Standard 12

1. The student will analyze important consequences of American industrial growth. Standard 12

2. a. Describe Ellis Island, the change in immigrants’ origins to southern and eastern Europe and the impact of this change on urban America.

3. New Immigration • The last quarter of the 19th century was marked by a great deal of turmoil in central and eastern Europe • Low wages • Unemployment • Disease • Forced military conscription • Religious persecution (particularly Eastern European and Russian Jews forced from their homes by Pogroms)

4. New Immigration • All inspired immigrants to come to the United States • These groups formed the bulk of the “new immigration” coming to America

5. New Immigration • Prior to the 1880’s • Majority of immigrants came from northern and western Europe • During the colonial period immigrants were overwhelming English • Along smaller groups of Scots, Germans, French, and Africans • In the decades after the American Revolution large groups of Irish and Germans arrived

6. New Immigration • After the Civil War • More and more Eastern and Southern Europeans immigrated to America • Between 1880 and 1920, over 20 million immigrants entered the United States • These newcomers would eventually comprise an amazing 15% of the total population

7. New Immigration • Many immigrants stayed in the port cities where they had debarked • They generally grouped themselves into ethnic neighborhoods • Many lived in tenements • Accepting the poor living conditions because of the political, economic and religious freedoms of America • Still others, however, went on to other cities and regions

8. New Immigration • Some took jobs in factories • Others found work as agricultural laborers • Many planned only to stay long enough to earn enough money to buy land in their native countries • However, within a generation, many had started their own businesses or purchased farms of their own.

9. New Immigration • These latest newcomers greatly affected the social as well as the economic and political landscape • Immigration almost single-handedly accounted for the tremendous growth of the Catholic Church in the United States during this period • Many American Protestants reacted to these newcomers with a mixture of anti-Catholicism and Nativism

10. Ellis Island • Ellis IslandImmigrant Station located in New York Harbor was opened in 1892 • By 1924 the station had processed 12 million immigrants • By some estimates 40% of all Americans today can trace their port of entry back to Ellis Island

11. Ellis Island • Upon arrival in New York harbor, immigrants were transported from their ships by barges to the immigrant processing center • There were 21 processing centers • The two most famous were: • Ellis Island in New York • Angel Island in California

12. Ellis Island • Arrivals were asked 29 questions including: • Name • Occupation • Amount of money carried • The inspection process lasted from 3-7 hours

13. Ellis Island • About 2 percent were denied admission to the U.S. • They were sent back to their countries of origin for reasons such as having a: • Chronic contagious disease • Criminal background • Diagnosis of insanity • Sadly, around 3,000 immigrants died on the island waiting to be processed

16. Impact on Urban America • Over-crowding in the cities lead to increased problems with crime and disease • Increased demand for agricultural and industrial goods spurred additional economic growth

17. Impact on Urban America • New cultural items such as: • Italian opera • Polish polkas • Russian literature • New foods such as: • Spaghetti • Frankfurters • Hamburgers • Became a part of the America diet

18. b. Identify the American Federation of Labor and Samuel Gompers.

19. American Federation of Labor (AFL) • Unskilled laborers were subject to • Low wages • Long workdays • No vacations • Unsafe workplaces • Because individual workers had little power to change the way an employer ran a business, workers banded together in labor unions to demand better pay and working conditions.

20. American Federation of Labor (AFL) • Originally labor unions were organized for either skilled or unskilled workers • Each group had their own union • The unions relied on collective bargaining to obtain their demands • When employers refused to bargain, union used direct action (i.e., labor strikes) to obtain concessions

21. American Federation of Labor (AFL) • The earliest national labor union was the Knights of Labor (1869) • Members of the union were both skilled and unskilled workers • Initially effective, the union lost influence and power after the failure to win concessions in: • The Missouri Pacific Railroad Strike • The Haymarket Affair in 1886 • Skilled workers were reluctant to support lower paid unskilled workers when the latter went out on strike

22. Samuel Gompers and the AFL • An immigrant who came to the United States in 1863 • A cigar maker by trade • In 1886 he helped to create the American Federation of Labor, or AFL • Was President of the union from 1886-1924, except for a one year vacation • His union accepted only skilled workers

23. Samuel Gompers and the AFL • He organized workers by craft rather than by geography as the Knights had • Gompers also did not see capitalism as the enemy, as had radical members of the KoL • Urged workers to work with owners for higher pay and better working conditions • He was not above using work stoppages (labor strikes) to obtain what was desired • His tactics moved to be very effective until the Great Depression • The AFL was successful due it sheer numbers—some four million members at its height of power

25. c. Describe the growth of the western population and its impact on Native Americans with reference to Sitting Bull and Wounded Knee.

