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• Americans focused on materialism – tired of sacrifice• The Gilded Age – Mark Twain• “The Great Barbeque” – everyone rushing to gobble up the
national inheritance• A succession of weak presidents – dominated by Congress• Senate – the “rich man’s club”• The House – disorderly and inefficient
• Political parties were enemies but seldom separated by political positions
• Biggest difference between Democrats and Republicans was sectional (South versus North)
• Minorities voted for both parties for diverse reasons• Although most presidential elections were close, between 1856
and 1912 Democrats were elected only twice
• There were four major issues in the years following the Civil War
The Bloody ShirtThe TariffCurrency ReformCivil Service Reform
• The Bloody ShirtA shirt of a carpetbagger bloodstained
after being flogged by Southern terrorists
Used as a symbol of sacrifice made by the North during and after the Civil War and the Democrat’s role in causing the war
It was often used to divert attention from Northern shortcomings
Also used as a symbol in the fight for the rights of blacks
Also used in relationship to pension rights of former Union soldiers under the leadership of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)
The GAR wanted help for disabled veterans and eventually pensions for all
• The TariffBoth manufacturers and farmers sought tariffs to protect US
businessesTariffs became an issue as American technology was
advancing so rapidly protection was no longer neededTariffs became a tool for politicians whose states’ industries
demanded protection
• Currency Reform Needing to pay for the war, the US
government suspended payment of specie and printed “greenbacks”
Greenbacks were not trusted by the people and prone to inflation – pressure to withdraw paper money
In fact, the period after the war was deflationary
Farmers particularly hard hit as they had borrowed heavily during boom times
• Civil Service ReformThe need for a professional administration increased due to
more complex governmentNumbers of employees rose from 53,000 in 1871 to 256,000 at
the turn of the centuryCorruption, waste, and inefficiency was the norm especially in
the New York Custom HousePoliticians against reform
• MinoritiesTreated poorly after the Civil WarSuccessive presidents from either party did little to address the
problem For awhile rival white groups manipulated the blacks for their
votesBy the 1890’s most Southern states had disenfranchised blacks
through poll taxes and literacy tests (using “understanding” clauses to protect illiterate whites)
• In 1896 in Louisiana 130,000 blacks voted In 1900 only 5,000 voted
• Almost every Supreme Court case involving blacks curtailed or nullified their rights
• “Separate but Equal” made law by Plessy v. Ferguson
• Since most scientists and other experts on race deemed blacks inferior it was generally accepted as fact by the public (Eugenics)
• This attitude was contested by blacks in different waysRise in black nationalismAttempt to revive African colonization movementSome demanded full civil rights and even advocated the use of
violence
• Militancy and separatism found few adherents in the black community especially the South
• Many blacks found segregation could be beneficial as they filled the void created by white refusal to provide services such as stores and barbershops
• Black standard of living doubled between 1865 and 1900• This made whites even more angry and vindictive
• Born a slave in Louisiana• Obtained an education while
supporting himself as a janitor• With financial help from Northern
philanthropists, founded the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama
• Advocated blacks raise themselves up / accommodate themselves to racism
• Views caused many whites to see him as a “reasonable” champion of blacks
• The Atlanta CompromiseWashington told blacks to stop fighting segregation and
concentrate on acquiring useful skillsHe asked Southern whites to support black efforts to advance
themselves - accommodationThis attitude delighted white Southerners and won financial
support for WashingtonWashington became a powerful man
• Blacks had mixed reactions to Washington’s viewpoint – some questioned the cost of surrendered dignity
• Confrontation or accommodation?
• Washington worked behind the scenes to fight segregation
• Was Washington a tool of the white? An Uncle Tom or Oreo?
