"The Gilded Age" was what the era of American Industrialization was called. The meaning of Gilded is when something is shiny and rich on the top but inside it is shallow and of something that is of little worth. During this time, The rich lived lavishly why the poor farmers and the middle class worked as laborers who risked their life everyday, made very little money, and were drowning in debts. American Industrialization had several advantages such as improvement in technology and education but there were still disadvantages such as the increase in Child labor and the working condition of workers.
American Industrialization resulted in new inventions that improved the lives of citizens and improved communications. Many business men began funding scientists and artists to create something new which represented America. The inventions of people like Thomas Jefferson enhanced industrialization. Invention such as the electric motor stated in Document 2, made trains more efficient which made transporting goods easier and more efficient. Inventions such as the phonograph and the Telegraph made communications over long distance possible. This attracted people to move west and create settlements there. Inventions not only facilitated industrialization but was a form of business itself. Many people like " Edison managed to become not only a renowned inventor, but also a prominent manufacturer and businessman through the merchandising of his inventions."(Doc 2) With factories and new invention house work decreased and created more time for leisure activities. New inventions such the washing machine advertised in document 7 decreased the amount of housework a women had to do, which created time for families to go out to parks and restaurants and enjoy their free time. The idea of Charity was also developing in during this time period. Andrew Carnegie and powerful business owner created the concept of Gospel of Wealth. It is a belief that businesses are a safe place to protect the people's money. As said in Document 4 by Andrew Carnegie, " The millionaire will be but a trustee for the poor; intrusted for a season with a great part of the increased wealth of the community, but administering it for the community far better that it could or would have done for itself. According to Carnegie theory even though the poor deny it, business benefit the poor.
Even though there were many advantages to industrialization, there were also disadvantages such as the increase in child labor, the poor and working conditions and the fact the the worker were not able to share the leisure and wealth of the factory owners had. As the number of factories grew the need for labor increased. This was a great opportunity for the families who were financial unstable at the moment but in order to make a decent amount of money to live off of the whole family had to work in the factories included children. As shown in document 1 employment of children under 15 years of age in the 1870 was only 700,000 which grew to 1.63 million by 1910. The jobs that the kids had to do were not simple and easy or safe. Many little children had to clean the machines while they were still running. There was little care for the safety of the workers. The workers had to look out for their own safety. One of the dangerous places to work were the coal mines. Stephen Crane describes the dangerous of the Coal mines in an article called the "Depths of a Coal Mine". In the article he says, " There is an insidious, silent enemy in the gas. If the huge fanwheel on the top of the earth should stop for a brief period, there is certain death." As described by this article the coal miner worked putting their life at risk but in the end they still made very little. "the miner gets three dollars per day, and his laborer one dollar and a quarter."(doc 5) It is true that wealth has been greatly increased and that the average of comfort, leisure and refinement has been raised ;but these gains are not general. In them he lowest classes do not share."(doc 3) Industrialization brought great profit to factory owners and businessmen but the people working in the factories made little profit with there low wage and few or none benefits.
Essentially industrialization brought great profit and wealth to factory owner and business men and improved the lives of the rich, but for the factory workers received very few benefits from industrialization.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
1992 DBQ
"Rain will follow the plow" this was the belief of many americans who were moving westward looking for new opportunities. Thefarmers soon found out that inorder to linve in the arid west they would have to develop a new way of living. The natural environment of th west called for new ways of attracting people to move west which changed the lives of Native Americans living on the land.
As shown by document A, th West was maily desert and Grassland, not the most feasible land for growing. For this reason many were reluctant to move to the west. After the Civil war a transcontinental railroad was built to connect the west coast to the east coast. At the time much of the west was unpopulated. To attract people, the government passed the Homestead
Act. This allowed adults to claim at most 160 acres of land. After improving the land for five years and paying a fee of $10.00 the land was theirs. With the passage of this act 100,000 people rushed to the west and the development of the West began.
"Cold weather, scarcity, lassitude and fatique."(Doc C) This was the position of many americans travelling to the west. Andy adams one of the many travelling ot the west said, " Our foreman scouted in quest of water a full day in advance of the herd. The arid west had very little rain fall per year making farming there very diffcult. Mosquitoes and other bugs were another problem for farmers. The weather also did not help farming. In the summen it was too hot and the land became dry. In the winter there were extreme blizards. Many had very little or no food during the winter like Lucy Henderosn Deady's family. Shw wrote in her diary, " We liven don boiled wheat and boild peas that winter." (Doc E) With lack of wood farmers had to build their home out of sod and fence thier plot of land iwth barbed wire. Alson with farming not feasible the cattle business rose to power and the Railroad facilitatied their business.
With the settlement of the West, Clashes with Native Americans increased. The end of the Plains Indians came with western expansion. Parra-Wa-samen a native American says, " the White men have the country which we loved, and we only wish to wander on the prairie until we die. This time the Natives Americans rebelled but white americans responded by killing their buffalo and cattle. The natives were forced to move back to reservation s where disease, alcohol and stravtion killed the native americans.
