Expansion, Industrialization and reform

1. Expansion, Industrialization and reform Unit 4

2. Western Expansion • Railroads were crucial in the expansion of our country. • Made it possible to move people, supplies and messages quickly across the country.

3. Transcontinental Railroad • Union Pacific – railroad company • Central Pacific – railroad company • Combined their tracks at Promontory Point, Utah. • Golden spike- was driven into the tracks here to symbolized the linking of the nation by rail.

4. Impact on Natives • Plains Indians • Depended on buffalo to live. • Food, clothing, shelter, fuel • Settlers killed a large number of buffalo for hides and to make room for ranchers. • 1889- only about 1,000 are left. • Plains Indians’ way of life was lost.

5. Reservations • As settlers encroached often times the government would take land for natives to make room. • Natives were sent to plots of land designated by the gov’t. • Often this land was the poorest land in the area. • Many natives dies en route.

6. Battles Between US and Natives • The Sand Creek Massacre • 1864 US officials tried to force the Cheyenne off of their land. • Cheyenne resisted and attacked several settlements near by. • US reacted by surprising the Cheyenne at Sand Creek and killed over 270 natives (many were women and children)

7. Battles Between US and Natives • The Battle of Little Bighorn • Sioux Indians • Leaders: Chief Red Cloud and Chief Crazy Horse • US Commander Custer • Custer underestimated the number of natives. • Natives killed Custer and over 200 of his men. • “Custer’s Last Stand”

8. Crazy Horse

9. Battles Between US and Natives • Eventually the Sioux and the Cheyenne both surrendered in 1877 to US forces and were relocated to reservations in the Dakotas and Oklahoma.

10. Battles Between US and Natives • Battle of Wounded Knee • 1890 • Sioux holy man (Wovoka) developed the GHOST DANCE. • The dance was meant to bring back the buffalo to the land. • Chief Sitting Bull • US believed he was using the dance to start an uprising against the US. • US goes in and kills Sitting Bull and 150 other natives. • They were men, women and children – most unarmed.

11. Dawes Act • 1887 Congress passes a law – Dawes Act • Abolished tribal organizations. • HUGE FAILURE

12. The Rise of Big Business Inventions and Natural Resources

13. Samuel B. Morse Invented the telegraph. Morse code is name after him for this reason. Helped people communicate across miles and miles of land.

14. Alexander Graham Bell Invented the telephone. YOU HAVE HIM TO THANK.  Individuals and businesses could communicate much more easily than before.

15. Thomas Edison Invented the light bulb. Factory work could now continue into the night!

16. George Westinghouse Expanded Edison’s work with electricity. Developed the first alternating current system. Factories could not be build anywhere, not just where there were waterfalls or deposits of coal.

17. Other Inventions Typewriter Vacuum cleaner Refrigeration cars for trains Elevators (can build up) Farming: threshers, mowers, mechanical planters, etc)

18. Mass Production • Mass production – process of producing goods in large numbers. • Make more – sell more – lower prices, but still high profit. • Industrialization made mass production possible.

19. Mass Production • Henry Ford – improved upon the invention of the automobile and began a method of mass production. • Model T • Assembly line method – allowed him to produce more cars in less time, he could lower the cost. • Cars---allowed people to live further from work and commute.

20. Giants of Industry • Railroads- Cornelius Vanderbilt • Oil- John D. Rockefeller • Steel- Andrew Carnegie • Finance- J.P. Morgan

21. The Railroad Industry • Railroads made life possible out west. • As the industry took off a few men became extremely wealthy from it. • Some saw their ways a crooked and they became known as the “robber barons”

22. The Railroad Industry • Cornelius Vanderbilt • Extended his “New York Central” railroad to Chicago, Illinois. • Made it much easier for passengers to travel and ship goods as they didn’t have to change trains.

23. The Oil Industry • Rockefeller became the nation’s richest man due to oil. • Company = Standard Oil • Nation’s first trust- (business arrangement under which a number of companies unite into one system) • Created a monopoly- a market in which there is only one supplier of a product (no other competition)

24. The Oil Industry • Vertical Integration- a strategy in which one corporation owns not only the company that produces the finished product, but also the companies that provide the materials necessary for production • Make the barrels, cans, pipe lines, etc • “Pay nobody a profit.”

