1-9: The Conquest of the West and Industrialization of America OLD

During the 1880s and 1890s, the federal government also opened up millions of acres of previously restricted Indian lands in Oklahoma for settlement. These lands were distributed to settlers by this method.

"land runs" (i.e. Settlers engaged in organized races and claimed the land on a first-arrival basis.)

These were the harmful results of industrialization.

1) "Big business" (large corporations and their wealthy owners) gained excessive power. Industrialists often had unfair political influence, and corruption and bribes were not uncommon. Many companies worked to maximize profits by aggressively eliminating competition and attempted to create monopolies. 2) Many workers experienced poor, hazardous working conditions and received low wages. Some industrialists used coercion and force to control and push their workers. 3) Cities grew rapidly (urbanization) and became more crowded and polluted.

This is how the western railroads were built.

1) Between 1850-1871, the U.S. government promoted railroad construction in the West by giving land grants and loans to railroad companies. For every mile of track they laid in a territory, the companies received ten square miles of land and (depending on how mountainous the land was) between $16,000 and $48,000 in loans. 2) Tracks were often built by Irish and Chinese immigrants. 3) In 1869, the first U.S. transcontinental railroad was finished when the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific lines met in Utah. 4) Railroad companies sold much of the granted land to settlers.

These factors encouraged white settlement of the Great Plains and the Far West.

1) The West offered cheap land that could be farmed, ranched, and mined for precious metals like gold. 2) Most whites believed that Native Americans were inferior and undeserving of the land. 3) Because many tribes had not permanently settled and improved the land in the ways whites were accustomed to, many whites felt that Native Americans had forfeited their right to the land. 4) Whites developed trails west for traders and settlers (e.g. Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail). 5) Railroads were extend across the West. 6) To protect settlers and travelers, the U.S. government began forcing the Plains Indians onto reservations beginning in the 1850s.

These were the sources of America's 19th-century industrial growth.

1) abundant raw materials (e.g. coal, iron, wood, oil) 2) large labor supply (high birth rate and immigration) 3) surge in technology (telegraph, telephone, light bulb, phonograph steel, oil drilling, railroads steam engines, electric generators moving assembly line, mass production) 4) talented entrepreneurs and modern corporations

These are a few important farming inventions of mid and late 1800s.

1) barbed wire (enclosed ranches to contain and protect domestic animals but harmed bison) 2) John Deere's steel plow (more efficiently tilled soil) 3) Cyrus McCormick's reaper (horse-drawn machine that cut standing grain) 4) steel windmill (used to power machines, e.g. pump ground water, grind grain, saw wood)

During the mid and late 1800s, gold and silver was discovered in California, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, and South Dakota. These were the results of the western mining rushes

1) intense migration to the West (prospector "rushes") 2) development of boom towns and lawlessness 3) pressure to remove Indians and create new states 4) Individual prospecting was rapidly replaced by corporate mining, but many miners stayed and engaged in farming, wage work, etc.

The rapid growth in the number of people living in American cities during the mid and late 1800s caused these urban problems.

1) unhealthy, crowded housing 2) destructive city fires 3) disease 4) poverty 5) crime and violence 6) political corruption

As a child, this industrialist emigrated from Scotland with his family. He worked as a telegraph operator, invested his money, and built a steel mill in Pennsylvania. Through horizontal integration (bought many competitors) and vertical integration (bought iron and coal mines, ships, and railroads), he established a massive steel company that dominated the industry during the late 1800s. In 1901, he sold his company and devoted his life to philanthropy, establishing a number of libraries and schools. He also wrote the "Gospel of Wealth."

Andrew Carnegie

This is a corporate trust (a.k.a. a trust company).

A corporate trust is a combination of corporations that are organized under the control of a single trust company, which runs all the companies as if they were one. It is formed when stockholders of competing corporations turn over their stock to a trust company in exchange for a trust certificate entitling them to dividends. Historically, corporate trusts are associated with monopolies and abusive, anti-competitive business practices.

