Chapter 18 APUSH
Dawes Severalty Act of 1887
AKA the General Allotment Act, the most sweeping policy directed at Native Americans in US history, produced by reform efforts to "Americanize" Indians by forcing them to become self-reliant farmers owning their own land rather than allowing them to be members of nomadic bands or tribes holding property in common, sponsored by Senator Henry L. D of MA, it divided tribal lands and "allotted" them to individuals, grant 160 acres to each head of a family and lesser amounts to others
Plessy v Ferguson
Homer Adolph P refused to leave a whites only railroad car and was convicted of violating the law, his attorney argued the LA law sought to debase and distinguish against the inferior race, asked if there was a limit to such laws, Court disagreed, ruled states had a right to create laws segregating public places like schools, hotels, and restaurants, only Justice John Marshall Harland dissented, stressed the Constitution was colorblind and doesn't know or tolerate classes among citizens, argued the ruling violated the 13th and 14th Amendments, feared the ruling would plant seeds of race hate under the sanction of law - separate but equal
James Oliver
Scottish immigrant living in IN 1868 made a sturdy, chilled-iron sodbuster plow that greatly eased the task of preparing land for planting
Booker T. Washington
most influential African American leader of the time, went to Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute at 16 and met its founder Samuel Chapman Armstrong, 9 years later Armstrong received request from group starting Tuskegee Institute and told them he should be the president, he got the job and quickly went to work, over time he became a skilled fundraiser, gathering substantial gifts from wealthy whites (mostly northerners), complicated racial dynamics of late 19th century required him to walk a tightrope between being candid and being an effective college president, learned to mask his militancy to maintain support of whites, became source of inspiration and hope to millions of blacks, message to black students focused on importance of gaining practical knowledge, partly to please his white donors he argued African Americans shouldn't focus on fighting racial segregation, instead work hard and avoid stirring up trouble, priority should be self-improvement not social change, begin at bottom as well educated hard working farmers not as social activists, famous speech at Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta in 1895 urged African American community to not migrate north or to other nations, stay in agriculture, mechanics, commerce, and domestic service, and that fighting for social equality and directly challenging white rule would be stupid and any attempt at agitation would backfire, first be self-sufficient economically, then civil rights, against Du Bois, secretly worked to challenge segregation and disenfranchisement, stop brutal lynchings, and increase funding for public schools, he often acted privately because he feared public activism would trigger violence against himself and Tuskegee, in the end he wanted his students to end up with a confident faith in molding a better future, grasp hope rather than hate, and told racist whites you can't keep another man in a ditch without being in the ditch yourself
Benjamin "Pap" Singleton
the foremost promoter of black migration to the West, he decided African Americans could never gain equal treatment if they stayed in the former Confederacy, he learned land in KS was selling for $1.25/acre led party of 200 colonists in 1878 and bought 7,500 acres that was an Indian reservation and established Dunlop community
Solid South
the overwhelmingly Democratic region in the South when every state created a Democratic primary process to select candidates, most of which excluded African Americans (LA, maybe GA, NC, VA, AL, OK)
The Civil Rights Cases
1883 Supreme Court ruled the Civil Rights Act of 875 was unconstitutional, 8-1 opinion by Justice Joseph P. Bradley, Court declared 13th and 14th Amendment don't give right to Congress to pass laws about racial discrimination by private citizens or businesses, individuals and organizations could engage in acts of racial discrimination because the 14th Amendment only said no State could deny citizens equal protection of the law, Justice John Marshall Harlan famous dissent, argued 13th and 14th Amendments and Civil Rights Act of 1875 were designed to ensure African Americans the same access to public facilities that white citizens engaged, he insisted the federal government had authority and responsibility to protect citizens from any actions that deprive them of their civil rights, the Court's interpretation left the validity of state laws requiring segregated public facilities under separate but equal principle an open question
Lost Resistance
Blackfeet and Crows had to leave their home in MT, Modocs held out for 6 months in 1871-1872 in a war before they were overwhelmed, 1879 Utes forced to give up last territories in western CO, Idaho peaceful Nez Perce bands refused to surrender land along the Salmon River, prolonged fighting erupted there and in eastern OR, generation of Indians wars was virtually ended in 1886 with capture of *Geronimo*, a powerful chief of the Chiricahua Apaches, who had outridden, outwitted, and outfought American forces in the Southwest for 15 years, General Nelson A. Miles, commander of soldiers who captured him called him very bright and determined
