overview chapters 14-18 overview chapters 14-18 u.s. history ii mrs. vanwart

OverviewOverviewChapters 14-18Chapters 14-18

U.S. History IIMrs. VanWart

Chapter 14: ReconstructionChapter 14: Reconstruction

Reconstruction (1865-1877) involved:• Readmitting Southern states that seceded;• Physically rebuilding South destroyed by war;• Trying to integrate newly freed Blacks into society• **Ultimately deemed a failure

• Reconstruction Amendments:-13th (1865): abolished slavery/involuntary servitude-14th (1870): equal protection/due process of law-15th (1870): suffrage cannot be denied due to race

Chapter 14: ReconstructionChapter 14: Reconstruction

Radical Republicans (Congress)• Wanted to punish the South• Said they s/b treated as “conquered provinces”

since they “committed suicide”

Wade-Davis Plan• For states to govern themselves: majority of

Southern white males would have to take oath of loyalty, agree to abolish slavery

• Unlike Lincoln’s milder 1/10th plan

Chapter 14: ReconstructionChapter 14: Reconstruction

Freedmen’s Bureau• Created to help former slaves/rebuild South• Built schools, hospitals, handed out meals

Black Codes (1865-68)• Strictly limited freedom of Blacks in South• Could not: vote, give testimony, travel w/o

permission, own business

Ku Klux Klan formed Dec. 1865

Chapter 14: ReconstructionChapter 14: Reconstruction

carpetbaggers: term for Northerners who came South to “exploit” post-war situation

scalawags: term for white Southerners who were sympathetic to goals of Reconstruction (“traitors”)

sharecropping:-farmers cultivated land they did not own-gave up share of crops as rent-unsuccessful; “another form of slavery”

“Carpetbagger” was a derisive term for "a lowlife Yankee. He packs his scanty belongings in a carpet bag and takes the first steamship south, to profit upon the misery of a defeated people."

“Carpet bag and bayonet rule”

Woman is the “Solid South”

Chapter 14: ReconstructionChapter 14: Reconstruction

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson (1868)

• Southern Democrat was Lincoln’s VP

• Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction gave whites in South free hand in establishing new govts

• Violated Tenure of Office Act (could not dismiss federal officials w/o Senate approval)

• Charges brought by House of Reps; Senate 1 vote short of conviction

• *Really a political move due to differences with Radical Republicans over Reconstruction

Chapter 14: ReconstructionChapter 14: Reconstruction

myths of Reconstruction

• Blacks were tools of Northern carpetbaggers, driven by greed and revenge-perpetuated by Birth of a Nation, Gone With the Wind

• Southern Whites were disenfranchised and ruled over by Blacks

• Ku Klux Klan members were small band of renegades on fringe of society

• Elected Blacks were mostly corrupt and ignorant

Chapter 14: ReconstructionChapter 14: Reconstruction

Ulysses S. Grant (President 1869-1877)• No political experience (war hero)• Administration wracked with scandals/corruption

Rutherford B. Hayes (President 1877-1881)• Lost popular vote• Compromise of 1877-agreed to end military reconstruction if awarded Presidency

Political cartoon depicting Roscoe Conkling as the Devil, while Rutherford B. Hayes strolls off with the prize of the “Solid South”

Chapter 14: ReconstructionChapter 14: Reconstruction

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)• Supreme Ct decision upholding “separate but

equal” public facilities• Overturned by Brown v. Board of Education of

Topeka (1954)

Chapter 15: Passing of FrontierChapter 15: Passing of Frontier

• Hostilities with Native Americans caused by westward expansion (late 1800s)-manifest destiny-gold rush-building of railroads

-decimation of buffalo herds -Homestead Act

Battle of Little Big Horn (1876)• “Custer’s last stand” (Montana)• US soldiers defeated by Sioux

Chapter 15: Passing of FrontierChapter 15: Passing of Frontier

Century of Dishonor• Author Helen Hunt Jackson (1881)• Aroused public awareness of US govt betrayal of Native Americans

Dawes Act (1887)• Tried to “Americanize” Native Americans• Misguided; destroyed Indian culture

Battle of Wounded Knee (1890)• US soldiers kill unarmed Sioux• Feared “Ghost Dance” would cause uprising• **End of Indian Wars

Students at Carlisle Indian Industrial School (1879)

Chapter 15: Passing of the FrontierChapter 15: Passing of the Frontier

Transcontinental Railroad (1869)• Union Pacific & Central Pacific met in Utah• Govt allotted free land to RR companies• Many Chinese & Irish workers

Credit Mobilier scandal• Union Pacific officers created a company, which overcharged and got much $$ from govt

• Congressmen bribed

Union Pacific

Central Pacific

Chapter 15: Passing of FrontierChapter 15: Passing of Frontier

Homestead Act (1862)

• > age 21 or head of household could choose 160 acre plot in Great Plains

• Must live on it, farm it, then owns it after 5 yrs

• Difficult conditions:-drought, blizzards, loneliness, inhospitable soil

Great Plains

Homesteaders (Nebraska 1866)

Chapter 15: Passing of FrontierChapter 15: Passing of Frontier

“frontier thesis” (1893)

Frederick Jackson Turner:

• frontier fostered innovation, democracy, assertiveness (American identity)

• closing of western frontier (1890) brought about much of the corruption/discontent of Gilded Age (no “safety valve”)

Chapter 16: Rise of Business and LaborChapter 16: Rise of Business and Labor

Gilded Age (1865-1900):