25. The Steel Industry • Sir Henry Bessemer developed a new way to make steel (The Bessemer Process) • Produced cheaper, stronger steel. • Faster expansion of railroads and construction of buildings. • Steel became VERY important.

26. The Steel Industry • Andrew Carnegie takes control of the entire industry. • Used vertical integration, like Rockefeller. • Owned steel mills, iron ore mines, coal mines, railroads, ships, etc. • Formed a monopoly.

27. Carnegie • Great philanthropist! • He gave most of his wealth away to public causes. • Gospel of Wealth.

28. Social Darwinism and the Gilded Age • Social Darwinism- the belief that life is a battle for “survival of the fittest” • Developed by Herbert Spencer using Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution among animals. • Big business men were drawn to this idea.

29. Social Darwinism and the Gilded Age • Laissez faire capitalism - the idea that the government should not get involved with business • Let the market take its natural course

30. Social Darwinism and the Gilded Age • Not everyone agreed with laissez faire capitalism • Some saw that a few people where on top getting wealthy while everyone else remained in poverty. • Mark Twain coined the term “The Gilded Age” meaning that from the outside the time period looked like everyone was doing well prospering, but beneath the surface people were suffering.

31. Capitalism • An economic system in which the means of production (factories, machines, etc) are privately owned. • Producers make goods and services in response to demand.

32. Capitalism • In a capitalist system different producers are free to make the same product. • This creates market competition. • Competition keeps prices affordable.

33. Standard of Living • Production of new inventions and consumer goods increased the standard of living in the second half of the 1800s. • Example: electric trolley- allowed you to live outside of the city and commute to work. Creating suburbs.

34. Expansion • International markets: US businesses began to invest in other countries as well. • Desire to grow businesses created a movement for territorial expansion.

35. Farmers and Populism • South & West – farming was still an important part of life. • Very COSTLY • Farmers had to borrow from banks so they could purchase the latest machinery.

36. Mechanization • Mechanization helped make farming easier and more efficient. • At first this was good. Make more = sell more. • Later, this lead to overproduction– too many agricultural products on the market. (prices drop)

37. Mechanization • Prices dropping meant that farmers were getting less money and in return their cost of doing business was increasing. • Farmers slipped further and further into debt.

38. Blame Game • Most farmers blamed the government and big business for their debt. • Wanted the gov’t to regulate the railroads. • Thought they were overpriced for shipping goods on the trains.

39. Interstate Commerce Act • 1887- President Grover Cleveland • Interstate Commerce Act – law provided for the creation of an Interstate Commerce Commission and regulated rates in the name of public interest.

40. Subsidies • Farmers wanted more. • Subsidies- government payments to cover losses in revenue due to over-production.

41. Greenbacks • Farmers also wanted to see more money pumped into the economy. • Supported greenbacks (paper money). • Reason: put more money in the hands of consumers, inflation occurs, farm prices rise.

42. The Grange • Farmers began to ban together to protect their interests. • They did this through a cooperative called the grange. • Pooled resourced to buy new machinery and supplies and to sell products without paying distributors. • By 1874 – 14,000 grange associations existed.

43. Populism (The People’s Party) • Farmers’ concerns eventually lead to the populist movement. • Political movement that embraced the desires of farmers. • Supported: • Greenbacks • Gov’t regulation of businesses

44. “People’s Party” • Met in Omaha, NE. – 1892 • Formally adopted this set of stances. • Became known as the Omaha Platform. • Appealed to the ‘common man’.

45. “People’s Party” • It sought to break down racial divides between white and black farmers. • Believed that the two must unite to beat out ‘big business’.

46. Election of 1896 • At the time of the election: • Worst economic depression ever. • President Cleveland was vulnerable in the election. • Cleveland blamed the depression on the SILVER STANDARD of money. • Returned the country to the GOLD STANDARD.

47. Bimetallism • Many people thought that silver AND gold should be used. • This way there could be more money in the system. • Bimetallism- supported by miners and farmers (Populists).

48. Bimetallism • Became the major issue of the election. Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan. William McKinley ran as a Republican.

49. Election 1896 William Jennings Bryan William McKinley

50. Bryan’s Cross of Gold Speech “You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”