US history 1877 - 1920 study guide extra notes

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US history 1877 - 1920 study guide extra notes

Railroad Strike of 1877 - The great railroad strike of 1877 started on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, in response to the cutting of wages for the second time in a year by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O). Striking workers would not allow any of the stock to roll until this second wage cut was revoked. The governor sent in state militia units to restore train service, but the soldiers refused to use force against the strikers and the governor called for federal troops. The strike began to lose momentum when President Hayes sent federal troops from city to city. These troops suppressed strike after strike, until at last, approximately 45 days after it had started, the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was over.

National Labor Union - was the first national labor federation in the United States. Founded in 1866 and dissolved in 1873, it paved the way for other organizations, such as the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor. It was led by William H. Sylvis. The union sought to bring together all of the national labor organizations in existence, as well as the "eight-hour leagues" established to press for the eight-hour day, to create a national federation that could press for labor reforms and help found national unions in those areas where none existed. The new organization favored arbitration over strikes and called for the creation of a national labor party as an alternative to the two existing parties.

Knights of Labor - founded by Uriah Stephens (1869); excluded corrupt and well-off; equal female pay, end to child/convict labor, employer-employee relations, proportional income tax; “bread and butter” unionism (higher wages, shorter hours, better conditions). The union’s goal was to organize all workers, skilled and unskilled, into one big union united for workers' rights and economic and social reform.

Terrence V. Powderly - Powderly is most remembered for leading the Knights of Labor. He joined the Knights in 1876, became Secretary of a District Assembly in 1877 and was elected Grand Master Workman in 1879, at the time the Knights had around 10,000 members. He served as Grand Master Workman until 1893. A favorite of Republican President William McKinley, who sought a pro-labor image, Powderly was appointed U.S. Commissioner General of Immigration from 1897 to 1902, and the Chief Information Officer for the U.S. Bureau of Immigration from 1907 to 1921.

Haymarket Bombing - a demonstration and unrest that took place on Tuesday May 4, 1886, at the Haymarket Square in Chicago. It began as a rally in support of striking workers. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they dispersed the public meeting. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of eight police officers, mostly from friendly fire, and an unknown number of civilians. This event caused great animosity in employers for workers’ unions.

American Federation of Labor - was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association. Samuel Gompers (1850–1924) was elected president of the Federation at its founding convention and was reelected every year except one until his death.

Samuel Gompers - President of the AFL. He focused on skilled workers (harder to replace than unskilled) and coordinated crafts unions, and supported an 8-hour workday and injury liability.

Homestead Strike - was an industrial strike which began on June 30, 1892, culminating in a battle between strikers and private security agents on July 6, 1892. It was one of the most serious disputes in US labor history. The dispute occurred at the Homestead Steel Works in Homestead, Pennsylvania, between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the Carnegie Steel Company. The final result was a major defeat for the union, and a setback for efforts to unionize steelworkers.

Pullman Strike - was a nationwide conflict between labor unions and railroads that occurred in the United States in 1894. The conflict began in the town of Pullman, Illinois on May 11 when approximately 3,000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company began a wildcat strike in response to recent reductions in wages, bringing traffic west of Chicago to a halt.The AFL subsequently became embroiled in what was described as "a struggle between the greatest and most important labor organization and the entire railroad capital" that involved some 250,000 workers in 27 states at its peak.

Eugene V. Debbs - was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States. Through his presidential candidacies, as well as his work with labor movements, Debs eventually became one of the best-known socialists living in the United States. He led railroad workers in Pullman Strike and was arrested. His efforts led the Supreme Court [decision in re Debs] to legalize the use of injunction against unions and strikes.

In re Debbs - Was a United States Supreme Court debating whether the federal government had a right to issue the injunction, which dealt with both interstate and intrastate commerce and shipping on rail cars. The court ruled in a unanimous decision that the government had a right to regulate interstate commerce and ensure the operations of the Postal Service, along with a responsibility to "ensure the general welfare of the public."

Columbian Exposition - also known as The Chicago World's Fair, it was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The fair had a profound effect on architecture, the arts, Chicago's self-image, and American industrial optimism. In addition to recognizing the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the New World by Europeans, the fair also served to show the world that Chicago had risen from the ashes of the Great Chicago Fire. This had destroyed much of the city in 1871. On October 9, 1893, the day designated as Chicago Day, the fair set a record for outdoor event attendance, drawing 716,881 persons to the fair.

“Old” Immigrants - Old Immigrants started coming to North America from 1820-1860, from northern or western Europe (German, English, and Norwegian). They were mostly Protestants, were literate, skillful, and wealthy, and were experienced in democracy.