Atlanta Compromise
Booker T Washington's celebrated 1895 speech, called for the black community to strive for economic prosperity before attempting political and social equality, urged African American community not to migrate to northern states, fighting for social equality and directly challenging white rule would be foolish and any effort at agitation would backfire
Woodruff v North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company
CA farmers in fertile Central Valley bitterly protested damage done by the powerful industrial mining operations, 1878 formed Anti-Debris Association but efforts to pass state legislation restricting the hydraulic mining kept failing because mining companies controlled the votes, turned to courts, Jan 7 1884 won case when federal judge Lorenzo Sawyer, a former miner, outlawed the dumping of mining debris where it could reach farmland or navigable rivers, the nation's first major environmental legal victory, caused hydraulic mining to dry up, leaving abandoned equipment, ugly ravines, ditches, gullies, and mountains of discarded rock and gravel
Battle of Wounded Knee
Dec 29 1890, bloodbath at Indian camp in SD, US soldiers ordered Indians to surrender their weapons and they did, but soldiers convinced there were more so started looking, the medicine man began dancing the Ghost-Dance when a shot rang out and overeager soldiers began firing indiscriminately into a group of Indians, 150+ unarmed Indian men, women, and children died, 25 soldiers mostly friendly fire, Major General Nelson A. Miles, the regional commander, said horrible massacre, Miles relieved Colonel James W. Forsyth of his command and ordered an explanation, but the court of inquiry exonerated Forsyth and covered up the massacre, much to Miles' dismay, ~20 soldiers got Congressional Medals of Honor
Sand Creek Massacre
Indians murdered a white family near Denver CO, John Evans (the territorial governor) called on whites to destroy the hostile Indians on the plains while also persuading friendly Indians (mostly Cheyennes and Arapahos) to gather at places of safety like Fort Lyon where they were promised protection, but Nov 29 1864 while most Indian men were off hunting, Colonel John M Chivington's 700 militiamen attacked a camp of Cheyennes and Arapahos along the creek about 40 miles from the tent, Black Kettle, the chief, waved an American flag then a white flag but the soldiers ignored it, over 7 hours the CO militiamen slaughtered, scalped, and mutilated 165 peaceful Indians (men, women, children, and elderly), Chivington told his men to kill and scalp all Indians, in official reports Chivington claimed a great victory against 1000 entrenched Cheyenne warriors, he was greeted as a hero back in Denver, but then truth came out, Captain Silas Soule had witnessed the massacre but had disobeyed orders to join the attack, 3 weeks after Soule wrote letter to superior officer revealing what really happened - women and children begging on knees for mercy only to have brains beat out by "civilized" men, Soule added that Chivington was a terrible leader and there was no organization in troops, Soule called to testify in Jan 1865 and Chivington found guilty of massacre, she he resigned from the militia to avoid a military trial, soon became Denver sheriff, April 23 1865 Soule shot and killed in Denver by one of Chivington's soldiers who was never persecuted for it
Battle of Little Bighorn (Custer's Last Stand)
June 1876, after several indecisive encounters, Custer found a large encampment of Sioux and their Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho allies on this river, in the southeast corner of MT Territory, ignored warnings of his scouts and split force in 2 and attacked a Sioux village on June 25, didn't realize how outnumbered they were, within minutes they were surrounded by 2500 warriors led by the fierce Crazy Horse, 30 minutes later the 210 horse soldiers were all dead with ammunition exhausted, Custer laughed as he fired his last bullet, then felled by shots to head and heart, after Cheyenne women pierced his eardrums with sewing needles because he had failed to listen to their warnings to stay out of their ancestral lands, Sioux won their greatest battle but in doing so lost the war because when Grant and Congress found out they abandoned the peace policy and dispatched more supplies and troops to the plains, General Philip Sheridan now prepared for total war
American Tobacco Company
Washington Duke, after Civil War, took a barn load of tobacco, dried it, and traveled to NC with his 2 sons selling tobacco in small pouches, 1872 Dukes has a modern cigarette factory producing 125,000 pounds annually, son James Buchanan Duke wanted more success so he spent a lot on advertising and perfected the mechanized mass production of cigarettes, also undersold competitors and cornered supply of ingredients needed to make cigarettes, primary competitors eventually agreed to join forces and created this in 1890, controlled 90% of nation's cigarette production, Duke well on way to becoming one of the most powerful and wealthiest man in nation
