The Rise of Industry-ME-Jordan Fu

Although the Industrial Revolution reached the United States in the early 1800s, most Americans still lived on farms. However, after the Civil War, industry rapidly expanded, and millions of Americans left their farms to work in mines and factories. Factories began to replace smaller workshops as complex machinery began to substitute for simpler hand tools. By the late 1800s, the United States was the world’s leading nation. By 1914 the nation’s gross national product was eight times greater than it had been in 1865 when the Civil War came to an end.

                There were two necessary factors which affected the development of American industry, natural resources and human resources. An abundance of raw materials was one reason for the nation’s success. The United States had vast natural resources, including timber, coal, iron, and copper. This meant that American companies could obtain them cheaply and did not have to import them from other countries. The human resources available to American industry were as important as natural resources in enabling the nation to industrialize rapidly. Between 1860 and 1910 the population of the United States nearly tripled. This population growth provided industry with an abundant workforce and also created greater demand for the consumer goods manufactured by factories.

                Natural resources and labor were important for American companies at that time, but new inventions and technology were crucial as well. Bell’s telephone and Edison’s light bulb helped a lot in daily life and industrial development.

Andrew Carnegie-KI-Jordan Fu

The remarkable life of Andrew Carnegie illustrates many of the factors that led to the rise of the big business in the United States. Andrew Carnegie (November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. He was also one of the highest profile philanthropists of his era; his 1889 article "Wealth" remains a formative advisory text for those who aspire to lead philanthropic lives.

                Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland; and immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1848. Carnegie started as a telegrapher and by the 1860s had investments in railroads, railroad sleeping cars, bridges and oil derricks. He built further wealth as a bond salesman raising money for American enterprise in Europe. He built Pittsburgh's Carnegie Steel Company, which he sold to J.P. Morgan in 1901 for $480 million, creating the U.S. Steel Corporation. Carnegie devoted the remainder of his life to large-scale philanthropy, with special emphasis on local libraries, world peace, education and scientific research.

                As part of his business activities, Carnegie frequently traveled to Europe. On one trip, he met Sir Henry Bessemer, who had invented a new process for making high-quality steel efficiently and cheaply. Then he set up his steel company in 1875 using Henry’s process and made a lot of money. To make his steel company more efficient, Carnegie began the vertical integration of the steel industry. A vertically integrated company owns all of the different business on which it depends for its operation.

Rebellion in the Philippines-Culture-Kelsie Hewitt

Emilio Aguinaldo had called the Americans decision to annex his homeland a “violent and aggressive seizure” and had his troops attack American soldiers. This mini war lasted for around three long years. Near 126,000 soldiers from America were sent to the Philippines to fight this war.

In the aftermath of this, 4,300, American soldiers had lost their lives. They died from a mixture of combat and disease from the foreign land.  When the death amount of the Filipinos was added up, they had come to realized that 50,000 to 200,000 Filipinos had died in this war. 

Foraker Act-ME-Kelsie Hewitt

Foraker Act established a civil government for the island. The law had provided and elected legislature. But it also had to have an governor and even an executive council, and the president had final authority. It said that Puerto Ricans we not American citizens and therefore did not get to have the rights that the Americans had. Gradually, the Puerto Ricans were allowed to have a greater self-government. In the year of 1917, Puerto Ricans were granted American citizenship.

After thirty more years, the people that lived on the island were finally allowed to elect their own governor. After all of this had taken place, there was a debate on whether or not Puerto Rico should become a state, independent, or just continue as they were. 

Woodrow Wilson - KI - Violet Litke

As the President at the time of WWI Woodrow Wilson he claimed that the war was a crusade to make the world “safe for democracy”.   Wilson was a major role in keeping America out of the war for as long as he did. Supplying the countries that needed it, and not taking action until the US was directly threatened. After the war when Germany had signed the Armistice Wilson Joined representatives from three other countries making up the “big four” his fourteen points were used as the basis of the Treaty of Versailles that was signed by Germany to give them full responsibility for the war. Though the US senate rejected the treaty after Wilson toured the nation to gain support of states to sign a treaty with Germany.  

