports, theatre, education, and other enticements that made many people want to live there. 6. Between 1865 and 1900, there were waves of immigrants coming to the US. [Ch. 19] Unlike earlier immigrants, who had mostly come from northern and western Europe (like Britain, Germany, Ireland, and Scandinavia), the new immigrants of the 1880s and 1890s came increasingly from southern and eastern Europe (like Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Russia). (see chart, p. 497) These newcomers were often Catholic or Jewish and two-thirds of them settled in US cities. They tended to hang on more strongly to their ethnic groups, languages, and religion than earlier western European immigrants had. These differences spurred a strong anti-immigrant reaction in some places, causing reactions and resentments for various reasons: economic, social, cultural, and social Darwinist reasons. Talking points March 1 3

[NOTE: The power struggle in the US (between the GOP and the Dems) used to be divided between certain block votes of states (like the South always up to 1960 voted Democratic). Because of the Civil Rights issues in the mid-1960s, the Dixie-crats switched parties and thereafter consistently voted for the GOP. Recently, there have been red state and blue state divisions ( red for GOP states and blue for Dems). In the most recent elections, though, the division has been between the big city voters no matter what the state and the rural voters. There was a great gulf between the views of the industrialists and financiers who invested in and built the industries (Ch. 17, pp. 446 449) and the workers who labored in them (Ch. 18, pp. 456 458). The industrialists saw themselves as taking risks (to their investments and personal wealth) for their businesses (called trusts in that day, they are called corporations today). The business owners felt entitled to as much profit as they could get. The public, however, disliked the monopolies the wealthy owners established (running competitors out of business, then once they were the dominant or only business in a specific field raising prices to increase their profits. The public called them robber barons (see p. 448). Workers, on the other hand, worked long hours (typically 10 to 12 hours a day) for little pay (usually from $3 to $12 per week) while their living costs usually were about $18.50 per week. Working conditions were often unsafe, but if workers were injured or killed, the owners dismissed the injured workers and paid nothing for their injuries. Children, too, as young as five, often worked the same long hours as adults. Eventually workers began to organize and demand better pay and safer working conditions. (Ch. 18, pp. 455 458). The labor movement was complicated by several issues. One issue was who the workers wanted their union to represent. The first union, in 1866, was the National Labor Union. It tried to cover all workers (it was made up of 300 small, local workers unions). The organizer, Wm. Sylvis, wanted the union to organize a political party, like workers in Europe had been doing. [Example: Britain s Labor Party]. The NLU s first goal was to get a shorter workday Talking points March 1 4

(an 8-hour day). However, there were disagreements in the union membership about who would be allowed to join (some of its members wanted to exclude black workers and women workers). By 1868, the NLU had more than ½ million members. They got Congress to pass a law for an 8-hour day for govt workers. In 1872, the NLU formed a third-party campaign for President, called the Labor Reform Party. Their candidate didn t win. The depression of 1873 broke up the union. In 1877, there was the first nationwide strike of railroad workers, whose pay had been cut 35% while their hours had been lengthened (from 15 hours a day to 18 hours a day). It was called The Great Strike. A sympathy strike started in Pittsburg. Federal troops were called in to break up the demonstration there. They killed 26 strikers and wounded hundreds more. Enraged, about 20,000 workers attacked the troops and drove them out of the city. Similar incidents (on a smaller scale) occurred in other places. Many of the workers who had gone out on strike lost their jobs, but the point was made. Most of the railroads restored the wage levels or didn t lower them any further. After the strike, the owners began to organize against the unions. They often required new employees to sign a yellow-dog contract (a pledge not to join a union). They also hired private detectives to spy on union members, principally the Pinkerton Detective Agency. If there were strikes, the company would hire scabs (replacement workers, who often worked for lower pay). Eventually Minerals (like gold, silver, copper, coal, etc.) were discovered in the West, so miners and prospectors moved in. o The Civil War [text Chapter 14] (Lincoln as a brilliant leader in trying to hold the Union together, making the South be the one to start the fighting, not losing the border states, using the best help possible his challenges were that the Union generals were not as good as the South s (at first then he found Grant and Sherman) After the Civil War [text Chapter 15] o slavery abolished, Southern landscape badly damaged, plantation owners (former CSA officers) ruined and with no money o how they worked out the share-cropping system so the agricultural basis for the Southern economy could limp along o North tried to help, like with the Freedmens Bureau schools o Southern response with black laws and KKK Reconstruction [text Chapter 15] o With Lincoln gone the Radical Republicans wanted a much harsher policy for the South and for the way in which the South would be re-united in the Congress o Fight between the Congress and the President over who got to say how the South was re-patriated ended up in the impeachment of Pres. Johnson (averted by 1 vote) o Incidents of resistance in the South to black freedom resulted in military occupation of the South slavery (in 5 districts) and higher taxes (passed by the Southern legislature, but blamed on the Yankees ) that cost many former plantation families their land Talking points March 1 5

o ended in 1877 with a political deal over the presidency (Hayes the Republican was awarded the Presidency, but the South got the troops removed and Reconstruction was over ) o basically the former slaves were on their own (and the Jim Crow laws were passed [text p. 396] which lasted until 1960) Next Section for Discussion 7. How the country grew rapidly 1870-1900 [text Chapters 16-19] Population (see charts of census on handout) [Ch. 19] Economic growth (we ll get to that next time) [Ch. 17] Industry and technology fast leaps forward (we ll get to that next time) [Ch. 17] Social and labor changes (we ll get to that next time) [Ch. 18] 8. The railroad made a huge difference (connected the east and west coast) [Ch. 16-17] a. Building the railroad in 1863-1869 was like the 1969 moon shot [pp. 441-444] b. Affected the Indians [pp. 414 420] c. Affected the Cowboys [pp. 421 423] Talking points March 1 6