Period 6: Gilded Age Overview PDF

Supporting Evidence for Significant Topics (Period Six, Part One) “Gilded Age” Overview (approximately 1870-1900) - the name was coined by Mark Twain in 1873 (Twain was not just a writer but a prominent social critic as well) - similar to other periods/decades in U.S. History [Era of Good F...

Supporting Evidence for Significant Topics (Period Six, Part One) “Gilded Age” Overview (approximately 1870-1900) - the name was coined by Mark Twain in 1873 (Twain was not just a writer but a prominent social critic as well) - similar to other periods/decades in U.S. History [Era of Good Feelings (1817-1825), the 1920s, 1950s, 1980s] On the surface, the country was figuratively “Gilded” (covered thinly with a layer of gold) 1. slavery, nullification, and secession were finally dealt with during the Civil War--no more compromise or philosophical chaos on these issues 2. The Union was preserved and restored 3. Manifest Destiny picked up where it left off prior to the Civil War (“Closing of the Frontier West”) 4. The Industrial Revolution truly hit America - 1st vs. 2nd phase 1st phase (1820s, 1830s—some factories but mostly in transportation improvements (steamboats, canals, early railroads, turnpikes) 2nd phase (the late 1800s)---inventions that made the production of goods extremely efficient - rapid industrialization (completed in 30 years) - the U.S. became the first manufacturing country in the world 5. Big business on the rise (Modern Capitalism) - the true beginning of the modern stock market (allowed business leaders to raise capital for further investment) - use of monopolies, trusts, pools, etc., to consolidate power and eliminate competition 6. Immigration at an all time high (fulfilled the need for cheap labor and contributed to the diversity of the United States) 7. The “experiment” seemed to be working In reality, a host of very serious issues lurked under the surface 1. Corruption was rampant in politics and big business (bribery widespread) 2. The rise of the “Political Machines” which allowed political parties to maintain power 3. Native Americans were placed on reservations (land the white man did not want) 4. Jim Crow laws were allowed to take root in the South ---Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) 5. Women were still treated as second-class citizens with no right to vote 6. Little to no regulation in the factories - long hours, dangerous working conditions, low pay, and no job security (labor unions had difficulty forming at first) 7. Immigrants discriminated against (from Southern and Eastern Europe---not WASPS) 8. Modern Capitalism at the time was really a rich, white man’s game supported by friendly government policy - farmers, factory workers, minorities, women, etc., were left out (needed a collective voice) 9. Materialistic society began to form (success defined by possessions) 10. Large gaps in American society developed e.g., rural vs. urban, liberal vs. conservative, laborer vs. employer, industry vs. agriculture, creditor vs.debtor, Republican vs. Democrat Gigliotti APUSH (updated 2o23- 2o24) 5 adapted from James L. Smith (APUSH God) and the AP U.S. History Curriculum Framework Conditions and Daily Life in the East, West, and South East---industry, wealth, modernization of cities, diversity of population West---romantic image of the cowboy and wild west (not really, life was actually miserable) South---America’s “3rd World Country” (disease, poverty, corruption, high murder rate, the overall value of the region was very low) - basically ignored by the Federal Government - 80% of blacks lived in the South (became scapegoats for the issues/problems) - not very diverse compared to the rest of the nation - no big cities (New Orleans was the largest---15th in the nation) - the relative absence of industrialization - overwhelmingly agricultural (stuck in time---still farming like it is 1800) - per capita income was 60% of the rest of the country - low taxation (because of poverty), thus limiting the number of schools, roads, hospitals, etc., that could be built - Why is the South so poor? 1. one crop agriculture subject to fluctuation and didn’t have the corner on the market any longer (other countries now competing with the production of cotton) 2. Farmers don’t use chemical fertilizers or other advances in farming techniques 3. Land in the South (thin layer of topsoil on top of clay that gets washed away) **Bottom Line, when people are poor, ignorant, and desperate, they tend to do very bad things e.g., lynching, corruption “The New South” - a term that was used by Southerners who wanted to promote economic changes in the South. The changes included industrialization, diversification of crops, and integration with the national economy. - the vision for the “New South” never materialized as most of the South returned to its Antebellum agrarian ways Contributing Factors to Rapid Industrial Growth (the United States became the #1 industrial nation by 1900 and the world’s first true manufacturing country) Political Factors that promoted the Postwar Industrial Growth 1. Morrill Tariff Act of 1861 (reestablished high protective tariff rates which allowed industry to expand free from foreign competition) 2. The National Banking Act of 1863 (created uniform national bank notes, eliminating the confusion of state bank notes) 3. Federal Government provided land grants and loans to railroad companies to construct new routes, which was essential to the growth of an industrial complex in the nation 4. The 14th Amendment was interpreted in a way as to define corporations as individuals, giving them protection from state and federal government interference unless due process of law was exhausted 5. Huge profits made by businesses during the Civil War provided the necessary capital to expand in the years that followed (a result of increased government spending during wartime) 6. Laissez-faire (hands-off) approach by the Government toward business during the Gilded Age Economic Factors that promoted Postwar Industrial Growth 1. Abundant natural resources in America 2. Investment capital from war profits as well as from European investors 3. Cheap labor (war veterans, former farmers, immigrants) 4. New inventions and technologies made the production of goods much more efficient 5. Improved transportation (railroads) 6. Improved communication (telegraph) Gigliotti APUSH (updated 2o23- 2o24) 6 adapted from James L. Smith (APUSH God) and the AP U.S. History Curriculum Framework The Rise of Big Business and Labor Prior to the Civil War Industry existed, but “Big Business” was virtually non-existent - the largest were the textile industries (North) - most businesses were local and family owned/operated (no mass production) - goods mostly produced for surrounding areas (local/regional) - apprenticeships were still very common - Yeoman or Jeffersonian ideal was still strong (the economy was still primarily agrarian-based) After the Civil War - The country converted from an agricultural society to a highly structured, centralized urban society (three generations after the Civil War) - The population doubled from 1869-1899 - huge increase in immigration - high birth rate - farm production doubled (over time, this will cause overproduction, thus driving down the price of agricultural goods) - value of manufactured goods increased sixfold (due to demand) - by 1890, the wealthiest 9% of Americans controlled 75% of the total wealth in the country (rich getting richer, poor getting poorer) Contributing Factors to the Rise of Big Business - 2nd Industrial Revolution and technological boom (many inventions that made the production of goods more efficient) - electric power (probably the most important factor) - new techniques in steel making (Bessemer Process) - new forms and improvements in transportation (primarily in railroads) - improvements in Telegraphs (transcontinental communication) Transcontinental Railroad - legislation passed in 1862 for its construction *slowed by the Civil War but eventually completed in 1869 - built by the Union Pacific Railroad (Omaha, Nebraska to the West- Germans and mostly Irish workers) and the Central Pacific Railroad (Sacramento, California to the East- 90% Chinese workers) - very difficult work, thousands died during its construction - Significance to the American economy - opened markets east to west - stimulated other businesses related to the railroad (steel, luxury cars, housing for laborers, food, entertainment, etc.) Great Businessmen of the Period John D. Rockefeller - wanted to control and centralize the petroleum industry (bought up competitors in Ohio and formed Standard Oil of Ohio, also known as SOHIO) - obsessed with precision, tidiness, and order - very powerful, ruthless, and loved to put competitors out of