26. Expansion West/Renewed Conflict • The lands west of the Mississippi River had been set aside as reserves for the Native Americans • In the first third of the 19thcentury • The Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and other native nations had followed the Plains buffalo herds for centuries • The advent of the western railroads and the government’s desire to settle people on western lands conflicted with the Plains Indians culture

27. Expansion West/Renewed Conflict • A savage guerilla war ensued as the Plains Indians attacked settlers, wagon trains, and the Army • In 1868 the Federal government concluded the Fort Laramie Treaty with the Plains tribes • In exchange for land set aside in the Black Hills of the Dakotas, the Plains nations agreed to leave western migrants alone

28. Expansion West/Renewed Conflict • However, the discovery of gold in the Black Hills of the Dakotas in 1875 lead to renewed warfare • One of the great leaders of Native Americans was the Lakota leader, Sitting Bull (Tatanka-Iyotanka)

30. Expansion West/Renewed Conflict • He became a noted warrior as a result of the fighting between the United States and Lakota in 1863 • After continued incursions into Lakota Territory in 1876, Sitting Bull led a coalition of Plains tribes against the U.S. Army • The Great Sioux War of 1876-1877 culminated in the Battle of the Little Big Horn in which much of the Seventh Cavalry was wiped out

31. Expansion West/Renewed Conflict • Despite this victory the Plains nations were doomed by superior numbers and organization • The United States government targeted the buffalo and wiped the Plains tribes’ main food supply • While some native bands escaped into Canada, most of the surviving Plains tribes were forced on to reservations

32. Expansion West/Renewed Conflict • Afterward, a large force of U.S. Army troops relentlessly pursued the Plains bands subduing some groups • Sitting Bull led his people into Canada • After five years of exile and unable to feed his people, Sitting Bull returned to the United States and finally agreed to settle on a reservation

33. Expansion West/Renewed Conflict • About 10 years later, Sitting Bull’s was urged to join the new Ghost Dance • Religious movement that was sweeping through the Plains tribes • The Native Americans believed their ceremony would cleanse the world of evil, including the white man, and restore the Sioux’s lost greatness

35. Expansion West/Renewed Conflict • Fearing Sitting Bull would join the movement and thereby lend credence to the Ghost Dancers • Government officials ordered Sitting Bull’s arrest • Sitting Bulls’ followers attempted to prevent his arrest and in the resulting gun battle he was a killed by a tribal policeman

36. Wounded Knee • Sitting Bulls’ followers were fearful of reprisals following his death • Some 200 Lakota left the Standing Ridge Reservation and joined with other Sioux • Fearful of another Plains War, the Seventh Cavalry intercepted the group and forced them to stop

37. Wounded Knee • The next day U.S. soldiers went to confiscate weapons from the Sioux • A gun was accidentally fired • The soldiers feared they were under attack and began firing into men, women, and children

38. Wounded Knee • When the firing stopped: • 150 Sioux were killed • 50 wounded • Most of the army casualties were the result of friendly fire • This ended the Native Americans’ long conflict against Americans settling Native American lands

40. d. Describe the 1894 Pullman strike as an example of industrial unrest.

41. Pullman Strike • The Panic of 1893 lead the Pullman Palace Car Company (who produced passenger cars for the railroads) to cut wages as orders for cars slowed • Workers complained to George Pullman about the wage cuts and the refusal of Pullman to lower rents for company housing

44. Pullman Strike • When members of the American Railway Union (led by Eugene V. Debs) refused to handle Pullman cars, Pullman locked his workers out • Railroad workers across the nation went out on strike in support of the Pullman workers • Other labor unions walked off their jobs also • Railroad companies hired strikebreakers to end the strike

46. Pullman Strike • The railroads also successfully applied for an injunction against the unions to stop the strike • Debs and the unions ignored the injunction • Following a speech by Debs in May 1894, workers destroyed railroad property • President Grover Cleveland responded by calling out Federal Marshals and the U.S. Army to break up strikers

47. Pullman Strike • Cleveland held that the railroad strike violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act because it interfered with the delivery of the mail • Debs was arrested, tried, and convicted on conspiracy charges • The unions were later sued for damages by the railroads

48. Pullman Strike • Interestingly, in order to placate the unions, Cleveland supported the creation of Labor Day in order to honor workers in the United States