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By 1848, 14,000 people had
traveled West to reach rich
Farmlands.
Miners were in search of the Big
Strike: GOLD
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◦ Forty-niners- miners in search of gold.
Mainly men coming from all over
including Europe and China
◦ Between 1850-60 California’s
population jumped from 93,000 to over
380,000 and towns were formed
◦ Many searched the Black Hills of the
Dakotas and very few ever struck it rich.
Many believed in the saying “Gold is
where I ain’t”
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Ranchers and Cowboys
◦ Ranchers settled in the Great Plains utilizing a
different natural resource: GRASS
◦ With growing population in the Eastern Cities,
demand for Beef was high.
◦ Chisholm Trail- cowboys followed this trail and
drove longhorns north for San Antonio, Texas to
Abilene, Kansas. From Kansas the beef was
shipped on the railway to meat packing centers
like Chicago
◦ Cowboys led rough lives, defending against Indian
attacks and people who tried to steal the cattle.
◦ Barbed wire was invented to fence off farms.
◦ Blizzard of 1886-87 killed thousands of cattle
forcing ranchers into bankruptcy.
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Transcontinental Railroad- In progress
through out the 1950’s. After the Pacific
Railway Act was passed in 1962, Central
Pacific and Union Pacific started
constructing rail lines
Central Pacific worked from the west and
hired many workers from China and began
construction in 1865. Rough Terrain was a
major challenge. Canyons, mountains, heat
and snow all made major obstacles on the
job.
Union Pacific worked from the East with
many Irish Immigrants, ex-soldiers, and
former slaves. Challenges for Union Pacific
mainly came from Native American Tribes
who opposed the building of the railroad.
Promontory Point, Utah- May 10th, 1869.
Traveling across country now took 10 days
rather than 4 months. Rail road expansion
continued and towns sprang up along the
rail lines.
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The Railroad was a threat to the Native
American existence. It cut through their
hunting ground and disturbed the Buffalo
Native American’s refused to change their
customs to conform to the settlers and
conflicts arose
◦ Indian Removal Act of 1930- forced tribes to move
West, then settlers began to move in creating
conflict
◦ Conflict occurred due to… Nomadic styles of living,
killing of the Buffalo, and giving up homeland
◦ Sand Creek Massacre-US military slaughtered 150
Native American Women and Children in Colorado
◦ Reservations- Federal Land reserved for Native
Tribes, but often reservations were violated and
utilized by settlers
◦ Battle of Little Big Horn- “Custer’s Last Stand”Sioux and Cheyenne Native Americans were under
attack of US Calvery Troops under General Custer.
Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse wiped out Custer’s
troops. The next few years federal forces hunted
and captured over 3,000 Sioux warriors.
◦ Dawes Act 1887- federal law distributing land to
individual Indians rather than to tribes therefore
encouraging Indians to become assimilated.
Opportunities
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Expansion of Railroads
Safer from Tribes
Homestead Act- 160 acres
of public land for a small
fee if you agreed to work
and live the land for 5 years
Morrill Land-Grant Actgave each state large tracts
of public land to sell and
use the fund to to build
agricultural colleges
Fresh Start for Settlers
Challenges
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Building homesdugouts (dug into the
side of a hill) and
Soddies (stacked
prairie turf)
Droughts (windmills)
Blizzards
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Former Slaves were looking for opportunity to
own their own land.
Thousands of former slaves migrated to
Kansas and beyond became known as
Exodusters.
Although many African American’s adjusted
well, some still faced racism.
Farmers were struggling with a cycle
of debt.
Cycle of Debt for farmers
 Machinery-Expensive and usually
required farmers to barrow money
 As prices went up farmers would make
money to pay off loans
 As prices dropped they would try and
plant as many crops as possible to
make up the difference
 Farmers would often barrow money to
purchase more land to grow more
crops to make more money in order to
make money to pay off debts (never
ending cycle)
Shipping Problems of Farmers
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◦ -Farmers were at the mercy of the
Railroads
◦ - Railroads established rates for western
farmers that were higher than the east
◦ - Railroads were monopolies (could charge
what they wanted because there was no
competition
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Populism- a political philosophy
that favors the common person’s
interest over those of wealthy
people or business interests
1870’s- Granger laws were passed
in several states
◦ Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific R.R. v.
Illinois- the federal government has the
right to regulate interstate commerce
◦ Interstate commerce Act of 1887established the Interstate Commerce
Commission to ensure that railroads set
“reasonable and just rates.”
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Gold Standard- monetary policy in the
US where every paper dollar is backed
by gold (Gold Bugs)
Greenbackers (Populist Party) supports
every dollar in the economy being
backed by silver and gold to increase
the amount of dollars in the economy.