business - blackmailed railroads which forced them to cut deals on shipping rates Andrew Carnegie - Steel Industry - An immigrant from Scotland in 1848 - Started in textile and telegraph business - met Henry Bessemer in 1872 and began concentrating his fortune on the steel industry - gave away a lot of money to fund parks, universities, and foundations (“Gospel of Wealth”) JP Morgan - born very wealthy (banking industry) - bought up railroad companies as a hobby - bought out Carnegie’s steel companies (formed U.S. Steel—1st billion dollar company) Gigliotti APUSH (updated 2o23- 2o24) 7 adapted from James L. Smith (APUSH God) and the AP U.S. History Curriculum Framework  James Duke - made his fortune primarily by creating a tobacco empire (used the automated rolling machine to dramatically increase production) —American Tobacco Company - contributed great sums of money to the founding of what would become known as Duke University Cornelius Vanderbilt - made his fortune in railroads and steamboats - one of the wealthiest big business leaders of the time period Big Business Consolidation (the process of combining companies into a single entity) Monopoly - a situation where one producer (or a group of producers acting together) controls the supply of a good or service and where the entry of new producers is prevented or highly restricted, which eliminates competition. Horizontal Integration - merging one or more companies of the same business activity - Rockefeller’s Standard Oil used horizontal integration to limit competition and increase profits Vertical Integration - a single company controls all of the steps in the process of creating a product, such as the acquisition of raw materials, the manufacturing of the product, and the marketing, selling, and distribution of the product - Carnegie Steel used vertical integration to limit competition and increase profits Robber Barons vs. Captains of Industry - two contrasting views of big business/corporate leaders in the late 1800s - Robber Baron was a derogatory term that referred to the industrialists and bankers of the late 1800s who placed profits over the public interest by monopolizing power - Captains of Industry was a complimentary term that referred to the industrialists and bankers of the late 1800s as innovative, hardworking, and business-savvy Interstate Commerce Act (1887) - passed by Congress to address the high cost of freight shipping on the railroads. The Interstate Commerce Act created an Interstate Commerce Commission to oversee the conduct of the railroad industry. The law was in response to public demand that the monopolies of the railroad companies and their operations be regulated. Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) - a law that authorized the federal government to break up any business combination that was “in restraint of trade.” - intended to break up monopolies, the law was instead used primarily against labor unions Urbanization of America American cities prior to the 1880s - built near water, built horizontally, and designed to be walking cities (typically no larger than one could walk in two hours) Growth of Cities - improvements in railroads - improvements in construction (steel production allowed cities to grow vertically) - “new immigrants” primarily settled in the cities - Revolutions (Transportation, Industrial, and Engineering) - Public transportation improvements (omnibus, electric streetcar) - Sample stats (a result of the above factors) - In 1860, 9 cities had more than 100,000 people - In 1920, 32 cities had more than 100,000 (e.g., NY City, 1860- 800,000 people, 1920- 6 million people) Gigliotti APUSH (updated 2o23- 2o24) 8 adapted from James L. Smith (APUSH God) and the AP U.S. History Curriculum Framework  Life in American Cities at the turn of the century - Population growth caused congestion and increased danger (crime and disease) - Rural populations moved to cities (wages higher) *traded life of isolation and hard work for congestion, filth, and disease - Needs in cities (wealthy neighborhoods received first) *fire and police protection, clean drinking water, sanitation systems, lighted and paved streets - Rise of Political Machines (grew out of the conditions in cities) - local neighborhood bosses would help disadvantaged in exchange for a certain vote - bosses not necessarily politicians but in cahoots with politicians Bessemer Process (Henry Bessemer) - a method for making steel by blasting compressed air through molten iron to burn out excess carbon and impurities - allowed for the inexpensive, mass production of steel which contributed to “vertical construction” in cities and safer railroad travel Immigration and Migration - the need for cheap labor to fuel American Industrial growth led to an unprecedented amount of immigrants coming to America and a large scale internal migration that dramatically increased the population of many cities Problems associated with Urbanization in the Gilded Age - overcrowding, filth, disease, crime, unsanitary conditions, etc. - bottom line is that the infrastructure of cities and services offered could not keep pace with the rapid increase in population Tenements - run-down and overcrowded apartments in poor sections of cities, often occupied by immigrants - the "dumbbell" tenement design was the most common Social and Economic Theory in the Gilded Age Laissez-faire - the principle that government should not interfere in the workings of a free market economy (a “hands off” approach). Many in the late 1800s argued that a Laissez-Faire approach by the government was what allowed the U.S. economy to thrive. Socialism - a social system or theory in which the government controls the means of production and distribution of goods. Some in the late 1800s and early 1900s argued that Socialism could function in conjunction with a Democratic political system Social Darwinism - a philosophy that competition leads to the betterment of society through the survival of the fittest - Social Darwinists are opposed to regulating competition or assisting the poor Henry George - economic reformer whose book, Progress and Poverty (1879), advocated solving problems of economic inequality by imposing a single tax on the value of unused land Edward Bellamy - author of Looking Backward (1888), a utopian novel that described the world of the future. According to Bellamy, the world in 2000 would be based on a new social order in which poverty and corrupt politics were unknown, and cooperation had replaced competition. Gospel of Wealth - Andrew Carnegie’s idea that the people who possess great wealth have an obligation to use their wealth for the public good. - helped to encourage the charitable and philanthropic efforts of the wealthy Gigliotti APUSH (updated 2o23- 2o24) 9 adapted from James L. Smith (APUSH God) and the AP U.S. History Curriculum Framework Ideological Debate of the Late 1800s (Laissez-Faire vs. Socialism) What is an ideology? A set of ideas and beliefs that guide one's goals, practices, and way of life. Regardless of the label Political and Economic Theory or Conservatism and Liberalism or Laissez-Faire and Socialism *all of these labels are dealing with the SIZE AND ROLE OF GOVERNMENT Political and Economic Conditions in the United States Prior to 1812 Political: emergence of political parties (Democratic-Republicans and Federalists) Economic: primarily agrarian, Hamilton’s Financial Plan guided the economy 1815-1860 Political: Era of Good Feelings, reemergence of the two party system (Democrats and Whigs then later Democrats and Republicans) Economic: 1st Industrial Revolution, Henry Clay’s American system guided the economy After 1865 Political: Democrats and Republicans but many strong 3rd Party Presidential candidates Economic: 2nd Industrial Revolution, Modern Capitalism, Rise of Big Business **The rapid industrialization of the late 1800s intensified the ideological debate (debate started with Jefferson and Hamilton, intensified in the late 1800s, and remains a debate today) Liberalism and Conservatism (specific to the SIZE AND ROLE OF GOVERNMENT) Classical Liberalism and Conservatism (prior to 1860) (Thomas Jefferson) Liberalism Conservatism (Alexander Hamilton) Laissez-Faire Strong Central Government Small Government involved in the Economy States’ Rights Modern Liberalism and Conservatism (20th century to present) (Franklin Roosevelt) Liberalism Conservatism (Ronald Reagan) Strong Central Government Laissez-Faire involved in the Economy Small Government States’ Rights Capitalism: an economic system in which investments in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals and investors. (Prior to 1812) Penny Capitalism - local, subsistence production of goods and trade - Yeomen/Jeffersonian Ideal prevalent (1815 – 1860) Regional Capitalism - trade