Populists: Grew from the Farmer’s Alliance Free and unlimited coinage of silver and gold at 16:1 ratio Increased circulating medium (no less that $50 per capita) Graduated income tax It was big in the 1890s (major electoral victories) Several members of the House of Representatives and the election of 1 U. S. senator Against monopolies More Democratic government (more control to people) Wanted more direct government action to help the working class Government ownership of railroads, telegraph, and telephone Government subsidies to assist in stabilizing agricultural prices 8 hour work dayDirect election of U. S.
senators Increased voter power with the use of initiative referendum and recall “people’s party” 1892 candidate was James J. Weaver 1896 endorsed William Jennings Bryan Imperialism: United States tried to get world dominance Captain Alfred Mahan and his book “The Influence of Sea Power Upon History” said that control of the sea was the key to world dominance U. S. was fighting with Britain over control of Venezuela Olney said to Britain that they were violating the Monroe Doctrine because the U. S. ad claimed the whole western hemisphere At first, Britain was opposed to this and angry with the U.
S. Then, Britain’s anger was turned to the Germans and they wanted a peaceful settlement with the United States Spanish American War One cause was the Wilson Gorman tariff Fighting began in the Philippines in 1898 Was fought to free the Philippines from Spanish rule Americans were fed up with how the Spaniards were treating the Cubans Admiral Dewey destroyed the Spanish fleet in the Pacific American ship, the Maine, was sunk in the Havana harbor (from an explosion on he ship) Hertz and Pulitzer blamed Spanish (yellow journalism) Theodore Roosevelt led the “Rough Riders” up San Juan hill Result was the United States got the Philippines, which made them a major power in the Pacific Yellow Journalism and reconcentration were taking place before this, which gave Cubans sympathy McKinley made the Teller Amendment, assuring Cuba and the world that the United States would grant Cuba independence one the war ended United States got Guam and Puerto Rico Fighting in Cuba was difficult because of disease Ended with the Treaty of Paris with Spain, giving the U. S. Guam, Puerto Rico, and Philippines. The biggest problem was what to do with the Philippines because he didn’t wasn’t to give it back to Spain because Spain mistreated them Felt they couldn’t govern themselves because it could start an anarchy or Germany could try and take over, possibly starting a World War Granger’s Goals for Farmers:Original goal was self improvement, but eventually the improvement of the farmer’s collective plight. Didn’t was them to be dependent on trusts anymore.
Wanted to start Co-ops. Own grain elevators and warehouses for producer. Most ambitious thing was trying to manufacture harvesting machinery, but it didn’t work. Wanted to regulate.
Railway rates and storage fees charged by operators or warehouses and grain elevators. Was for farmers to come together and to be more collective.Read also Credit Mobilier Scandal ApushDawes-Severalty Act: Began in 1887 Designed to break up Native American tribes Offered individual families 160 acres of free land Extra land that wasn’t given to Indians was sold to railroad companies and the profits were used to educate the Native Americans Completely ignored traditional indian cultureIt tried to force Indians to assimilate to the white man’s way of life Homestead Act: Began in 1862 Opposed by the south before secession Settler could get 160 acres of land if he or she lived on it for 5 years, improved it, and paid a nominal fee or $30 (or $1. 25/acre) Purpose was to get ride of excess land in the west and to get more people to come west Many large corporations were paying individuals to get land for them It marked a drastic change from previous policy About 5X more people purchased land than took this landRadical Reconstruction: Compromise of 1877 Ended the election of 1876 Southern states wouldn’t oppose the election of republican of Rutherford B. Hayes as president, despite the massive election irregularities Union Army stopped enforcing reconstruction legislation in the south, ending reconstruction Electoral Count Act: Electoral deadlock was to be broken by this Passed by congress in 1877 Set up Electoral Commission of 15 men Social Darwinism: Survival of the fittest The United States thought that they were the bestA philosophy derived from Charles Darwin saying everyone who is rich worked hard for it and everyone is poor just did not work hard enough and was lazy Used to justify vast difference between rich and poor, and control that U.