• After the Civil War and the end of slavery, whites kept blacks in submission through violence
• Each year from 1890 – 1910 almost 100 blacks were lynched each year
• White fears were excited by rumors of black rapists
• Black men were driven out of public spaces creating increasing opportunity for black women to take on leadership roles
• Much of the West had large foreign-born populations: Mexicans, Chinese, Irish, and Germans were the largest
• There was no “one” West and no typical Westerner
• Burlingame Treaty of 1868 – brought in thousands of Chinese laborers for railroad construction
• When construction was complete Chinese now competed for other jobs - riots erupted
• The California constitution denied Chinese the right to vote
• After 1888, the US Congress prohibited all Chinese immigration
• By the 1860’s the Eastern Indians were residing peacefully in Oklahoma, the Western Indians had been pretty much eradicated by miners, and the Great Plains were dominated by about ¼ million Indians
• The tribes lived on buffalo • Horses (reintroduced to North
America by the Spanish) provided vital transportation, enhanced hunting skills, and made warfare more effective
• Early relationships with whites were generally friendly• As whites needed more Indian lands, treaties were
negotiated that treated Indian tribes as sovereign nations – divided and conquered
• Limiting the size of hunting grounds in return for gifts and payments was known as “concentration”
• Treaties with Indians were broken as whites needed Indian lands for railroads, gold mining, etc.
• During Civil War, Indians rose up and attacked white settlements
• Sand Creek Massacre• Fetterman Party Massacre
The Plains Indians
• US government moved to put Indians on two small reservations
• Chiefs agreed but most Indians went to war• Indians expert at guerrilla warfare – small groups tied up
thousands of troops• The offices of Indian Affairs within the Department of the
Interior were the most corrupt in government
• Efforts at reform were blocked by Congress who benefited from the corruption
• The discovery of gold in 1874 on Indian reservation in Black Hills of South Dakota brought white miners and renewed warfare
• July 1876 – Custer’s “Last Stand”• Indians eventually forced to return to reservations
• The construction of the Transcontinental Railroad and the killing of the buffalo were most responsible for the end of the Indians
• Buffalo numbers went from 30 million to about 1,000 in a few decades
• 1886 - The Apache were the last Indians to give in when Chief Geronimo was captured
• Indians were now expected to become farmers on reservations• Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 – Tribal lands split up into individual
parcels to be given to Indians who would farm• To keep speculators from taking the land, land could not be
disposed of for 25 years• The Dawes Act shattered Indian culture• Whites tricked Indians out of their lands – by 1934, 86 million out
of 138 million acres were in white hands
• The lure of “striking it rich” brought prospectors to every part of the mountains from Canada to Mexico
• They exploited the country’s resources without a thought to the future
• Boom towns were erected overnight next to strikes - most disappeared quickly
• Boom towns brought in the dregs of society including gamblers, thieves, and prostitutes
• Virginia City was built off the Comstock Lode – it boasted 25 saloons before it had 4,000 people
• Independent prospectors (placer mining) made the discoveries but large corporations ended up with most of the money
• Large mining operations (quartz mining) required heavy machinery and other capital investments that only corporations could provide
• Most “deep” miners were imported from Britain
• Gold and silver bolstered America’s financial position and paid for European imports
• The metals also increased interest in the West
• Gold and silver rushes also brought in permanent settlers: farmers, cattlemen, shopkeepers, teamsters, lawyers, etc.
• The intent of the Homestead Act of 1862 was to allow small farmers 160 acre plots and keep out large landowners and speculators
• The reality was different – few could afford the ~$1000 necessary to establish a farm
• The Timber and Stone Act of 1878 allowed anyone to buy a section of forest land if it was “unfit for civilization”
• This loose clause allowed huge areas to be bought and exploited by lumber companies
• Farmers that were able to purchase lands found farming difficultSoil was rich but semi-arid
climate made agriculture difficult to impossible
Blizzards, floods, grasshopper plagues, prairie fires, drought and summer heat destroyed many farmers
• Corporation controlled “Bonanza farms” grew
• Successful due to large open tracts of land, mechanical farm equipment, and ability to negotiate discounts for seed and railroad transport
• Drought brought end to bonanza farms in 1880’s
• Despite obstacles, prairies became American breadbasket
• Transcontinental railroad construction not feasible through total private investment yet government did not want to award outright subsidies
• Solution- government land grants• About 75% of all land grants went
to the transcontinental railroads• Pacific Railway Act of 1862
established the pattern for the grants
