3 Major Themes:

1. Rise of “Big Business” and the “Robber Barons” of the “Gilded Age”

2. The American Labor Movement: workers fight for rights

3. U.S. expands its influence beyond its shores

3 ingredients that turned the nation into the world’s leading economy:

Ingredient #1: Abundant and available natural

resources:for example…

a) Coal fields of the Appalachians (PA, WV, KY)

b) Iron ore in The Great Lakes regionc) Petroleum (PA, TX, WY, OK, etc.)

Huge labor pool: 2 SourcesA) Immigration:

1. 1840-90, most from northern Europe (UK, Germany,

Scand.)2. 1890-1920, most from

southern OR eastern Europe (Italy, Poland, Russia)

B) Migration from the deep south (poor southern whites and former slaves left the rural south and went to large cities in the north).

Many found work as unskilled laborers in mines, factories, and mills.

Strong Business Leadership: Most talented young men went

into business, not politics or professional careers (doctor, lawyer, etc.).

Many built large corporations that controlled entire industries.

Some became very wealthy at the same time the avg. worker struggled to survive.

John D. Rockefeller: Started Standard Oil (now Exxon-Mobil).

Andrew Carnegie: Built U.S. Steel Corp. Charles Pillsbury: You know, the

doughboy! Andrew Mellon & JP Morgan: Banking Cornelius Vanderbilt: Railroads and

Shipping John Jacob Astor & James B. Duke:

Tobacco Phillip Armour & Gustavus Swift: meat-

packing

Vertical and Horizontal Integration.1. Vertical: Control production

from top to bottom (raw materials to finished product).ex. Carnegie: owned mining co.s (iron and coal owned rail lines and freight ships owned steel mills (finished products).

2. Horizontal: Buying out your competitors

The effects of Industrialization:● Workers became machine operators,

skilled at one aspect of production, not craftsmen who knew every step (job satisfaction lost).

● Factories took away personal freedom

● $ gap grew between workers and employers

● Economic conditions forced more children to work

Unions established in many industries

for example:

- International Cigar Makers Union

- American Railway Union- United Mine Workers

Labors Main Goals:1. Higher wages

2. Better working conditions3. Shorter hours

Labors main tactics to achieve goals:1. Negotiation & bargaining

2. Work slowdown3. Strikes4. Violence

Managements Main Weapons to Break Unions:1. “Yellow Dog” contracts2. Lockouts3. “Scab” labor4. Strikebreakers (armed thugs)

There had been a # of localized strikes before 1870, but in 1877 there was the first nationwide strike…

The Great Strike of 1877:-wages for workers on Baltimore & Ohio RR were cut 2nd time in 2 months go on strike.

Result:1. Work stoppage stalled nations RR as strike spread to other lines.2. President Rutherford B. Hayes ordered federal troops in to run the RR. (US Constitution gives fed gov’t the right to regulate interstate commerce).-The strike was broken soon thereafter.

The Haymarket Affair (1886):(details…take notes!)

1. Homestead Steel Strike (1892): Homestead, PA.

Iron and Steel Workers vs. Carnegie Steel Co.

Gov’t generally supportive of big business from 1870-1890 (“laissez faire” capitalism).

Teddy Roosevelt earned national reputation as a “trust buster”... Break up monopolies

Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890): made monopolies illegal.

UNIT 9: The Rise of UNIT 9: The Rise of American American

ImperialismImperialism

Hawaii, Asia, and Latin AmericaHawaii, Asia, and Latin America

From the Civil War until the 1890s, most Americans had little interest beyond our shores…

Imperial rule seemed inconsistent with America's democratic principles.

The exception to the rule was Alaska:

1867, Sec. of State William Seward bought it from Russia for $7 million

By mid-1890s, a changing American attitude toward expansion. Why?

Reason 1: 1870 - 1900, the European powers seized 10 million square miles of territory in Africa and Asia. About 150 million people were subjected to colonial rule.

By the 1890s, the American economy was increasingly dependent on foreign trade.

1/4 of the nation's farm products and 1/2 its petroleum was sold overseas.

During the late 19th century, the idea that the U.S. had a special mission to uplift "backward" people around the world also commanded growing support.

Alfred Thayer Mahan, a naval strategist and the author of The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, argued that national prosperity and power depended on control of the world's sea-lanes. "Whoever rules the waves rules the world," Mahan wrote.

During the late 1880s, American foreign policy makers began to display a new assertiveness. The U.S. came close to declaring war on Germany, Chile, and Great Britain.

1893: small group of sugar and pineapple-growing American businessmen (incl. JB Dole)

backed by the U.S. military, overthrew Hawaii's Queen Liliuokalani

seized 1.75 million acres of land

conspired for U.S. annexation of the islands, which was achieved in 1898.

Cuban nationalists began a revolt against Spanish rule.

The US, which had many businessmen with investment interests in Cuba, became concerned and dispatched the USS Maine to rescue US citizens who might be endangered by the conflict.

On February 15, 1898 the Maine mysteriously blew up and the US blamed a Spanish mine. When the American public was stirred into an anti-Spain frenzy by the yellow journalism of men like William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer

The U.S. fought Spain in Cuba and in the Philippine Islands.

The 144-day war resulted in the US taking control of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

By 1899, many countries had economic interests in China (England, Germany, etc.)

U.S. wanted in… Sec. of State John Hay issued the

Open Door Notes which called for China’s ports to remain open to all nations

Secret society in China…the Boxers Wanted all western countries OUT Rebellion broke out…put down by troops

from many western nations John Hay issues 2nd Open Door Note

warning against further European colonization in China

McKinley assassinated 1901…T. Roosevelt became Prez…con’t. American imperialist policy

Driving force behind Panama Canal (to get the Canal built, U.S. helped

Panama win independence from Colombia)

Monroe Doctrine (1823): The U.S. will not allow

European influence in Western Hemisphere

TR: Roosevelt asserted US right to use military in Latin American to protect American interests

U.S. emerged as a world power by 1900

Possessions in the Pacific Influence in Latin American affairs Growing influence in China Had world’s 3rd strongest Navy Ready to be a player in world

politics