moved beyond local areas - aided by transportation improvements in 1st industrial revolution (After 1865) Corporate Capitalism - knows no boundaries or borders (new markets and new resources) - Rise of Big Business and Corporations Gigliotti APUSH (updated 2o23- 2o24) 10 adapted from James L. Smith (APUSH God) and the AP U.S. History Curriculum Framework  Socialism: economic theory advocating collective or governmental ownership and/or administration of the means of production and distribution of goods (Varying degrees of Socialism) Government Regulation vs. Government Control (early 1900s to Present Day) (the closest was the 1930s and the “New Deal”) Laissez-faire: a doctrine opposing governmental interference in economic affairs beyond the minimum necessary for the maintenance of peace and property rights (Varying degrees of Laissez-faire) Minimal Government Involvement vs. Pure Laissez-faire (Conservatives Today) (the closest was the Gilded Age but never truly existed) Historical and Late 1800s (advocates and/or supporters) Laissez-faire Adam Smith (historical) - 1700s Scottish Economist, “Father of Modern Capitalism” - believed that humans are creatures of self-interest thus competition will naturally occur in society - Government involvement would destroy what comes naturally (competition) William Sumner (late 1800s) - American Economist - believed in PURE Laissez-Faire (total hands off approach by the Government) - disliked reformers (felt they would interfere in what occurs naturally in the economy) - big believer in Social Darwinism - believed that individuals should look out for #1 (themselves) - believed that regulation and reform led to corruption (e.g. bribery, kickbacks, etc.) Socialism Karl Marx (historical) - German Philosopher in the mid 1800s - developed the basis of Communist philosophy - disliked Capitalists (felt that they only sought monetary gain) - believed that private property should be abolished - believed that Capitalist economies will always fail and then adopt some level of Socialism if not full-blown Communism Eugene Debs (late 1800s) - Socialist and prominent labor leader in the United States - believed that Democracy is good but Capitalism is Bad (believed that Capitalism divided society: Capitalists vs. Workers) - Some degree of Socialism (Government control) is good and necessary for the overall health of the country Political Corruption (National and Local Levels) and the fight for Reform Patronage ("Spoils System") - the practice of granting government appointments to friends, political supporters, and party loyalists - President Andrew Jackson popularized the practice of the Spoils System - the practice many times resulted in inept and/or corrupt individuals serving in government positions (President Grant’s Administration) Gigliotti APUSH (updated 2o23- 2o24) 11 adapted from James L. Smith (APUSH God) and the AP U.S. History Curriculum Framework  Kickbacks - an amount of money that is given to someone in return for providing help in a secret and dishonest business deal - one of the most common forms of corruption during the Gilded Age Graft - practices, especially bribery, used to secure illicit gains in politics or business - one of the mosst common forms of corruption during the Gilded Age Crédit Mobilier Scandal - Credit Mobilier was a company created to build the Union Pacific Railroad - in 1872 it was discovered that Crédit Mobilier bribed congressmen to gain federal subsidies for the construction of the railroad - strong evidence pointed to high ranking congressmen and possibly a connection to the Vice President’s office - one of the many scandals that were characteristic of President Grant’s Administration (1869-77) which was arguably one of the most corrupt in U.S. history Whiskey Ring Scandal - distillers and revenue officials (excise tax collectors) in St. Louis defrauded the government of millions of dollars by cutting illegal deals on the collection of excise taxes - one of the many scandals that were characteristic of President Grant’s Administration (1869-77) which was arguably one of the most corrupt in U.S. history Mugwumps - reformers (mostly Republicans) who wanted civil service reform and an end to political corruption - mugwumps supported the Democratic Candidate (Grover Cleveland) for President in 1884 because they felt that the Republican Candidate (James Blaine) was corrupt. Stalwarts - a faction of the Republican Party that opposed the civil-service reform policies of President Rutherford B. Hayes and sought unsuccessfully a third presidential term for Ulysses S. Grant. Pendelton Act (1883) - law that created the Civil Service Commission and instituted the merit system for federal hiring and jobs - passed as a result of a deranged federal office seeker (Charles Guiteau) who assassinated President Garfield in 1881 Political Machines - the urban political machine dominated American cities in the late 1800s into the early 1900s - in exchange for votes and support, the “machine” allied with both rich and poor in major urban areas providing, in many instances, social services to assist those in need Tammany Hall - corrupt political organization that controlled New York City politics during the late 1800s and early 1900s - the most infamous of the urban political machines William Tweed - an American politician who controlled the “Tweed Ring” at Tammany Hall in New York City - often referred to as “Boss Tweed” - The “Tweed Ring” defrauded New York City of millions which made his name synonymous with municipal corruption and urban political machines Australian (secret) Ballot - election ballot printed by the government rather than political parties that was marked privately by the voters - most states had moved to the secret ballot by the 1880s as a result of the political machines rigging elections in many major cities Gigliotti APUSH (updated 2o23- 2o24) 12 adapted from James L. Smith (APUSH God) and the AP U.S. History Curriculum Framework  Expansion of Democracy (to combat corruption in politics) Initiative - a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can bring about a public vote on a proposed law Referendum - the practice of submitting to popular vote a measure passed on or proposed by a legislative body or through an initiative Recall - a procedure that allows citizens to remove and replalce a public official before the end of a term of office Thomas Nast - political cartoonist, known for attacking corruption in business and politics - he helped make the public aware by exposing much of the Gilded Age corruption including the actions of “Boss Tweed” - some of the greatest political cartoons of the Gilded Age were produced by Thomas Nast Social Gospel - religious doctrine preached by those who believed that Christian churches should directly address economic and social problems in American society - supporters believed that the church had a role in reforming society - some refer to the Social Gospel Movement as a “3rd Great Awakening” Prominent Literary Works - W. E. B. Dubois (conditions of African Americans) - Upton Sinclair (“The Jungle”- meat packing industry) - Jacob Riis (“How the other half lives”- crime, disease in tenement areas) Settlement House Movement (early social work) - private individuals (mostly middle class women) who wanted to help the less fortunate - original purpose was to assist immigrants in their assimilation to America - sought to provide a social setting other than taverns for individuals to interact - Jane Addams (Founder of Hull House in Chicago) became a national leader for the Settlement House Movement Suffrage Movement (right to vote) - women were playing a key role in the late 1800s in society both at home and in the workforce (began forming national organizations to gain the right to vote) Labor Movement and Early Labor Unions Working Conditions at the turn of the century - Average wage was 17 cents per hour - Average work week was 60 hours - Factories were unsafe (no safeguards on machines or oversight of conditions) *1913- 25,000 industrial fatalities and 700,000 work related injuries - Difficult to organize workers due to multiple ethnicities, religions, etc. (labor unions very slow to develop) - Bottom line: workers want better working conditions, shorter hours, and more pay Non-Union strikes prior to 1880s Pennsylvania Coal Miners Strike of 1876 (Molly Maguires) - reaction to owners suppression of the organization of laborers - very violent strike with beatings and murders Great Railroad Strike of 1877 - reaction to cut wages (Panic of 1873) - workers walked off in West Virginia and the strike soon spread nationwide - sympathy at first for strikers but as violence ensued, support shifted to the owners - President Rutherford B. Hayes ordered U.S. troops to end the strike Gigliotti APUSH (updated 