Red River War 1874-1875
William T. Sherman, commanding general of the US Army ordered General Philip Sheridan, head of the military effort in the West to kill and punish all the hostile Indians and capture and destroy the ponies of the Cheyennes, Arapahos, and Kiowas, and to force all nonhostile Indians on to federal reservations where they would be provided land for farming, immediate rations of food and supplies and equipment (a promise that was rarely kept), some Native Americans refused to be moved again, southern plains of NM, north TX, CO, KS, and OK, Native Americans dominated by Comanches focused on hunting buffalo, armed clashes occurred with increasing frequency until this, when Sheridan's soldiers won a series of battles in the TX Panhandle, the defeated Comanches, Cheyenne, Kiowas, and Arapahos were forced onto reservation
Chief Joseph
a Nez Perce chief, led some 650 of his people on a 1300 mile journey through MY in hopes of finding safety in Canada, caught by US soldiers just before reaching the border, he delivered an eloquent speech as he surrendered where he said he was tired and just wanted happiness, requested they be allowed to return to their ancestral lands in western ID but were forced to settle in Indian Territory (OK) here many died of malaria
Crop-lien System
a barter economy in which a "crossroads" merchant would provide food, clothing, seed, fertilizer, and other items to poor farmers "on credit" in exchange for a share of their crops when harvested, southern farmers (white or black) who participated in it fell into 3 categories: small farm owners, sharecroppers, and tenants, farms owned by most southerners were small and didn't make much so they had to participate for supplies, clothing, and food, self-destructive system; planting cotton or tobacco year after year stripped soil of its fertility and stability and led to disastrous erosion during rainstorms, topsoil washed into creeks, collapsing riverbanks, creating gullies, landowners required croppers and tenants to grow a cash crop exclusively, no vegetable gardens, merchant necessary, not owning anything led to poor maintenance, a post Civil War version of economic slavery for poor white and black people, landowner/merchant decide crop and how it was harvested, cultivated, and sold, good times barely broke even and bad struggle for survival, landowners often didn't give fair share of crops, they kept the books, handled the sale of crops and gave out share of proceeds after deducting for supplies plus interest that ranged wildly, often received nothing but more debt, high interest charged on credit and sagging crop prices created hopeless cycle of debt among small farmers, sharecroppers, and share tenants
Abilene, KS
a railroad junction, Joseph G. McCoy, an IL livestock dealer, recognized the possibilities of driving vast herds of cattle raised in TX northward to KS, where they would be loaded onto freight cars and sent to the rest of the nation, 1867 he bought 250 acres here and built a stockyard, barn, office building, livestock scales, hotel, a bank, then sent an agent to TX to convince owners of herds bound north to go here, when the cattle arrived in August 1867, they were loaded onto railcars and shipped to Chicago stockyards, where they were slaughtered and then send as sides of beef around the nation, the town flourished and by 1871 like 700,000 steers passed through yearly
Mississippi Plan 1890
a series of amendments to the state constitution, first instituted resident requirement for voting (2 years in state, one year in local election district), aimed at African American tenant farmers in the habit of moving each year in search of better economic opportunities, second disqualified black people from voting if they committed certain crimes, third people had to have paid all taxes on time in order to vote including a "poll tax" specifically for voting which hurt poor blacks and whites, finally decided who satisfied this requirement discriminated against blacks, other states had variations
Separate but equal
a slogan popular in the South referring to the argument that racial segregation laws were legal as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality, ruling of Plessy v Ferguson legitimized the widespread practice of these facilities, Civil Rights Cases left the validity of state laws requiring segregated public facilities under this principle an open question, Jim Crow laws
Boomtown
a town, often in the West, that developed rapidly due to the sudden influx of wealth and work opportunities, often male-dominated with a substantial immigrant population from China, Chile, Peru, Mexico, France, Germany, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and England, Tombstone AZ was a major silver mining site in 1870s fastest growing one in the Southwest, also VA City in NV, Cripple Creek and Leadville in CO, and Deadwood in Dakota Territory, ethnic prejudice and violence very common (ex. Chinese banned from laboring in mines but allowed to operate laundries and work in boarding houses), Mexicans often suffered worst treatment, most only lasted a few years, once the mines played out people moved on, VA City 1870 richest city in America had population of 20,000, now less than 1000 residents
Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer
a veteran Indian fighter driven by headstrong ambition and reckless courage, led 1,000 soldiers into the Black Hills in 1875 where he announced the discovery of gold, news set off massive gold rush and within 2 years mining town of Deadwood overflowed with 10,000 miners, sent back to find roving bands of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors and force them back on to reservations, kill any who resist, he fought for the fun of it, not very level-headed, during Civil War he earned promotion to brevet general (a way to honor gallantry without conferring the actual rank), recognized that intruding American minders caused the renewal of warfare, Battle of Little Bighorn
Report on the Condition of Indian Tribes
by a congressional committee in 1865 that gathered evidence on the Indian wars and massacres, in 1867, it led to the creation of an Indian Peace Commission charged with removing the causes of the Wars, Congress decided this would best be accomplished by persuading nomadic Indians yet again to move to "out of the way" reservations where they could take up farming that would "civilize" them, they were to give up their ancestral lands in return for peace so that whites could move in, 1870 Native Americans outnumbered whites 2-1, 1880 whites (mostly gold prospectors) outnumber them by more than 6-1, US decided no chance but to get control by purchase if possible and by force if necessary, 1867 conference at Medicine Lodge KS ended with Kiowas, Comanches, Avopanos, and Cheyennes reluctantly agreeing to move to western OK, Treaty of Fort Laramie 1868
1851 Fort Laramie Treaty
by signing it, Plains Indians accepted tribal boundaries and allowed white pioneers to travel across their lands but as the numbers of white settlers increased, fighting resumed
New West
came to symbolize economic opportunity and personal freedom, but the economic exploitation of the West was a story of irresponsible behavior and abuse of nature that scarred the land, decimated its wildlife, and nearly exterminated much of Native American culture and them, Great Plains had little rainfall and few rivers or trees which made usual methods useless, called the Great American Desert for a long time, but now with completion of transcontinental railroads diminishing threat of Indian violence, and a seemingly limitless supply of natural resources, soon clear it held key to national prosperity, capitalists made huge profits in investing and new techniques allowed expansion of agriculture, huge numbers of immigrants, drudgery and tragedy commonplace, abuse, displacement and relocation of Native Americans,and rapidly dwindling buffalo herds coinciding with growing cattle industry in West
New Industries in South
coal production 5 million tons 1875 to 49 million tons by 1900, Birmingham AL with massive deposits of iron ore became big steelmaking city, logging and lumber production became the fastest-growing industry after 1870, Northern investors bought vast forests of yellow pine and set about deer-cutting them and hauling the logs to new sawmills where they were milled into lumber for the construction of names and businesses, by 1900 southern lumber surpassed textiles in annual economic value but south continues to lag behind the rest of the nation in industrial development and educational attainment
Cattlemen
developed new routes north to new cow towns and railhubs in CO, WY, and MT in response to farmers stopping them from passing through towns along the Kansas Pacific Railroad (Abilene one) but soon these states had their own ranchers too, they were forced to meet and develop their own code of laws and ways to enforce them, cattle would often wander onto other ranchers land, they would "ride the line" to keep animals off adjoining ranches, in spring they would "round up" the herds which unavoidably got mixed up and sorted out ownership by identifying distinctive ranch symbols branded into them, open range gone with barbed wire
Justice John Marshall Harlan
dissenting judge in Civil Rights Cases, originally opposed emancipation and 14th and 15th Amendments but KKK convinced him to change, become Republican in 1868 and named to Supreme Court by Hayes in 1872, 13th and 14th Amendments and Civil Rights Act of 1875 designed to ensure African Americans same access to public facilities as whites, federal government had authority and responsibility to protect citizens from any actions that deprive them of their civil rights, to allow private citizens and enterprises to practice racial discrimination would permit the badges and incidents of slavery to remain, only dissenting judge in Plessy v Ferguson, stressed the Constitution colorblind and doesn't know or tolerate classes among citizens, argued the ruling violated 13th and 14th Amendments because 13 struck down institution of slavery *and* any burdens or disabilities that constitute badges of slavery or servitude, and 14 added to dignity and glory of American citizenship and to the security of personal liberty, separation of citizens on basis of race is badge of servitude inconsistent with 14th Amendment and can't be justified, feared ruling would plant seeds of race hate under the sanction of law - separate but equal
WEB Du Bois
