HIST+382+Midterm+S18


 * Take-home Mid-term Exam**

Paper due by 5 pm on Friday, 2 March.

Paper should be 5-7 pages, double-spaced. If you need more pages, go for it. But make sure that your prose is tight, not bla-bla-bla.

Grading will be by means of the material on this wiki page: http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/Grading+Rubric

What I am looking for is how much you have learned this semester: how well you concentrated in class and how much of the reading you completed and absorbed.

What then are your takeaways from each of the sections in BOLD CAPS below?


 * GILDED AGE**

Video: The Emergence of Modern America: The Gilded Age (33:26) []

Video: Gilded Age Politics (Crash Course US History 26) (13:50) []

Video: Gilded Age Review (Mr. Betts) https://youtu.be/ISNYstqOET8


 * CITIES**


 * Political Machines/Political Bosses**

Urban growth strained city government.

Video: Political Machines (5:08) []

Political machines and their bosses filled in the cracks for immigrants Solving problems of everyday life: Son arrested Husband needed a job Family needed coal for furnace Traded such favors for votes

Political bosses made money on: Public contracts (trash collection, for example) Utility or streetcar franchises Distribution of city jobs

Video: Boss Tweed (Justin Bieber's "Baby" Parody) (Mr. Betts) http://youtu.be/BKRkEKi0Qw0

Video: Thomas Nast's crusade against Boss Tweed: exploring the power of the editorial cartoon https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=Xz6I-Nk3Tas

George Washington Plunkitt of Tammany Hall (National Humanities Center) http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/gilded/power/text7/plunkitt.pdf

George Washington Plunkett https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Plunkitt


 * Social workers: Settlement Houses**

Video: Jane Addams []

Key name: Jane Addams

Hull House in Chicago (1889).

Located in center–city, immigrant neighborhoods. Staffers: young; middle–class; college–educated; white women.

Emphasis placed on:. English language classes Courses in cooking, sewing, and household skills Infant welfare clinics Bathhouses

Jane Addams | National Women's History Museum []

Video: Jane Addams & The Hull House []


 * Vaudeville**

Learn about Vaudeville http://www.virtualvaudeville.com/hypermediaNotes/WhatIsVaudevilleF.html

Vaudeville: A History http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma02/easton/vaudeville/vaudevillemain.html

Video: What is Vaudeville? https://youtu.be/6BHyx8DzlA0

Video: Before there was television, there was vaudeville https://youtu.be/Rm4uiALzTcs


 * IMMIGRATION**

Roman Catholics and Immigration in Nineteenth-Century America (National Humanities Center) []

Antwerp to Ellis Island: Journey of a Lifetime []

Video: Growth, Cities, and Immigration: Crash Course US History #25 []


 * Push factors:of immigration**

Wars Unemployment Food shortages Anti–Semitism (Poland and Russia). German Jews versus Polish/Russian Jews


 * Pull factors**:

America as a land of opportunity Patterns of settlement and adaptation. Role of chain migration. Role of return migration.


 * The "new" immigration.**

Change in origin: Scotch-Irish and German earlier Irish during famine time (1848)

The new immigrants (1880-1920) Catholic and Jewish http://www.ushistory.org/us/38c.asp

U.S. has always had immigration: Asylum of liberty.

Source of immigration changed. Prior immigrants: northern and western Europe and the British Isles. New immigrants: eastern and southern Europe.


 * Characteristics of newer immigrants (1890-1900)**

Generally poor Often illiterate Jewish or Catholic Catholicism became largest American religion Had very different customs. Most settled in eastern cities Few settled in South.


 * Immigrant cultures**

Role of ethnic enclaves: preserve culture

Ethnic associations Newspapers Schools (tied to religion: parochial and rabbinical) Churches Restaurants Stores

How to strike a balance between **assimilation and ethnic identity** Melting pot or salad bowl as appropriate metaphor?