This was one of the battles of The Great Sioux War of 1876. At this battle, elements of the 7th Cavalry Regiment attacked a large group of Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians who had gathered for an annual bison hunt and were camped along the Little Bighorn River. Not knowing that his men were greatly outnumbered, Lieutenant Colonel George Custer divided his forces. While one cavalry group attempted a direct charge, Custer and a detachment of about 200 soldiers attempted to flank the Indian camp but were surrounded and killed. News of this defeat angered many white Americans and increased pressure on the federal government to defeat the Plains Indians.

Battle of Little Bighorn (a.k.a Custer's Last Stand)

This was the first inexpensive and efficient process of turning iron into steel, which is stronger and more rust resistant than iron. It involves injecting air into molten iron to remove carbon and other impurities. The process was developed during the mid 1800s and helped create a new industrial age of railroads, large mechanical inventions, big bridges and skyscrapers.

Bessemer process

In the context of American immigration history, the term "melting pot" means this.

Between 1840 and 1920, 37 million immigrants came in the U.S. About 80% were Europeans Significant numbers also came from: Latin America Canada China Japan Blending of ethnic groups, cultures, ideas

This is "black gold" and its role in 19th-century American history.

Black gold refers to petroleum (crude oil). During the late 1800s, oil drilling and refining quickly became major industries in the U.S. In 1859, removing subsurface oil became practical when a steam engine was first used to drill oil in Pennsylvania. An oil drilling boom quickly resulted in the Midwest and later in Texas and California. At the same time, the oil refining business arose. These businesses distill the crude oil into fuels and other useful derivatives. During the late 1800s, kerosene, which Americans used in oil lamps to light their homes, was the most important fuel. During the early 20th century, when automobiles became affordable and electric lighting was fast replacing kerosene lighting, gasoline became the most important petroleum product.

At the age of sixteen, this 19th-century industrialist bought a boat and started the Staten Island Ferry. Over time, he purchased more boats, expanded his operations, and eventually controlled shipping in the Northeast. Nicknamed the "commodore," he sold his ships in the 1860s and used his money to built a railroad empire in the eastern U.S. When he died in 1877, he was the richest man (and one of the most powerful) in the U.S. at the time.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

In this corporate scheme to defraud the federal government of money, the Union Pacific Railroad Company created a fake construction company called Crédit Mobilier of America to build the eastern portion of the First Transcontinental Railroad. The Union Pacific "hired" Crédit Mobilier, which grossly overcharged the U.S. government. The Union Pacific built the railroad track and pocketed the excess money. This scam was exposed during 1870s. The scandal was made worse when it was also discovered that many U.S. politicians owned stock in the Union Pacific and had voted to appropriate government funds to cover Crédit Mobilier's inflated charges.

Crédit Mobilier scandal

Enacted in 1887, this federal law authorized the U.S. government to subdivide tribal reservations into private parcels of land that would then be "allotted" to individual members of each tribe. Under the act, heads of families received 160 acres, and single individuals were granted 80 acres. Once the president directed that a particular reservation be broken up pursuant to the act, tribal members were given four years to select their specific allotment. If no such selection was made, the government made the selection for the individual. Surplus tribal lands that were not allotted could be offered for sale to non-Indians. Designed to assimilate American Indians into mainstream white society by transforming them into self-supporting farmers and ranchers, this law became one of the most disastrous pieces of legislation (for Native Americans) ever passed by Congress. By the time the allotment process was stopped in 1934, the amount of Indian-held land in the U.S. had dropped from 138 million acres to 48 million acres, and, of the remaining Indian-owned land, almost half was arid or semiarid desert.

Dawes Act

These are some basic historical details about cattle ranching in the West.