S. and Europe maintained over other parts of the world Long Drive: A trail made to herd cattle across the country It was easy because it was completely open land New settlers came Built barbed wire fences and small farms, which were hard for cattle farmers to get around Overgrazing also caused the long drive to be difficultCattle ranchers began selectively breeding Steps farmers took to attempt to better their situation at the end of the 19th century: Had to buy expensive machinery to plant and harvest their crop Increased speed of harvesting wheat Focused to a single cash crop Twine Binder and Combine which reaped and bagged the grain Organized the farmer’s alliance Created the National Grange Populist party Farmer’s were poor business people Irrigation Sodbusters New Immigrants: 1880s, came from southern and eastern europeItalians, Croats, Slovaks, Greeks, and Poles Orthodox churches or synagogues (most) Came from countries with little history of Democratic government, little opportunities for advancement, illiterate, impoverished, and preferred jobs in jam packed cities that the farms By 20th century, they were 66% of incoming American immigrants Tended to live together with people like themselves in the big cities Some Americans were scared that some of the new immigrants could not assimilate to life in the new land Old Immigrants:Came from British Isles and Western Europe Mostly Germany and Scandinavia Usually Protestant, many Catholic Irish and many Catholic Germans High literacy rate Used to some kind of representative government Fit relatively easily into American society Many took up farming Wabash Case: The farmers were protesting against the railroads causing them to go bankrupt Groups like the Grange and many midwestern legislatures tried to regulate the railroad monopoly Case said individual states had no power to regulate interstate commerce Plessy V. Ferguson: 896, gave the south permission to discriminate on the basis of color in public places It happened because a ? white man refused to give up his seat on an all white railroad car “Separate but equal” facilities were constitutional under the “equal protection” clause of the 14th amendment It upheld the Jim Crow laws Cross of Gold Speech: Given by Democrat William Jennings Bryan Bryan was nominated the day after he gave this speech (1996) Pro silver Unlimited coinage of silver at ration of 16 oz. Silver: 1 oz. Gold Current value was 32:1Silver in a dollar would be worth about $0.
50 It was such a big deal because most Democrats were against free coinage of silver It divided the Democratic party, so the Republicans won William Jennings Bryan: Democratic candidate in 1896 Gave the Cross of Gold Speech Supported free coinage of silver Populists supported him in the election of 1896 and became the “demo-pop” party Most original populists refused to support Bryan and their party went down W. E. B. du Bois: He supported blacks He wanted social and economic equality for blacksHe helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1910 Wanted “talented 10th” of of blacks to be given full rights as American citizens Booker T.
Washington: He supported blacks He believed education was most important He avoided the issue of social equality He was called in 1881 to head the black normal and industrial school at Tuskagee, Alabama Self-help approach approach to solving the nation’s problems was labeled “accommodations” because it stopped short of directly challenging white supremacy Born into slavery in the SouthHe knew whites weren’t ready to accept blacks as equals He promoted economic independence Pullman Strike: In response to the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 Railroad workers were upset because wages were being cute Pullman workers lost their Union leader They went to Eugene V. Debs, the leader of the American Railway Union for help He united all railroad workers across the nation to support the Pullman workers Workers refused to deal with any trains that had a Pullman car attached A lot of mail slowed down or stopped because many pullman cars were attached to mail cars All railroad traffic stopped and so did mail deliveryCleveland ordered them to stop but they refused to they were jailed In 1895, the supreme court ruled the work injunctions to break the strikes were justified in the support of interstate commerce Gave employers permission to destroy labor unions HUGE blow to labor unions Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: “Preventive intervention”Latin American nations such as Venezuela and the Dominican Republic owed European countries money European nations were starting to get mad because the Latin American nations weren’t paying them back America did not want European nations to have to come to Latin America because it would have been in violation of the Monroe Doctrine America said that if the Latin American nations couldn’t pay off their debts, then they would take the debts and pay back the European nations themselves Nobody could push around the Latin American nations except Uncle Sam (America) Roosevelt changed the meaning of the Monroe Doctrine from “You shall not intervene” to “We will intervene to stop you from intervening” Caribbean people were not happy with this because they felt the United States was becoming too powerful This promoted the “bad neighbor” policy National Labor Union: Lasted 6 years Skilled workers, unskilled workers, and farmers Excluded chinese Made little effort to include blacks and women Fought for arbitration of industrial disputes Wanted 8 hour work days Lost momentum because of the Depression of the 1870s Knights of Labor: It was a secret organization Wanted to include EVERYBODY except non-producers (liquor dealers, professional gamblers, lawyers, bankers, and stockbrokers) and chinese Supported the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 Supported the Contract Labor Law of 1885Wanted economic