the student will analyze important consequences of american industrial growth

STANDARD 12

The student will analyze important consequences of American industrial growth.

a. Describe Ellis Island, the change in immigrants’ origins to southern and eastern Europe and the impact of this change on urban America.

New Immigration The last quarter of the 19th century was

marked by a great deal of turmoil in central and eastern EuropeLow wagesUnemploymentDiseaseForced military conscriptionReligious persecution (particularly Eastern

European and Russian Jews forced from their homes by Pogroms)

New Immigration

All inspired immigrants to come to the United States

These groups formed the bulk of the “new immigration” coming to America

New Immigration

Prior to the 1880’s Majority of immigrants came from northern

and western EuropeDuring the colonial period immigrants were

overwhelming English○ Along smaller groups of Scots, Germans,

French, and Africans○ In the decades after the American Revolution

large groups of Irish and Germans arrived

New Immigration

After the Civil War More and more Eastern and Southern

Europeans immigrated to America Between 1880 and 1920, over 20 million

immigrants entered the United StatesThese newcomers would eventually

comprise an amazing 15% of the total population

New Immigration

Many immigrants stayed in the port cities where they had debarked

They generally grouped themselves into ethnic neighborhoodsMany lived in tenements

○ Accepting the poor living conditions because of the political, economic and religious freedoms of America

Still others, however, went on to other cities and regions

New Immigration

Some took jobs in factoriesOthers found work as agricultural laborersMany planned only to stay long enough to

earn enough money to buy land in their native countries

However, within a generation, many had started their own businesses or purchased farms of their own.

New Immigration

These latest newcomers greatly affected the social as well as the economic and political landscapeImmigration almost single-handedly

accounted for the tremendous growth of the Catholic Church in the United States during this period

Many American Protestants reacted to these newcomers with a mixture of anti-Catholicism and Nativism

Ellis Island

Ellis Island Immigrant Station located in New York Harbor was opened in 1892By 1924 the station had processed 12

million immigrantsBy some estimates 40% of all Americans

today can trace their port of entry back to Ellis Island

Ellis Island

Upon arrival in New York harbor, immigrants were transported from their ships by barges to the immigrant processing centerThere were 21 processing centersThe two most famous were:

○ Ellis Island in New York○ Angel Island in California

Ellis Island

Arrivals were asked 29 questions including:NameOccupationAmount of money carriedThe inspection process lasted from 3-7

hours

Ellis Island

About 2 percent were denied admission to the U.S. They were sent back to their countries of

origin for reasons such as having a:○ Chronic contagious disease○ Criminal background○ Diagnosis of insanity

Sadly, around 3,000 immigrants died on the island waiting to be processed

Impact on Urban America Over-crowding in the cities lead to

increased problems with crime and disease

Increased demand for agricultural and industrial goods spurred additional economic growth

Impact on Urban America New cultural items such as:

Italian operaPolish polkasRussian literatureNew foods such as:

○ Spaghetti○ Frankfurters○ Hamburgers

Became a part of the America diet

b. Identify the American Federation of Labor and Samuel Gompers.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Unskilled laborers were subject toLow wagesLong workdaysNo vacationsUnsafe workplaces

Because individual workers had little power to change the way an employer ran a business, workers banded together in labor unions to demand better pay and working conditions.


Originally labor unions were organized for either skilled or unskilled workersEach group had their own unionThe unions relied on collective bargaining to

obtain their demands○ When employers refused to bargain, union

used direct action (i.e., labor strikes) to obtain concessions


The earliest national labor union was the Knights of Labor (1869)Members of the union were both skilled and

unskilled workersInitially effective, the union lost influence and

power after the failure to win concessions in:○ The Missouri Pacific Railroad Strike○ The Haymarket Affair in 1886

Skilled workers were reluctant to support lower paid unskilled workers when the latter went out on strike

Samuel Gompers and the AFL An immigrant who came to the United

States in 1863A cigar maker by tradeIn 1886 he helped to create the American

Federation of Labor, or AFLWas President of the union from 1886-1924,

except for a one year vacationHis union accepted only skilled workers

Samuel Gompers and the AFL He organized workers by craft rather than

by geography as the Knights had Gompers also did not see capitalism as the

enemy, as had radical members of the KoLUrged workers to work with owners for higher

pay and better working conditionsHe was not above using work stoppages (labor

strikes) to obtain what was desiredHis tactics moved to be very effective until the

Great Depression○ The AFL was successful due it sheer numbers—

some four million members at its height of power

c. Describe the growth of the western population and its impact on Native Americans with reference to Sitting Bull and Wounded Knee.