Segregation-Culture-Mishael Theis

After the US was reconstructed, Southern states passed laws that took away the rights of African Americans. The biggest right that was taken away was the right to vote. While the 15th Amendment gives African Americans the right to vote, Southern states took this away by requiring poll tax. This required voters to pay $2 and voters had to be able to read and understand the state constitution. To keep the number of white people voting from dropping, states brought in the "Grandfather Clause". This clause let any man vote as long as he had an ancestor who could vote 1867, which most black men did not.

Three African Americans stood out more than the rest in fighting for their rights in the late 19th century, these three are Ida Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Booker Washington. Wells was a strong advocate of the elimination of lynchings. While Congress rejected her ideas, she did have an effect; the number of lynchings dropped off in the 1900s. Du Bois believed in that African Americans must persevere for their civil rights, especially voting. Washington believed that instead of focusing on civil rights, African Americans should focus on succeeding in the economy. He believed that civil rights could be achieved later on, while getting an education and rising up in the economy was vital now. In the end, neither of their wishes happened anytime soon. The fight for civil rights was a long battle that would end many years later.

Booker T. Washington

W.E.B. Du Bois

The War's Impact - ME - Violet Litke

World War I effected American’s in many different ways, some reacted with support, and others lashed out against the country. As the war ended the government did away with rations, and the American people rushed to buy the food that had been limited. In return of the constant demand of these goods the prices were raised. Inflation was one thing that really bothered the American’s. Strikes started to form against manufacturers, and against products, the inflation of the products was wiping out the money soldiers had spent four years fighting to earn. Within a short amount of time strikes started to form everywhere, like Seattle and Boston over things such as the police and steel.

The strikes that had begun in the US created fear in Americans that Communist were going to begin a revolution in America. Over time the American people has become suspicious of the communist, accusing immigrants of importing socialist ideas. This panic became known as the Red Scare. Fearing that the communists or the “reds”, were attempting to take over the US. In April of 1919 the UPS had intercepted more than 30 home-made bombs in packages going to many important Americans. The United States Attorney General just believed that this was the work of radicals, attempting to destroy the American way of life. 

The Grange and the Farming Alliance-ME-Mishael Theis

The Grange was created in 1867, after Oliver Kelley from the Department of Agriculture toured the Southern region and discovered that farmers were commonly isolated from each other. Kelly created the Patrons of Husbandry, or as most referred to it, "the Grange".When a recession hit in 1873, farmers became members in large amounts, by 1874 it had up to 1.5 million. Up till 1873, it had been an organization that was mostly there for social and educational purposes. After 1873, it became an organization that played a huge role in helping farmers get what they wanted through persuasion ultimately failed.

The Farmers Alliance rose up in the place of the Grange, in 1890 it had over 1.5 million members from the Southern states and the Great Plains. The Farmers Alliance had enough influence to make some minor changes, they made cotton prices jump a little bit and got slightly cheaper railroad rates for wheat farmers. In the end, the Farmers Alliance failed just like the Grange. While they did make a bigger splash, the Alliance just didn't have enough influence.

Farmers Propaganda 

Big Business-ME-Jordan Fu

Before the Civil War, most manufacturing enterprises were owned by just a few people working in partnership. Everything had changed by 1900. Big business dominated the economy. Big business would not be possible without the corporation, an organization owned by many people but treated by law as though it were a person. The people who own the corporation are called stockholders because they own shares of ownership called stock. The stock allows a corporation to raise large amount of money for big projects while spreading out the financial risk.

                Before the 1830s there were few corporations because entrepreneurs had to convince a state legislature to issue them a charter. In the 1830s, however, states began passing general incorporation laws, allowing companies to become corporations and issue stock without charters from the legislature.

               With the money they raised from selling stock, corporations could invest in new technologies, hire large work forces  and purchase many machines, greatly increasing their efficiency. This enabled them to achieve economies of scale: the cost of manufacturing is decreased by producing goods quickly in large quantities. Some successful examples for the businessmen and their corporations during that time could be Andrew Carnegie and his steel corporation, Rockefeller and his oil corporation. 