During the mid and late 1800s, cattle ranching became a big business in the West. Open-range ranching (no fences, cattle roamed freely regardless of land ownership) was commonly practiced in the vast, undeveloped grasslands of the Western territories. Cowboys were employed to protect, brand (identify ownership), and drive cattle to be sold at stock yards along railroads. Cowboys' work was difficult and involved long hours. Their techniques and culture were influenced by Mexican vaqueros. By the late 1800s, open-range ranching came to an end as increasing settler populations, overgrazing, and the invention of barbed wire led to closed-in, fenced ranches.

Located at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor, this was the site of a federal immigration processing station. From the 1890s to the mid 1900s, more than 12 million immigrants were processed through this station. These immigrants were interviewed and tested for physical and mental ailments. Most were processed in a few hours and allowed to enter the U.S. Some immigrants who were sick were quarantined on the island until they were given a clean bill of health. About 2% of those processed on this island were denied entry and sent back to their homeland because of chronic contagious disease, criminal background, or insanity. First and second class passengers (i.e. wealthier immigrants) who arrived in New York Harbor were not required to undergo the inspection process at this island. Instead, these passengers underwent a cursory inspection aboard their ship.

Ellis Island

Beginning in the 1830s, thousands of farmers, miners, ranchers, and business owners and their families traveled west along the Oregon Trail, which passed through the Great Plains. This migration through Indian lands resulted in conflict between the white settlers and native Americans. To protect its migrant citizens, the U.S. government held a meeting in 1851 at an Army fort in what is today Wyoming. At this meeting, government agents and representatives of the Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and several other Plains Indian tribes agreed to this treaty. The treaty defined territory for each tribal group and acknowledged that all the land covered by the treaty was Indian territory (not U.S. property). Additionally, the Native Americans agreed to give safe passage for settlers on the Oregon Trail and allowed roads and forts to be built in their territories in exchange for annual federal payments of $50,000 for fifty years.

Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851

Red Cloud's War consisted mostly of Indian attacks on soldiers and civilians at a number of forts built along the Bozeman Trail, wearing down those garrisons. Despite a few Army victories, the U.S. government increasingly sought a peaceful rather than a military solution to Red Cloud's War. Building the transcontinental railroad took priority, and the Army did not have the resources to defend both the railroad and the Bozeman Trail from Indian attacks. In 1868, peace commissioners were sent to Fort Laramie, and Red Cloud's War ended in a victory for the Sioux. The resulting peace treaty is called this. The agreement established a smaller Sioux reservation and declared large areas around the Sioux reservation to be "unceded" lands on which the Sioux were guaranteed the right to hunt. In return, the U.S. government promised to prevent whites (except for government agents) from entering Sioux lands (including the unceded hunting territories) and agreed to provide annual payments of clothing, food, and money.

Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868

After participating in the Civil War, this U.S. Army cavalry officer was dispatched to the West to fight in the American Indian Wars. He participated in several campaigns against the Cheyenne during the late 1860s, and in 1874 he led an expedition that found gold in the Black Hills. His announcement of the discovery of gold led to a mining rush into the Dakota Territory. Ultimately, this officer was killed in 1876 during the Battle of Little Bighorn.

George A. Custer

In 1889, when the South Dakota and North Dakota Territories sought statehood, the federal government pressured the Sioux into accepting legislation that again reduced the size of Sioux territory, splitting the tribe's land into five smaller reservations. By this time, confined to their reservations with no bison to hunt, the Sioux Indians had largely become impoverished, dependent on government rations and under pressure to abandon their tribal way of life. In 1889, this Indian dance spread among many tribes in the West. According to the teachings of the Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka, proper practice of the dance would make white Americans leave, restore the bison herds, and enable the spirits of their Indian ancestors to return to Earth.

Ghost Dance

This flat, gently rolling grassland region is at the center of the continental United States. The first Europeans and Americans to explore this area (which lacked trees and was occupied by Indians and buffalo) perceived it as a vast desert, unsuitable for cultivation and civilization. However, by the mid 1800s, the construction of railroads, the lure of gold and silver, and the expanding U.S. population opened up the region to white settlement. This white migration resulted in conflict with the Native American Indians of this region.