emerged as Washington's foremost rival, from MA, first African American to earn a doctorate degree from Harvard, promoted civil rights and authored 20+ books, in Souls of Black Folk highlighted the "double consciousness" felt by African Americans because one American, one Negro, launched public assault on Booker T. Washington's strategy for improving the quality of life for African Americans, he said he wouldn't surrender the leadership of this race to cowards, stressed African American leader should adopt a strategy of ceaseless agitation directed at ensuring the right to vote and winning civil equality, education of blacks should be comparable to white elite, and help develop bold leaders willing to challenge Jim Crow segregation and discrimination not just vocational, dispute between him and Washington defined the tensions that would divide 20th century civil rights movements; militancy vs conciliation, separatism vs assimilation, social justice vs economic self-reliance, didn't know Washington secretly agreed
People's party
followers known as Populists, many discontented farmers and farm workers in South and West joined, a grassroots social and political movement that was sweeping the poorest rural regions of the nation, sought to restore the government of the Republic to the hands of the plain people with whom it originated, would tie the South and West together in an effort to wrest political control from Republicans in the Northeast and Midwest, struggle would come to define 1890s and determine subject of 20th century politics
National Association of Colored Women
formed in 1896 by leaders of women's clubs, first president Mary Church Terrell, told members they had obligation to serve the lowly, the illiterate, and even the vicious to whom they were bound by ties of race and sex and put forth every effort to uplift and reclaim them, the women declared black men weren't providing sufficient leadership
Comstock Lode
found near Gold Hills NV on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada near CA border, Henry C, a Canadian-born fur trapper gave his name but the discovery was actually made by other prospectors in 1859, a seam of gold and silver more than 50 feet wide and thousands of feet deep, the most profitable mine in history to that point
Indian wars
from early 1800s to late 1870s the trans-MS West (or Indian Country) raged with this because the US government had signed numerous treaties with Indian nations giving them ownership of reservations forever but were repeatedly violated by buffalo hunters, miners, ranchers, farmers, railroad surveyors, and horse soldiers, 1860s federal government ousted numerous tribes from their promised lands, Sand Creek Massacre, summer 1862 uprising by Sioux warriors in MN Valley resulted in deaths of 644 white traders, settlers, government officials, and soldiers, first of many clashes between settlers and miners and Indians living on reservations, Indian Peace Commission, Treaty of Fort Laramie, Grant's Indian Policy, Great Sioux War
Grant's Peace Policy
he urged Congress to adopt more progressive policies, knew it was whites' faults, he stressed protecting the new transcontinental railroad was his top priority, in end told army officers it's better to support a peace commission than a military campaign
Frederick Jackson Turner
historian at the University of WI, 1893 announced his frontier thesis which argued that more than slavery or any other single factor, the existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward, explain American development, and the experience of taming and settling the frontier had shaped the national character in fundamental ways but now the frontier is gone and with its going had closed the first period of American history, this view gripped the popular imagination but this description was in many respects a self-serving myth involving only Christian white men and devoid of towns and cities which grew along the frontier not after it, he virtually ignored the role of women, African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, and Asians, and downplayed the vivid evidence of greed, exploitation, and frequent failure in the settling of the West, also implied America would be fundamentally different after 1890 because the frontier experience was over but it wasn't
Texas longhorn
hybrid of buffalo and Anglo-American domesticated cattle, tough, lean, and rangy, more for speed and endurance than for yielding choice steak
Wilmington Insurrection/Declaration of White Independence
in 1894 and 1896 black voters, the majority in the city, elected African Americans to various municipal offices, infuriating the white elite, Nov 10 1898 roughly 2000 white men and teens rampaged the city streets, armed with rifles, pistols, and even a Colt machine gun capable of firing 420 bullets/minute, they destroyed the offices of the Daily Record, the black-owned businesses, then stormed city hall, declared Colonel Waddell new mayor and forced African American business leaders and elected officials to resign and board northbound trains, self-appointed city government issued this, which stripped black people of their jobs and voting rights, desperate black residents appealed to the governor and President McKinley, but didn't get help, marked first time a lawfully elected municipal government was overthrown