 * Generational divide**

First generation: not speak English Second generation: not speak native tongue Third generation: aware of heritage

Angel Island: Pacific Coast equivalent to Ellis Island

Video: Story behind the poems at Angel Island https://youtu.be/f_EQY-0ThOM

Mark Twain on Chinese immigration http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/riseind/chinimms/twain.html

Denis Kearney http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/riseind/chinimms/holton.html

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: Video https://youtu.be/lQ8FJY-Ylxs Text https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/chinese-immigration

[]
 * Social Darwinism versus Social Gospel (NHC)**


 * Nativism response to immigration**

Distrust of foreigners by "natives" a consistent theme in U.S. history.

New immigrants were particularly seen as utterly alien Threaten "American" values based on their language, religion, and culture.

Protestant Paranoia: The American Protective Association Oath []


 * GROWTH OF BIG BUSINESS**

Video: American innovation (7:18) https://youtu.be/COdwYw39MAI

Video: The age of big business (7:47) https://youtu.be/7RmmdZuSOmI

U.S. had extensive natural resources
 * Coal, iron, timber, petroleum, and waterpower.

U.S. had abundant labor
 * Ex–farm families
 * Immigrants.

U.S. became the largest free trade market in the world.
 * Role of the railroad in knitting the country together.
 * A nationwide transportation network.

Investors liked the profit outlook.

Government at all levels helped business:
 * Money
 * Land
 * Stability
 * Upheld private property
 * Laissez–faire approach.

Accelerated technological innovation: new inventions

U.S. had capable business leadership


 * Called captains of industry by their admirers
 * Called robber barons by their critic


 * Horatio Alger**

Rags to Riches stories

Horatio Alger https://web.stanford.edu/dept/SUL/library/prod/depts/dp/pennies/1860_alger.html


 * John D. Rockefeller=oil**

Video: John D. Rockefeller bio (9:13) []

First Oil Well in U.S. Strikes Oil http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/July-August-08/On-this-Day--First-Oil-Well-in-U-S--Strikes-Oil.html

Standard Oil Ordered to Dissolve http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/May-June-08/On-this-Day--Standard-Oil-Ordered-to-Dissolve.html


 * Andrew Carnegie=steel**

Video: Andrew Carnegie (8:39) []

Andrew Carnegie, The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/gilded/progress/text7/carnegie.pdf


 * J.P. Morgan=investment banking**

J.P. Morgan [Read down to the heading "Unsuccessful Ventures" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._P._Morgan

Video: JP Morgan (9:55) https://youtu.be/CGDvFBJ2aKU


 * Henry Ford=Mass production of the automobile.**

Henry Ford (Today in History, Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jul30.html

Assembly–line methods (1913) Model T cars cheap and readily available.

The First Model-T Ford Is Produced http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/September-October-08/On-this-Day--The-First-Model-T-Ford-Is-Produced.html


 * Cornelius Vanderbilt=railroads **

Cornelius Vanderbilt as Robber Barron []

Video: Cornelius Vandebilt (6:32) []


 * Thomas Edison**

Video: Thomas Edison (Bio.com) []

Thomas Edison Develops Incandescent Light-Bulb []

Thomas Edison Announces Invention of Phonograph []


 * Frederick Taylor=efficiency expert**

Emphasis on efficient production using Scientific management methods Time studies.

Frederick Taylor http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0320.html


 * LABOR**

Video: Workers and labor unions (6:00) https://youtu.be/l_tE26TUNgc


 * Changing status of labor**
 * Industrialization changed the nature of work
 * Power of employers increased
 * Worker independence and self-respect declined
 * Industrial workers were employees rather than crafts persons
 * Robot-like tasks made them feel like machines.
 * Emphasis on quantity over quality dehumanized the workplace
 * Workers resisted these trends
 * Worker resistance only led employers to tighten restrictions

Iron law of wages
 * Employees paid according to conditions of supply and demand.
 * Employers would set wages as low as possible

At a level where some persons would accept the work

Companies hired women and children to further cut costs
 * Prevailing free–market views stifled protective legislation for workers
 * Employers denied responsibility for employees' well–being.
 * Repetitive work decreased concentration and caused industrial accidents.

No workers' comp at the time. If you got hurt, tough luck.
 * Is beating down the worker a prerequisite for industrialization? Should we care how Thailand runs its factories today?
 * Courts reinforced iron law of wages

Denied workers the right to bargain collectively Wages a private negotiation b/n employee & employer.