Great Plains

In 1903 this American engineer and industrialist formed an automobile manufacturing company. Using moving assembly-line techniques, his company built affordable automobiles for average Americans. His first mass-produced touring car was the Model T. Unlike many industrialists of his era who paid low wages and demanded long work hours, this man paid his employees well and instituted a 40-hour workweek at his factory. He believed such practices would boost worker performance and reduce employee turnover.

Henry Ford

This federal law was created in 1862. It offered 160 acres of land in the West to anyone who was at least 21 years of age, built a house on the land, and lived there for five years. About 10% all U.S. land was privatized by this act.

Homestead Act

This was America's "frontier heritage."

In 1893, the American scholar Frederick Jackson Turner wrote about the significance of the frontier on U.S. history. He theorized that the lengthy presence of a frontier, our nation's recurring westward expansion, and the common frontier experience helped shape Americans' character and spirit. He argued that the frontier encouraged our faith in democracy, our inclination for individuality, our belief in social and geographic mobility, and our tendency to be wasteful.

After college, this American banker and industrialist apprenticed at his father's bank and then started his own banking firm. In 1895, he combined his bank with his deceased father's bank to create one of the most powerful banks in the world. In 1901, he then purchased Carnegie Steel and merged it with several other steel companies to form U.S. Steel, which at one time was the largest steel producer in the world. Like many industrialists of his era, he engaged in philanthropy later in life.

J. P. Morgan

In 1870, this American industrialist formed the Standard Oil Company, which produced a more stable, consistent (less explosive) kerosene. After becoming the largest refiner, he flooded the market with too much refined oil (which sharply reduced prices and profits) and either bought out his competitors or forced them out of business. By 1879, Standard Oil controlled over 90% of the oil refining in the country. In addition to engaging in horizontal integration (buying or forcing out competitors), this industrialist also engaged in vertical integration (buying suppliers). In time, Standard Oil gained ownership of most of the pipelines leading to railroads, tank cars, oil-storage facilities, and oil barrel and can makers. With tremendous economic power, Standard Oil was able to pressure the railroad companies into giving cheap shipping rates to Standard Oil and more expensive shipping rates to Standard's competitors. This industrialist became the country's first billionaire and, like other elite capitalists of his time, engage in extensive philanthropy.

John D. Rockefeller

This is what life was like for settlers on the Great Plains.

Lacking an abundance of trees on the plains, many of the early settlers' homes were either dugouts (dug out of hill) or soddies (built with sod laid like brickwork). Typically, the settlers' lives involved hard work and many difficulties, such as droughts, storms, bugs, and raids by outlaws and American Indians. Most settlers raised cattle or farmed land. Failures were frequent.

This is a basic historical description of the Plains Indians, and these are a few notable tribes.

Plains Indians refers to the Native American tribes who traditionally lived on the Great Plains. Horses, which were first introduced to the region by early European explorers and traders, enabled these tribes to more effectively hunt bison, colonize the prairies, and develop horse cultures. Some tribes—such as the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Comanche—developed fully nomadic cultures, followed the vast herds of buffalo, and occasionally engaged in agriculture. Other tribes—such as the Pawnee, Mandan, and Arikara—were more sedentary. They hunting buffalo, but often lived in permanent villages, regularly raised crops, and actively traded with other tribes.

This is the historical significance of the American bison.

Prior to the settlement of Europeans, it is estimated that there were about 50 million bison in North America. With the adoption of the horse, Plains Indians became much more efficient at hunting bison, which in turn enlarged their tribes and promoted the Plains Indian horse culture. However, during the 1800s, American settlers, ranchers, hunters, and tourists preyed on the bison to near extinction. By 1890 there were only about 750 American bison left. Since these animals were the Plains Indians' primary source of food, clothing, and shelter, the decimation of the American bison was a major cause of the impoverishment of the Plains Indians during the late 1800s.

