The American West

1.The Culture of the Plains Indians After the Spanish brought horses to New

Mexico, the Native American way of life changed. Horses, and later guns allowed them to travel farther and hunt more efficiently.

The buffalo was vital to the life of the Native Americans and provided many of their basics needs. Ex: tepees were made from hides, skins were used for clothing, shoes, and blankets, and bones were used to make tools and toys.

2. Settlers Move Westward Prospectors, settlers, and

ranchers believed that the Native Americans had lost their rights to the land because they hadn’t settled down to improve it. Considering the lands unsettled, many settlers moved out west in search of new land for farming, ranching, and mining.

The thought of striking it rich was a powerful attraction of the West. The gold fever of the California gold rush of 1849 never really died out. The discovery of gold in other towns attracted many new settlers. Camps were set up and known as boomtowns.

The Homestead Act also attracted many settlers. This offered 160 acres of land free to anyone who would live on and cultivate it for five years.

Other settlers included the Chinese who mainly worked laying tracks for Union Pacific railroad Company. Exodusters were African Americans who moved from the post-reconstruction South to Kansas hoping for the Promised Land. Many were escaping the racial injustices of the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan.

Travel out west was made easier by the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. Long distance travel was dangerous, uncomfortable, and slow, but with the railroads travel from coast to coast only took 10 days.

3. Conflicts with Native Americans In an effort to provide more land for the

white settlers, the government began creating treaties that gave Indian tribes definite boundaries.

Sand Creek Massacre: The Cheyenne were forced to a barren area in Colorado. They did not want to fight and flew both the American flag and the white flag (surrender) as a sign of peace. A U.S. colonel and his troops attacked the camp while the Cheyenne were sleeping. The men, women, and children never had a chance to defend themselves.

Battle of Little Big Horn: George Armstrong Custer, a Civil War hero, was sent by the government to the Black Hills to investigate and report back on any findings of gold. There was plenty of gold but the Sioux tribe refused to sell their land, setting the stage for battle. Custer underestimated the number of Sitting Bull's warriors and split up his men leading into the battle. Within 20 minutes Custer and all of his men were dead.

Battle of Wounded Knee: The popularity of the Ghost Dance spread throughout the Sioux tribe and at the same time alarmed military leaders on the reservation. Police were sent to arrest Sitting Bull and during the encounter his bodyguard shot at one of the officers, causing a heavy exchange of bullets. Sitting Bull was killed, but that was not enough - about 350 starving and freezing Sioux were round up and taken to a camp at Wounded Knee creek. There the soldiers demanded that they give up their weapons, one Native American resisted and open fired. Within minutes the cavalry slaughtered 300 unarmed Native Americans, including many children.

4. Government Restrictions on the Native Americans Assimilation - a plan under which Native

Americans would give up their beliefs and way of life and become part of the white culture.

The Dawes Act was aimed at trying to "Americanize" the Natives by cultivating in them the desire to own property and farm. The Dawes Act broke up reservations and distributed some of the reservation land to the Natives. The government would sell the rest of the land to settlers.

Many children were "educated" off the reservation and were taught that their beliefs and traditional ways were backwards and superstitious. They were taught other skills that were useless once they returned to the reservation.

The most significant blow to tribal life was the destruction of buffalo. Railroad companies would hire hunters to kill buffalo as a food source for workers who laid tracks out West. One hunter, William Cody, killed over 4,300 bison, earning the nickname Buffalo Bill.

5. The End of the Cattle Frontier • Ranching had become big business, but the

cattle frontier soon met its end. Overgrazing, extended bad weather, and the invention of barbed wire put an end to the era of the wide-open West.

6. Farmers and the Populist Movement Good farming land was becoming scarce

and in an effort to break even, farmers were mortgaging their farms in order to buy more land to produce more crops.

Railroads were taking advantage of farmers and charging them excessive prices for shipping and storage.

Farmer’s solution: increase the money supply – causing inflation and “cheap money”. When money is cheap, the prices of goods and services tend to rise.