Overall as shown in Documen G the West transformed from a sparcely populated, barren land to a city. The transformation occured because Native Americans adopted to its climate and changed their methods of living to make the west a liveable place.
As shown by document A, th West was maily desert and Grassland, not the most feasible land for growing. For this reason many were reluctant to move to the west. After the Civil war a transcontinental railroad was built to connect the west coast to the east coast. At the time much of the west was unpopulated. To attract people, the government passed the Homestead
Act. This allowed adults to claim at most 160 acres of land. After improving the land for five years and paying a fee of $10.00 the land was theirs. With the passage of this act 100,000 people rushed to the west and the development of the West began.
"Cold weather, scarcity, lassitude and fatique."(Doc C) This was the position of many americans travelling to the west. Andy adams one of the many travelling ot the west said, " Our foreman scouted in quest of water a full day in advance of the herd. The arid west had very little rain fall per year making farming there very diffcult. Mosquitoes and other bugs were another problem for farmers. The weather also did not help farming. In the summen it was too hot and the land became dry. In the winter there were extreme blizards. Many had very little or no food during the winter like Lucy Henderosn Deady's family. Shw wrote in her diary, " We liven don boiled wheat and boild peas that winter." (Doc E) With lack of wood farmers had to build their home out of sod and fence thier plot of land iwth barbed wire. Alson with farming not feasible the cattle business rose to power and the Railroad facilitatied their business.
With the settlement of the West, Clashes with Native Americans increased. The end of the Plains Indians came with western expansion. Parra-Wa-samen a native American says, " the White men have the country which we loved, and we only wish to wander on the prairie until we die. This time the Natives Americans rebelled but white americans responded by killing their buffalo and cattle. The natives were forced to move back to reservation s where disease, alcohol and stravtion killed the native americans.
Overall as shown in Documen G the West transformed from a sparcely populated, barren land to a city. The transformation occured because Native Americans adopted to its climate and changed their methods of living to make the west a liveable place.
Chapter 18 Questions
1. The settlement of the West by the miners was propelled by the gold and sliver discoveries and the cattlemen were attracted to the west by the rapid increase in the population of longhorn cattle. Miners rushed to the rich copper mines opened in Montana as the demand for copper wire increased with Bell's invention of the telephone and Edison's invention of the light bulb and electric generator. The mining frontier was filled with violence and robbery. Mining became a highly capitalized industry and led to the formation of the first Western Federation of Miners. Longhorn cattle, introduced by the Spaniards in Texas multiplied rapidly by 1850's. Texans quickly took advantage of this opportunity and started on a trail to Sedalia,Missouri. The travel was dangerous but the new railroads developed after the Civil War made traveling and shipping Cattle. The ghost town of Sedalia overnight became a boom town. The transcontinental railroad was the biggest facilitator of the expansion of the west by farmers, miners and cattlemen
2. The decline of the plains Indian was caused due to cession of all native lands, which led to starvation, conflicts and wars. The westward expansion of farmers was also a cause. Th civil war drained the Union Treasury, delaying the annuity payments to the tribes. This created serious consequences for the northern Plains Indians. A war which lasted a decade between the army and Sioux led to the decline of the most war-like Plains Indians, the Sioux. At the climax of the war, the Sioux defeated George A. Custer and his 225 men. In retaliation, General Philip Sheridan wiped out the Sioux and Cheyenne. With the defeat, the Sioux were confined to a reservation where their people declined due to poverty, disease,apathy, and alcoholism. With the decline of the Sioux other Northern Plains Indians were defeated. The decline of the Southern Plains Indians was triggered by the gold rush to Colorado, which forced the Plains Indians to give up all their lands and to live on a reservation. Due to hunger the Cheyenne started to raid white settlements. This turned to war and Colonel attacked the Cheyenne Camp killing 200 Indians. These kind of attacks occurred in other Indian villages too. The white destroyed the Indian crops and homes. In order to stop the Indian raid, the army started killing buffalo. Finally, when the Indians were left with no food and home they were forced to return to the reservation. Lastly under the Peace policy the Indians were compelled to lose their nomadic culture and adopt white American culture through school and Christian missions bringing a complete end to the Plain's Indians.
3. Crop Line system, overproduction, declining prices of cotton and a weak credit system were all contributing problems to the Southern Agriculture. Although Southern manufacturing increased dramatically after the war, Southern agriculture only increased by 29% per capita. The war left the Southern economy in short of money, credit and banks. Also, land value dropped during the war. In order to restart the farming economy, the new merchants gave farmers supplies and groceries in return for a lien of their next crop. The system failed because merchants charged credit price that was 50% of 60% higher then the cash price, leaving the farmer with 0 profit and higher debt. Also, cotton prices decreased after the war due to overproduction and competition. During the war, Britain encouraged cotton growing in Egypt and India to make up for American cotton. After the war, the South had foreign competition to worry about so, the production of cotton doubled. The farmers were planting every acre with cotton to receive a credit. This exhausted the soil of good nutrients, therefor requiring fertilizer and restarting the cycle of overproduction and reduced prices. Also with every acre being used for cotton the farmers weren't able to grow food crops which compelled them to depend even more on merchant supplies. the frustration about the declining southern agriculture economy turned to anger towards the black population. Lynching rose to an average of 188 per year in the 1890's. Black riots broke out and new constitution were being put in place which disenfranchised the blacks. Some blacks were even forced to a level much worse that slavery. Under the convict leasing system, convicts were leased to coal-mining firms, railroad construction companies and planters where they worked as slaves and worked almost to death. The convict leasing system was an attack against blacks because 90% of the convicts were black.