In spite of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, peace was difficult to keep on the Great Plains as some white migrants wandered into Indian lands. After gold was discovered at the headwaters of the Missouri River in Montana, miners created the Bozeman Trail in 1863, a route that crossed through Sioux lands. Several thousand miners and settlers traveled this trail during the 1860s, which resulted in an increase in violence between white trespassers and Native Americans. After Indian leaders rejected the U.S. government's attempt to negotiate a new treaty, a Sioux chief led this war against U.S. armed forces and the flow of white trespassers from 1866 to 1868.

Red Cloud's War

This is the "Gospel of Wealth," and these are the author's main arguments.

The "Gospel of Wealth" is an article written by Andrew Carnegie in 1889 concerning philanthropy and the defense of great wealth and inequality. Carnegie claimed that money is too often squandered by charities and misguided givers. He argued that society's surplus wealth is best put to use when it is administered carefully by wealthy people. He believed that entrepreneurs should spend their lives amassing fortunes, and when they are old spend the bulk of that wealth enriching their community. Carnegie opposed giving welfare money, believing that it would be misspent by the poor. Instead, he urged entrepreneur philanthropists to establish cultural and educational institutions like colleges and public libraries that would uplift the poor.

After gold was discovered in the Black Hills, thousands of white miners flooded into Sioux territory, violating the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. The U.S. government struggled to keep white trespassers out of Indian lands, and violence erupted between the Sioux Indians and white migrants. After Sioux leaders refused the federal government's offer to buy the Black Hills and relocate the tribe, the U.S. government in 1876 ordered the Sioux to leave the unceded hunting territories in Wyoming and Montana and return to their reservation. The government announced that those Indians who refused would be considered hostiles. That year a number of Sioux failed to comply with the government order, and in response the U.S. Army sent out the 7th Cavalry Regiment to defeat and round up the free roaming Indians. The series of battles that resulted between the Sioux (and their allies, the Cheyenne and Arapaho) and the government of the United States is known as this war. After winning this conflict, the U.S. annexed the Black Hills. The Sioux were stripped of their hunting rights in the unceded territory and forced to remain on reservation land and accept government rations.

The Great Sioux War of 1876

During the late 1800s, the federal government supported farmers and promoted the farming industry by creating the Morrill Act, which did this.

The U.S. government donated federal land to a number of states and territories for the creation of colleges that promoted agriculture and mechanic education. The University of Idaho is an example of a land-grant university that was established with the assistance of the Morrill Act.

Despite coming from a poor family and suffering from hearing loss, this self-educated man became one of the most prominent American inventors and businessmen during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Awarded over 1,000 patents, he invented the phonograph, improved the telegraph, light bulb, and movie camera, and built an electric power plant in New York City that electrified homes, businesses, and streets. In 1900, he established the General Electric Laboratory, the country's first industrial research facility.

Thomas Edison

This was the urbanization of America, and these were the main causes of that development.

Urbanization is the process of a country becoming more urban (i.e. the development of cities and large towns). During the late 1800s, increasing numbers of Americans (and new immigrants) moved to cities, and the U.S. began to rapidly develop into an urban nation. The main causes of this urban growth were: 1) industrialization (Factory jobs and big businesses were more often located in cities.) 2) urban lifestyle (Many people were attracted to the modern conveniences, inventions, and entertainment found in cities.) 3) heavy immigration (During the late 1800s and early 1900s, millions of immigrants came to the U.S. Often poor and with little education, many of these immigrants settled in cities where low-skill factory jobs could typically be found.)

