APUSH Unit 6

Middle Class

People were making more money and having more leisure time. Thus, department stores were able to thrive. megastores replaced retail shops mail-order empires and money-back guarantees lots of money spent on advertisements (print, too) national consumer culture

Industrial Capitalism

Nation went from mostly farms, to mostly factories. To increase efficiency companies cut costs by having workers work more hours for less pay, and implementing machinery. Vertical Integration: Control every part of the supply chain for a product. Carnegie owned the steel mills, railroads and ships, coal mines, and iron mills. Horizontal Integration: Buying out all the companies within an industry (getting rid of competition).

Politics and Power - Explain the similarities and differences between the political parties during the Gilded Age.

Republicans called for high tariffs and "hard money" Democrats wanted free trade and free silver Populist party for the farmers encouraged coinage of silver to improve US economy and the struggling farmers Both Democratic and Republican parties create political machines and are extremely corrupt working more to hide issues rather than fix them

Work, Exchange, and Technology - Explain the effects of technological advances in the development of the United States over time.

Technological advancements in the development of the United States over time changed consumerism and military battles. Inventors like Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell created products that would define American consumerism and culture. Mass production of steel aided the growing American economy and established extended transportation networks especially out west and in the south during reconstruction. Big business also started to be established during the late 19th century as the first large corporations and monopolies began to form around recently industrialized and mass produced goods like steel and textiles. This included the implementation of horizontal and vertical integration.

Migration and Settlement - Explain the causes and effects of the settlement of the West from 1877 to 1898.

The Native Americans were increasingly prosecuted during this time period and forced off of their land in sometimes bloody confrontations like the battle of Little Bighorn. Cities around the nation began to grow around rivers and canals (Erie Canal), which diversified the American economy and boosted the growth of capitalism in the United States. The country as a whole became much wealthier. Different parts of the country began to form their own unique identities, cultures, and opinions. Everyday people were looking for "new opportunities" in the West, which led to the discovery of gold and the beginning of the Gold Rush

Work, Exchange and Technology - Explain the socioeconomic continuities and changes associated with the growth of industrial capitalism from 1865 to 1898.

Continuities: Despite the industrialization of some segments of the Southern economy - a change promoted by Southern leaders who called for a "New South" - agriculture based on sharecropping and tenant farming continued to be the primary economic activity in the South. The Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson that upheld racial segregation helped to mark the end of most of the political gains African Americans made during Reconstruction. Facing increased violence, discrimination, and scientific theories of race, African American reformers continued to fight for political and social equality. Autonomy retained by skilled craft workers Changes: Improvements in mechanization helped agricultural production increase substantially and contributed to declines in food prices. Many farmers responded to the increasing consolidation in agricultural markets and their dependence on the evolving railroad system by creating local and regional cooperative organizations→ white collar/blue collar Following the Civil War, government subsidies for transportation and communication systems helped open new markets in North America. The building of transcontinental railroads, the discovery of mineral resources, and government policies promoted economic growth and created new communities and centers of commercial activity In hopes of achieving ideals of self-sufficiency and independence, migrants moved to both rural and boomtown areas of the West for opportunities, such as building the railroads, mining, farming, and ranching. As migrant populations increased in number and the American bison population was decimated, competition for land and resources in the West among white settlers, American Indians, and Mexican Americans led to an increase in violent conflict. Businesses made use of technological innovations and greater access to natural resources to dramatically increase the production of goods Middle managers emerged supervising corporate departments Scientific management→ expensive, resistance→ parts of it were adapted→ gap between white and blue collar job holders

The Gold Rush

Created a massive migration of people into California. Many people were hopeful prospectors and were referred to as the "forty-niners."

Lower Class/Working Class

Exposure to health hazards and pollution led to death, disability, and mining cave-ins/explosions. Unskilled labor resulted in low pay for women and children.

Politics and Power - Explain continuities and changes in the role of the government in the U.S. economy.

Interstate commerce Act (Made railroads the first industry subject to federal regulation) US emerged as the world's industrial power Falling prices and rising expenses of farmers left many in debt Western expansion lead to the discovery of valuable minerals in the west As many monopolies and machines sprung up the government attempted to regulate business

Migration and Settlement - Explain how cultural and economic factors affected migration patterns over time.

Jackson's Frontier Thesis ("The tru point of view in the history of this nation is not the Atlantic Coast, it is the Great West.") The railroad made the US a continental nation. It's construction, provided for by government loans and grants, attracted prostitutes, pimps, gamblers, etc. People were now migrating, not to get to "Old America," but to make a new life for themselves in the west, and the railroad provided a path for them to achieve this.

Social Structures - Explain how different reform movements responded to the rise of industrial capitalism in the Gilded Age.

Labor Unions-wanted to improve working conditions and wages which was sometimes met with violence. Many times there were strikes, where all the work stopped like in Railroad Strikes Women's Suffrage-truly began to fight for the women's right to vote, called an end to discrimination in the workplace Prohibition-increased production in plants and factories and increased consumption

Social Structures - Explain the causes of increased economic opportunity and its effects on society.