Open range
informal system of governing property on the frontier in which smaller ranchers could graze their cattle anywhere on unfenced lands; brought to an end by the introduction of barbed wire, a low-cost way to fence off ones land in 1873 by Joseph Glidden, the fencing was effective and inexpensive, triggered "range wars" where small ranchers fought to retain it, immediately converted prairies into pastures, putting smaller scale cattle ranchers out of business
The grandfather clause
inserted into LA state constitution in 1898, allowed illiterate whites to vote if their fathers or grandfathers had been eligible to vote on Jan 1 1867, when African Americans were still disenfranchised, by 1910 GA, NC, VA, AL, and OK incorporated it
Ghost Dance Movement
late 1888 Wovoka (Jack Wilson) fell ill and delirium imagined being in spirit world where he learned of a deliverer coming to rescue Indians and restore their lands, to hasten deliverance they must perform a ceremonial dance wearing "ghost shirts" enlivened by sacred symbols that would make them bulletproof, the craze fed upon old legends of the dead reuniting with the living and bringing prosperity and peace, the movement spread rapidly, 1890 Western Sioux adopted practice with such passion it alarmed white authorities, Indian Bureau responded by banning the ceremony on Lakota reservations, but the Indians defied the order, Battle of Wounded Knee
Women in West
most in mining towns provided domestic services: cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, valued as gold because many mining towns had a male-to-female ratio as high as 9 to 1, in both mining and farm communities prized as spouses partly because farming needed help, but faced many of the same legal barriers and social prejudices as East, but constant fight for survival made men and women more equal partners than was typical in the East, many who lost husbands assumed responsibility for farms, of the first to allow voting and holding offices in hopes of attracting more women settlers, 1890 WY first state admitted that allowed the vote
Negrophobia
new wave of racism during 1890s as white farmers and politicans demanded black people be stripped of their voting rights and other civil rights, represented a revival of the idea that the Anglo-Saxon "race" of whites who originated in Germany and spread across western Europe and GB was intellectually and genetically superior to black people, and whites had come to resent any signs of African American financial success and political influence
Gustavus F. Swift and Philip Armour
no ice in summer, so S began experimenting with ways to "refrigerate" railcars year round, within a few years S and his main competitor A had developed refrigerated freight cars that enabled them to ship processed meat, rather than live hogs and cattle, key innovation that enabled Chicago to ship beef too, became 2 of the richest men in the world, they soon branched out and became traders in grain - wheat and corn, also built packing plants in cattle towns like KS City and Omaha NE, and soon were processing almost half as much as Chicago
Ida B. Wells
one of the most outspoken African American activists, in 1883 became the first African American to file a suit challenging racial discrimination after losing her seat on the railroad car because she was black, circuit court decided in her favor and fined railroad but TN Supreme Court overturned the ruling, used journalism to fight for justice, became editor of Memphis Free Speech, a newspaper that focused on African American issues, launched crusade against lynching in 1892 after 3 of her friends were lynched, angry whites responded by destroying her office and threatening to lynch her, criticized Jim Crow laws and fought for restoration of black voting rights, *helped form National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909 and wanted women's suffrage, often found herself in direct opposition to Booker T. Washington
Buffalo
part of fall of Indians and Indian resistance, 1750 ~30 million inhabited the plains, 1850 less than 10 million, 1900 only few hundred, intensive harvesting by white commercial hunters after Civil War, railroads brought hunters who shipped hides East for consumers, average commercial hunter killed 100/day, prolonged drough during late 1880s and 1890s severely reduced grasslands they depended on, also had to compete for food with other grazing animals, by 1880s 2 million plus horses
Cotton
production soared during last quarter of 19th century and the price paid for it raw fell steadily, as the price dropped desperate farmers planted even more which only accelerated the decline in price from 11.77 per lb in 1870s to 7.72 in 1896
Chicago
rise of cattle industry made it the largest growing city in the nation, served by several rivers and 9 railroads in 1865, gateway to western economy, crossroads where city and frontier intersected, lumberyards, grain elevators, stockyards, and slaughterhouses became magnets for immigrants, seeking jobs, meatpacking industry started with hogs partly because it could be preserved longer with salt and smoking than beef, 1850 slaughterhouses butchered and packed 20,000 hogs in comparison to Cincinnati's (Porkopolis) 364,000, federal government needed a lot of meat, 1862 became world's largest pork processing cit, 1870s thanks to railroad connections 2 million+ per year, ice cut from frozen Lake Michigan and placed in freight trains enabled the pork to be shipped to East Coast, refrigerated freight cars enabled beef packing to be added to operations, end of 19th century economies of scale enjoyed by 4 dominant meatpacking corporations drove most local butchers across the nation out of business