“New” Immigrants - New Immigrants started coming to North America from 1880-1924, from southern or eastern Europe (Italians, Poles, eastern European Jews). They were either Catholic or Orthodox (or Jewish). They were Illiterate and unskilled, and they came alone and with little or no money with them. They were looked down upon by the “Old” immigrants and treated badly.

Statue of Liberty - was a gift to the United States from the people of France dedicated in 1886 on Liberty Island, New York City. The statue is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears a torch and a tablet evoking the law, upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue has become an iconic symbol of freedom and of the United States.

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 - was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 8, 1882, which allowed the U.S. to suspend immigration, and Congress subsequently acted quickly to implement the suspension of Chinese immigration, a ban that was intended to last 10 years (in order to create less competition for jobs for Americans). This law was repealed by the Magnuson Act on December 17, 1943.

Ellis Island - Ellis Island was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States as the site of the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 to 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the site of Fort Gibson and later a naval magazine.

Contract Labor Law - The 1885 Contract Labor Law was an act to prohibit the importation and migration of foreigners and aliens under contract or agreement to perform labor in the United States. The act stated that “It shall be unlawful for any person, company, partnership, or corporation, in any manner whatsoever, to prepay the transportation ,or in any way assist or encourage the importation or migration of any alien or aliens, any foreigner or foreigners, into the united states, its territories, or the district of Columbia, under contract or agreement, parol or special, express or implied, made previous to the importation or migration of such alien or aliens, foreigner or foreigners, to perform labor or service of any kind in the United States, its Territories, or the District of Columbia.”

American Protective Association - The APA was founded 13 March 1887 by Attorney Henry F. Bowers in Clinton, Iowa. Its chief doctrine was that “subjection to and support of any ecclesiastical power not created and controlled by American citizens, and which claims equal, if not greater, sovereignty than the Government of the United States of America, is irreconcilable with American citizenship.” Accordingly, it opposed “the holding of offices in National, State, or Municipal Government by any subject or supporter of such ecclesiastical power.” Another of its purposes was to prevent all public encouragement and support of sectarian schools. It did not constitute a separate political party, but sought to control existing parties. It was most active between 1891 and 1897. Many members were Irish Protestants who belonged to the anti-Catholic Orange Order or German and Scandinavian Lutherans. The APA's goals included restricting Catholic immigration, making ability to speak English a prerequisite to American citizenship, removing Catholic teachers from public schools and banning Catholics from public offices. It sponsored countrywide tours of purported ex-priests and "escaped" nuns, who related horrific tales of mistreatment and abuse.

Urbanization - By the middle of the 1900's cities began to sprawl out from the center into suburbs consequently city's population density began to decrease. People and businesses began to move out from the central city. This phenomena was facilitated by the broadening of transportation networks including the creation of subways and more roads. In the past few decades the increase in service related industries makes distance to the city center more flexible for businesses. Pros and Cons of urbanization in the 1800’s: Pros - Greater access to goods, U.S. as world power, better transportation, intellectual progress, wealth, and more opportunity for women and immigrants. Cons - Gender bias and racism, bad working conditions/sometimes exploitation, low wages, child labor, and tenements (tough living conditions).

Mass Transportation - In the early to mid 1800’s, public transportation in most major cities in North America and Europe, was provided by horse drawn omnibus. Because the streets in those days were either dirt or mud, depending on the season, or at best paved with cobblestones, the ride was usually very rough. These vehicles were very slow, but they were still faster than walking. The word bus, that we use to describe those large diesel vehicles we ride today, came from the word omnibus, which means: bus for all the people. Then, it was soon discovered that a horse or mule could pull a load of passengers along a lot more quickly and smoothly, if the vehicle they were pulling rode on steel wheels on steel rails. Thus the horse drawn streetcar, or horse car as it generally became known, came into use in most major cities. New forms of transportation were later invented, such as the cable car or even the electric trolley (and on and on...).

Skyscrapers - The Oriel Chambers in Liverpool were designed by Peter Ellis in 1864 - the building was the world's first iron-framed, glass curtain-walled office building. It was only 5 floors high as the elevator had not yet been invented. Louis Sullivan is also credited with designing one of the first modern skyscrapers - the Wainwright Building in St. Louis, 1891, was the first steel-framed building with soaring vertical bands to emphasize the height of the building and is therefore considered by some to be the first true skyscraper. Most early skyscrapers emerged in the land-strapped areas of Chicago, London, and New York toward the end of the 19th century.

Johns Hopkins University - The university was founded on January 22, 1876 and named for its benefactor, the philanthropist Johns Hopkins. On his death in 1873, Johns Hopkins, a Quaker entrepreneur and childless bachelor, bequeathed $7 million to fund a hospital and university in Baltimore, Maryland. At that time this fortune, generated primarily from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, was the largest philanthropic gift in the history of the United States. Daniel Coit Gilman was inaugurated as first president on February 22, 1876.