Land, mining, and improved transportation by rail brought settlers to the American West during the Gilded Age New agricultural machinery allowed farmers to increase crop yields with less labor, but falling prices and rising expenses left them in debt Farmers began to organize in local and regional cooperatives like the Grange and the Farmers' Alliance to promote their interests During the Civil War, the Republican-controlled Congress worked to make the dream of a farmers' paradise a reality by passing the Homestead Act, which granted up to 160 acres of western land to loyal citizens. United States government helped westward expansion by granting land to railroad companies and extending telegraph wires across the country The discovery of precious metals and minerals drew people to the West (The Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1858 prompted the largest rush of prospectors since the California gold rush a decade earlier) Railroads opened up the West not only to settlement but to the world market, making it possible to ship meat and crops to distant cities and even across oceans (For example, railroad companies enabled the four time zones to make travel smoother) Large-scale production, along with massive technological change, expanding international communication networks, and pro-growth government policies, lead to the development of the "Gilded Age" with an emphasis on consumption, marketing, and business consolidation. Businesses and foreign policymakers increasingly looked outside U.S. borders in an effort to gain greater influence and control over markets and natural resources in the Pacific, Asia and Latin America Business leaders consolidated corporations into trusts and holding companies and defended their resulting status and privilege through theories such as Social Darwinism As cities grew substantially in both size and number, some segments of American society enjoyed lives of extravagant consumption, while others were stuck in poverty Leaders of big business and their government allies while aiming to create a unified industrial nation received great backlash from labor movements The industrial workforce expanded through migration across national borders along with internal migration, resulting in a more diverse work force, lower wages, and more child labor Despite the industrialization of some segments of southern economy, a change promoted by southern leaders who called for a "New South", sharecropping, and tenant farming systems continued to dominate the region Government agencies and conservationist organizations contended with corporate interests about the extension of public control over natural resources, specifically land and water

Westward Expansion

Land, mining, and improved transportation by railroads brought people west during the gilded age. As a result, new agricultural machinery and an increase in technology overall

Gilded Age/Second Industrial Revolution

Mass production. Steel (Carnegie): Bessemer process made steel faster and cheaper. Railroads: Brought materials from West to the cities (connected the nation) Skyscrapers changed the cities.

Context - Explain the historical context for the rise of industrial capitalism in the United States.

The advent of the cotton gin industrialized the Southern USA and was the primary catalyst of industry in the region. The North benefited greatly from expanded railway systems and steel production. There were regional differences in means of production, particularly as slavery grew in the South. Since cotton was becoming so profitable, the South relied completely on slave labor to continue to fuel the economy. Eventually, the country diversified in terms of capitalism, and the North and the South grew more separated by their means of industrialization and ways of encouraging capitalism.

Continuity and Change - Explain the extent to which industrialization brought change from 1865 to 1898.

The market changed from small localized creation to large production line work Skilled workers were less valued because their work took long and was more expensive Factories could make cheap products quickly and distribute them widely due to the creation of canals and steam ships and the railroad connecting the US Workers got little pay, rights, and poor conditions There was an increasing gap between the poor and rich due to this

Migration and Settlement - Explain the various responses to immigration in the period over time.

The railroad was built by Irish and Chinese immigrants. While the Chinese brought over dynamite to help with the railroads construction, the US still places the Chinese Exclusion Act. This law limited the amount of Chinese laborers entering America. This led to the discrimination of any culture entering the US. Immigrants were forced into tenements, 5-6 story buildings that housed 20+ families in cramped, airless apartments. There was a lot of disease and a horrific infant mortality rate. These immigrants were living by their jobs and couldn't afford transportation. The high-density and cheaply built housing were the only things that earned landlords a significant profit. The New York Tenement House Law of 1901 finally required things like interior courts, indoor toilets, and fire safeguards in these buildings.

American and National Identity - Explain how various factors contributed to continuity and change in the "New South" from 1877 to 1898.

While the civil war brought forth the emancipation proclamation and eventually the 13th amendment emancipating all slaves many reconstruction efforts were a failure and segregation grew inside the "New South" following the civil war. While the civil rights amendments guaranteed voting rights for newly freed slaves southern opponents implemented poll taxes, the Black codes, and Jim Crow laws to limit freedoms. The implementation of the Dred Scott decision continued and later encouraged the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. The south continued to be very poor and even with new freedoms slavery still existed in the form of share cropping for countless former slaves. The North attempted to industrialize with varying success. In 1866 Northern voters with southern Black support voted against Johnson's reconstruction policy during congressional elections and implemented a more radical plan that ended when the last Southern Republican government fell in 1877. Congressional reconstruction angered many southerners and organizations like the KKK greatly grew in power. Many former slaves were very active in their new freedoms, occupying government positions and holding civil rights conventions to combat the systemic racism of American society.