Many American settlers and government officials became increasingly alarmed by the practice of the Ghost Dance. In an attempt to suppress the Ghost Dance movement, U.S. officials decided to take a few Indian chiefs into custody. In December of 1890, tribal police attempted to arrest Sitting Bull, but a shootout occurred and Sitting Bull, several of the Sioux chief's supporters, and a number of policemen were killed. Fearful of reprisals by the U.S. government, a large group of Sioux from Sitting Bulls' band fled from their reservation to another Sioux reservation. About 500 U.S. Cavalry solders were sent to subdue this group. While the Sioux were camped along Wounded Knee Creek, the U.S. soldiers attempted to confiscate the Indians' weapons. When a scuffle ensued and shots were fired, the U.S. forces engaged in an all-out attack. Of the 350 Sioux in the camp, approximately 300 were killed, including women and children. This slaughter is known as this. It was the final clash between the federal government and the Sioux. It represents the symbolic end of Indian military resistance in the United States and the final conquest of the West.

Wounded Knee Massacre (a.k.a. Battle of Wounded Knee)

These were huge, single-crop farms (most grew wheat) that were typically owned by corporations (investors) and run like factories. These megafarms in the West developed as a result of the availability of cheap land, the expansion of railroads, and the growth of Eastern populations and their demand for food. Between 1875 and 1890, these farms became highly profitable through the use of new machinery and huge labor crews. However, over time the land was exhausted, and the great farms were no longer profitable. Most investors sold or rented the land to smaller farmers.

bonanza farms

This is a type of business organization in which the ownership of the business is divided into shares of stock. Often these shares can be bought and sold on stock exchanges. These businesses are owned by investors and run by a board of directors and executives. During the mid and late 1800s, the size and power of these businesses grew rapidly in the U.S. due to factors such as: the ability of these organizations to raise money through investors and the sale of stock, the economic advantages they wield as a result of their size, their focus on efficiency, innovation, and technology, the influence they gained in government, and the ambitious, talented, and sometimes ruthless leadership of their owners. Although some have been a source of significant corruption, pollution, and exploitation in America, overall these businesses have helped to greatly increase production, markets, trade, and wealth in the U.S.

corporation

The flow of immigrants to the United States during the late 1800s to the early 1900s is called this. Although people from Ireland, Germany, and Britain continued to immigrate to America, larger numbers of people during this phase of immigration came from Southern Europe (e.g. Italy and Greece) and from Central and Eastern Europe (e.g. Poland, Hungary, and Russia). Typically, these immigrants lacked money and education, settled in industrial cities, took factory jobs, and formed close-knit ethnic communities.

new-wave immigration

The flow of immigrants to the Thirteen Colonies and the United States during the 1600s to the mid 1800s is called this. Most of the people who came to America during this phase of immigration were from Western and Northern Europe, especially from England, Germany, Scandinavia, and Ireland.

old-wave immigration

This is an informal agreement among various companies to set prices in order to limit the effects of competition and increase their profits (e.g. competing railroads in a region agreeing to set the same high price to ship goods). Business collusion like this grew quickly in the U.S. during the 19th century but was later prohibited by antitrust laws around the turn of the century.

pool arrangement

This pejorative term refers to the powerful American industrialists and bankers of the 19th century. The accuracy of this term is debatable. On the one hand, the leading capitalists of the era expanded American industry, produced immense wealth, created jobs and cheaper products, and engaged in philanthropy (charitable giving). On the other hand, it can be argued that these men exploited their workers, amassed excessive fortunes, controlled government, and attempted to create monopolies.

robber barons

These run-down apartment buildings were located in poor, working-class sections of U.S. cities during the 1800s. Overcrowded and unsanitary, these multi-story buildings typically featured small (often one-room) apartments, poor ventilation (some apartments had no windows), and inadequate communal bathrooms and water faucets.

tenements

The United States began as an agrarian nation, characterized by rural farming communities. During the 1790s, our country developed its first factories, and the U.S. began an industrial revolution. Years later, during these three decades, the U.S. experienced its most intense period of industrial growth and became one of the great manufacturing nations of world.

the last three decades of the 19th century (1870s, 1880s, and 1890s) (This period is sometime called the "Second Industrial Revolution.")