History 102 Midterm 1
The Great Upheaval (The Great Railroad Strike)
In 1877, workers of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad struck across the country as a result of cut wages; the strike caused $40 million worth in property damage, nearly 100 people died, and required federal troops to break the strike. This strike sparked ideas between workers regarding institutionalized unions and government regulation.
Chinese Exclusion Act
In 1882, Congress suspended immigration of Chinese laborers after feelings of Chinese inferiority, unfit to be american, and morally and economic corrupting practices such as cheap labor and prostitution. The exclusion act was the first to make an immigrant group subject to admission restrictions and led to more anti-immigrant laws.
The People's Party (populist)
In 1891, formed from cooperatives of the Farmers' Alliance, the Populist party seeking to make reform regarding federal power expansion, nationalizing railroads and telegraph systems for the people, keeping power from corporate owners. The Populist party laid the groundwork and support for future progressive movements and morphed the party from weak radical, to moderate Democratic.
Social Darwinism
In 1859, Charles Darwin published his theory on evolution through natural selection; this theory began to gain support when Herbert Spencer, one of Darwin's great supporters, applied the theory to society and coining the phrase, "survival of the fittest". The importance of Social Darwinism was that industrial elites such as Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, and John D. Rockefeller believed they were the "fittest" and state welfare and charity supported survival of the weakest.
Pacific Railroad Act
In 1862, railroad companies were given bonds between 16 to 48 thousand for each mile constructed as well as land grants from the government. Upon completion, the rail connected America from east to west, leading the urbanization of hub cities such as Chicago (Arc of Justice) and creation of railroad jobs (Railroad Strike)
Radical/Congressional Reconstruction
In 1866, Congressional or Radical Reconstruction involved the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868 were meant to define all American born residents as citizens and no state could make a law that would abridge or deprive a citizen's privileges. This would be the first federal attempt to constitutionally define American born people as citizens and to incorporate former slaves as members of society.
Timeline: US Empire
In 1898, the US and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris, putting Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guam, and the Philippines under US control. Insular Cases of 1901 declared that Puerto Ricans that had US citizenship did not have the constitution apply to them because they weren't under our umbrella. In 1893, US had overthrown the Hawaiian monarchy and Hawaii was placed under US control. In 1882, Congress suspended immigration of Chinese laborers after feelings of Chinese inferiority, unfit to be american, and morally and economic corrupting practices such as cheap labor and prostitution.
Crop Lien Laws
Laws that required sharecroppers to give the owner of the land a share of their harvest; as new labor systems after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery (1865) emerged, sharecropping was a new labor system that was unfair to landowners who gave a piece of their land to former slaves. The Crop Lien Laws were significant because it was a compromise for the white land owners and the former slaves using the land but most importantly put African Americans under the boot of white land owners.
Frederick Jackson Turner's "Frontier Thesis"
Wisconsin historian Frederick Jackson Turner wrote the "frontier thesis" that was a widely influential theory of American history regarding how Western expansion wasn't all about war and plunder, rather "civilization" washing over America. Turner said what everyone at that time period were thinking, no one thought that Western expansion was bad, no one batted an eye over what was happening to the Native Americans, who changed their way of life because someone else thought theirs was better.
Black Codes
(1865) During the Presidential Reconstruction under Andrew Johnson, southern governments passed laws known as Black Codes to regulate behavior of former slaves and to impose social and economic control control. Despite being free, Black Codes put African Americans under control of whites but were important to the creation of the Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment.
Timeline: African American Politics
13th Amendment (Jan, 31st, 1865) Abolished slavery and freed 400 million people, now they have legal freedom. 14th Amendment (July 9th, 1868) Guaranteed the rights of all citizens, white or black, and no state could take that way. 1877, Over 2000 African American men had served in positions between US Senator and local Levee Commissioner. After 1867, Congress ordered Southern States to eliminate racial discrimination in voting, which in turn put African Americans in positions of power for the first time in US history.
Taylorism
A work place management system created by Frederick Taylor, stated workplaces needed scientific organization of production; manufacturers could increase efficiency by subdividing tasks. Taylorism was the idea behind mass production, the famous Henry Ford assembly line, and increased industrial output that put the US on top.
War of 1898 (Spanish American War) 1898-1902
After the USS Maine sank near Cuba, hostilities between the US and Spain escalated into a war as a result of Cuban independence and American safety. The importance of the war was the US acquired control over the Philippines, Cuba, Guam, and Puerto Rico but sparked debate whether or not the US imperialism was right or wrong.