• Life in US shone with wealth, but covered sins of corruption and poverty

• Period of rapid industrial, urban, technological, and agricultural growth

Cornelius Vanderbilt’s summer “cottage” (Newport, RI, 1895)

New York City tenement family

Chapter 16: Rise of Business and LaborChapter 16: Rise of Business and Labor

BUSINESS STRATEGIES:

horizontal integration: one company gains control over others who produce same product

-created monopoly (controls entire industry with no competition)

vertical integration: one company controls all aspects of a business

Chapter 16: Rise of Business and LaborChapter 16: Rise of Business and Labor

J.P. Morgan: Banker

Andrew Carnegie:• “Rags to riches” steel tycoon• Gospel of Wealth (rich have duty to serve society)• Philanthropist (esp. libraries/education)

“robber barons”

Chapter 16: Rise of Business and LaborChapter 16: Rise of Business and Labor

John D. Rockefeller:• Made fortune in oil• Found ways to limit competition; formed “trusts”

(Standard Oil)

Richest person in history?

“God gave me money”

Chapter 16: Rise of Business and LaborChapter 16: Rise of Business and Labor

Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)

•Landmark legislation to outlaw monopolies which stifled competition

•Initially not effective (politicians did not want to go against big business) until T. Roosevelt

Chapter 16: Rise of Business and LaborChapter 16: Rise of Business and Labor

science management• ensured work in factories was efficient and precise• “Father” = Frederick Taylor• popular with business; feared by employees

Samuel Gompers• “Father” of organized labor in US• advocated “bread and butter”

unionism (higher pay, shorter hours)• Founder of American Federation of

Labor

Chapter 17: Challenge of CitiesChapter 17: Challenge of Cities

tenements

• Limited housing due to high immigration caused: overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, crime, high rents

• “dumbbell” design thought to be the answer -each room had a window -fit in narrow lot, 4 apts on each floor -**really built a slum

Air shafts came to be used as garbage disposals

Chapter 17: Challenge of CitiesChapter 17: Challenge of Cities

“Boss” Tweed

• Corrupt NYC politician who ran “political machine” (Tammany Hall)

• Gave aid to immigrants (jobs, $, advice) in exchange for votes

One of many political cartoons by Thomas Nast depicting Tweed

Chapter 17: Challenge of CitiesChapter 17: Challenge of Cities

Jane Addams

• Reformer who set up “settlement house” to aid poor (Hull House in Chicago --1889)

• Residents were well-bred/educated young people living among slums

Nursery at Hull House

Chapter 17: Challenge of CitiesChapter 17: Challenge of Cities

“Oldcomers” blamed “Newcomers” for all troubles (attempted to limit immigration)

Social Darwinism:•belief that the fittest survive in both nature and society•used by wealthy business leaders to justify success

Chapter 17: Challenge of CitiesChapter 17: Challenge of Cities

skyscrapers:• Bessemer process made steel better and cheaper• Elevators allowed for taller bldgs

Chapter 18: Politics in Gilded AgeChapter 18: Politics in Gilded Age

Presidents elected from 1876-92:

• “timid” (their parties did not control Congress)

• <1% difference in popular vote-Rutherford B. Hayes (Rep. 1877-81)-James Garfield (Rep. Mar-Sept. 1881)-Chester Arthur (Rep. Sept. 1881-1885)-Grover Cleveland (Dem. 1885-89 & 1893-97)-Benjamin Harrison (Rep. 1889-93)

Chapter 18: Politics in Gilded AgeChapter 18: Politics in Gilded Age

spoils system• rewarding party loyalty w/government jobs• result = often unqualified people in positions• many called for civil service reform• “Stalwarts” wanted to maintain status quo

Pres. Garfield (July 1881)Assassinated by Charles Guiteau; party loyalist who

thought he deserved govt job

Did doctors cause infection which ultimately led to President Garfield’s death?

Chapter 18: Politics in Gilded AgeChapter 18: Politics in Gilded Age

Populist movement (1892-1896)

•People’s Party supported by mostly poor Southern and Midwestern farmers

•adopted “free silver” platform-vs. gold standard (US money backed by gold)-thought would help debt-ridden farmers (rise in money supply would lift prices in general

•Later became model for Progressive movement

Chapter 18: Politics in Gilded AgeChapter 18: Politics in Gilded Age

"You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.” (1896)

William Jennings Bryan• aka “Great Commoner” and “Prairie Avenger”• Populist candidate for President (1896)• “Cross of Gold” speech advocated “free silver”

Chapter 18: Politics in Gilded AgeChapter 18: Politics in Gilded Age

Wizard of Oz as allegory for Populism???:-Author L. Frank Baum-1st advocated in 1964

•Dorothy (common man)•Scarecrow (farmers)•Tin Man (dehumanized industrial workers)•Cowardly Lion (William Jennings Bryan)•Wizard (President)•Yellow Brick Road (gold standard)•Wicked Witches (wealthy bankers/businessmen)•Oz (abbreviation for “ounce” – measure of gold)•Silver Shoes save Dorothy

Essay QuestionsEssay Questions

Choose two from the following:

• Summarize the U.S. government’s treatment of Native Americans from 1820 to 1890.

• Explain how standardization contributed to the growth of the country between 1865 and 1900, using at least two examples.

• Discuss the pros and cons of living in a company town.

• Who were the Populists, and what did they want?

• Discuss why “Oldcomers” blamed “Newcomers” and the methods employed to limit immigration.

• Evaluate the positive and negative aspects of homesteading on the Great Plains.