THE GILDED AGE Indians, Cowboys, Labor Unions, Railroads and Big Business

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THE GILDED AGEIndians, Cowboys, Labor Unions,
Railroads and Big Business

• 1865-1896

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1860s-1890s

• THE LAST FRONTIER (MINING, INDIAN WARS, COWBOYS
  AND AGRICULTURE)
• MINING DISCOVERIES
• 1859Pikes Peak, Coloradosilver
• --Comstock Lode, Nevadagold and silver
• -- Copper discoveries in Arizona and
  Montana
• New Territories 1861Nevada 1864statehood
  Nevada, 1876statehood Colorado.
• INDIAN WARS
• The Great Plains was the last refuge for the
  Native American.
• 1860250,000 Indians, living off the buffalo
  herds.
• 1851Treaty of Ft. Laramie
• 1851Treaty of Traverse des Sioux
• 1862Sioux Uprising
• 1864Sand Creek Massacre (Eastern Colorado)
• 1867Medicine Creek Lodge Conference
• 1868Battle of Washita River

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INDIAN WARS CONTINUED

• Red Clouds War 1866-1876 Montana, Dakota and
  Wyoming Territories.
• Indian raids along the Bozeman Trail.
• Battle of Little Bighorn, June 25, 1876
• 1877 Nez PerceChief Joseph
• 1881Century of Dishonor Helen Hunt Jackson
• 1886 -- the capture of Geronimo
• 1887Dawes Severalty Act
• 1888-1890 Ghost DanceWovoka
• 1890Battle of Wounded Knee
• Results
• THE RISE OF THE CATTLE INDUSTRY
• Origins of the cowboy.
• Post Civil War CowboyWild West
• Cowboy lifestyle.
• Open Range
• RR markets and cattle drives. Refrigerated Box
  Car, Chicago Stockyards
• 1886 end of open range ranchingRange Wars
• Cattle Ranches

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IMMIGRATION AND URBAN POLITICS 1870-1900

• IMMIGRATION Push-Pull Theory
• Melting Pot of the World
• Eastern Europeans to the Northeast.
• Chinese to the West.
• Southern blacks to the big cities
• Why?
• Jobs--Industrialization of the Northeast and the
  Midwest. Railroads--West
• Escaping political and economic hardships.
• RESULTING IN
• By 1885, 80 of all New Yorkers were foreign
  born.
• 1892 Ellis Island opened to process immigrants.
• Made Americas population very diverse. Many
  hoped these immigrants would assimilate into
  mainstream American cultureMelting Pot
• But instead the US developed cultural pluralism.
• PROBLEMS AND CONCERNS CAUSED BY IMMIGRATION
• Xenophobia gripped the country.
• Immigrants took jobs from native Americans.
• Distrust of immigrant cultures.
• Suspicious of ethnic ghettos. disloyalty to
  America???
• Fear of Catholics and Jews

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Urban Politics of the late 19th Century

• Ethnic vote was crucial.
• Ethnic groups tended to block vote.
• Democrats understood that politicizing the
  immigrant was key to their success citizenship,
  jobs, food, housing, general help.
• MACHINE POLITICS
• Powerful political groups within parties took
  control of the large cities. Similar to
  organized crime.
• ORGANIZATION
• Cities were divided into Wards or Precincts.
• Each ward or precinct was ruled by a ward
  bosshis main job was turn out the vote for
  certain candidates.
• Main objective control City Hall ( mayor and
  his administration.)
• Once in power it often led to bribery, graft and
  kickbacks, Influence peddling, sandbagging,
  hiring of ghost employees.
• Famous Machines
• NY CityTammany HallWilliam Boss Tweed
• ChicagoGray WolvesDaley Family

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GROWING OPPOSITION TO MACHINE POLITICS

• Ethnicity and Political Power within NY City
• GovernmentIrish
• Police Depts.- Irish
• Fire Depts. Italian
• Sanitation. Italian and African-Americans
• Opposition
• Middle Class professionals-- Goo Goos and
  Mugwumps.
• RISE OF LABOR
• WORKING CONDITIONS
• Factories relied on specialization of labor.
  Jobs were divided into easy, monotonous tasks
  with little sense of pride of workmanship.
• Hours were long12-14 hr. days/ 6 days per week.
• Wages were low.
• Workplaces were dangerous.
• Men, women and children worked in the factories
  together.
• Child labor would start a seemingly endless cycle
  of poverty within families.

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• RISE OF ORGANIZED LABOR
• 1830s-1860ssocial reformers, job conscious
  unions (skilled trades), no national
  organization.
• 1866 National Labor Union formed.
• 1869--- Knights of Labor, Uriah Stephens,
  Terrence Powderly
• Concerns
• 1884 Union Pacific (repair workers) Strike
• Decline
• HAYMARKET SQUARE RIOT MAY 3RD AND 4TH 1886
• The Knights of labor may have failed but the laid
  the foundation for the Industrial Union.
• AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR (AFL)
• 1886--Organization of craft unionsSamuel
  Gompers
• Major Labor setbacks 1890s
• Homestead Strike 1892 Iron and Steel Workers
  Union
• ISWU was a branch of the AFL
• 1905 in opposition to the AFL the IWW
  (Wobblies) was created by Eugene V. Debs based
  on Socialism

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• DISORGANIZED LABOR
• 1870sMolly Maguires
• RR Strike 1877