2o23- 2o24) 13 adapted from James L. Smith (APUSH God) and the AP U.S. History Curriculum Framework  Early Labor Unions National Labor Union (1866) - political agenda (equal rights for women and blacks) - laid groundwork for the 8 hour workday - focused more on social issues rather than labor issues (caused collapse in 1872) Knights of Labor Union (1869) - industrial union that accepted membership from most trades as well as race, religion, and sex (grew rapidly) - large membership hurt their ability to manage strikes (e.g. Jay Gould’s Union Pacific RR) - Haymarket riot severely damaged membership and reputation (members were labeled anarchists) - reached its peak in 1886 before beginning a sharp decline in membership American Federation of Labor (1886) - national organization but only accepted craft unions (skilled, white workers) - mostly concerned with labor issues (wages, hours, benefits) - known as a “bread and butter” union because it sought only to achieve higher wages, minimize working hours, and improve working conditions rather than transform American society (stayed away from tackling social issues) - Membership grew rapidly (beginning of real unions) *1900 (5,000), 1914 (2 million), 1920 (4 million) Haymarket Square Riot (1886) - after police fired into a crowd of 100,000 protesting workers in Chicago, the workers met and rallied in Haymarket Square to protest police brutality. A bomb exploded, killing or injuring many of the police, which promoted anti-union and anti-immigrant feelings Homestead Strike (1892) - strike at Carnegie's steel plant in 1892 - company officials hired 300 armed Pinkerton detectives to stop strikers who were angry over pay cuts (10 people were killed and 60 wounded) Pullman Strike (1894) - due to poor wages for Pullman workers and a shut down of western railroads, workers for the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago went on strike - President Grover Cleveland ordered federal troops to crush the strike and dozens were killed in violent clashes Eugene Debs - head of the American Railway Union and leader of the Pullman strike, which led to his imprisonment for ignoring a federal court injunction to stop striking - became a prominent socialist leader and ran for president five times as the Socialist Party’s candidate for president. Samuel Gompers - Cigar maker who founded the American Federation of Labor and contributed to its success in the late 1800s Mother Jones - nickname for Mary Harris Jones, an Irish-American woman who became a prominent labor organizer - led several significant strikes and cofounded the radical labor union, Industrial Workers of the World also known as the IWW in 1905 Discrimination, Segregation, and the Fight for Equality (African Americans) Jim Crow Laws - state and local laws designed to enforce segregation of blacks from whites - laws passed in southern states after the Civil War that restricted the rights and activities of freed blacks and defined them as inferior to whites Gigliotti APUSH (updated 2o23- 2o24) 14 adapted from James L. Smith (APUSH God) and the AP U.S. History Curriculum Framework  Disenfranchisement of African Americans Grandfather Clause - method of denying African Americans the right to vote by not letting anyone vote whose grandfather had not voted in the past Property Qualifications - method of denying African Americans the right to vote by requiring the ownership of land in order to cast a vote Poll Tax - method of denying African Americans the right to vote by requiring the payment of a poll tax in order to cast a vote Literacy Test - method of denying African Americans the right to vote by requiring that voters pass a literacy test in order to cast a vote Crop-lien System (sharecropping, tenant farming) - a system of credit, also known as the crop-lien system, used by cotton farmers in the South. Sharecroppers who did not own the land they worked, obtained supplies and food on credit from local merchants. The land owners and merchants held a lien on the cotton crop, and the merchants and landowners were the first ones paid from its sale. What was left over, which was very little, went to the farmer, resulting in a perpetual cycle of debt that kept the farmer poor and impoverished and unable to get ahead in life. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) - Supreme Court decision that upheld a Louisiana law requiring the racial segregation of railroad facilities on the grounds that “separate but equal” facilities were constitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. - the decision essentially legalized segregation in America W.E.B. DuBois - African American historian and civil rights activist - One of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909 Booker T. Washington - former slave who became an educator and founded the Tuskegee Institute to provide training in agriculture and crafts for African American students Atlanta Compromise (1895) - speech made by Booker T Washington in which he urged African Americans to accept disenfranchisement and segregation for the time being, working for economic advancement instead. - Booker T. Washington was heavily criticized by DuBois and other civil rights leaders for being a sell-out and accepting white supremacy Ida B. Wells - African American civil rights activist who fought relentlessly for anti-lynching legislation Women's Activism during the Gilded Age National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), 1869 - Organization led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony that fought for women’s suffrage, equal rights for women, and the right for women to join labor unions - accepted only women as members. American Women Suffrage Association (AWSA), 1869 - Organization led by Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howard that fought only for women’s suffrage - accepted men as members as well Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), 1874 - Women’s organization that opposed the consumption of alcohol and supported reforms such as women’s suffrage Gigliotti APUSH (updated 2o23- 2o24) 15 adapted from James L. Smith (APUSH God) and the AP U.S. History Curriculum Framework  Jane Addams - founded a settlement house (Hull House) in Chicago in 1889 that offered practical help and material aide to newly arrived immigrants - widely regarded as the greatest American woman of the early 1900s for her pioneering work in what would become known as Social Work - she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 Lillian Wald - Founder of a settlement house in New York City in 1893 to improve medical care for all citizens - advocate for child labor legislation and woman's suffrage Immigration during the Gilded Age New Immigrant Characteristics - Italians (largest), Greeks, Russians, Chinese, Jews - Began in 1880s and lasted into the 20th century - Most did not speak English, were men, and were peasants - Many came temporarily to make money with the intention of returning home (“Birds of Passage”) - Took the worst jobs just to make any money and survive - Major force in growth of American cities and population Reasons for Immigrants coming to America - Push factors (disease, religious and political persecution, economics, famine, population increase) - Pull Factors (myths of great wealth in America, wages, land, and opportunity) Immigrant Life in America - Clustered together with people of the same ethnicity (comfort and familiarity) - Work sometimes determined by ethnicity - Coal Mines (Hungarians, Poles, and Irish) - Merchants (Russians, Jews) - Textile sweatshops (women) - Railroads (Germans, Irish, and Chinese) Myths and Truths - Myth- “America the great Melting Pot”, immigrants always assimilated with ease - Truth- immigrants assimilated but had a very tough road with many choosing to strongly maintain their ethnicity (e.g. Little Italy, China town) Nativist Responses to Immigration - Americans protested the 2nd wave of immigration (viewed them as a threat) - Government reaction to protests was to put restrictions on immigration - laws against “undesirables” (illiterates, feeble, sick, or those just thought to become a public charge) - targeted certain ethnic groups (Chinese Exclusion Act) “Old Immigration” - Immigrants from northern and western Europe made up most of the immigration to the United States before the 1890s. “New Immigration” - Immigrants came primarily from southern and eastern Europe and began to arrive in the United States during the 1890s. New Immigrants generally did not assimilate as well as Old Immigrants due primarily to cultural differences Ellis Island - an island in New York Harbor that served as the inspection and processing station for millions of immigrants coming to the United States from 1892 to 1954 Angel Island - the equivalent of Ellis Island