In order for changes to happen the farmers needed to organize. The Grange was an organized group of farmers who mainly fought against the railroads. It was also a social outlet for isolated farm families. Part of the plan was to teach farmers how to set up cooperatives and sponsor legislation to regulate the railroads.

Populism – the movement of the people – was born with the founding of the Populist or People’s Partyo Wanted people to have a greater voice in

government o Demanded reforms to lift the burden of debt from

the farmers o Proposed an increase in money supply o Graduated income taxo Election of Senators by a popular voteo Use of a secret ballot to end voter fraud o Bimetalism and free coinage of silver

Election of 1896: William Jennings Bryan gave his “Cross of Gold Speech” at the Democratic convention winning the nomination and support of the People’s Party. He advocated for the free coinage of silver, but was ultimately defeated by William McKinley, the Republican candidate.

With McKinley’s win, Populism collapsed. This movement left two powerful legacies 1) a message that the downtrodden could organize and have a political impact 2) an agenda of reforms, many of which would be enacted in the 20th century.

The Second Industrial Revolution 1. The Expansion of Industry The immense industrial boom

was due to three major factors: 1) wealth of natural resources 2) an explosion of new inventions 3) a growing urban population that provided markets for new products.

Oil fueled most of the Second Industrial Revolution but coal and iron were also abundant and could be made into steel

Henry Bessemer developed the Bessemer process which was a cheap and efficient process for manufacturing steel. The biggest customer of steel was the railroads, using it for thousands of miles of track, it was also used in making barbed wire, farm machines and new structures such as the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.

Inventions were affecting the ways in which people lived. Thomas Edison became known as the Wizard of Menlo Park after establishing a research laboratory and perfecting the light bulb. Christopher Sholes invented the typewriter changing the workplace. Alexander Gram Bell invented the telephone and set the stage for worldwide communication.

The transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. Time zones were soon created to keep rail traffic on schedule from town to town. George Pullman built a factory in Chicago for manufacturing sleeper cars. He also built an entire town for his employees.

2. The Business of BIG Business Business strategies: 1) vertical integration - the

combining of manufacturing operations with source of materials and/or channels of distribution under a single ownership or management especially to maximize profits. 2) horizontal integration - a strategy where a company creates or acquires production units for outputs which are alike - either complementary or competitive.

The philosophy of Social Darwinism was applied to economics and business. The stronger companies and businesses would survive. Free competition in the market could be compared to natural selection, leading to the survival of the fittest.

A company that managed to buy out all of its competitors would achieve a monopoly or complete control over the industry’s production. Trusts were also formed where companies were run as a one large corporation.

The ruthless tactics used by the industry’s elite gained them the nickname the robber barons. The most famous are Andrew Carnegie who made a fortune in steel, John D. Rockefeller who made a fortune in oil, and J.P. Morgan who made a fortune in the finance and banking industry.

• The government finally took a stand against monopolies and passed the Sherman Antitrust Act which stated that any attempt to interfere with free trade between states or internationally by forming a trust was illegal. Enforcing the act was a huge task. Companies often dissolved their trusts and reorganized into single corporations

3. Workers of the Nation Unite Working conditions of the time included long

hours, low pay, and substandard conditions. It was not uncommon for factory workers to work 12-16 hours a day, 6 days a week. Vacation and sick pay were not heard of. If you were injured on the job there was also no compensation.

Factories were dangerous, filthy, poorly ventilated and lit. Women and children worked in sweatshops full time. Some as young as 5 years old. Children were paid as little as 25 cents a day while Carnegie made $23 million.

Laborers of all types joined together to try to improve their working conditions. The Knights of Labor was a union of workers that was open to all regardless of gender or race. This union supported an eight hour work day and equal pay for equal work. They viewed strikes or refusals to work as a last resort.

Samuel Gompers had a different approach to unions. He organized all the skilled workers to create craft unionism. He formed the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and focused on collective bargaining, or group negotiations, to reach agreements between workers and employers. The AFL used strikes as a major tactic to win higher wages and shorter work weeks and days.

Eugene V. Debs believed that the problems faced by workers was part of the capitalist system. He believed that free competition allowed the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. Many activists like him turned to socialism, an economic and political system based on government control of business and property and equal distribution of wealth.

