The West and the creation of the Populist Party Native Americans Technology costs money Settlers: Native American s had forfeit rights to land because hadn t settled and improved Government restricted tribes to reservations Opened land for white settlers (taxpayers) Dawes Act: Americanize the Indians via Assimilation Settlement of Great Plains Farmers Broke up reservation: 160 acres to head of household Rest of land sold to white settlers Homestead Act 1862 160 free acres to any head of household Live there 5 years, make improvements 600,000 families would migrate for free land Private spectators and railroad agents got best land Not all land plots were equal 250years for 400 million acres to be farms 2 nd 400 million acres took 30 years (1870-1900) 1830 1 bushel of grain took 183 minutes to harvest Debt (mortgage land) 1900 took 10 minutes What does this do? Increased production = lower prices of grain Purchase more land to pay debt Farmers grew more in order to make more $$$ More debt and more technology Prices of grain drops lower Farmers and the Populist Movement Farmers united to address economic problems Debt Railroad costs Munn v. Illinois Serving public good= governments can regulate Populists First time the masses organize and have an agenda for reform Farmers and workers in cities Reform issues Graduated income taxes Increased money supply 8 hour work day Restrictions on immigration Regulation of railroads and banks
Factors speeding up industrialization Population Technology Rate of growth Composition of population (how old, which nationalities) Distribution (where live) Bessemer Process Can & Refrigeration Textiles Electricity Natural Resources Business machines Transportation Transcontinental Railroad Railroad time New towns & opportunities Coal, oil & timber Soil wealth Entrepreneurship Precious metals Take a risk to make a profit Use labor, capital, natural resources Individuals Rockefeller- controls 90% of oil Carnegie- controls 75% of steel Duke- controls 95% of tobacco Morgan- controls 90% of American capital and finance Entrepreneur s Methods Scientific Management The Trust: brings competitors into/under one corporation allowing an industry to be controlled from a single source Vertical integration Horizontal integration Social Darwinism Weak companies will be weeded out by natural law
Factors speeding up industrialization (2) & no one should interfere with business (laissez faire) Riches were a sign of God s favor & the poor are inferior Rags to riches idea Advertising Political forces Republican Party Party of the wealthy promoting high tariffs on foreign goods Bossism Dictators of the cities Ran city politicians by guaranteeing their elections Provided social services to poor in exchange for votes
Negative forces of Industrialization Population New immigrants and exploding cities create social problems Housing- Dumbbell Tenements health problems- Cholera, typhus, measles crime Racism Technology racial tension between blacks and whites Nativism Exploitation of labor Monopoly Railroads Exploitation- Irish & Chinese immigrants Pullman Natural Resources Credit Mobilier Short haul vs. Long haul rates Great Bar-B-Q Mentality timber soil Entrepreneurs wild life Maldistribution of wealth 1% of population owned 80% of the wealth Boom and Bust economy National Politics Rich people can t consume as much as poor people No talented leaders in government- everyone in business for self Bossism Bosses are corrupt dictators Patronage- spoils system Graft- using political power for personal gain
Early Attempts to fix the problem Human Resources Craft: specialized, skilled Labor unions Early Knights of Labor, 1866 open to all Craft Unions workers only, no minorities American Federation of Labor Industry: skilled & unskilled Industrial Unions workers in same industry Railway Union, Steel Union etc Immigration Legislation Socialism Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) Strikes Chinese Exclusion Act 1882 bans all unprofessional Chinese Americanization movement Social Gospel Movement Jane Adams & Settlement Houses Grange Laws 1870s (railroads) Interstate Commerce Act 1887 Sherman Anti-Trust Act Problem: never defined trust & difficult to enforce Problem: used against labor Civil Service Reform to end Patronage Pendleton Civil Service Act Good: Public employees more honest & efficient Bad: politicians rely on Big Business for money
African Americans- How rights were denied Black codes Poll Taxes Literacy test Laws passed in southern states to stop black votes and black gains in political power Literally controlled ALL aspects of daily life Job type, hours worked Where lived, if could own property Couldn t farm for self Annual tax that had to be paid in order to vote Test to gauge reading and comprehension skills before voting Grandfather Clause Couldn t pay or pass test? Still vote if he, his father, or grandfather had been eligible to vote before 01/01/1867 (before 15 th Amendment) Left out all African American males Jim Crow laws Enacted by southern state and local governments to separate white and black people in public and private facilities Segregation laws