American History Ch. 22-25
Terms
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- Ex Parte [(one person against the government)] Milligan
- 1866--Supreme Court rules that a person can't be tried before a military tribunal if there are civil courts open
- Carpetbaggers
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northern businessmen moving south, called this because they actually used carpet bags and they brought all of thier stuff to sell on them to the struggling south
-->NOT liked by the southerners - Scallawags
- white southerners who supported reconstruction
- Redeemers, Bourbons
- White southerners who are doing thier best to restore the old ways as much as possible; want to ensure that the new south is still run by the old aristocracy
- Ku Klux Klan
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aka the Knights of the White Camilla
psychos scaring people away, gathering up support against reconstruction, use of superstitions, then physical intimidation - Force Acts of 1871
- action taken by congress against the Klan and its members--give military rights to stamp out the Klan; if you are found to be a member, you will be jailed and held indefinitely (yeah, screw habeous corpus)
- Johnson's Impeachment
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congress is sick of dealing with Johnson’s vetoes; also, they’d caught wind that Johnson was getting really mad at the Secretary of War, who wasn’t loyal as he’d like, who was a Republican, Johnson was getting ready to fire him; so they pass a law to tie his hands and save Stanton—Tenure of Office Act (1867)ïƒ for a president to remove his appointees from the cabinet, or any other high officials he must go through the U.S. Senate—the US constitution clearly defines the branches, and the appointment of cabinet members as they see fit, but they must get the consent of the senate to appoint someone, but to remove them for the disloyalty is the right of the president (they’d like you to resign, keep it quiet and nice)
Johnston says its clearly a violation of the Constitution, so he fires Stanton anyways; Congress impeaches him for “high crimes and misdemeanors†(Constitutional wording); goes to the Senate—he’s impeached, but not removed yet—hold a trial, Sen. Ross saves Johnson and destroys his own political career because he knows it’s all just because he’s resisting them and it’s entirely unconstitutional; Ross saves democracy) - Tenure of Office Act (1867)
- for a president to remove a member of his cabinet or any other high official, he must get the consent of the Senate
- Seward's Folly
- 1867- Secretary of State, William Seward, purchases Alaska cheap from Russia, which everyone thought was rediculous, though it actually became quite valuable with all of the oil
- Election of 1868
- well, since everyone hates Johnson, he's not going to run again; Republicans--Grant, Democrats--Horatio Seymore; Grant elected
- Credit Mobilier Scandal
- 1872—railroad scandal; congressmen lose their jobs because of it; after the C.W. and during reconstruction, a top priority for congress was developing the West and how to do it, and that means a focus on transportation, Union-Pacific R.R. Co. formed to make it happen, and congress puts up the money for it; leaders of the U.-P. get together and form a construction company that’ll help build and do just about all of the work to put it together (Credit-Mobilier); congress in charge of cash, will—contractors bid on it (that’s what mom does!)—so congress has to pick the best price; U.-P. gets stock in Credit Mobilier, but if it goes, so goes the value of stock, so Credit Mobilier meets with a few congressmen and offers them stock, and the more money they put in, the higher the value of their stock is (BRIBERY!!!!); it gets busted, and the papers are all over it, of course, even the Vice President gets dragged in to accepting money from Credit-Mobilier; underscores the level of corruption
- Whiskey Ring Scandal
- you have to pay a tax if you’re a producer of whiskey; some of the tax-collectors (government officials in the treasury) were skimming cash, bribe officials to say you paid the tax; got so far in Grant’s personal secretary gets involved in it—again, Grant is slammed
- Belknap Scandal
- Grant’s Secretary of War controls all of the War Department’s supplies, so all of that C.W. junk is just sitting around or out West against the Indians, so he was selling the Indians the broken-down junk from the C.W. for personal profits (not E-bay) ; he took bribes too, right there in on it; he gets arrested—compounds the problem
- Election of 1876
- Rutherford B. Hayes-Republican vs. Samuel Tilden (the lawyer who got Tweed put behind bars)-democrat
- Great Compromise of 1877
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The election was so close….you need 185 electoral votes to win the presidency---Tilden got 184; neither got 185, but not all of the votes got counted because FL (big surprise), SC, and Louisiana there was a division between the democrats and republicans, and they couldn’t even agree how it was to be done, and couldn’t even count up the electoral votes; so they create a commission of 15 people, 5 senators, 5 Representatives, 5 Supreme Court Justices, go behind closed doors and hash it out to figure out what to do—problem is that its an odd number, and even though one is supposed to be neutral, but he’s actually leaning to the Republican sides
Democrats tell the Republicans in the room, yeah, you have the 8 votes, you can win, but it doesn’t mean you can govern, and if you don’t listen to our concerns, we’ll walk out of this and say it’s a huge fraud, but we’ll let you go and have your president if you get him to end reconstruction and pull Union troops out of the south we’ll walk out of here hand in hand with you. - Jim Crow Laws