A group of radical unionist and socialist formed the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) but membership in unions were declining.

4. Strikes Turn Violent The Great Railroad Strike: workers went on strike to

protest the second wage cut in several months. For more than a week most freight and some passenger traffic had stopped in its tracks. Riots erupted and many industrialists feared a socialist revolution. President Rutherford B. Hayes sent troops to clear the way because many were complaining that it interfered with interstate commerce.

The Haymarket Riot: More than 1,200 people gathered in Chicago’s Haymarket Square to protest the killing of a striker by the police. As the crowd was disbursing because of the rain, someone threw a bomb into the police line. Confrontation was out of control and later 8 men were charged with inciting the riot. The public began to turn against the labor movement.

The Pullman Strike: In an economic depression, Pullman laid off thousands of workers and deeply cut wages. He did not lower the cost of living in his towns and many were broke come payday. Pullman refused to negotiate with an arbitrator. After Pullman hired strikebreakers violence broke out and again federal troops were sent in.

Life at the Turn of the Century

1. The New Immigrants Old immigrants came

to the US from northern and western countries in Europe between 1800 and 1850.

New immigrants arrived from southern and eastern European countries, including Greece, Italy, Poland and Russia.

Push factors are reasons why people would leave their homeland. Examples: poverty, famine, land shortages, political or religious persecution.

Pull factors are reason why people would want to come to America.

Immigration stations were located in New York Harbor and San Francisco Bay

Ellis Island Located in New York Processing could take 5 hours or more Had to pass a physical examination by a doctor Had to pass a literacy test in native language More than 16 million European immigrants passed

through

Angel Island Located in San Francisco Bay Mainly Chinese immigrants entered Processing was harsh and people were detained for

long periods at a time while officials decided to admit or reject them

Facility was filthy and immigrants were confined like prisoners

About 50 thousand Chinese entered though

2. Political Scandal and Reform Rapid growth, inefficient government,

and a climate of Social Darwinism opened the way for a new power structure – the political machine.

A political machine was an organized group that controlled the activities of a political party in a city and offered services and businesses in exchange for political or financial support.

Cities such as Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston were all under the power of political machines. The city boss controlled the activities of the political party throughout the city.

William Marcy Tweed was one of the most powerful bosses in New York City. He was the head of Tammany Hall, a powerful Democratic political machine. The Tweed Ring was a group of corrupt politicians, led by Boss Tweed. One scheme involved building the NYC Courthouse, which cost the tax payers $11 million. The actual construction cost was only about $3 million.

3. Segregation and Discrimination Amendments to the US Constitution

following the Civil Waro 13th: abolished slavery in the USo 14th: ensured that all citizens of all states had

not only rights on the federal level, but on the state level, too. It removed the three-fifths counting of slaves in the census.

o 15th: ensures that race cannot be used as criteria for voting.

In southern states, a system of legal policies of racial discrimination were devised to weaken African American political power. For example, literacy tests were administered and poll taxes were imposed. Many African Americans failed the test and could not afford to pay the tax. In Louisiana, the grandfather clause was added to the state constitution, so that white voters could be reinstated if their father or grandfather had been eligible to vote before January 1, 1867. Before this time freed slaves did not have the right to vote.

Laws were passed to keep whites and African Americans separate in both private and public facilities; known as Jim Crow laws.

Plessy V. Ferguson established the doctrine of "separate but equal".

African Americans who did not follow the racial etiquette could face punishments and even death.

More than 2,500 men and women were shot, burned, or hanged without trial in the South. Lynching is the illegal execution, without trial, and carried out by a mob peaked at the turn of the century.

Leaders in opposing discriminationoBooker T. Washington: was born a slave

and believed that African Americans should acquire useful labor skills and prove their economic value to society. This would end racism. He later opened his own school in Alabama - the Tuskegee Institute.

oW. E. B. DuBois: was the first African American to receive a doctorate from Harvard University. He was born into a middle class family in Massachusetts. He encouraged education and stressed that "all men are created equal" and strived for full rights immediately.