but located on the west coast in San Francisco Assimilation - the process by which immigrant and minority groups are absorbed into the dominant culture of a society Gigliotti APUSH (updated 2o23- 2o24) 16 adapted from James L. Smith (APUSH God) and the AP U.S. History Curriculum Framework  Nativism - the policy of protecting the interests of native inhabitants against those of immigrants Xenophobia - intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) - law that prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the United States - the only immigration law ever passed by the United States to target a specific ethnic group American Protective Association (1887) - organization created by American nativists that campaigned for laws to restrict immigration Other Notable Items Conspicuous Consumption - term coined by the economist Thorstein Veblen that refers to how people spend money in excess of what is necessary to fulfill their needs. People openly consume products they don’t need in order to gain a semblance of social status - the beginning of materialism that continued to evolve and strengthen into the 20th century and today Panic of 1893 - deep economic depression caused by high protective tariffs and a return to the gold standard - second worst depression in U.S. history next to the “Great Depression” of the 1930s Frederick Taylor - engineer who created the principles of scientific management to make factory production faster and more efficient Period Six, Part Two Overview Lecture (Contextualization, Turning Points, etc.) Gigliotti APUSH (updated 2o23- 2o24) 17 adapted from James L. Smith (APUSH God) and the AP U.S. History Curriculum Framework  Period Six, Part One Overview Reading The late 1800s were marked by a number of inventions and innovations, large and small, that would affect the lives of ordinary Americans in numerous ways, leading to new conceptions of time and space, work, and play. Many inventions, like Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, quickly became necessities of modern life. Others worked behind the scenes, helping expand the market network in ways that had been unthinkable just a few decades before. What some historians call the “Second Industrial Revolution” was dependent on several factors, including the speed and efficacy of American invention. Thomas Edison, perhaps the greatest inventor of the era, eventually operated out of an independent research laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, where squads of employees produced thousands of inventions, all patented in Edison’s name. Among them were the phonograph, and, of course, the electric light bulb. Electric light went on to change the country, lighting factories well into the night and changing the look of the nineteenth-century city in dramatic ways. Meanwhile, George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla refined Edison’s ideas, introducing the more efficient alternating current. Electric streetcars quickly replaced horse-drawn omnibuses, and by the early twentieth century, motion pictures and Victor “talking machines” began to occupy Americans’ leisure hours. Elevators by Otis allowed buildings to rise higher, while power tools from Pratt and Whitney allowed them to be built faster. With over 440,000 patents issued between 1860 and 1890. By the 1890s, many manufacturers began experimenting with gasoline-powered engines, planting the seeds for the automobile explosion that would sweep the country in just a few decades. American life was transformed yet again as automobiles replaced horses, and drivers were free to roam far beyond the confines of the railroad tracks. Henry Ford, a machinist who built his first automobile in 1896, went on to pioneer the assembly line, making the manufacture of a large number of cars cheaply and efficiently. The assembly line helped to change the nature of work. Rather than having one worker responsible for many stages of the production process, Ford’s workers performed small, routinized tasks over and over. This speeded production and lowered consumer costs, although workers found the work boring and repetitive. For a time, Ford’s relatively high salaries compensated for the lack of investment that many workers felt in their jobs. Yet by 1903, Wilber and Orville Wright’s flight in their flying machine over the sands of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, had begun to convince many Americans that even faster travel was on the horizon. The growth of the railroad and the widespread use of other inventions necessitated a new kind of business structure, one that would not stop short at the limits of a family business and could make use of the corporate structures that had emerged during the Jacksonian era. In the absence of a federal bank, private bankers assumed a new level of wealth and power. They, coupled with the leaders of the new, powerful corporations, helped produce what Mark Twain called the “Gilded Age,” an era of excess money and power that had a few amassing immense fortunes—and showing off that wealth in very obvious ways—while many lived in abject poverty. With little government regulation in place, the power of banking and business expanded unchecked. Banker Jay Cooke, who had helped to save the Union’s finances during the Civil War, almost wrecked the nation’s economy in the early 1870s when his banking company went under in 1873, setting off a nationwide panic. More banks collapsed, railroad construction stopped, and half a million lost jobs in less than a year. The boom and bust cycle that characterized the nineteenth century, with a panic and depression about every twenty years, continued throughout its latter half, demonstrating the interconnectedness of railroads, banking, and business. Among the business leaders of the era was Cornelius Vanderbilt, who began as a steamboat entrepreneur and later moved on to control an interconnected web of seemingly unrelated railroad companies. To do so, he created new corporate structures and massive corporations that created great wealth while reducing the power of individual managers. When he died in 1877, after purchasing New York’s most powerful railroad, the New York Central, he was the wealthiest man in America. But there were many who would vie with Vanderbilt for wealth and power. Some, like Jim Fisk and Jay Gould, functioned as corporate pirates, draining the wealth from a company by issuing stocks far above the company’s value and then leaving the business near bankruptcy as they walked away with the profits from stock sales. In 1869, Fisk and Gould teamed up with another corporate pirate, Daniel Drew, to corner the nation’s supply of gold. As they bought and hoarded gold, prices rose precipitously. Only when President Grant released gold from the U.S. Treasury was the scheme foiled. Many investors found their fortunes falling after what became known as “Black Friday” created a significant drag on the economy. Other businessmen exploited new discoveries and transformed industries. John D. Rockefeller, who began his business career as a clerk, took advantage of the recent discovery of “rock oil” in Titusville, PA, and focused on refining it for use in kerosene and, later, other oil-based products like gasoline. Rockefeller located his refinery in Cleveland, where he could take advantage of nearby supplies and get his products to market using the Great Lakes shipping and rail lines. Rockefeller effectively played one rail line off against the other as they competed for his business, offering secret rebates and undercutting the competition. Soon, Rockefeller was able to buy out many of his competitors, and his Standard Oil Company would eventually control 90% of the oil industry. This control over oil production came to be known as horizontal integration, a horizontal monopoly. Without meaningful antimonopoly laws, Standard Oil was able to control the oil industry from refining to sales. Meanwhile, Andrew Carnegie, who had started as a poor immigrant from Scotland, capitalized on a new innovation in steelmaking—the Bessemer process—and ended up dominating the steel industry. Steel was essential for the growth of the railroad network and other industries, and Carnegie found ways to track and cut costs, making an investment with Carnegie a very sound venture. Carnegie practiced vertical integration, from the coal and coke ovens that prepared the fuel to the iron mines that produced iron ore. He purchased railroads and steamships to transport the coal and iron to Pittsburgh, the base of the steel industry, and sought to keep workers’ salaries as low as possible. When Carnegie sold his company in 1900 to JP Morgan, who then combined it with other, smaller companies to create the massive U.S. Steel, Carnegie became the wealthiest man in the world. Corporate