and social reforms, such as health and safety codes Wanted industrial arbitration, 8 hour work days, equal pay for men and women, child labor laws, safety and sanitary codes, federal income tax, and government ownership of railroad and telegraph lines When successful against J. Gould’s Railroad, it germ to ? million people 1886, ? their strikes failed Some wanted to overthrow the American government (anarchists) Haymarket square: labor disputes in Chicago protesting brutalities by the authorities Someone threw a bomb killing several dozen people, including policemen 8 anarchists were charged with this Unable to prove they had anything to do with the bomb 5 were sentenced to death, 1 of whom committed suicideOther 3 were given stiff prison terms 6 years later, governor if Illinois pardoned them Conservatives disagreed with this decision Public associated the Knights of Labor with Anarchists even though they had nothing to do with each other Future strikes weren’t as successful Failed because they had skilled and unskilled laborers Unskilled Laborers were easy to be replaced by scabs, but skilled laborers were harder to replace American Federation of Labor: Skilled Laborers were harder to replace than unskilled laborers, so they created their own union It was an association of which self-governing national unions joined Made up of many separate unionsIndividuals couldn’t join, you had to be part of an existing labor union, then your union had to join It was started by Samuel Gompers He did not like politics, but he wanted economic strategies and goals Better wages, hours, and working conditions Didn’t want to be concerned with social or political issues Only skilled workers Main goal was for everyone in the shop to be part of the union He would strike a walk out if he didn’t get what he wanted Biggest weakness was only 3% of the working people joined it By 1900, attitudes towards workers were starting to change and people were beginning to appreciate the rights of workers Employers were still fighting unions Helen Hunt Jackson:She was a Massachusetts writer of children’s literature Wrote “A Century of Dishonor” in 1881 It showed how awful the government was treating the Indians Wrote “Ramona” in 1884 It was a love story of injustice to the California Indians Inspired sympathy for the Indians Open Door Policy: Secretary of State John Hay developed this Respect Chinese rights and ideal of fair compensation Italy was the only place that unconditionally accepted it because it was the only major power without leasehold or sphere of influence in China Britain, Germany, France, and Japan all accepted it with the condition that all others accept unconditionally Russia refused, but Hay took it as acceptance 1899, U. S. as scared the countries with “spheres of influence” on China might choose to limit or restrict trade to and from their respective areas Hay sent notes to each country who held power in China asking them to keep trade open and tariffs low Chinese hated this Chinese “boxers” wanted to get rid of all foreigners Sherman Anti-Trust Act: Purpose was to break up trusts such as the one Rockefeller created and Standard Oil Company Did not distinguish between good and bad trusts There were legal loopholes that clever corporation lawyers could wriggle It was used to curb labor unions or labor combinations that were restraining trade It was too vague to be enforced or too many ways to get around it Acquisition of the Philippines: Americans won the Spanish-American war against Spain Spain was trying to control Cuba America hated how mean Spain was, so they fought themEnded with the Treaty of Paris in 1898 giving the United States: Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines Didn’t know what to do with the Philippines because there would be anarchy if they were given independence and was afraid that some other European nation could come and take control Battle of Wounded Knee: 1890, Ghost Dance Cult spread to the Dakota Sioux and federal government tried to outlaw it More Indians were injured or killed than whites, and Indians lost White Christian Reformists tried to force Indians to assimilate to their ways Afraid of the Ghost Dance, American troops had to go with reformists It was more of a massacre than a battle Sun/Ghost Dance: Caused the Battle of Wounded Knee Indians trying to call spirits of dead warriors to inspire the younger ones to fight Crushed at the Battle of Wounded Knee after Spreading the Dakota Sioux Led to the Dawes Act of 1887Tried to reform Indians and turn them into “white” citizens It didn’t do much good Buffalo Annihilation: Buffalo was essential to Native American life It was plentiful re civil war Herds sometimes stopped or slowed down railroads Many Times, Buffalo were killed for food, clothes, or sport By 1885, there were less than 1,000 buffalo left It shows how greedy American became once they got control of the continent Richard Olney: Cleveland’s Secretary of State He was authorized to inform Britain that while trying to gain control of Venezuela, they were violating the Monroe Doctrine He said that the United States was going to begin strongly enforcing the Monroe Doctrine McKinley: Republican candidate in 1996He won the election against democrat Bryan (also supported by Populists) He was strongly supported by Hanna His platform was gold standard, even though he want completely for it Wanted world wide god silver standard Pro protective tariff Wanted campaign focus to be tariffs Republicans had $16 million while Democrats had $1 million for the election McKinley was accused of buying his way in Mark Hanna: Strong Republican Supported McKInley Believed the function of the government was to support business Pro big business Believed in trickle down effect Pro protective tariff Wanted campaign focus to be about tariffs Took advantage of Bryan’s unpopularity and used extra money (slush fund) to pass out propaganda
