Western Expansion 1865-1898

Western Expansion: Economic, Social and Cultural Development (1865-1898)

• Mexican Cession (1848): Spanish-speaking landowners guaranteed property rights and automatic citizenship. However, Mexican-Americans lost land due to legal proceedings. Hispanic culture preserved in certain areas.
• Continued Migration: Mexicans migrated seeking agricultural and railroad construction work. Texas Rangers used violence against Mexican landowners.

The Impact of the Gold Rush (1849)

• Sutter's Mill: Gold discovered by John Marshall, sparking the Gold Rush.
• Gold Production: 73 times greater by 1854, peaking around 1.4 billion dollars by 1900.
• Mass Migration to California: Led to the importance of the transcontinental railroad and telegraph.

Railroads

• Private Corporations: Government wanted railroads built.
• Land Grants: Government offered land to railroad companies.
• Power: Companies became powerful and bought off government.
• Overcharging: Railroads overcharged the government.
• Credit Mobilier Scandal (1872): Union Pacific bribed federal lawmakers.

Mining Spread Across the West (1850-1898)

• Gold and Silver Strikes: Gold in California and Nevada in the 1850s, major silver strike (Comstock Lode) in Nevada. Gold/silver found in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Arizona.
• Erosion: Gold and silver eroded into streams.
• Prospecting: Gold pebbles, nuggets, dust found.
• Hydraulic Mining: Industrial scale mining.
• Financing: Required major financing for labor and capital.
• Environmental Impact: Reshaped river valleys and destroyed the environment.

Immigration and Settlement

• Homestead Act (1862): Gave citizens land to live on and improve.
• Population Growth: Population of West grew quickly.
• Demographics: Mixed ethnicities, including foreign-born settlers

Industrialized Farming and Cattle Business

• Great Plains Ranching: Ranching flourished in the Great Plains after the Civil War. Need for cattle in the Northeast.
• Texas Cattle: Texas had cattle, but not sufficient demand to meet growing market needs.
• Cattle Drives: Drives from Texas to northern plains states.

Impact of Western Expansion on Native Americans

• Bison Destruction: 24 million bison in 1800s, reduced by half by 1870. Used for industrial purposes (leather, fertilizer).
• Reservation System: Created to keep Native Americans off land desired by European Americans. Allowed for some self-governance, but reservations faced poverty.
• Indian Wars: Conflicts and battles between Native Americans and settlers/the US Army.
• Dawes Severalty Act (1887): Goal to assimilate Native Americans; authorized federal confiscation and redistribution of tribal land.
• Ghost Dance Movement: Religious movement to unify Native Americans and resist Euro-American policies.
• Wounded Knee Massacre (1890): Caused by resistance by and conflict involving American troops and Lakota. Seen as the end of the Indian Wars.

Mass Industrialization

• Energy Sources: Coal fueled the industrial revolution. Coal highly abundant in America, but mining was dangerous and low-paying. Iron mining important for railroads.
• Steel Production: Bessemer Process improved steel production.
• Transportation: Easier transport access to the Midwest.

A New America for the 19th Century

• Electricity: Edison's invention revolutionized the 19th century (electric power industry)
• Urbanization and Urban Planning: Growth of cities in the mid-1800s, led to need for better urban planning (grid systems, public transportation). New York City became a significant example.

The Rise of Industrial Capitalism

• Big Businesses: Companies grew by buying smaller competitors in their industry.
• Monopolies: Led to limited competition, resulting in higher prices and suppressed wages.
• Vertical Integration: Control over the production and distribution stages.
• Horizontal Integration: Merging with or buying out companies producing similar products.
• Trusts: A business structure in which stockholders turn over their stock to a group of trustees to operate the business.
• Standard Oil Example: John D. Rockefeller.
• Sherman Antitrust Act (1890): Designed to regulate monopolies by breaking them up. Difficulty in enforcement.

Social Darwinism

• Evolutionary Theory: Used to justify business practices and laissez-faire economic principles.
• Survival of the Fittest: Fittest businesses survive in a competitive environment.
• Popular Culture: Portrayed in literature, like Horatio Alger's novels.
• Individualism: Reinforced the idea of people achieving success through hard work.

Social Darwinism (popular culture)

• Literature: Reenforced the cult of individualism.
• Horatio Alger: Novels popularized stories of orphans/street urchins achieving success.
• The Gospel of Wealth: Promoted the belief that wealth was a sign of God's blessing and that wealthy individuals should use their wealth to improve society through philanthropy.

Examples of Industrialist Philanthropy

• University of Chicago: Founded with a large John D. Rockefeller endowment.
• Carnegie Hall: Built with an Andrew Carnegie endowment.

The Labor Movement

• Early Union Organization: Reasons included low wages, unsafe working conditions, injuries, and the desire for better working conditions.
• Restraint of Trade: Dangers involved stopping commerce.
• Radical Economic Ideas: Communism feared by the US government.
• Union Organization Difficulties: Lack of worker protections, companies resistance to unions, and some workers fear of being seen as communist.
• Knights of Labor: Early labor union with social and economic reform goals.
• Haymarket Riot (1886): Violence at a labor protest, discrediting unions in the public eye.
• American Federation of Labor (AFL): Helped labor unions gain acceptance and negotiate deals with businesses.
• Women and Unions: Initial exclusion of women, but they eventually worked to organize for improved working conditions.
• Socialism: Developed in reaction to perceived excesses of laissez-faire capitalism.