...Highlights of the timeline were the Revolutionary War, The Civil War, The establishment of the Transcontinental Railroad, and the establishment of Labor Unions. Economic factors involved in the development of the railroad meant that there were technological advances such as the steam engine, refrigeration of railroad cars to preserve meat arriving from the slaughterhouses and meat factories. The immigration of over one million Irish immigrants from Ireland in the 1800’s due to the Potato Famine in 1840 was also discussed. The transcontinental Railroad ends at Niagara Falls was another fact that the class was informed by Frank the K. Later we were given a preview of Samuel Gompers who would become a giant in the labor movement which in the 1800’s were still using slave labor, and slave like condition is the...
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...They coordinated many boycotts and strikes that helped to bring about more desirable political action and educational enterprise during the Gilded Age. The labor movements they launched brought forth a myriad of needed programs for poor working class Americans and immigrants gaining citizenship. Organized labor brought about monumental change for the American worker. These positive changes are changes many workers today are able to enjoy. American workers today can appreciate higher wages and safe working conditions. Working hours were defined as, “Thus shall eight hours prevail; earnings and days’ work” are celebrated on a daily basis by our fellow Americans as they leave work. Many lives were lost in the battle for fair treatment and working conditions. It was a great moment in history when workers took their first steps toward unity during the Gilded...
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...the way an employee looked or has a personal issue with an employee, he/she could fire the employee if he pleases. It was really difficult for a worker to walk up to management to state complains or concerns. The U.S post office department’s management at the time lacked organization and was outdated. The U.S. postal strike of 1970 was a ground breaking two-week strike, which started on March 18, 1970. At this time, postal workers were not allowed by law to engage in collective bargaining especially in issues concerning wages. The postal strike of 1970 focused on higher wages and better working conditions, postal workers first started getting hit with wage decreases back during the depression of the 1930s. Government workers at that time got a 25% wage cut under the executive order by Franklin Roosevelt. As stated above, things were done by executive order or acts of congress pertaining to government workers including postal workers. The wages been paid at that time was not enough for employees to fend for their family and so most workers were living with the aid of government support like food stamps. According to Tara Lee, one of the leaders of the strike in New York, she only got a pay raise once, a 9 cent the first year she worked for the postal service which made her pay go from $2.95 an hour to $3.o4 an hour. it took 21 years for an employee to get to top pay. In 1970, full time employees started out at $6,176 per annum ($34,641 in 2010 dollars) and after 21 years of...
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...What did the historian Frederick Jackson Turner argue about the importance of the western frontier in American history in 1893? a. The western frontier made the United States different from Europe. Correct Why did the U.S. government decide to move Indians to reservations around the mid nineteenth century? c. The government's policy of pushing the Indians further west to make way for white settlement no longer worked because there was no land left to push the Indians further west. Correct Why did the Indians sign the Treaty of Fort Laramie, which ceded some of their land to allow passage of wagon trains? d. They hoped to preserve their culture and way of life in the face of white settlement of the West. Correct What was the Comstock Load? b. The richest vein of silver ore found on the North American continent. Correct Which is the largest ethnic group in the western mining district of the U. S. in the late nineteenth century? a. Chinese Correct The Chinese men were hard workers but anti-Chinese prejudice barred them from work in which jobs? b. Mining jobs Correct What was the purpose of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882? c. To limit and decrease the number of Chinese immigrants to the United States. Correct Which two factors helped stimulate the land rush in the trans-Mississippi West? c. The Homestead Act of 1862 and he building of the transcontinental from the Mississippi River to the California coast. Correct What did the Homestead Act of 1862...
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...The End of Reconstruction Abstract Other Americans simply tried to portray the new economy as essentially the same as the old. They believed that individual enterprise, hard work, and free competition in open markets still guaranteed success to those willing to work hard. An evolving mass print culture of cheap newspapers, magazines, and dime novels offered proselytizers of the old values new forms of communication. The End of Reconstruction Reforms in the South seemed unlikely in 1877 when Congress resolved the previous autumn’s disputed presidential election between Democrat Samuel Tilden and Republican Rutherford B. Hayes on the backs of the nation’s freed blacks. A compromise gave Hayes the presidency in return for the end of Reconstruction and the removal of federal military support for the remaining biracial Republican governments that had emerged in the former Confederacy. With that agreement, Congress abandoned one of the greatest reforms in American history: the attempt to incorporate ex-slaves into the republic with all the rights and privileges of citizens. The United States accepted a developing system of repression and segregation in the South that would take the name Jim Crow and persist for nearly a century. The freed people in the South found their choices largely confined to sharecropping and low-paying wage labor, especially as domestic servants. Although attempts at interracial politics would prove briefly successful in Virginia and North Carolina...