• Were the railroad land grants fair?No railroad made huge monetary gains from land salesLand grants encouraged the growth of the WestLand grants required railroads to carry troops and
handle government business free or at reduced ratesHowever, money from land grants were sometimes
used extravagantly and encouraged corruption
• In addition to land grants, railroads were given loans in the form of bonds for every mile of track laid
• Union Pacific – east to west – benefited most due to plains
• Central Pacific – mountains – huge sums spent on shoddy construction
• All transcontinental railroads built with land grants ended up in bankruptcy in 1890’s
• The Great Northern (built without land grants) remained viable through the depression of the 1890’s
RRRR Transcontinental Race
• Cattlemen and sheep herders made millions grazing animals on public lands
• Enormous herds of Longhorn cattle roamed loose in Texas – descendants of Spanish cattle let loose
• Initially Texas cattle little regarded – no economic benefit
• Demand for meat from growing population in the east combined with railroads made Texas cattle attractive
• 1866 to mid-1880’s Cattlemen moved vast herds to railheads in Missouri and Colorado, then Abilene Kansas
• Goodnight and Loving trails, Chisholm Trail
• Huge profits made• Over 10 million head
made the journey
• Hardy Texas cattle could withstand harsh climate of the prairie
• Improvements made by breeding with Hereford bulls
• Cattle ranching spread across the prairie states
• Open-range ranching required no land ownership except water – control of water vital
• Control of water = control of vast amounts of land
• Capitalists poured money into cattle ranches
• Large corporations ended up dominating the business
• Unlike other exploiters of the West’s resources- grass eaten by cattle grew back and droppings helped enrich the soil
• Desert Land Act 1877 – allowed anyone to buy 640 acres for $1.25 per acre provided the owner irrigated the land within three years
• Fraud occurred as cowboys bought up the land for their bosses – no irrigation done
• Overcrowding brought violence – cattle ranchers established associations to regulate the land, etc
• To keep other ranchers from public domain lands they considered theirs, ranchers put up fences
• This was possible due to invention of barbed wire by Joseph Glidden
• By 1880’s, thousands of miles fenced in by barbed wire resulting in “barbed-wire wars” between ranchers, herders, and farmers
• Barbed-wire actually harmed ranching as it restricted cattle from naturally finding water or seeking shelter from weather
• Thousands of head died in winter – piled up against wire
• Overproduction drove down prices, expenses rose, and weather made ranching more difficult
• The blizzard of 1886 destroyed between 80-90 percent of all cattle
• Open-range cattle herding was finished as a business
• Fencing continued but only to protect land actually owned
• The American frontier was basically closed by the late 1880’s
1. What political party dominated the presidency from the Civil War to the turn of the century?
2. What resulted from the impeachment trial of President Johnson?
3. The period following Reconstruction in which some gained great wealth at the expense of the land and the poorer population was called this by Mark Twain
4. The US Senate was known as this
5. The US House of Representatives could best be described as this
6. What became the political symbol of the North’s sacrifice during the Civil War?
7. The protection of American businesses was the goal in this
8. This was the most important patronage position in the country
9. What monetary controversy erupted due to the government ‘s desire to pay off its Civil War debt?
10. What tactics were used to disenfranchise blacks following Reconstruction
11. Segregation was established in the South by what Supreme Court Case
12. How did segregation actually benefit blacks?
13. What black school was established by Booker T. Washington?
14. Washington espoused accommodation with whites and for blacks to pull themselves up in this document
15. White violence against blacks in the South reached its apex during the period 1896-1910 with these acts
16. The Burlingame Treaty of 1868 provided this
17. The typical westerner / western town could be described as this
18. After 1888, this group was prohibited from immigrating to the US
19. Indian life depended on this
20. US policy towards Indians in which Indians were pushed into more compact hunting grounds was called this
21. The biggest stain on the honor of the US in its dealings with Indians occurred in this event
22. The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 did this
22. This was one of the biggest discoveries of Gold and Silver in the US
23.After the initial rush, mining changed in this way
24. Small farmers were encouraged with this 1862 Act
25. The Timber and Stone Act resulted in this
26. Farms run by corporations were called this
27. Transcontinental railroads were financed mostly through this
28. The fate of almost all transcontinental railroads was this
29. The cattle trail that went from San Antonio through Salado to the railhead at Abilene was called this
30. Large ranch operations were like large mining operations in this way
31. Control of this was vital for ranchers
32. He invented barbed wire