leaders like Rockefeller and Carnegie built palatial homes and lived extravagantly thanks to their great wealth in an age without an income tax, but they also used their money to secure political influence. Competition among businesses declined as business leaders built monopolies and coordinated companies in massive “trusts” that would together set policy, determine costs, and, of course, fixed prices. With plenty of politicians ready to be bribed to look the other way or to actively block legislation, businessmen of the period had a free hand in ensuring the death of the free market. There would be no government intervention to regulate industry—at least for a while. Meanwhile, a new banker, J.P. Morgan, emerged as the nation’s preeminent economic sage. Morgan had made significant profits during the Civil War—now, he used them to rebuild the American economy after the Panic of 1873. Later, he managed to secure a seat on the Board of Directors of many of the nation’s most influential companies, and he knew more about American industries than any other banker. When the nation’s economy again collapsed in the Panic of 1893, scores of railroads went into bankruptcy. Then, Morgan stepped in. He offered $65 million in gold in return for 30-year government bonds. European bankers who had lost faith in the U.S. government had more faith in Morgan, buying bonds and stopping demanding payment in gold, which would have further depleted U.S. gold reserves. Essentially, the House of Morgan functioned as the nation’s bank until the Federal Reserve Bank was created in 1916. As Americans moved from farms and small towns to cities, some swelled the ranks of the middle class. With this new middle-class lifestyle came a set of expectations and perceived responsibilities that would be called “middle-class respectability.” In some ways, members of the middle class were caught between what they saw as two poles of excess: the criminal behavior of the very poor on the one end and the lifestyles of the rich and famous on the other. Still, the new middle class had more disposable income—and more leisure time thanks to new inventions—than ever before. They participated in an emerging consumer culture, frequenting large department stores in cities and enjoying public buildings designed in a unique, classical style that showed both permanence and beauty, and they looked for new public spaces, like well-designed public parks, to take an evening stroll. Beyond this, however, middle-class reformers increasingly sought to reshape the city, building public works like reservoirs and aqueducts to reduce the incidence of cholera and other water-borne illnesses. They also carved out new neighborhoods for themselves, well beyond the urban core, to which they could retreat after a day spent in downtown businesses. Suburbs, first tied to streetcar lines as well as to shorter rail lines, soon surrounded cities. Meanwhile, white middle-class Protestants saw new levels of religion, with the membership of the major Protestant denominations tripling between 1860 and 1890. Americans also participated in nondenominational religious organizations such as the YMCA and flocked to the sermons of the era’s great revivalist, Dwight L. Moody. Unlike earlier preachers, Moody wore a suit and tie to his revivals, resembling the businessmen who had come to hear and see him. His message was simple—conversion to Christianity and love of God. Home and Jesus were often synonymous for Moody, who denounced the theater with the same vehemence with which he despised atheists. Music was equally important at Moody’s revivals, with new hymns composed by Ira Sankey often finding their way into people’s homes as well. Most families aspired to a particular badge of the middle class—the parlor piano—and the music for hymns and other songs were often performed at home when the entire family would gather around the piano. Meanwhile, both Democrats and Republicans reflected the new aspirations and orientations of the middle class. Leaders of both parties had little interest in challenging the status quo, and many were preoccupied with stemming conflict from within. The Republican Party was divided between the heirs of its antislavery wing (called Stalwarts) and others who wanted to forget about slavery and Reconstruction and focus on prosperity. With an array of charismatic leaders often at odds with one another, the Republicans seemed likely to consume themselves with the force of their vehemence. Stalwart Roscoe Conkling from New York frequently spent considerable energy in trying to thwart James G. Blaine, a Maine congressman who became Speaker of the House. In 1880, the Republicans turned to a new candidate, war veteran James Garfield. Garfield was committed to civil service reform, seeking to end the use of government jobs to reward political favorites. After Garfield was assassinated and his vice-president Chester Arthur assumed the presidency, Blaine was determined to stop Arthur’s renomination. Meanwhile, the Democrats nominated Grover Cleveland, the former mayor of Buffalo who had a reputation for honesty, although claims that he had fathered a child out of wedlock did cause some concern. Still, because of Blaine’s links with many of the scandals associated with the Grant administration and his use of political patronage, some Republicans deserted their party and supported Cleveland. These Mugwumps helped Cleveland win the election. Cleveland went on to take a strong stand against the annexation of Hawaii, although he generally ignored the needs of African Americans and sided with business owners against workers. Republican Benjamin Harrison defeated Cleveland in the election of 1888, engaging in the “waving the bloody shirt” tactic of reminding voters that Democrats represented the states of the Confederacy. Cleveland’s veto of a pension for Civil War veterans also contributed to his defeat. Yet four years later, Cleveland was elected once again, beginning his second (nonconsecutive) term with the Panic of 1893. As business expanded, it sought new markets, and increasingly, these were located beyond the contiguous states. Missionaries fired by the revivals of Dwight Moody and others went to spread the gospel in China, Japan, and the Middle East. Commercial interests quickly followed. As business leaders intensified exporting efforts to sustain the national economy, the total value of U.S. exports jumped from $234 million in 1865 to $1.5 billion in 1900. With the expansion came a renewed interest in Cuba, long a focus of southern states even before the Civil War. After an 1868 rebellion in Cuba, U.S. merchants bought sugar plantations, mines, and ranches there. By 1900, the U.S. was the dominant economic force in that country. Meanwhile, the U.S. also had longstanding interests in Mexico. During the Civil War, the U.S. secretly aided Mexican revolutionaries who resisted the rulers installed there by Napoleon III. Later, Americans bought railroads, mines, and oil exploration companies in Mexico, working with dictator Porfirio Diaz, who was anxious to expand U.S. investment there. The growth of U.S. exports in Europe brought with them their own set of tensions as Europe’s leading economic powers became increasingly nervous about their growing dependence on the U.S.  By the end of the 19th century, more and more people were coming to the United States, seeking new opportunities and, in some cases, freedom from religious persecution. These immigrants differed from those who had come before in various ways. Previous immigrants came primarily from Northern and Western Europe (Britain, Ireland, Germany, etc.). The new immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th centuries came mainly from Southern and Eastern Europe and were often less wealthy and less literate than those who had come before. Regardless of place of origin, however, all immigrants experienced a push-pull experience in which various factors pushed them to leave, and other factors pulled them toward a new experience in another setting. For Russian Jews, the pushes were marked and obvious; a series of pogroms (anti-Jewish attacks), actively encouraged by the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox church, left Jewish towns and farms devastated. Restrictions on travel and where Jewish families could settle also intensified, and Jews were prevented from owning land. Italian peasants in Southern Italy also faced violence as Italy fought to become an independent and unified state and free itself from its Austrian overlords. The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius also destroyed precious farmlands. Unlike the Jews, many Italians were initially “birds of passage,” hoping to return home after making money in America. While there was little regulation or restriction