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...the end of the 1800s the Knights had become a national fixture and included all workers into the group such as lawyers, doctors, gamblers and bankers. The main focus of the Knights of Labor were to push for an eight-hour work day; to rid child labor from existence, to do away with convict contract labor as they opposed the source of cheap labor taking jobs away from workers who needed a job; and equal pay for all their workers. In the early goings, they were opposed to the use of strikes however that trend changed and work stoppages had become a very good tool to use. The Knights of Labor had reached its apex in 1886 with over 700,000 members however their organizational structure was not up to the task and the movement was all but abandoned. They remained a fixture in the labor movement until 1949 when the remaining members dropped their affiliation (The Knights of Labor, 2011). The Labor Movement in the late 1800s experienced a number of incidents that escalated into violence. In 1877; railroad workers in West Virginia protested a ten...
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...Nghi Bui Professor Kern History 1302 - 5055 Feb 2nd, 2015 Industrialization and reform (1870 – 1916) After the Civil War, the United States owned an abundant amount of natural resource, an expanding market for manufactured goods, a growing supply of labor and availabilities of capital for investment. In addition, the federal government vigorously promoted industrial development which stimulated the American economy to change dramatically from the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era. However, the progress of the industrialization affected every aspect of the American society in either positive or negative way. As the nation moved to the west, the United States was transformed by vast changes in technology and a large amount of natural resources which stimulated new industries. Particularly, steel came to be used in the expanding new railroads which contributed in linking the nation and created a national wide market. By the 1890s, there were five transcontinental railroads transported the raw material from the West to the Eastern markets and carried manufactured goods to the West (Foner 596). Though, the government was not able to deal problems formed by the industrial revolution. Both parties came under control of powerful political managers with close ties to business interests. Republicans intensely supported a high tariff to protect America industry. During the 1870s, Republicans established a financial system based on reducing federal spending, which helped to repay...
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...paper money. 4. Democrats opposed high tariffs and resisted demands from debt ridden agricultural areas for increasing money supply. 5. Return to gold standard 1879. 6. Republican economic policies strong favorite interest in Eastern industrialists and bankers. Reform Legislation pg 620 1. Civil service act of 1883- created merit system for federal employees with appointment via competitive examinations rather than political influence. 2. This act marks first step in establishing a professional civil-service And removing office holding from the hands of political machines. 1. 1887 established interstate commerce commission-ensured that the rates railroads charge farmers and merchants were reasonable and did not offer more available treatment. 2. ICC had little impact on railroad practices. 3. 1890 Sherman antitrust act-...
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...the first time in American history. Gas and electrically powered innovations took the nation by storm, and improved forms of communication and transportation greatly increased the productivity of American industries and factories. This is what led America into the turbulent Gilded...
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...government actively promoted industrial and agricultural development. It enacted high tariffs that protected American industry from foreign competition, granted land to railroad companies to encourage construction, and used the army to remove Indians form western land desired by farmers and mining companies. 2. Why were railroads so important to America’s second industrial revolution? What events demonstrate their influence on society, politics, and the economy? Spurred by private investment and massive grants of land and money by federal, state, and local governments, the number of miles of railroad track in the US tripped between 1860 and 1880 and tripled again by 1920, opening vast new areas to commercial farming and creating truly national market for manufactured goods. The growing population formed an ever-expanding market for the mass production, mass distribution, and mass marketing of goods, essential elements of a modern industrial economy. The railroads created 5 transcontinental lines and 4 times zones throughout the nation. 3. Why did organized efforts of farmers, workers, and local reformers largely fail to achieve substantive change in the Gilded Age? In order to achieve substantive change in the Gilded Age, farmers, workers, and local reformers sought to bring up protests and strikes; however, the government would respond with force in attempt to prevent further labor difficulties and keep the focus on local corporations. Unions were crushed by big industrialists...
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...Thematic Essay Practice – Reform Movements US History/Napp Name: __________________ From the August 2004 New York States Regents/ U.S. History & Government THEMATIC ESSAY QUESTION Directions: Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs addressing the task below, and a conclusion. Theme: Reform Movements Task: Some suggestions you might wish to consider include the abolitionist movement, Populist movement, Progressive movement, women’s rights movement, civil rights movement, and the labor movement. Gathering the Facts: 1- The Abolitionist Movement • “The goal of the abolitionist movement was the immediate emancipation of all slaves and the end of racial discrimination and segregation. • Advocating for immediate emancipation distinguished abolitionists from more moderate anti-slavery advocates who argued for gradual emancipation, and from free-soil activists who sought to restrict slavery to existing areas and prevent its spread further west. • Radical abolitionism was partly fueled by the religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening, which prompted many people to advocate for emancipation on religious grounds. • Abolitionist ideas became increasingly prominent in Northern churches and politics beginning in the 1830s, which contributed to the regional animosity between North and South leading up to the...