- segregation
- Literacy Test
- everyone has to be able to read to vote; the deck was stacked, these questions were difficult, and even if you were educated they’d just keep going until you missed one
- Grandfather Clause
- if one of your family members voted in the election of 1860 didn't have to take the literacy test (way out for poor whites)
- Poll Tax
- you have to pay to vote, but not if you fall under the Grandfather Clause
- 1896-Plessy vs. Ferguson
- holding is that seperate but equal facilities are constitutional, condones Jim Crow Laws
- Lynching
- pops up against blacks (used against just abt anyone before; southern congressmen blocked all anti-lynching laws brought to the floor
- Chinese jobs
- Mines--before they were kicked out, Railroads--till they were all built, Laundry--b/c no one else wanted to do it
- Trans-Continental Railroad
- 2 parts: Chicago-->Omaha, Omaha-->San Francisco
- 1882--Chinese Exclusion Act
- cuts off Chinese immigration for ten years; renewed in 1892 for ten more years; renewed again permanently in 1902; kept until 1943 (during WWII, as a show of solidarity with our Chinese ally, we got rid of it—after all, it wasn’t like they could immigrate during the war)
- Anti-Coolie Club
- just groups of people in CA that poped up all over the place whose main goal in life was to dislike the Chinese and make life hard for them
- Election of 1880
- Hayes is pretty disillusioned because he wants to clean up the government and attack the spoils system, first president to point out that there’s an atrophy going on in democracy; for four years, he didn’t get anywhere, and so he gave up in 1880, refused to run again, and the republicans were happy about it, because they like the system
- Half-breeds
- Republicans who agreed w/Hayes and wanted reform
- Stalwarts
- other group, who thinks that the Half-breeds are all crackheads and says there's no need to reform
- Garfield
- nominated b/c of the half-breeds
- Chester A. Arthur
- nominated for Republican Vice President to appease the Stalwarts
- Pendleton Act (1883)
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2 parts:
1) you can no longer donate money to campaigns if you have a government job; you can give it to the party, but not the president; can’t play that game of ‘donate or if we win, you may lose your job’
2) creates teh Civil Service Commision to administer aptitude tests and stuff to applicants for government jobs -
Election of 1884
*imp. - Republicans pissed abt the Pendleton Act, nominate James Blaine of Maine; Democrats nominate Grover Cleveland
- Mulligan Letters
- written from Blaine to a Boston business dealer abt a curropt deal
- Bitch Baby
- Cleveland has an illegitimate son he's paying for, so they two candidates are about even on scandal...
- Mugwumps
- reformers who switched to the democratic party in disgust when the Mulligan letter thing came out
- Rum, Romanism and Rebellion
- Blaine is having a rally in NY,and a republican clegeryman is claims that this needs to be cleaned up-->insult to the irish, who refuse to vote for Blaine b/c he doesn't counter the attack and is largely wat looses the election for him
- Laissez-faire
- concept of government not interfereing with the economy; good for big businesses and monopolies; Cleveland supported it
- The tariff issue
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The big issue that really costs him the next election: the tariff (tax on imports), had been high since the Civil War because the Union needed money to fight the war; 1886-87; wants to lower it
Benefit (theoretical):
England: USA:
Widgets Widgets
$9 [(selling price)] $7 [(shelf price)]
+ $6with tariff $0
$15 $7
Result: most Americans buy American made goods
Reality: US charges $11 just because they can because it’s a better payoff for them; this squeezes the consumer, because the prices are so close; so, big business loves the high tariff
If Cleveland lowers it:
England: USA:
$9 $7
$1tariff $0
$10 $7
As prices go down, you’re willing to pay a bit more for a better product, means that they should strive for a better product, and if England drops their price to $8 and then they could make a killing because their widget is better
If you keep the tariff you reduce competition and reduce choices, and allows American companies to make a cheaper product; low tariff increases competition and you better be making a better widget if you want to keep in the game - Populists
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stuck up for the worker's rights and stuff; they believed in:
1) Graduated income tax; the more money you make, the higher you have to pay with your taxes; if you’re going to have this high tariff, you should raise some money for those who can’t really afford it
2) Wanted government ownership of the railroads and the telephone industry, so that the prices will be regulated and fair, and to prevent the over-charging of the monopolies
3) Direct election of the Senate, which are chosen by the state legislatures rather than the people—who often ended up picking people who were rich; senate begins being called the “millionaires club†- Homestead Strike
- Important strike in a steel mill outside of Pittsburg; management responds and doesn’t listen to it—hire Pinkerton’s people as security guards [(Pinkerton himself was Lincoln’s personal bodyguard, started Pinkerton’s detective agency as an auxiliary to the military)]; guards show up, fine that the workers have guns, ten people are killed, have to leave; U.S. army was sent to break it up….months went by, but it finally was broken up….broke labor union for a while (good example of people’s reactions)