on immigration throughout much of the 19th century, Congress in 1882 passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, halting Chinese immigration. It was the first time an entire nationality was barred from this country. There was also immigration from French Canadians in the North, who settled in New England and New York, and from Mexicans in the South, who moved across the Rio Grande in search of jobs. Although few immigrants to the U.S. found streets “paved with gold,” many did enjoy a significantly better life than the one they had left behind. An industrializing America needed workers, and immigrants provided the cheap labor necessary to mine coal, run machines, and make steel. New York was the prime port of entry for immigrants on the East Coast, and Ellis Island replaced Castle Garden in 1892 as the main immigration center. Before it closed in 1954, Ellis Island greeted some twelve million immigrants, subjecting them to a barrage of questions and physical examinations to ensure that no physically or mentally ill persons were allowed in. Clerks, who had difficulty understanding the way immigrants pronounced their names, often assigned them new, anglicized versions that had little in common with the originals. On the Pacific Coast, most immigrants came through San Francisco, where Angel Island functioned as a sort of Ellis Island of the West. Unlike its eastern counterpart, which processed most arrivals in a day or less, Angel Island often held people for weeks, months, and, in some cases, years. Despite the idea of America as a melting pot, many immigrants had no interest in “melting” into a common American culture. Instead, they helped to create a richly diverse nation. Jews made their way to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where they crowded into tenements and shared bathrooms. Jewish peddlers filled the street with pushcarts; others found work in the garment industry, first working at home, and later in larger places called sweatshops, which could house hundreds of workers. Jews established synagogues, foreign language newspapers, and about 300 Hebrew schools to maintain their language and culture. Other immigrants also created their own neighborhoods. Many cities boasted a Little Italy, or a Polish section, or a Chinatown. French Canadian and Italian immigrants often moved back and forth between the U.S. and their home communities. This was also the case with immigrants from Mexico, who increasingly established permanent homes in the U.S. in neighborhoods called barrios. For Catholic immigrants, the Roman Catholic Church was an essential link. Parishes frequently reflected the country of origin and often served their own group, offering parochial schools and classes in the home language. In 1886, Henry Grady, the young editor of the Atlanta Constitution, told a group of Northerners that the day of the “New South” had begun. This New South, he told them, was a proud entity that had nothing to apologize for in its past, wanted to be left alone regarding race relations, and had come of age economically, building railroads and industry. Indeed, the South was spreading beyond its agricultural base during this period. New rail lines provided investment opportunities and employment to many Southerners. The railroad also provided the South with essential connections to the outside world, making possible the expanded economy that characterized much of the North. Some southern cities even became associated with particular industries, like steel in Birmingham, Alabama. Tobacco made a comeback. Meanwhile, the imposition of child labor laws and restrictions on working hours in the North led to many textile factories relocating to the more business-friendly South. Also emerging during this time was a new way of explaining the Civil War. The “Lost Cause” idea, which had gallant Southerners fighting valiantly for states’ rights even when they knew they would not prevail, gained ground in popular literature and history textbooks. Closely akin to the “Lost Cause” was the “plantation school” of southern history, popularized by Thomas Nelson Page and Joel Chandler Harris, which celebrated the period before the war as one marked by moonlight, magnolias, and happy slaves who loved their masters. It was no accident that these schools of Southern history emerged at a time when the South was tightening its strictures on African Americans and denying them a range of opportunities as citizens. In housing, business, and on the railroads, blacks found themselves consigned to places and positions that gave them few opportunities to rise. The landmark 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson gave Southern states the right to continue restricting blacks to certain areas, declaring that “separate but equal” accommodations did not violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. (In reality, most separate facilities were hardly equal.) Meanwhile, as fewer and fewer African Americans were able to vote, much less hold office, many who sought leadership roles found them in the churches. The black church especially offered sanctuary against the oppression of white society, and a variety of activities often engaged church members several days a week. The rise of the Populist Party also affected black political participation in the South. Because the Populists had initially sought to unite black and white farmers and others in a common cause, the Democratic Party used racist rhetoric to capture white voters who might have been inclined to vote for the third party. Meanwhile, new laws and new state constitutions written in the 1890s ensured that few black voters and no black officeholders remained in the South. Mississippi led the way with a range of voting “tests” that worked to exclude blacks but allow poor whites to remain. Other states instituted “grandfather clauses” that exempted individuals whose grandfathers had voted from literacy and other restrictions that were implanted to reduce the number of black voters but had also affected poor whites. By 1908, every one of the former states of the Confederacy had mechanisms in place to restrict or eliminate black suffrage. To ensure that blacks “knew their place,” old habits of violence and intimidation resurfaced. Lynching became widespread throughout the South, targeting individual African Americans, frequently young men. Often, the charge had to do with raping a white woman, while the reality was that the individual had in some way challenged the customs associated with the white South; not stepping off the sidewalk if a white person was coming or challenging a plantation owner’s accounting for a sharecropping family. Black people, however, were hardly willing to accept the “New South” entirely, even when resistance could be met with increased violence and even murder. Ida B. Wells led the fight against lynching. Booker T. Washington sought to create economic self-sufficiency within the black community to make it less dependent upon whites. Others found him too accommodating. W.E.B. DuBois, who had defined the problem of the twentieth century as the problem of the color line, challenged Washington’s view with his idea that blacks, as citizens, deserved the right to be active participants in every part of American society. He and others with similar views met to discuss the road to reform in the Niagara Movement. Later, he joined with a mixed group of reformers to form the NAACP. As business proceeded unregulated in the years after the Civil War, ordinary workers found it increasingly difficult to survive. The Gilded Age had marked many changes in American society; among them was the emergence of a permanent working class, people for whom working for others was a perpetual occupation. During this period, workers came cheap. Wages were low, and accidents and worker-related injuries were high. Immigrant workers competed with the native-born for jobs, further exacerbating tensions between the two groups. As might be expected, the fast-growing railroad network proved a flashpoint between business and labor. In 1877, after several railroad companies announced wage cuts simultaneously, workers along the B and O tracks in Maryland and nearby West Virginia struck spontaneously. As word spread, other railroad workers joined them, threatening a general strike on the railroads that would halt traffic and cripple commerce. Workers destroyed equipment and sabotaged railroad tracks. Black and white workers struck together, and women, too, urged their husbands to join the strike. Eventually, President Rutherford B. Hayes called out federal troops to suppress the strike, which they did, armed with rapid-fire Gatling guns. In the wake of the strike, many states formed National Guard units that could be called out at a moment’s notice. Founded