Oliver Wendell Holmes - was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932. Noted for his long service, his concise and pithy opinions, and his deference to the decisions of elected legislatures, he is one of the most widely cited United States Supreme Court justices in history, particularly for his "clear and present danger" majority opinion in the 1919 case of Schenck v. United States, and is one of the most influential American common law judges. Holmes retired from the Court at the age of 90, making him the oldest Justice in the Supreme Court's history.

Lester F. Ward - was an American botanist, paleontologist, and sociologist. He served as the first president of the American Sociological Association.

Clarence Darrow - Was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending John T. Scopes in the Scopes Trial (1925), in which he opposed William Jennings Bryan (statesman, noted orator, and 3-time presidential candidate). Called a "sophisticated country lawyer", he remains notable for his wit and agnosticism, which marked him as one of the most famous American lawyers and civil libertarians.

W. E. B. Du Bois - was an intellectual leader in the United States as sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor. Du Bois graduated from Harvard, where he earned his Ph.D in History, the first African-American to earn a doctorate at Harvard. Later he became a professor of history and economics at Atlanta University. As head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1910, he was founder and editor of the NAACP's journal The Crisis. Du Bois rose to national attention in his opposition of Booker T. Washington's alleged ideas of accommodation with the Jim Crow’s laws and separation between whites and blacks and disfranchisement of blacks in the South, campaigning instead for increased political representation for blacks in order to guarantee civil rights, and the formation of a Black elite who would work for the progress of the African-American race.

Bret Harte - an American author and poet who is best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California. When word of Charles Dickens's death reached Bret Harte in July 1870, he immediately sent a dispatch across the bay to San Francisco to hold back the forthcoming publication of his Overland Monthly for twenty-four hours, so that he could compose the poetic tribute, "Dickens in Camp". This work is considered by many of Harte's admirers as his verse masterpiece, for its evident sincerity, the depth of feeling it displays, and the unusual quality of its poetic expression.

Mark Twain - Samuel Langhorne Clemens better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He is most noted for his novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called "the Great American Novel." He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age," and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature."

William Dean Howells - was an American realist author and literary critic. He was known for the Christmas story "Christmas Every Day" and the novel The Rise of Silas Lapham, which describes the rise and fall of an American entrepreneur of the paint business. His social views were also strongly represented in the novels Annie Kilburn (1888) and A Hazard of New Fortunes (1890). He was particularly outraged by the trials resulting from the Haymarket Riot.

Stephen Crane - A naturalist writer focused on economy and psychology. He was an American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism. He is recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation. At the time of his death, Crane had become an important figure in American literature. Stylistically, Crane's writing is characterized by vivid intensity, distinctive dialects, and irony. Common themes involve fear, spiritual crises and social isolation. He is recognized primarily for his book, The Red Badge of Courage, which has become an American classic. His writing made a deep impression on 20th century writers, most prominent among them Ernest Hemingway, and is thought to have inspired the Modernists and the Imagists.

Jack London - was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone. He is best remembered as the author of White Fang and Call of the Wild. London was a passionate advocate of unionization, socialism, and the rights of workers, and wrote several powerful works dealing with these topics.

Theodore Dreiser - was an American novelist and journalist. He pioneered the naturalist school and is known for portraying characters whose value lies not in their moral code, but in their persistence against all obstacles, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency. He attacked the industrial elite and called for business regulation.

Winslow Homer - was an American landscape painter and printmaker, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th century America and a preeminent figure in American art.

Thomas Eakins - was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important artists in American art history. Eakins also took a keen interest in the new technologies of motion photography, a field in which he is now seen as an innovator. Eakins was a controversial figure whose work received little by way of official recognition during his lifetime. Since his death, he has been celebrated by American art historians as "the strongest, most profound realist in nineteenth-and early-twentieth-century American art".

AP History Review Class:

If you need to divide American history into two periods, always use the French and Indian War as the divider line. This is because before the war, there were many acts of rebellion/discontent (Bacon’s Rebellion, Leisler’s Rebellion - an uprising in New York in which militia captain Jacob Leisler seized control of lower New York from 1689 to 1691. The uprising, which occurred in the midst of Britain's "Glorious Revolution," reflected colonial resentment against the policies of King James II. Royal authority was restored in 1691 by British troops sent by James' successor, William III, and Leisler was executed, John Peter Zanger Case - Zanger printed things against the British government but the jury found him not-guilty even though according to British law he was [jury annulment]) that weren’t really that serious and big, but after the war the rebellions were performed on a far more grandiose level).

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