 * THE UNION MOVEMENT**

Out of frustration, some workers began to participate in unions Unionization efforts took various directions


 * A. Knights of Labor**

Key name: Terence Powderly

Terence V. Powderly http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=307

Knights of Labor was broadly based: Accepted all workers

Knights of LaboR http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=910&nm=Knights-of-Labor

Skilled Unskilled Women African–Americans
 * Opposed the idea of strikes.
 * Envisioned a cooperative society

Laborers would own the companies


 * B. American Federation of Labor (AFL)**

Key name: Samuel Gompers

Samuel Gompers http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=158&nm=Samuel-Gompers

American Federation of Labor was a craft (skill) union.

American Federation of Labor http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=835&nm=American-Federation-of-Labor

Did not accept unskilled workers Pressed for concrete goals:

Higher wages Shorter hours Right to collective bargaining.

Willing to work within the capitalist system.


 * Haymarket Riot (1886) (Chicago)**

Riot protested police brutality against labor demonstrators. Police killed by a bomb thrown by supposed anarchists (want no govt) Revived middle–class fears of unions.

Video: Haymarket Riot (Sound Smart) https://youtu.be/ZT_ZWCB_1cM


 * The Homestead (1892) Strike**

Video: Homestead Strike (22:00) https://youtu.be/njBIcYa4F6M

8-Hour Work Day https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/august-20/


 * GILDED AGE POLITICS**

Party Politics
 * Politics was the most popular form of local recreation,

More popular than baseball, vaudeville, or circuses.
 * Political torchlight parades, picnics, and speeches were exciting.
 * Close political party balance.
 * [Commentators compared the 2000 election results to that during the Gilded Age.
 * Neither political party gained clear control for any sizable time.
 * Presidential elections were close
 * Swing states (New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois) made the difference.
 * Political party choice dependent on religion and ethnicity.


 * Republican party**
 * Party of evangelical Protestants.
 * Believed government could be an agent of moral reform
 * World must be purged of evil
 * Legislation necessary to protect people from sin.
 * Opposed parochial schools.
 * Supported prohibition of liquor.


 * Democratic party**

Party of immigrant Catholics and Jews. Opposed interference by government in

Matters of personal liberty Use of leisure time Celebration of Sunday. > Supported parochial schools > Opposed prohibition of liquor


 * ELECTION OF 1896**

Video: Karl Rove and the Election of 1896 (46:02) []


 * William McKinley**

What does McKinley’s election in 1896 teach us about today? []


 * William Jennings Bryan**

William Jennings Bryan (Today in History, Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/mar19.html


 * Details of the election**

Major realigning election in U.S. history Winner: William McKinley—a Republican

McKinley conducted a traditional "front porch" campaign McKinley supported the gold standard. Republican platform emphasized
 * Federal government support of the economy
 * The virtues of the urban–industrial society
 * Progress and prosperity: a full dinner pail
 * Loser: William Jennings Bryan—a Democrat

Bryan broke with tradition; traveled across the country Bryan supported free silver Bryan argued for an older America
 * Farms as important as factories,
 * Rural and religious life outweighed sinfulness of the city
 * Common people, not corporations, still ruled.
 * Election of 1896 realigned national politics.

Old split: North versus South

Election of 1896 The "Bloody Shirt" Vote as you shot Reconciliation after Civil War Lost Cause Connection to monuments discussion these days

New split:

East versus West City versus farm


 * William McKinley assassination**

Video: Assassination (1:06) https://youtu.be/bK4Qeri2x9Y

President McKinley Assassinated (1901) http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/September-October-08/On-this-Day--President-McKinley-Fatally-Shot-By-Anarchist.html


 * Anarchists**

Anarchy in the US http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history_lesson/2000/04/anarchy_in_the_us.html


 * Theodore Roosevelt**

Theodore Roosevelt (Miller Center, University of Virginia) Life Before the Presidency http://millercenter.org/president/roosevelt/essays/biography/2 Domestic Affairs http://millercenter.org/president/roosevelt/essays/biography/4

Video: Theodore Roosevelt biography (3:57) (Bio.com) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzm2EBYfyDg&sns=em

Video: Theodore Roosevelt bio (4:49) (American Experience) https://youtu.be/7_I6xUG0FeE


 * New Nationalism**

Motto of the Theodore Roosevelt presidency
 * TR believed government should direct national affairs
 * Government should coordinate and regulate big business
 * Government should not destroy big business.
 * Government should act as an umpire.
 * Roosevelt was a Republican, party of big business.