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FARMERS ALLIANCES AND THE RISE OF THE POPULIST
MOVEMENT

• FARMERS ALLIANCES
• BEGINNINGS 1860-1875
• PLIGHT OF THE FARMER
• AGRARIAN REVOLT
• PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY (GRANGE) 1867
• OLIVER KELLEY
• POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION FOR
  FARMERS
• 1880s
• NORTHWESTERN ALLIANCE
• SOUTHERN ALLIANCE
• COLORED FARMERS ALLIANCE
• POPULIST PARTY
• ISSUES
• OMAHA PLATFORM
• LEADERS
• BIG BUSINESS AND ROBBER BARONS
• Definition of a Corporation
• Robber Baronsowners of great monopolies and
  trust companies
• Tires, Steel, Telephones, Electricity, Banking,
  Oil, RRs

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THE RISE OF BIG BUSINESS

• INVENTIONS AND NATURAL RESOURCES 1870S-1900
• 1. COMMUNICATION TELEGRAPH (MORSE), TELEPHONE
  (BELL).
• 2. ELECTRICITY LIGHTBULB (EDISON), AC CURRENT
  GENERATOR (GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE)
• 3. TYPEWRITER -(SHOLES),) ELEVATORS- (OTIS),
  FARM MACHINERY- (McCORMICK, DEERE, STUDEBAKER)
• 4. MASS PRODUCTION PROCESS(FORD)
• RESOURCES
• COAL, IRON ORE APPALACHIAN MTNS. AND MESABI
  RANGE (MINNESOTA)
• OIL PENNSYLVANIA AND THE SOUTHWEST
• TIMBERSOUTH AND UPPER MIDWEST AND NORTHWEST
• HYDROELECTRICITYNORTHWEST, PIEDMONT OF THE NE
  AND SOUTH
• GIANTS OF EARLY US INDUSTRIALIZATION
• ROBBER BARONSMONOPOLIES (TRUSTS)
• --THEY USED VERTICAL INTEGRATION, INTERLOCKING
  DIRECTORATES AND PROTECTIVE TARIFFS TO GAIN OR
  PROTECT THEIR MONOPOLIES.
• -- RAILROADSCORNELIUS VANDERBILT (NY CENTRAL),
  LELAND STANFORD (BIG 4 OF CALIFORNIA)
• -- OIL EDWIN DRAKE, JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER
  (STANDARD OIL)
• STEELANDREW CARNEGIE (US STEEL)GOSPEL OF
  WEALTH
• BANKS, INSURANCE COMPANIES AND HOLDING COMPANIES
  JP MORGAN

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ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE RAILROADS

• WHAT FUELED AMERICAS INDUSTRIAL GROWTH?
• A. STABLE GOVERNMENT
• B. INVESTMENT DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN
• C. THE 14TH AMENDMENT
• D. ABUNDANCE OF THE FACTORS OF PRODUCTION
• E. THE RAILROADS
• THE GROWTH OF THE RAILROAD
• A. TRACK MILEAGE INCREASED. 186130,000 MILES,
  1893 181,000 MILES.
• B. STEEL TRACK, GOVERNMENT AID (PACIFIC RAILWAYS
  ACT 1862) LAND (EASEMENTS 200 WIDE) LATER
  AMENDED FOR EACH MILE OF TRACK LAID 40 MILE
  WIDE EASEMENT.
• C. 1893 5 TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROADS, 4 WERE
  FINANCED PARTLY BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ONLY
  THE NORTHERN PACIFIC WAS PRIVATELY FINANCED
  (JAMES J. HILL)
• RAILROADS IMPACT ON SOCIETY
• LED TO INDUSTRIAL GROWTH IN STEEL, COAL, OIL
• OPENED THE WEST TO ECONOMIC GROWTH FARMING,
  RANCHING, LARGE CORPORATIONS ( GENERAL MILLS,
  PILLSBURY, RALSTON-PURINA, 3 M, SEARS AND
  ROEBUCK, MONTGOMERY WARDS)
• NEED FOR TIME ZONES AND ACCURATE TIME-KEEPING

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VIEW OF INDUSTRIALIZATION

• SOCIAL DARWINISM
• BASED ON THE IDEAS of EVOLUTIONCHARLES DARWIN
• HERBERT SPENCER VIEWED THE SUCCESS OF
  LAISSEZ-FAIRE CAPITALISTS (ROBBER BARONS) AS
  EVIDENCE THAT IN ECONOMICS THE STRONGEST
  SURVIVE.
• MANY DISAGREED AND VIEWED THE ROBBER BARONS AS
  GREEDY MEN WHO TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE POOR. MARK
  TWAIN CALLED THE ERA THE GILDED AGECORRUPTION
  AND GREED.
• A NEW SOUTH
• THE BOURBONS PUSHED FOR INDUSTRIALIZATION FOR THE
  SOUTH.
• TOBACCO AND POWERWASHINGTON DUKE AND BUCK DUKE
• TEXTILESJP STEVENS
• STEEL BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA PITTSBURGH OF THE
  SOUTH
• EARLY ATTEMPTS AT GOVERNMENT REGULATION
• GIBBONS V. OGDEN, 1824.
• 1887INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT-REGULATED RAILROADS.
• 1890SHERMAN ANTITRUST ACT
• UNITED STATES V. EC KNIGHT, 1895

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CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION

• MORE CONSUMER GOODS WERE PRODUCED.
• STANDARD OF LIVING INCREASED BECAUSE OF THE NEW
  PRODUCTS AND AVAILABLE JOBS.
• TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES LED TO THE RISE OF THE
  MIDDLE CLASSSUBURBS.
• INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS THRIVED, WHICH EVENTUALLY
  LED TO CONFLICTS THAT CHANGED AMERICAS STANCE ON
  WORLD AFFAIRS.