Treaty of Fort Laramie 1868
signed by the western Sioux (the Lakotas) in spring, they agreed to settle within the huge Black Hills Reservation in southwestern Dakota Territory, in part because they viewed the Black Hills as sacred ground
African American Response
some chose to leave in search of equality and opportunity, those who stayed and resisted white supremacy were ruthlessly suppressed, most had no choice but to adjust to the realities of white supremacy and segregation, survival required them to wear a mask of deference and discretion and behave in a servile way, accommodation did not equal surrender, they constructed their own lively culture, churches continued to provide anchor and were often the only public buildings they could use for large gatherings like club meetings, political rallies, and social events, for men especially it offered leadership roles and political status, deacon one of most prestigious roles they could achieve, men preached and governed church affairs and women did everything else, religious life great comfort from daily life, black entrepreneurs emerged to provide essential services to community - insurance, banking, barbering, funerals, hair salons, also formed social and fraternal clubs and organizations, which provided fellowship, mutual support, and opportunities for service, middle-class women formed network of social clubs that served as engines of community service across the South and the nation, they cared for the aged, infirm, orphaned, and abandoned, provided homes for single mothers and nurseries for working working mothers, and sponsored health clinics and classes in home economics
New South
some prominent southerners called for this in which the Old South agricultural economy worked by slaves and dominated by planter elite would be replaced by a society of small farms owned by blacks and whites, would also boast a growing industrial sector and race relations would become harmonious, championed by Henry Woodfin Grady, the powerful editor of the Atlanta Constitution newspaper, Old South was dead, Grady claimed this was becoming a perfect democracy of small farms complemented by mills, mines, factories, and cities, he also insisted blacks and whites had very good relations, now needed to out Yankee the Yankees and develop a strong industrial sector to go with its agricultural foundation, advocates also stressed that more efficient farming which used the latest machinery and technical expertise was essential and that widespread vocational training was urgently needed, asserted racial harmony built upon black people's acceptance of white supremacy (a peculiar kind of "perfect democracy") would provide a stable special environment for economic growth
Tuskegee Institute
started by a group of people in northern AL, black college, Booker T. Washington president, first students had to help construct first buildings, making the bricks themselves, over time became celebrated as a college dedicated to academic and vocational training
Buffalo soldiers
the Cheyenne nickname for the two colored Cavalry units created by Congress in 1866 who were dispatched to the Western frontier, nicknamed it because the fought like a cornered one and they had suffered wound after wound yet had not died, and had a thick and shaggy mane of hair, mostly Civil War veterans from LA and KY, they built and maintained forts, mapped vast areas of the Southwest, strung hundreds of miles of telegraph lines, protected railroad construction crews, subdued hostile Indians, and captured outlaws and rustlers (horse and cattle thieves), 18 of them won Congressional Medals of Honor
Textile Industry
the chief accomplishment of the New South's effort to industrialize was a dramatic expansion of this and the regions produced cotton thread, bedding, and clothing, 1880-1900 number of red-brick cotton mills 161-400, mill workers (mostly white women and children) increased 5x, demand for cotton products rose 8x, surpassed New England as the largest producer of cotton fabric in the nation, 70% of mill workers were less than 21, worked dawn-dusk for 50 cents a day because it was more interesting than farming and paid the bills, usually to the mill owner who provided housing, food, and supplies to the workers in his village for a fee like a feudal baron, over time they hired and paid village schoolteachers, doctors, and ministers, organized dances and concerts and made sports leagues, paternalistic social system partly intended to create a sense of community so strong that workers wouldn't be tempted to organize labor unions
Redeemers
the conservative, pro-business, white politicians in the Democratic party who had embraced the idea of industrial progress grounded in white supremacy, supposedly saved the South from Yankee domination and what they called black rule during Reconstruction, included lawyers, merchants, railroad executives, and entrepreneurs who wanted a more diversified economy, also sought cuts in state taxes and expenditures, including those for public school systems, black children especially suffered from such cutbacks because they didn't want educated African Americans