Timeline: Industrialization
Between 1895-1904, intense competition between companies involving price slashing and low profits caused the "Great Merger" movement of the formation of firms, consolidations, and monopolies. In 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory had caught on fire and dozens of young workers were killed as a result. New Jersey Corporation Laws (1890) allowed corporations to own other corporations, paved way for monopolies. On May 1st, 1886, somewhere between 300 to 500 thousand worker struck across the nation for the 8 hour work day.
"The Great Merger Movement"
Between 1895-1904, intense competition between companies involving price slashing and low profits caused the "Great Merger" movement of the formation of firms, consolidations, and monopolies. The merger became critical to the elimination of competition, growth of companies, and the creation of low paying jobs with poor conditions in factories.
Timeline: 14th Amendment and Citizenship rights
Civil Rights Act of 1866 First federal attempt to define all American born residents. 14th Amendment (July 9th, 1868) Guaranteed the rights of all citizens, white or black, and no state could take that away. 1877, Over 2000 African American men had served in positions between US Senator and local Levee Commissioner. After 1867, Congress ordered Southern States to eliminate racial discrimination in voting, which in turn put African Americans in positions of power for the first time in US history.
The Insular Cases
In 1901, the US Supreme Court had ruled that US acquired territories (Puerto Rico, Cuba, Philippines, and Guam) in the Spanish-American War would not have the Constitution apply to them, even if they were US citizens. The reason why this happened to these territories was because the US considered Puerto Rico an "unincorporated territory"; Puerto Rico was considered not the US' responsibility because they were "foreign".
Triangle Fire
In 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory had caught on fire and dozens of young workers were killed as a result. The significance of the fire was that the workers had pushed for reform regarding job conditions, it sparked national attention by inspiring other shirtwaist workers of smaller companies to protest, and installed workplace safety regulations to be put in place following the fire.
Roosevelt Corollary
The Roosevelt administration could assert the US right and obligation to intervene in the hemisphere, diplomatic and international legal tradition from the Monroe Doctrine. With this, Roosevelt had a reason to expand US control in the Pacific and Caribbean because if a territory is under our umbrella, then we can intervene farther distances away.
"Declined With Thanks"
The main message of "Declined With Thanks" is that the US had gained unnecessary weight from acquired territories, causing critics to give Uncle Sam anti-expansionist elixir to stop the weight gain. In the image, Uncle Sam has President McKinley tailor him a new suit, and it is seen on his pants the names of the territories the US has acquired recently; as the US got bigger, so did Uncle Sam's pants. On the table adjacent to McKinley, there lies cloth with "Enlightened", "Foreign Policy", and "Rational Expansion" meant for Uncle Sams suit; the cloth represents reasons for US expansion such as White Man's Burden and their civil duty to "save" people in the world. As a result of Uncle Sam's weight gain, anti-expansionists offer Uncle Sam weight loss elixir, but was declined; the weight loss elixir mentioned were ideals that believed the US should not be colonizing countries, when itself was a former colony that broke from imperial rule. The message for "Decline With Thanks" is as a result of US Expansion, the anti-expansionists tried to give Uncle Sam a weight loss elixir meant to stop expansion.
"School Garden"
The main message of "School Garden" is best understood as propaganda meant to encourage women and children to join the fight at home. During the Great War, there was a sense of obligation from citizens to help the war effort; one of these ways was to grow a garden at school. This garden would be grown by students and teachers to provide another sustainable source for food and to avoid a food crisis. With war efforts going on, the gardens were a good cause to get behind because it gave the people back home the sense that they were helping the troops in Europe. The message of "School Garden" is best described as a poster designed to get women and children to fulfill their citizenship obligation at home.
"The Tournament of Today"
The main message of "The Tournament of Today" is best understood as a very accurate representation of the relationship between owner and worker during the Gilded age. The fighter for the laborers is riding a mule and fighting an armored machine, the chances for labor to win their strikes were just as likely as this fighter to beat the machine. The knight on the machine has a shield that has "corruption of legislature" written on it, similar to how New Jersey Corporations Laws supported and protected the growth of monopolies. The few men in the front box had owned large shares of the wealth and the adjacent sea of spectators were laborers, the many who struggled much more for a a lot less. The accurately depicted relationship between the owners and workers in the Gilded Age is the main message of "The Tournament of Today".
