Since 1877 Test 1 Events and Terms Flashcards
(38 cards)
Growth of Technology & Corportation
- education
- agricultural (coal; steal)
- high concentration of people, products, and consumers
- capitalism
- High growth of both tech. such as:
telephones; auto Mobil; light bulb; phonograph; airplanes; etc
- Large Corps. such as:
Proctor & Gamble, etc
Laissez-faire
The Government doesn’t interfere with business
1840-2010 the 3 major types of jobs
- agriculture
- industry
- services
(changes mainly during the 1800s)
Rise of Corporations; the Benefits of having a corp:
- brought in more money and investments
2. legal protection (for people who invest)
4 major “hero of capitalism” or “robber barons”
- John Rockefeller (oil)
- Andrew Carnegie (steel)
- Cornelius Vanderbilt (roads & shipping)
- J.P. Morgan (banker)
Knights of Labor
- first national labor organization in US (largest in 19th century): strikes/boycotts/political action/educational social activities
- Terence Powderly was named head o the Knights
- large companies would hire private armies and resort to violence
- 1877 biggest strike in N.E. “great rail road strike” (gov. sided with business)
- Strikers were seen as spoiled and illegal
Haymarket Riot
- took place in Chicago May 1886
- Iron Molder Union against McCormick Harvesting Company
- Workers wanted 8 day work week
- McCormick brought in police and a battle took place in the street; a striker threw a bomb killing a police; the police panicked and opened fire; afterwards police arrested 8 leaders, they were tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death
- NO evidence showed they were involved; 4 were hung, 1 commits suicide, 3 eventually pardon by governor of Illinois (pro-labor) John Altegeld
American Federation of Labor
- Samuel Gompers was president of this organization from 1886 to 1924
- this was a much friendlier union that focused on skilled workers (b/c they were harder to replace)
- they had specific Limited goals (which differ from the Knights of Labor)
Dawes Act of 1887
- named after Senator Henry Dawes of Massachusetts
- this act broke up the land of nearly all tribes into small parcels and distributed to Indian families; the remainder auctioned to white families
- Indian families who accepted the farms was required to convert to american ways
- this led to the loss of much tribal land, but whites benefited; resulted in many land rushes for white settlers
Wounded Knee
- Indian Ghost Dance (many Indians gathered for days of singing, dancing, and religious events)
- the Gov. fearing a “uprising” sent troops to the reservations on Dec 29, 1890 and opened fire on Ghost Dancers (South Dakota)
- killed between 150-200 Indians (machine guns), mostly women and children
- this event pretty much ended the Indian Wars
Sharecroppping
- huge after the civil war in which many southern land owners lost slave workers needed help growing crops
- this lasted through the depression; all the way into the 1930s
Plessy v. Ferguson
- Plessy challenged the “seating” law by sitting in the front o the train
- he was 1/8 black and very light skin; considered an “octaroon”
- in the south if you had “one drop” of black blood, you were considered black
- this case went to the Supreme Court which ruled 8-1 that “separate but equal” was allowed
- this case and its decision led to unlimited actions of segregation including Hopitals
Jim Crows Laws
Allowed for segregation; such as separate drinking fountain, jobs, etc.
- OPEN discrimination
Currency Debate (gold v silver)
- all money was backed up by Gold and due to no more gold, the Gov. stopped printing money (which led to a deflation b/c products were still increasingly being produced)
- Populist party wanted Gov. to print money (backed up by silver) or printed in forms for silver coins
- Colorado especially pushed this because they were a big distributor of silver
Interstate Commerce Act (commission) ICC
- 1887, the Gov. finally tries to regulates business
- Gov. sets up to regulate railroads (ensure that railroads charged farmers and merchants a “reasonable” price and did not offer favorable treatment to some shippers over others)
- president ends up appointing railroad executives (bad idea)
- also, the federal agency lacked power to establish rates on its own (could only sue companies in court)
- unfortunately, the first 20 years was ineffective
Sherman Anti Trust Act
- 3 years after the ICC, Congress passed this to ban all combinations and practices that prevented free trade (which posed a threat to corporate efforts in dominating the economy; could not longer stifle competition)
- but instead, the courts primarily used this as a way to suppress labor unions (judges would issue injunctions prohibiting strikes b/c they illegally interfered with free trade)
Populism
Due to high mortgages and deflation, farmers esp. in the west begin get angry blaming railroads and pushing the Government to get in involve, there demands included:
- Gov. Prints money (also backed up by silver)
- Wanted an income tax created (to replace the tariff, assume rich people would pay this)
- Wanted direct voting for representatives and senators (during this time, senators were appointed in-house)
- Wanted Gov. to take over railroads and banks (gov. should set prices)
- also knew they needed city worker votes and support, so agreed to such ideas as 8 hour work day and child labor
Chinese exclusion act
- chinese brought in mainly to build railraods and after, ino the mines
- not allowed to own land, so they resourted to business such as restaurants and laundry
- there was a lot of pressure to stop the Chinese immigrants from entering which led to the pass of this act in 1882 ( this was the first time that race had been used to exclude an entire group of people from entering the US)
- it was only suppose to last 10 years, but was renewed and permanently adopted in 1902
Gilded Age
- a book written by Mark Twain “The Gilded Age” that went after business and politician (hypocrisy)
- The era 1870 to 1890
- This was an era of politicalferment and conflict over the proper us of Governmental authority
- Labor and capital (distrust between employees and employers)
Election of 1876
- Rutherford Hayes (republican) - won w/ 185 votes
He created a deal to end reconstruction in the south (didn’t work anyways, b/c the south always voted for democrats) - Samuel J. Tilden (democrat) - had a higher popular vote (one of the 4 elections where the person with the highest pop. vote didn’t win electoral votes)
* 20 electoral votes were in dispute in four states; An informal deal was struck to resolve the dispute: the Compromise of 1877, which awarded all 20 electoral votes to Hayes. In return, the Republicans agreed to withdraw federal troops from the South, ending Reconstruction.
Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
- after Garfield was assassinated by a civilian who was upset he did not get a federal job (presidents job to ok all who were employed), Vice president Chester Arthur passed this act stating that the president will NOT be the only one to appoint federal jobs
“remember the Maine”
- During McKinley’s presidency, in an attempt to offer help to Cuba’s fight for independence from Spain, he sent over a USS Maine Ship as a warning (mainly hung around the water borders of cuba)
- During this time, the Maine explodes and the US automatically points blame at Spain
- This led to the 1898 (April) Spanish and American War
- Col. Roosevelt was a famous leader during this war and led the US to victory in San Juan Hill
- The was quickly over in Fall of 1898; Spain signed a Treaty (cuba was given independence); the treaty also stated that:
1. the US reserved the right to send in armies or navy to restore order if needed in Cuba
2. the purchase of Peurto Rico and Philippine and the Pacific Island of Guam
Rough Riders
The first US volunteer cavalry, led in battle in the Spanish American war by Roosevelt; they were victorious in their only battle near Santiago Cuba, and Roosevelt used the notoriety to aid his political career
Phillippine American War
- Philippine was planing a revolt against Spain, but after the Spanish American war was won by the US, the Philippine expected freedom (as cuba), but was not granted such
- Emilio Aguinaldo led the revolt leading to this 3 year war
- the war consisted of many guerilla attack and jungle fighting
- Aguinaldo was captured and forced to surrender along with his army