Unclaimed Old Stock Certaficates

Thomas Edison-KI-Jordan Fu

Perhaps the leading pioneer in new technology was Thomas Alva Edison. Curious about the world from an early age, he learned a lot about the mechanical working of objects. Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. And a lot of his inventions are still well-know or using by people, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, the light bulb, battery and the Dictaphone.

                Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, and grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. He was the seventh and last child of Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr. and Nancy Matthews Elliott. His father had to escape from Canada because he took part in the unsuccessful Mackenzie Rebellion of 1837. Edison reported being of Dutch ancestry. In school, the young Edison's mind often wandered; and his teacher, the Reverend Engle, was overheard calling him "addled". This ended Edison's three months of official schooling. Edison recalled later, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint." His mother taught him at home. Much of his education came from reading R.G. Parker's School of Natural Philosophy.

                Nothing could stop Edison’s inventing. In his early age, one time, his mother got appendicitis. Because of no light bulb at that time, doctors could only do the operation with just kerosene. Obviously, that would affect the operation, especially in dark places; so little Edison decided to invent light bulbs to solve this problem.

                On the business part, an Edison company began to transform American society in 1882 when it started supplying electric power to New York City. In 1889 several Edison companies merged to form the Edison General Electric Company (today known as GE).

Women Join the Military - Culture - Violet Litke

Marines Conducting a Recruitment Campaign

      April 6, 1917 was a day marked in history, for the first time in the history of the United States, Army and Navy military nurses were serving overseas. Also, women who were not nurses could enlist in the Navy, Marin Corps, and the Coast Guard, though the US Army still refused to enlist women. Due to the public opinion of American people, women’s roles and duties remained limited, though their skills were greatly needed. By the time World War I was coming to an end women had served overseas on most eastern and western war fronts. More than 200 bilingual telephone operators had trained with, and were working for AT&T, they were in charge of maintaining communications in both localities and combat conditions. WWI was a key role in advancement for women, their successful participation in the war helped them enter into the public sphere and have a chance in the working world. 

"Hello Girls" WWI Telephone Operators

The Treaty of Versailles - ME - Violet Litke

Hall of Mirrors, Château de Versailles

On June 28, 1919 the allied powers that had ended World War I and Germany met at the Château de Versailles, in the Hall of Mirrors, to sign a peace settlement. The conditions listed in the Treaty of Versailles were used to discipline Germany, which some people believe helped initiate the rise of Nazi-Germany, which eventually lead to World War II. The treaty was discussed at the Paris Peace Conference in January of 1919, with famous diplomats including our President, at the time, Woodrow Wilson. In May the documents were handed to Germany and they were given three weeks to accept the treaty; Germany in return sent back a list of complaints, most of which were ignored by the allied powers.

By accepting this treaty Germany had to take full responsibility for any damage caused in WWI (The “War Guilt” clause). They also had to decrease the size of their army down to 100,00 men, and pay a large sum of money to the allied powers for repairs. So on June 28, 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Hermann Muller and Johannes Bell, representatives from Germany, entered the Hall of Mirrors and signed the Treaty of Versailles.

Entertainment in America in the Late 1800s-Culture-Mishael Theis

Since industrialization came around in America, people had more money to spend on entertainment. Instead of staying home and being entertained with their family, people began going places for a good time. Of course, the working class did not normally have the income to seek pleasure in the ways that the upper and middle classes did. some of these things were new to society, but others had been around for a while. 

Saloons were one place where some of the working class could afford to go. In some cities, there were more saloons than grocery stores. They served as social gathering place, as well as political centers in most cases. In the late 1800s, baseball, football, and basketball became extremely popular in America, as well as theaters, concerts, and amusement parks.

Saloon in Colorado in 1890

Baseball game at Vanderbilt University in 1890

Money Supply Crisis-ME-Mishael Theis

During the Civil War, the United States printed off millions of dollars. They called this money greenbacks, and it could not be exchanged for gold or silver coins. This caused a severe inflation, which is decline in the money's value. The less value money has, the higher the prices get so that businesses can make the same amount of money. In 1865, there was enough money for $30 per person, in 1895 the amount had dropped to $23.