(Silverites)
Populist Party backed William Jennings
Bryan in the 1896 election, but after
Bryan’s defeat the populist party died
but left a lasting impression for reform
for the common man.
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The horse and buggy, candles, oil lamps, and ice
box era was soon to come to an end
Capitalism- economic system in which factories,
equipment, and other means of production are
privately owned rather than being controlled by
government.
Patents- gives the inventor the sole legal right to
make or sell and invention for a specified period
of time. 1790- 1860: 36,000 patents from
1860-1900: 600,000 patents were issued
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1836- Telegraph, Samuel B Morse
1876- Telephone, Alexander
Graham Bell
Automobiles from Europe in the
late 1800’s
1903- Airplane, Wright Brothers
from Dayton Ohio
1880’s- Light Bulb and Electricity,
Thomas Edison (factories run at
night, industry BOOMED)
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1859- Edwin Drake was successful
drilling for OIL with the steam
engine.
Oil is a resource with lots of value.
1855- Henry Bessemer: Bessemer
Steel Process- blowing air into iron
to remove the carbon and make
steel. A much cheaper process.
Steel began to be used in
EVERYTHING, railroads, skyscrapers,
bridges, machines, etc…
Andrew Carnegie decided to invest
heavily in steep and formed the
Carnegie Steel Company in Pittsburg
Pennsylvania (hence, the Steelers
YUCK)
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FACTORS of PRODUCTION: Land, Labor and Capital
◦ Land- resources; oil, forests, and minerals
◦ Labor- workers (immigrants)
◦ Capital- Money, buildings, tools, and machinery
Corporations- company that is recognized by law as existing
independently from its owners. Helped small businesses
expand and buy more capital
People could invest (buy stock) in corporations and the owners
were not liable for failure of the business.
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John D Rockefeller: Standard Oil
Company, found ways to reduce
competition by buying or
bankrupting competitors. He
would often undersell his product.
Forming Trusts- a trust is a set of
companies that were managed by
a small group known as trustees,
which have the power to prevent
competition from anyone in the
Trust.
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Corporations expand◦ Horizontal Integration- joining firms in the same
industry
◦ Vertical Integration-taking control of each step in the
production and distribution of a product (raw materials,
manufacturing, packaging, and shipping)
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Government Leaves Business Alone
◦ Laissez Faire- (allow to do) The market will regulate
itself through supply and demand (NO GOVERNMENT)
◦ Social Darwinism- Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution,
the best run businesses are run by the most capable
people and will survive and prosper. (No Government)
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Sherman Anti-trust Act- Outlawed trusts,
monopolies, and other forms of business that
restricted trade and reduced competition.
Although the language was vague,
government was stepping in.
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Something that is gilded looks like GOLD, but
only on the outside.
Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Vanderbilt- started
as entrepreneurs (risk takers) and along the
way made mass fortunes.
Robber Barons or Captains of Industry???
Supporters or critics, you decide.
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Working Class- Men, Women, and
Children who provided skill, muscle
that helped push America productivity
to new heights that made employers
rich. (6 days a week, 10-12 hours a
day, $1 a day)
Division of Labor- Production divided
into different tasks, one assigned to
each worker.
◦ Hazardous environments (slaughter houses)
 Whirling shafts, slippery floors, spinning
blades, no helmets or safety glasses, toxic
gases and dust (coal miners)
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Even with both parents working, a typical family could
barely survive and children went to work.
Children earned less than adults, so employers
enjoyed hiring them. 6 year olds worked in cotton
mills of Georgia and 8 year olds worked in Coal Mines.
Children were smaller so often had more dangerous
jobs (fit into running machinery to fix it)
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Tenements- run down
apartment buildings
often in heavily
populated slums.
◦ Over crowded (eat, cook,
and sleep in a 10x10
room for a family of 6)
◦ No pluming
◦ Disease infested
◦ No air
◦ No electricity
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Labor Unions- group of workers
organized to protect the interest
of its members (most unions
focus on three goals: higher
wages, shorter hours, and better
working conditions)
Strike- a labor action in which
workers simply refuse to go to
work (this could shut down a
mine, factory, or railroad) Strikes
are generally the last resort.
Many employers forced workers
to sign yellow dog contracts,
written pledges to not join a
union and if workers refused they
were blacklisted.