- Pullman Car Strike
- Pullman realizes that really comfortable train car, called the Palace Car—made in Illinois; he actually built homes for his workers when he made these (because he owns the factory); so he’s their landlord and employer; then one year he decides to lower their wages and raise the rent; then Eugene Debs, a socialist, shows up (he’s in charge of a large union for workers in link with railroads)ïƒ he tells all of his workers all over the country to strike, to get Pullman to listen by paralyzing the railroads; a lot of state governors cry foul, even Ill. Gov. refused to send in the national guard—insisted that Pullman sit down and fix it with his workers, so as to avoid any trouble; pisses off big businesses, they run to Cleveland, he sends out the military to put down the strike—president can’t send them into a state unless the Gov. requests it, but he declared it a national crisis because the U.S. mail wasn’t getting aroundïƒ was successful, and the strike ended; Big Business says thanks Mr. Pres., now we’re going to take Debs to court and saying he needs to stop all of his strikes because he’s hurting the mail; regular courts issued an injunction (stops people from doing what they are-forced to stop the strike-and sit down and figure it out before they’re allowed to do anything) on Debs and his people; this weapon (injunction) was used for years—big business claims that it’s crippling the economyïƒ courts come down on the side of management most of the time, slap out an injunction, etc.; Debs ignored the injunction, refused and appealed, took it to the S.C., they said, no you’re wrong, and let him rot in jail
- Haymarket Square
- 1886ïƒ result plays out in the 1890s—a group of workers were protesting in Chicago, and they wanted a reduction in the numbers of hours they have to work (14-hour work day), in addition, there were some new immigrants from socialist countries a part of it (also anarchists), so they’re marching together, the workers are looking at them and saying ‘chill out, dude, we just want an 8-hour workday’; the cops show up, it gets violent, some people are hurt, lots of the anarchists decide that they’re gonna retaliate; call a special meeting for anyone who wants to come; police show up, it gets VERY violent, during the melee, someone hurled a homemade bomb into the police line and killed several cops and hurt several moreïƒ national news, spun that labor union members w/anarchists killed several law enforcement members, these people are out of control, be scared=>HEINOUS backlash against unions; some people were arrested, never could prove they actually threw the bomb but were put to death anyways; unions take a big hit, don’t really recover for several decades; companies start putting together Blacklists of people who are in the labor unions and they wouldn’t give them jobs, so people who were in unions would quit because they couldn’t not have a job, so the unions were weakened by that as well
- Blacklists
- lists of people who belong to unions which are sent to factories so that those ppl can't get jobs
- 4 Major Industries (in order)
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1)Railroads
2)Steel-key for tracks; Bessemer Process turns iron into steel; Andrew Carnegie made his cash building steel mills
3)Coal-in order to fuel steel factories and trains
4)Oil-first one in Western Penn. (just like steel); Rockefeller--Standard Oil, makes 90% of the country's oil (monopoly!) - Trusts
- shares and thus ownership of smaller companies given up to trusts in exchange for stock in the overall (stock value skyrockets); small few controlling HUGE monopolies
- 1890--Sherman Anti-Trust Act
- congress steps in and outlaws trusts; Justice department in charge of breaking up high profile trusts as examples ex-Standard Oil broken up
- Limited Liability
- 1895—put in initial investment, business fails, when creditors knock on the door, the most you’re going to lose is everything related to the business…creditors can’t take anything else—remember, dad talked about this?—you sell everything from business to pay back, but no more, and if the creditors don’t get pay back in full, well it’s tough for them; this creates a system where people aren’t as scared to start businesses
- Munn vs. Illinois
- grain elevator sues state for regulating his prices so that he can't rediculously over-charge; when something is a matter of public interest, the state has a right so step in on the economy
- The Wabash Case (1886)
- the railroad industry is being regulated by Indiana; claim that because of interstate commerce it can't allow its prices to change from state to state, that should be up to the federal government; courts agree
- Interstate Commerce Act(1887)
- Congress follows through on the Wabash case and creates the Interstate Commerce Commission to ensure that railroads charge reasonable prices; LOOPHOLE--the enforcements come through the courts, so the actual punishment depends on a judge who may or may not be entirely impartial
- Interstate Commerce Commission
- ensured that the railroads charged reasonable rates
- "Tailorism"
- Tailor is a big business guru who introduces the concept of the assembly line; b/c workers only do one thing, they are easier to train and easier to replace, so that if u got hurt it was just tough luck for you, ur out of a job; gets rid of skilled labor
- Labor Unions did get 2 things from management...