To combat this, Congress decided to reduce the money supply which caused deflation. This was a huge blow to the farmers, because the money value increased so prices of goods were free falling. While they could buy goods at a cheap amount, their goods hardly sold for any money. Since there wasn't a large money supply, farmers were forced to borrow money, this made interest rates rise.

 Five dollar greenback

 Front and back of a U.S. 3 cent silver coin 

created in 1868

Jose Martí-KI-Kelsie Hewiit

Jose Martí was a hero in the Cuban nation. He also was an important figure in Latin-American literature. During his lifetime, he was a poet, essayist, journalist, Revolutionary philosopher, translator, professor, publisher and a political theorist. He was part of the Cuban Freemasons. He became a symbol of a bid for Cuban freedom against Spain for his writings and what he would say. Marti was known as the “Apostle of Cuban independence”.

He was a key figure to the planning of the war against Spain for freedom. Marti also was the designer of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. He himself came up with the ideology of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. Sadly, he died in military action on May, 19, 1895.

The Platt Amendment-ME-Kelsie Hewitt

The Platt Amendment happened in the year of 1901. The amendment went to the military appropriations bill, which was limited by the Teller Amendment that disallowed annexation of Cuba. It gave rules to the conditions for the leave of the United States soldiers that were still in Cuba around the end of the Spanish-American War.

The amendment outlined the role of the U.S in Cuba and Caribbean. It restricted Cuba from having commercial relations, demanded that they sell or lease land to the united states that were necessary for coal of making boat docks. After that took place, Roosevelt then agreed to bring troops back home and then signed the Cuban-American Treaty.

Franz Ferdinand - KI- Violet Litke

In June of 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his wife Sophie traveled to the Bosnian capital (Sarajevo), to attend military drills as instructed by his uncle (Emperor Franz Josef). While touring the city in an open car an assassin from a group known as the Black Hand, a group of Serbian nationalists, approached the car, then shot and killed the couple. The Austro-Hungarian blamed Serbia for the attack and decided to attempt to stop them before Slavic nationalism could take over.

In search of allies the Austrians turned to the Germans, who in turn promised to support them if war was declared. On July 28^th Austria had officially declared war on Serbia, and on August 1^st Germany did the same, not only declaring war against Serbia, but two days later again on France. This assassination is said to be one of the important events that triggered the first World War.

Anglo-Saxonism-Culture-Kelsie Hewitt

Anglo- Saxonism was a popular idea in the United States and Britain. It was often linked with the idea of the Manifest Destiny. They believed that the destination of the country was to be expanded on to other countries. Anglo-Saxonism was a reason or an excuse for people to justify racism.  A direct meaning would be “the quality, qualities, traits, or outlook regarded as distinctive of the English or of the people of English descent” - http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anglo-saxonism

An Anglo- Saxon is someone whose native language is English.  They usually originate from the British are of Europe. Often times, their way is speaking is rude and vulgar, especially to someone who is not also an Anglo Saxon.

Imperialism-ME-Kelsie Hewitt

Imperialism is the economic and political domination of a strong nation over weaker ones.
European nation’s investments began to slow down so they began forming colonies in other countries like Asia and Africa.  Often times, this is achieved through military force. The goal is to dominant the whole or part of the targeted country so that land is achieved.
Latin America and seaports of Asia were the first ones to be inhabited by the Europeans. Native Americans were also settled by European rule. Doing this in Africa also helped it to where it was possible to get slaves and take them back to America.

Alexander Bell-KI-Jordan Fu

Alexander Graham Bell, who was born in March 3, 1847, was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator. Alexander Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1870, Bell moved to Canada. And a year later, he moved to United States. Bell's father, grandfather, and brother all worked on elocution and speech; and both his mother and wife were deaf, which profoundly influenced Bell's life and work, especially about telephone.

                In 1874, Alexander Graham Bell suggested the idea of a telephone to his assistant, Thomas Watson. Bell began experimenting with ways to transmit sound via an electrical current of varying intensity. Eventually, in 1876, he succeeded. Picking up the crude telephone, he called the next door, saying, “Come here, Watson, I want you.” Watson heard and came. Gradually, telephones revolutionized business and personal communication.