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Knights of Labor- 1869-1886: by Terence
Powderly, Union for all people
American Federation of Labor- 1888: By
Samuel Gompers, Union for skill workers in
particular trades
Industrial Workers of the World- 1905:
William Haywood, Eugene V. Debs, and Daniel
De Leon; Union for lumbermen, miners,
textile workers, and dockworkers. (Very
Socialists- advocates ownership of the means
of production rather than private property:
Karl Marx, German Philosopher)
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Railroad Strike 1877: Railways slashed workers
wages and children were starving to death. Rail
workers across the nation went on strike and ½
the nations railways had shut down. Riots broke
out and violent clashes with the state militias
occurred and Rutherford B. Hayes called the
army to restore order. 100 were killed during
the two week strike.
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Haymarket Affair- Chicago
1886, a protest meeting was
called by anarchists on
Haymarket Square in Chicago
protesting police brutality.
Although the protest remained
calm 180 police stormed the
protest and someone threw a
bomb into the crowd. Police
fired and 4 were killed. Four
radical anarchists were tried
and executed for their part in
the demonstration. This affair
left the labor movement
divided for unions feared
backing radicals.
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Homestead Strike- Homestead
Pennsylvania 1892, steelworkers went
on strike over pay cuts. Henry Frick,
Carnegie’s manager, hired 300 private
guards to protect the plant against the
strikers. Strikers were armed and ready
to fight the private guards. Pinkerton’s
guards lost the battle even though 9
strikers died. State militia was called
and strikers were locked out of the plant
for 45 years.
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Pullman Strike- Chicago 1894, Pullman town was
created around the railcar factory. All Pullman
employees lived in the town, had company owned
houses, and bought food from company owned
stores. Many workers were in debt to Pullman
Car Company. Pullman cut wages and a strike
occurred shutting down traffic in the Midwest.
President Cleveland sent in troops and after a
violent encounter the strike collapsed. Most
workers were fired and blacklisted and Pullman
Car Company was never the same.
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Push Factors- problems that cause people to
move
Pull Factors- attractions that draw people to
another place
People were pushed from Europe due to
population growth, hunger, availability of land,
and religious persecution
People were pulled to the United States because
of the free democratic society, ample farmland,
minerals, plains, industry (jobs), and America
Letters (letters from relatives who had already
migrated).
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The voyage which
once took 3 months
now took 2 weeks
due to technological
advances
Travel was not easy
on steerage( open
area below the main
deck) where people
slept in the same
room on metal beds,
seasickness, spoiled
food, overcrowded,
and filthy toilets.
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1892- Ellis Island
Immigration Station was built
in the New York Harbor.
Immigrants arriving from
Europe often arrived at Ellis
Island.
Inspections and Exams
◦ Medical Inspections (6 second
exam)
◦ Physical examination (LHX)
◦ Legal Interviews (names
shortened)
◦ Contract Laborers
20 % were denied entrance and had
to stay for treatment or await
hearings only 2% were every
deported.
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Main cities (industrial
centers)
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New York
Boston
Chicago
Cleveland
Population booms
Ethnic Cities (little Italy,
China Town, etc..)
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With a lack of education,
money, and support
immigrants suffered
Immigrants need help
◦ Relatives or friends
◦ Immigrant Aid Society (met in
churches, groceries, or saloons)
◦ Settlement house- community
center that provided aid to
immigrants (child care, classes,
health clinics, and recreational
opportunities)
◦ Political bosses- powerful leaders
who ran cities would help the
immigrants in exchange for votes
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Assimilation- Americanization of immigrants
Nativism- Americans who disliked anyone
who was not “native” born
1894- Immigration Restriction League- all
new arrivals had to take literacy tests- the
President Vetoed it….but began to pass quota
laws
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Chinese seek gold, jobs, and new
opportunities
Chinese Exclusion Act 1882- shut the doors
on China by prohibiting immigration from
Chinese laborers for 10 years (1st time the US
had restricted immigration)
Immigration went from 40,000 to 279 two
years later
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Angel Island Immigration Station
1910- “Ellis Island of the West”
San Francisco Bay, mainly used
to restrict Chinese Immigrants
Other Immigrants
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Japanese
Koreans
Filipinos
Hawaiians
Gentlemen's Agreement- notes
between U.S. and Japan where
Japanese officials agreed not to
allow laborers to emigrate to the
U.S.
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North- French Canadians- came to US for
Civil War and over 900,000 came to US after
mainly from Quebec.
Mexico- immigrated to California and Texas
to work on farms, railroads, and in mines.
◦ Mexican Revolution 1910- brought many more
Mexicans to the US.
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Racism
Lower Wages
Discrimination
Segregated Schools
Unwilling to become members of American
Society
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1st Wave- 1820-1870
◦ Northern and Western Europe
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2nd Wave- 1880-1920
◦ Southern and Eastern Europe
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3rd Wave- 1965-present
◦ End of quota system immigration from everywhere
◦ 33 million/12% of the population were immigrants
in 2003