in 1869, the Knights of Labor quickly became the nation’s most powerful union after the Great Strike of 1877. Combining aspects of secret societies with a powerful call for workers’ rights regardless of race or gender, the Knights, headed by Terence V. Powderly, spearheaded the call for an eight-hour workday, along with government support for agricultural cooperatives, equal pay for women, and government ownership of railroads and banks. By 1885, the Knights had won several strikes, including several against railroads. The Knights tried to avoid violence when they could, but their own ranks were split between those who tried to conciliate owners and those who felt that the current relationship between business and labor could never be fair. By 1886, the Knights were overshadowed by a different kind of union. The American Federation of Labor, under the leadership of cigar maker Samuel Gompers, was a craft-based organization that kept out unskilled workers, along with blacks and women, but sought to move its members into the middle class. As a result, the AFL called for more limited reforms than the Knights. The AFL benefited from an incident at Chicago’s Haymarket Square in May of 1886. Many workers from various organizations, including the ethnically based societies of newly arrived immigrants, gathered to protest the treatment of striking workers at the nearby McCormick plant, who were calling for an eight-hour day. The AFL supported the strike, as did fairly large numbers of socialists and anarchists, two popular movements of the day. Both socialism and anarchism were associated with immigrants. In one of those strange quirks in history, someone threw a bomb into the crowd that day, killing seven police officers. No one knows who threw the bomb. But the fact that a bomb was thrown at all was enough to convict eight socialists and anarchist leaders of the crime of murder since being an anarchist was tantamount to destroying police authority. Four men were eventually hanged for the crime, including one, Albert Parsons, who was not even in Haymarket at the time. For the rest of the century and after, Haymarket was a pivotal point in American labor history. Events also came to a head at Homestead, PA, in 1892. There, workers for Carnegie’s state-of-the-art steel plant protested a series of wage cuts. Henry Clay Frick, who had charge of the mill at the time (Carnegie was on vacation in Scotland), decided to break the union once and for all. Frick called in hired Pinkerton guards to protect his strikebreakers. But the workers, convinced that they had the right to a livable wage in the steel mill they called home, fought back. Shots were fired on both sides, several people were killed and wounded, and the Pennsylvania governor sent 8000 troops to Homestead. Frick fired the workers, many of whom were then blacklisted from the steel industry. Public opinion blamed Frick—and Carnegie—but there would be no union in the steel industry until the 1930s. After the Panic of 1893, large numbers of unemployed men roamed the streets, looking for work, engaging in petty crime, and often begging—or bumming—for a meal or two. Ohio businessman Jacob Coxey had an idea. Put the men to work building roads, he said, and you could end unemployment and improve the nation’s transportation network. His solution involved congressional appropriation of some $500 million in government bonds and a guarantee of a job (at $1.50 a day for an 8-hour day) to every man who wanted one. As “Coxey’s Army” made their way across the country, they were joined by still more unemployed men. By August 1200 Coxeyites were in Washington, D.C. Congress, dominated by business interests, never passed Coxey’s legislation, and in the end, the police drove Coxey and his men from the nation’s capital. The following year, renewed violence in the railroad industry was found in another strike that started in a particular area and threatened to spread throughout the railroad network. In Pullman, Illinois, a company town created by George Pullman, head of the Pullman Palace Car Company, railroad workers chafed under imposed restrictions about how they were to live their lives even when they were not at work. They also were concerned by a series of layoffs and wage cuts. Once the Pullman workers struck, they called on Eugene Debs and his American Railway Union for assistance. Debs was a longtime workers’ advocate who embraced all workers, regardless of ethnicity, race, or skill level. Although he was concerned about the strike's timing, Debs sided with the strikers. Eventually, the Cleveland administration obtained an injunction ordering the strikers back to work; they refused, and Debs was jailed. By the time he was released, he was convinced that ordinary workers would never be able to succeed within the current economic system, and he went on to found the Socialist Party in the U.S. He would go on to run in every presidential election between 1904 and 1920 (except 1916). Miners, too, were challenged by the new technologies and needs of the Second Industrial Revolution. Iron ore and coal were necessary ingredients in the smelting of steel, and coal also provided the power for the generators that produced much of the nation’s electricity. With industrialization came an increasing need for mines—and miners—that could be operated at the lowest cost possible by companies. That meant cheap labor—and the potential for unrest when wages fell too low for sustainability. Meanwhile, new mining technologies enabled miners to dig deeper than ever. But added depth meant added risks, as miners dealt with dangerous gases, collapsing tunnels, or, worst of all, fire. The volatile nature of the American economy also affected miners, as mine owners frequently cut pay after a panic or depression. In the 1870s, a secret organization of Irish miners, the Molly Maguires, took violent retribution against mine supervisors and superintendents; they were eventually infiltrated by the Pinkertons, and their leaders were tried and executed. New efforts to organize workers bore finer fruit in the 1880s and 1890s, with the United Mine Workers formed in 1890. The UMW was open to all races and religions and worked to ensure that miners received a share of the wealth “compatible with the dangers of our calling.” Mining developed later in the West than in the East, and conditions were often more dangerous. Strikes in both regions frequently found Pinkerton guards infiltrating the union, and state governors often called in troops to break the strike. In 1905, a new union, the Industrial Workers of the World, formed as an alternative to the AFL, seeking to “emancipate” the working classes. Known for charismatic leaders and open to men and women of all races and religions, the IWW, or “Wobblies,” sought to unite skilled and unskilled laborers in mass struggle. IWW songs and other propaganda helped motivate workers, but the organization was frequently attacked in the press and other venues because it was perceived as a threat to the current system. In the garment industry, workers, many of them women, also tried to organize. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911 underscored the desperate conditions of garment workers, many of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. The fire spread quickly in the Triangle factory partly because owners, fearful of theft, had blocked the exits. It was the deadliest industrial catastrophe in New York City for decades, but it led the way to new industrial regulations and worker safety codes. A year later, a strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts’ textile industry demonstrated the power of the “One Big Union” ideal that had been popularized by the IWW. The spontaneous strike, which erupted after a pay cut, took place despite the religious and ethnic differences and skill levels of the workers involved. Strikers, guided by IWW leadership, pioneered the moving picket line to circumvent city laws preventing public gatherings in front of mills. The Bread and Roses strike was perhaps the greatest success in the IWW’s history, with strikers enjoying widespread public support and mill owners eventually agreeing to a salary increase. Meanwhile, workers in the mines of Colorado faced brutal working conditions. In 1914, strikers at Ludlow demanded increased wages, an eight-hour day, and enforcement of Colorado mining laws, among other things. The long and bloody strike, which actually began in 1913, lasted 14 months, marked by massive evictions, violence, and what became known as the Ludlow Massacre, where women and children, along with striking miners, were killed. Order was restored only after Woodrow Wilson sent in the U.S. army. The image of John D. Rockefeller, whose family owned the coalmines, was forever tarnished.