Homesteaders
the first ones in the Great Plains were mostly landless folk eager to try farming, many had never used a hoe or planted a seed, by 1900 the federal government had awarded ~270 million acres to 1.6 million people, although land was essentially free, nothing else was and freight rates and interest rates were criminally high, declining crop prices produced chronic indebtedness, leading strapped farmers to embrace virtually any plan to increase the money supply and pay off their debts with inflated currency, virgin land was fertile but resisted planters; sod woven with tough grass roots broke a lot of plows, wood and coal rare so families initially had to use buffalo chips, also fought constant battles with weather, prairie fires, wolves, and hostile Indians, and locusts, 2/3 of people who gained land under Act failed to become self-sustaining farmers, eventually as railroads brought wood from East farmers could upgrade houses, improved productivity from new machinery and equipment, sodbuster plow, new machines lightened burden of labor but deepened debt, number of farmers grew in size but declined in proportion to population at large, wheat, 1890 open revolt against system of corrupt processors (middlemen) - greedy bankers and railroaders who they believed conspired against them
Great Sioux War
the largest military campaign since the end of the Civil War, lasted 15 months and entailed 15 battles in WY, MT, SD, and NE, in end more soldiers than Indians were killed, but Native Americans defeated, white prospectors searching for gold were trespassing on Sioux territory, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer declared gold in Black Hills (where Sioux were living), undermanned army units in area couldn't keep rush of gold seekers from violating rights guaranteed to Sioux by federal treaties, President Grant and feds tried to convince them to sell Black Hills to them for $6 million, Sitting Bull, the chief, said no, so Custer was sent to find roving bands of Sioux and Cheyenne and force them back onto reservations, kill if resist, June 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn, after President Grant and Congress abandoned peace policy and sent more supplies and troops to the plains, General Philip Sheridan now planned for total war, under Sheridan the army regained offensive and pursued relentlessly, forced back on reservations, the remaining Native Americans soon struggled to survive, many died of starvation or disease, end of 1876 chiefs on Dakota reservation agreed to sell Black Hills, spring 1877 Crazy Horse and people surrendered, ending war but leaving fate of Native Americans uncertain
Jim Crow laws
the new separate but equal regulations, named derived from a song and dance caricature by blackface comedian Thomas Rice, by 1890s the term was a derisive expression meaning "Negro", hallmarks "whites only" signs, racist customs returned, if whites walking on sidewalks blacks expected to step aside and let them pass, *everything* was racially separate, widespread violence accompanied this, 1890-1899 average 188 racial lynchings per year, 82% in South, lynchings usually involved a black man (or men) accused of a crime, often rape, white mobs would seize, torture, and kill the accused, large crowds including women and children would watch like a carnival, irony was that it opened up new economic opportunities for African Americans because black entrepreneurs emerged to provide essential services to the black community - insurance, banking, barbering, funerals, hair salons, also formed their own social and fraternal clubs and organizations
Exodusters
the thousands of African Americans who began migrating westward after the collapse of Radical Republicans in the South, 1879 ~6000 black Southerners to KS, next year ~20,000, making exodus from South in search of a haven from racism and poverty, over next several years thousands followed Singleton to KS, many southern leaders began to worry about the loss of black laborers, 1879 they closed access to MS River and threatened to sink all boats carrying blacks west, many were unprepared for harsh living conditions, homesteads often not large enough to be self-sustaining and most black farmers forced to hire themselves out to white ranchers to supplement their income, frequent crop failures and bankruptcy caused by drought, grasshoppers, prairie fires, and stores, or construction materials, few government services, rarely enough water, many abandoned their land and moved to cities in the state, 1890 520,000 lived west of MS River, 25% of cowboys who participated in cattle drives were African Americans and many federal horse soldiers in West
Industrial mining
used huge hydraulic cannons to strip canyon walls of rock and topsoil in a search for veins of gold and silver, the dirt and debris unearthed by the water cannons covered rich farmland downstream and created sand bars that clogged streams and killed fish, roughly 12 billion tons of earth blasted out of Sierra Nevada and into local rivers
