American Industry and the Railroad Era

Industry, Business, and Labor

• Transcontinental Railroad: Connected the eastern and western United States in 1869, facilitating trade and migration.
• Railroad Act of 1862: Provided government support for transcontinental railroad construction (land grants and financial incentives).
• Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads: Built the transcontinental railroad, one from each coast.
• Impact of Railroads: Spurred industrial growth, opened new markets, expanded cities, and decreased Native American resistance.
• Key Industrialists: J.P. Morgan (banking), Rockefeller (oil), Carnegie (steel), and Vanderbilt (railroads) dominated their respective industries.
• Vertical Integration: Controlling all aspects of production (from raw materials to finished products) — e.g., Carnegie Steel.
• Horizontal Integration: Merging with competitors to create monopolies—e.g., Rockefeller's Standard Oil.
• Bessemer Process: Efficient steel production, revolutionizing construction and manufacturing.
• Sears & Roebuck: Major mail-order retailer, expanding consumer culture in rural America.
• Social Darwinism vs. Social Gospel: Competing ideologies regarding wealth inequality—Social Darwinism justified it, while the Social Gospel advocated for social justice.
• Gospel of Wealth: Carnegie's philosophy that the wealthy should use their wealth for social good.
• Laissez-faire Economics: Government should not interfere in business and promote free markets with minimal regulation.
• Samuel Gompers & Unions: Led the American Federation of Labor (AFL), advocating for skilled workers' rights.
• Railroad Strike of 1877: First major labor strike in the U.S. , sparked by wage cuts.
• Haymarket Riot: Labor protest in Chicago that turned violent.
• Sherman Antitrust Act (1890): First federal law aiming to break up monopolies and trusts.
• Interstate Commerce Act (1887): Regulated railroad rates and prevented unfair business practices.

Immigration

• Old vs. New Immigration: Old immigrants (pre-1880) came from Northern and Western Europe, while new immigrants (1880–1920) arrived from Southern and Eastern Europe.
• Chinese Exclusion Act (1882): First U.S. immigration law to ban an ethnic group (Chinese).
• Ellis Island and Angel Island: Major immigration processing centers on the East and West coasts, respectively.
• Americanization: Efforts to assimilate immigrants into American culture through education and civic rituals.

Race & Civil Rights

• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Supreme Court case upholding racial segregation ("separate but equal").
• Jim Crow Laws: State laws enforcing racial segregation in the South.
• WEB Du Bois vs. Booker T. Washington: Different approaches to racial equality—Du Bois advocated for immediate civil rights and higher education, while Washington promoted vocational training and economic self-sufficiency.
• Ida B. Wells: Journalist and activist fighting against lynching.

Politics & Corruption

• Political Machines & Boss Tweed: Organizations controlling local governments through patronage and corruption.
• Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883): Ended the spoils system, requiring government jobs based on merit.
• Populist Party & William Jennings Bryan: Political movement representing farmers and laborers, advocating for free silver and economic reform.

Agriculture & the West

• Homestead Act (1862): Encouraged western migration by granting settlers 160 acres of land for free if improved in five years.
• Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868): Established reservations for Native Americans but often violated.
• Modoc Wars, Little Big Horn, Wounded Knee: Conflicts between Native Americans and U.S. military, symbolizing resistance/defeat.
• Dawes Act (1887): Attempted to assimilate Native Americans by dividing tribal lands into private plots.
• A Century of Dishonor (1881): Helen Hunt Jackson's book criticizing U.S. treatment of Native Americans.
• Chief Joseph, Geronimo, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull: Prominent Native American leaders who resisted U.S. expansion.

Homestead Act

• Gave settlers 160 acres of land.
• Encouraged western migration.
• Required improvement of the land.

Other Important Points

• Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis: Argued the American frontier shaped the nation's character.
• Grange Movement: Farmers' organization seeking economic and political reforms.
• Railroad Issues & Farmers: Farmers suffered from high railroad fees, leading to calls for regulation.
• Barbed Wire: Revolutionized farming, allowing settlers to fence in land and protect crops from cattle.
• Demise of Bison: Buffalo were hunted nearly to extinction, devastating Native American cultures.