Expansion West/Renewed Conflict

The lands west of the Mississippi River had been set aside as reserves for the Native AmericansIn the first third of the 19th century

The Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and other native nations had followed the Plains buffalo herds for centuriesThe advent of the western railroads and the

government’s desire to settle people on western lands conflicted with the Plains Indians culture


A savage guerilla war ensued as the Plains Indians attacked settlers, wagon trains, and the ArmyIn 1868 the Federal government concluded

the Fort Laramie Treaty with the Plains tribesIn exchange for land set aside in the Black

Hills of the Dakotas, the Plains nations agreed to leave western migrants alone


However, the discovery of gold in the Black Hills of the Dakotas in 1875 lead to renewed warfare

One of the great leaders of Native Americans was the Lakota leader, Sitting Bull (Tatanka-Iyotanka)


He became a noted warrior as a result of the fighting between the United States and Lakota in 1863After continued incursions into Lakota

Territory in 1876, Sitting Bull led a coalition of Plains tribes against the U.S. Army

The Great Sioux War of 1876-1877 culminated in the Battle of the Little Big Horn in which much of the Seventh Cavalry was wiped out


Despite this victory the Plains nations were doomed by superior numbers and organizationThe United States government targeted the

buffalo and wiped the Plains tribes’ main food supply

While some native bands escaped into Canada, most of the surviving Plains tribes were forced on to reservations


Afterward, a large force of U.S. Army troops relentlessly pursued the Plains bands subduing some groupsSitting Bull led his people into CanadaAfter five years of exile and unable to feed

his people, Sitting Bull returned to the United States and finally agreed to settle on a reservation


About 10 years later, Sitting Bull’s was urged to join the new Ghost DanceReligious movement that was sweeping

through the Plains tribesThe Native Americans believed their

ceremony would cleanse the world of evil, including the white man, and restore the Sioux’s lost greatness


Fearing Sitting Bull would join the movement and thereby lend credence to the Ghost DancersGovernment officials ordered Sitting Bull’s

arrestSitting Bulls’ followers attempted to prevent

his arrest and in the resulting gun battle he was a killed by a tribal policeman

Wounded Knee

Sitting Bulls’ followers were fearful of reprisals following his deathSome 200 Lakota left the Standing Ridge

Reservation and joined with other SiouxFearful of another Plains War, the Seventh

Cavalry intercepted the group and forced them to stop

Wounded Knee

The next day U.S. soldiers went to confiscate weapons from the Sioux A gun was accidentally firedThe soldiers feared they were under attack

and began firing into men, women, and children

Wounded Knee

When the firing stopped:150 Sioux were killed50 woundedMost of the army casualties were the result

of friendly fireThis ended the Native Americans’ long

conflict against Americans settling Native American lands

d. Describe the 1894 Pullman strike as an example of industrial unrest.

Pullman Strike

The Panic of 1893 lead the Pullman Palace Car Company (who produced passenger cars for the railroads) to cut wages as orders for cars slowedWorkers complained to George Pullman

about the wage cuts and the refusal of Pullman to lower rents for company housing

Pullman Strike

When members of the American Railway Union (led by Eugene V. Debs) refused to handle Pullman cars, Pullman locked his workers outRailroad workers across the nation went out

on strike in support of the Pullman workersOther labor unions walked off their jobs alsoRailroad companies hired strikebreakers to

end the strike

Pullman Strike

The railroads also successfully applied for an injunction against the unions to stop the strikeDebs and the unions ignored the injunction

○ Following a speech by Debs in May 1894, workers destroyed railroad property

President Grover Cleveland responded by calling out Federal Marshals and the U.S. Army to break up strikers

Pullman Strike

Cleveland held that the railroad strike violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act because it interfered with the delivery of the mailDebs was arrested, tried, and convicted on

conspiracy chargesThe unions were later sued for damages by

the railroads

Pullman Strike

Interestingly, in order to placate the unions, Cleveland supported the creation of Labor Day in order to honor workers in the United States

the student will analyze important consequences of american industrial growth

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