4. In the time period from 1876 to 1892, there were five greatly contested elections where only a shift of few thousand votes could change the outcome of the election. the two major political parties during this time were the Republicans and Democrats. In the five administration the Democrats mostly held power in the House of Representative while the Republicans held power in the Senate. Also, during this time both political parties focused little on legislative programs. During these five elections platform of the candidates dealt with past issues instead of the president. The Republicans candidates "waved the bloody shirt" to bring back the memory of the civil war and the memory of the rebel south which cannot be trusted with the country's future. The Democrats labeled the republicans as supporters of the "Negro Rule". Basically, the qualification for presidency and vice- presidency was just time not politically opinions. Eventhough the five election were closely contested there weren't any serious political issue being discussed.
2. The decline of the plains Indian was caused due to cession of all native lands, which led to starvation, conflicts and wars. The westward expansion of farmers was also a cause. Th civil war drained the Union Treasury, delaying the annuity payments to the tribes. This created serious consequences for the northern Plains Indians. A war which lasted a decade between the army and Sioux led to the decline of the most war-like Plains Indians, the Sioux. At the climax of the war, the Sioux defeated George A. Custer and his 225 men. In retaliation, General Philip Sheridan wiped out the Sioux and Cheyenne. With the defeat, the Sioux were confined to a reservation where their people declined due to poverty, disease,apathy, and alcoholism. With the decline of the Sioux other Northern Plains Indians were defeated. The decline of the Southern Plains Indians was triggered by the gold rush to Colorado, which forced the Plains Indians to give up all their lands and to live on a reservation. Due to hunger the Cheyenne started to raid white settlements. This turned to war and Colonel attacked the Cheyenne Camp killing 200 Indians. These kind of attacks occurred in other Indian villages too. The white destroyed the Indian crops and homes. In order to stop the Indian raid, the army started killing buffalo. Finally, when the Indians were left with no food and home they were forced to return to the reservation. Lastly under the Peace policy the Indians were compelled to lose their nomadic culture and adopt white American culture through school and Christian missions bringing a complete end to the Plain's Indians.
3. Crop Line system, overproduction, declining prices of cotton and a weak credit system were all contributing problems to the Southern Agriculture. Although Southern manufacturing increased dramatically after the war, Southern agriculture only increased by 29% per capita. The war left the Southern economy in short of money, credit and banks. Also, land value dropped during the war. In order to restart the farming economy, the new merchants gave farmers supplies and groceries in return for a lien of their next crop. The system failed because merchants charged credit price that was 50% of 60% higher then the cash price, leaving the farmer with 0 profit and higher debt. Also, cotton prices decreased after the war due to overproduction and competition. During the war, Britain encouraged cotton growing in Egypt and India to make up for American cotton. After the war, the South had foreign competition to worry about so, the production of cotton doubled. The farmers were planting every acre with cotton to receive a credit. This exhausted the soil of good nutrients, therefor requiring fertilizer and restarting the cycle of overproduction and reduced prices. Also with every acre being used for cotton the farmers weren't able to grow food crops which compelled them to depend even more on merchant supplies. the frustration about the declining southern agriculture economy turned to anger towards the black population. Lynching rose to an average of 188 per year in the 1890's. Black riots broke out and new constitution were being put in place which disenfranchised the blacks. Some blacks were even forced to a level much worse that slavery. Under the convict leasing system, convicts were leased to coal-mining firms, railroad construction companies and planters where they worked as slaves and worked almost to death. The convict leasing system was an attack against blacks because 90% of the convicts were black.
4. In the time period from 1876 to 1892, there were five greatly contested elections where only a shift of few thousand votes could change the outcome of the election. the two major political parties during this time were the Republicans and Democrats. In the five administration the Democrats mostly held power in the House of Representative while the Republicans held power in the Senate. Also, during this time both political parties focused little on legislative programs. During these five elections platform of the candidates dealt with past issues instead of the president. The Republicans candidates "waved the bloody shirt" to bring back the memory of the civil war and the memory of the rebel south which cannot be trusted with the country's future. The Democrats labeled the republicans as supporters of the "Negro Rule". Basically, the qualification for presidency and vice- presidency was just time not politically opinions. Eventhough the five election were closely contested there weren't any serious political issue being discussed.
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