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...THE AMERICAN INDUSTRIALIST In the 1800s, new cities around the Great Lakes and West Coast began to form. Americans quickly migrated. These new cities represented both the best and the worst of American life. Not once before in American history had such a great number lived so close to one another. With ease these people could share ideas like never before. Although these newfound homes produced many products, they were also a major market. Now, in one small area, citizens could enjoy better and cheaper products. Technology and skyscrapers, such as the Woolworth Building, created possibilities while trolleys and cars decreased commuting time. Beneath the skylines lay abject poverty. Immigrant neighborhoods struggled to realize what the American...
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...The Laissez- Faire Takeover In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, America is at one of its highest points in history going into the twentieth century; it has so many resources and space still to provide for people. When the word had gotten out about America and what it had to provide, a vast amount of immigrants started pouring in, in search of a better life and better fortune. The industries of Eastern United States keenly employed these immigrants because they were willing to work long hours for low wages, and the rich capitalists took advantage of this situation. Capitalists and the incoming immigrants never saw eye to eye, and strikes would break out often, some ending in violence or death. Most workers had no political freedom nor even have a voice in the company that employed them because of the industrial system that curtailed their rights. The life of a nineteenth century American industrial worker was far from easy, even during what seem to be good times, wages were low, hours long and work conditions dangerous. The general issue that raised between the two, what has for many years before is that, little of the wealth being made is being distributed to the working class. This situation was worse for women and children who took up more of the work force than men, and still made half of what men usually would make. Work conditions were often tedious because workers would do tasks over and over while working an average 10 hour days, six days a week. Since...
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...column B, and the Description and Significance of the People/Event(s) to American History in column C. See complete instructions in the Syllabus for the Module 3 assignment entitled. “Timeline Part II.” NOTE: The timeline project does not need to be submitted to turnitin. NOTE: Please write your answers in a clear and concise manner. Limit your submission of the Timeline Part II up to 250 words per topic/subtopic. For example, if a topic is divided into 3 subtopics, you may write a maximum of 250 per subtopic listed. Be sure to cite all sources. Major Event/Epoch in American History | Time Period/Date(s) | Description and Significance of the People/Event(s) to American History | 1) The evolution of the institution of slavery from the Colonial Period to the 1860s. | 1619-1860 | At first, slaves could earn their freedom. When they did, slaves tended to own their own slaves. This is how it was up until 1750 when Georgia legalized slavery. Slavery was more needed in the south than the north due to the climate and ability to grow more crops. (Webmaster, 2011) Around 1808, the importation of slavery ended due to the rise in births. Blacks then made up 20% of the American population. | 2) The socio-cultural impact of the abolitionist movement including: a) The effect of Uncle Tom’s Cabin b) The Kansas-Nebraska Act c) The Compromise of 1850 d) The Underground Railroad | A) 1851-1852B) 1854C) 1850D) 1830-End of the civil war | A) After the publication...
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...HISTORY SUMMARY 1865-19901865-1900In the years following the Civil War the United States was transformed by the enormous growth of industry. Once, the United States was mainly a nation of small farms. By 1900, it was a nation of growing cities, of coal, steel, and of engines and fast communications. Though living standards generally rose, millions of industrial workers lived in crowded, unsanitary slums.In the north, industrial violence was common and occurred on numerous occasions. The most violent confrontation between labor and employers was probably the Great Railway Strike of 1877. The nation had been in the grip of a severe depression for four years. During that time, the railroads had decreased the wages of railway workers by 20 percent. Many trainmen complained that they could not support their families adequately, and there was little that the trainmen could do about the wage decreases. At that time, unions were weak and workers feared going on strike; there were too many unemployed men who might take their jobs. Some workers secretly formed a Trainmen's Union to oppose the railroads. In the last quarter of the century, the textile, metal, and machinery industries equaled the railroads in size. In 1870, the typical iron and steel firm employed fewer than 100 workers. Thirty years later, the force was four times as large. By 1900, more than 1,000 factories had work forces ranging from 500 to 1,000 workers. From 1860 to 1900 some 15 million immigrants from southern and...
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