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1) Closed Shop
2) got rid of Yellow Dog Contracts - Closed Shop
- every worker that works in a set factory has to be a part of the union (this makes the unions happy)
- Yellow Dog Contract
- a contract signed by workers looking for a job in factories before they were hired which promised that they wouldn't join a union as long as they worked there
- Social Darwinism
- survival of the fittest; if you're not doing well in the world it's you own fault and has nothing to do with outside circumstances
- The Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
- emerges in 1874 in NY because of a phenomenon hitting the cities--alcoholism; stop the sale of it b/c it was the root of family problems (spousal abuse etc); Carrie Nation was a major player
- Carrie Nation
- member of the WCTU; would take a hatchet, go into bars and smash the alcohol, get arrested, but made the papers-->basically, the movement was a serious thing
- "Nativism"
- people wanted to stop immigration, which had picked up throughout the course of the Gilded Age because of all the new jobs opening for people in the factories
- 1869 and Women
- get the right to vote in local elections in the territories (places like Wyoming)
- Chautauqen Education Movement
- famous people going on tours of the country giving free lectures for anyone who'd come-->died out in the 1930s (no shit, Great Depression)
- Private Charities
- because the government still followed along with social darwinism, there was no sort of welfare for the poor, so private charities started to take over
- Salvation Army
- first private charity; gave food and clothing to the poor on the condition that they come listen to thier preaching and stuff--> Christian Charity; 1879
- The Red Cross
- another chirstian charity, started in 1881
- Hull House
- private Charity started by Jane Addams; provided a home for impoverished single mothers and thier children, educated them and helped them get jobs and be independant; mostly college educated women worked there; started in 1889 in Chicago, it's still around today
- Tuskeegee Institute
- School set up by Booker T. Washington to teach black people trades so that they'd bcome essetial to society; social equality was a nice dream, but overly idealistic in his oppinion-George Washington Carver taught here
- Brooklyn Bridge
- completed in 1883
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- Published in 1884, by Mark Twain
- Skyscrapers
- first one erected in Chicago by Louis Sullivan in 1885
- Statue of Liberty
- gift from the French in 1886
- Central Park and Coney Island
- People are looking for places to go to get away from the "cityness" of cities, now have time to have fun b/c of more reasonable work hours
- Basketball
- invented by Dr. James Naismith in 1891 in Springfeild, Mass.
- Baseball
- becomes professional in the 1890s; first professional team = Cincinatti Reds (Red Stockings)
- Plains Indians-->Sioux
- during the Gilded Age people finally started moving into thier territory, setting off large battles; sioux were most aggressive
- 3 things that made it difficult for the Plains Indians to combat the Americans coming West:
-
1) the tribes could never unite as one-all had thier own ethnic tensions and tribal problems-divide and conquer
2) Lack of technology and weapons-not used to the armaments they were running up against
3)Disease - Little Bighorn
- Custard's Last Stand; most famous battle of the time- massacre of U.S. troops; huge victory for Indians under Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull
- Apaches
- tribe in Arizona who were also fighting back
- Geronimo
- leader of Apache fighters; all of them eventually found and rounded up in trains and sent to FL (confuse the enemy by dropping them in a foreign place and they won't cause as much trouble)
- Buffalo
- were slaughtered mercilessly because they kept wandering onto the train tracks and causeing wrecks; how Buffalo Bill got his name
- Dawes Act
- passed to try to bring down tension with the Indians; offered them a peice of land to work as independant farmers; if they stuck with it for 25 yrs they could keep it, even given the title to the land; went only to male head of a family, not a tribe, hoped to break up tribes, make them individuals; if they took the deal, they were granted instant U.S. citizenship; failed b/c they were all too used to living in tribes, not out on thier own with just thier family
- Battle of Wounded Knee
- 1890, in northern Nebraska-massacre; U.S. troops end up killing in excess of 200 women and children and senior citizens
- Coxey's Army
- not oxy-10; one year into a horrible depression, John Coxey gets together abt 500 ppl to go to DC to insist that something be done; Cleveland finally has him arrested for "walking on the grass of a federal property"-first time anyone actually goes to Washington to protest
- Election of 1896
- McKinnely wins on the republican ticket vs. William Jennings Bryant (future prosecutor for the Scopes Trial)
- Share cropping
- land rented out to ex slaves, they essential hav no alternative but to take the offer on outrageous prices of rent, horrible cycle of debt that they can nvr get out of b/c of the over-pricing of rent