                In 1877, Bell organized the Bell Telephone Company, which eventually became the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T). As we all know, AT&T is one of the biggest multinational telecommunications corporations in America now.

Transcontinental Railroad-ME-Jordan Fu

                Although in 1865 the United States had about 35000 miles of railroad track, almost all of it located at the east of Mississippi River. After the Civil War, railroad construction expanded dramatically, linking the distant region of the nation in a transportation network. The railroad track construction is known as the Transcontinental Railroad now.

                The railroad boom began in 1862, when President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act. This act provided for the construction of a transcontinental railroad by two corporations, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific. At that time, they didn't have enough labor and sources to build the railroad. They had to be transported from the Missouri River. And in order to get labors, they employed people from other countries, like China. The Central Pacific starting from the west, laid a total of 688 miles of track; while, the Union Pacific starting from the east, laid 1086 miles. On May 10, 1869, hundreds of spectators gathered at Promontory, Utah, to watch dignitaries hammer five gold and silver spikes into the final rails that would join the Union Pacific and Central Pacific.

Immigrants in America-Culture-Mishael Theis

Nearly 25 million Europeans came to America in between 1865 and 1914. Many came to for jobs and a hope of a better life, some other reasons were high food prices, unwanted military force, and religious persecution. In Europe, social classes were still in place, while in the United States it was much easier to climb the social ladder because it is a democracy. After 1892, immigrants came to the United States through Ellis Island, where they would be checked for medical conditions. If they failed the medical inspection, they could be separated and sent back to their original country.

In 1850, the Taiping Rebellion began in China. This caused a lot of Chinese to begin leaving the overpopulated country. When the Central Pacific Railraod began being built in the 1860s, the Chinese began migrating even more for the available jobs. Japanese people started immigrating in small numbers, but the numbers skyrocketed between 1900 and 1910. After 1910, California (the immigrants arrived at San Francisco) created Angel Island as a holding area for the immigrants as they awaited their immigration hearing. Before this, they stayed in a two-story shed on the San Francisco wharf, this shed could only around 500 people.

                                   

 Ellis Island

Asian immigrants being inspected at Angel Island

World War I Begins - ME - Violet Litke

Around 1914 tension between European countries started to become noticeable and seemed to pose a problem. During the civil war the German Kingdom of Prussia urged to bring the German nations together creating a German Empire. They were ultimately successful, and at a fast rate they industrialized, and soon became one of the most powerful nations in the world. This new empire greatly changed European Politics creating even more tension within the continent. Prussia had attacked France and gained their territory along the German border. This specific attack is what sparked the forming of alliances between countries. For its own protection Germany signed an alliance with both Italy and Austria-Hungary which was later known as a triple alliance. The French and Russians also chose to ally with each other.

Germany quickly grew with the forming of a large Navy; other countries began to feel threatened by this vast amount of armed forces. In June of 1914 a terrorist attack made by an assassin in a Serbian nationalist group “Black Hand” killed the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. This assault triggered alliances, and made the war more apparent to the United States. Britain had long ago decided to support the weaker countries, while America, for two years, had remained neutral. When the Unites States of America at the hand of President Woodrow Wilson, had finally decided to declare war on Germany on April 2, 1917, they chose to side with Great Britain. This was the beginning of America’s role in World War I.  

President Garfield Assassinated-ME-Mishael Theis

On July 2, 1881, President Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau twice, once in the arm and once in the back. He was boarding a train that was to take him from Washington D.C. to Massachusetts, Guiteau stepped out of the shadows and opened fire. Garfield died on September 19, 1881 from the gunshot wounds.

Guiteau was one of many people who tried convincing Garfield to give him a government job, since Garfield had that authority. However, Garfield did not believe that it was fair to give someone a job just because they were a friend (Guiteau was more of an acquaintance). Guiteau was angry about this, and after he "received a vision from god", he decided to kill the President. 

                         President James Garfield                                                 Charles Guiteau