He was thus in an awkward position.


 * Regulation of trusts**

Major issue in the Roosevelt presidency
 * Industrialization had led to a concentration of great power.
 * Large–scale business combinations were then called "trusts";

Today we would call them conglomerates or multinationals.
 * By 1904, for example, trusts controlled much of American business:

6 large financial groups dominated the railroad industry; Rockefeller's Standard Oil owned 85% of the oil business.
 * No one really clear on how to deal with trusts:

Let trusts alone since big business is an inevitable part of progress Distinguish between good and bad trusts Regulate good trusts (if so, who should be the regulators) Break up bad trusts into smaller companies. Theodore Roosevelt sought to regulate the abuses of the worst trusts—the railroads, oil companies, and the meatpacking monopolies. We still do not have a solution. We vary between regulation and deregulation


 * AMERICAN EYES ABROAD**


 * Alaska**

Alaska Purchase (1867) https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/alaska-purchase

Alaska Purchase http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/September-October-08/On-this-Day--The-United-States-Purchases-Alaska.html


 * Nellie Bly**

Video: Nellie Bly, Globe-trotting Journalist (2:03) https://youtu.be/pBq0I0Ml5go

Nellie Bly's trip around the world (1889) http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/November/Nellie-Bly-Starts-Her-Around-the-World-Journey.html


 * Imperialism**

Video: American Imperialism: Crash Course US History #28 []

Video: Goals of American Imperialism []

1. In 1890, the US census declared the frontier "closed."

2. Many in America began to believe we had to expand abroad.

Frederick Jackson Turner http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/turner.htm

3. Great powers measured their greatness by the colonies they acquired.

World Colonial Empires, 1900 []

4. Britain, Germany, and France divided up Africa. They wanted to carve up Asia as well.


 * Alfred Thayer Mahan**

Video: Alfred T. Mahan (1:11) []

Alfred Thayer Mahan's //The Influence of Sea Power upon History// []

Mahan was for many years the President of the Naval War College.

Mahan's argument ran as follows:

~National greatness and prosperity depended on naval power. ~Mahan urged the Navy to shift from wood construction to steel ~Overproduction: In the US, more produced than domestic market could absorb. ~Hence, overseas markets needed to dispose of surplus ~Overseas markets implied distant ports ~Reaching distant ports required large merchant marine ~Merchant marine needed protection of powerful navy ~Ships needed coaling stations and repair yards ~Coaling stations implied secure stops: colonies ~Canal across Panama needed to link East coast with Pacific Ocean


 * Hawaii**

Video: Attempted overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom, 1893 (5:20) []

Footholds in the Pacific: Hawaii [|http://www.smplanet.com/teaching/imperialism/#EP2]

1. In 1820, the first American missionaries arrived.

2. Their offspring became powerful sugar planters in Hawaii.

3. By 1875, a treaty between the U.S. and Hawaii tightened the links between the two:

a. Allowed Hawaiian sugar to enter the U.S. free of customs duties; b. Required Hawaiian monarchy to make no territorial or economic concessions to other countries.

4. In 1890 McKinley Tariff ended special status given to Hawaiian sugar.

5. By this time, Caucasian Americans owned three–quarters of the islands' wealth, though they represented a mere 2.1 percent of the population.

6. In 1891, a strongly nationalistic Queen Liliuokalani ascended to the throne and tried to restore greater power to Hawaiian natives.

7. In 1893, Americans overthrew Queen Liliuokalani, set up a provisional government, and asked to become an American state—so that their sugar would be classified as domestic and would avoid tariffs.

Hawaiian Monarchy Overthrown by America-Backed Businessmen (New York Times) []

8. Annexation of Hawaii to the United States took place in 1898 during the Spanish–American War