Page 143
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Page 143 - Study Checklist
Background for the
discussion
questions
1. Why might it be said that
the...
Without the railroads, the cowboy era would
not have become
such a famous part of America's story. Longhorn cattle are native
to Texas, and were there in large numbers even in the early
1800s.
But without an inexpensive way to get them to market, they had little
value.
As railroad lines were built westward into Kansas, cowboys
could drive large numbers of cattle along trails to "cow towns" like
Abilene.
There, the cattle could be loaded onto rail cars, then carried to
Kansas
City, St. Louis, and other places for processing. The lower cost
of transportation made the cattle industry more profitable. The
cowboy
era was built on cattle profits, all made possible by the railroads.
But the same railroad lines also moved settlers into the
Western lands. Those settlers were eager to start farms growing
wheat,
corn, and other crops. They were not happy to see their hard work
trampled by herds of cattle being moved to the rail lines.
The solution for the settlers was barbed wire. It
was inexpensive and effective in protecting farms. Of course,
cowboys
resented the farmers that blocked the cattle trails by making
farms.
Much of the fighting of the cowboy era was about land rights,
especially
if that land had water needed by both farmers and cattle.
In the end, the spreading settlement by farmers pushed
the cowboy trails further and further west. By 1880 the cowboy
era
was drawing to a close.
2. What were the
consequences of...
For the Native American way of life, the westward
growth of farms,
railroads, cities, and towns was disastrous. Western Indian
tribes
lived and sometimes roamed over large areas from the Mississippi River
to the Pacific. As white and black Americans pushed west,
conflicts
steadily rose. Indians resented the loss of control over their
traditional
hunting areas. Settlers feared and resented attacks by Indian
warriors.
Each side could point to terrible actions committed by the other.
The American government insisted that peace could only
be achieved if Indians were confined to specific areas called
reservations.
While some Indians accepted this plan, many others did not, giving rise
to the Indians Wars of the late 1800s. In many cases, the
reservation
land was not as good as the land the Indians were forced to give
up.
In addition, the new conditions tended to erode the independent life
Indian
tribes had known before.
The Dawes Act (1887) was a well-intentioned but
ill-conceived
plan to "Americanize" the Indians. It was designed to move
Indians
away from their tribal identity. Indians were offered free plots
of land, for example, which they could own and farm as individual
settlers
and American citizens.
The plan was a failure, partly because it was not run
very well, and partly because most Indians did not want to give up
their
identity as Indians.
3. How does the growth of
business...
The decades after the Civil War saw a
fantastic spurt of
economic growth. Farms, towns, and cities spread, and huge new
industries
appeared almost overnight. While there are many reasons for this
rapid economic development, the most important is that the full power
of
raw, or unregulated, capitalism was at work. It was not always
fair.
But it did harness the energy of millions of Americans eager to build a
better life.
Good examples can be found in the stories of Andrew
Carnegie's
steel company and John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company.
Both
made tremendous advances in business organization and technology.
The benefits went not only to themselves, but spread throughout the
nation's
economy. On the other hand, work conditions and pay were awful by
today's standards. Industries had almost no interest in
protecting
the environment.
Many businesses like Standard Oil also developed into
monopolies or near-monopolies called trusts.
Labor unions responded by demanding better treatment of
workers. Organized strikes were one method used by unions to try
to force better pay and work conditions. To match the power of
big
industry, Samuel Gompers organized the American Federation of Labor as
a nationwide "union of unions." He argued that the capitalist
system,
while very productive, needed regulation by the government to ensure
fair
treatment of workers and fair business practices.
That view came to be widely accepted during the
1900s.
The capitalist system is still the basic framework of the American
economy,
but it operates under a wide range of government health, safety, and
environmental
regulations.
4. In what ways did
immigrants...
Immigrants in the Gilded Age had a wide variety
of experiences
in America. Some, like Andrew Carnegie, found success and great
wealth
through a combination of hard work and good luck. Others saw
their
dreams of a better life wilt and die as they found themselves working
long
hours with little chance to move up.
For most, however, immigration gave much better
opportunities
than they had in their homelands. For those with experience on
farms,
land was available at low prices. For those with a skill or
trade,
growing cities demanded workers of all kinds. Public schools
offered
education at a basic level even to the poorest immigrant children.
America certainly had its own social lines based on
wealth,
and some groups, such as the Chinese, faced considerable
discrimination.
But Americans generally embraced a "live and let live" attitude that
encouraged
people of different backgrounds to get along and get ahead.
The pattern of immigration in these years showed an
important
shift around 1880. Fewer people were arriving from Western
European
countries like England, France, and Germany. Life for ordinary
people
in that part of Europe was improving, so fewer left. Many more
immigrants
began arriving from Eastern and Southern Europe - from Poland and
Italy,
for example. The shift brought some cultural conflicts, but also
ensured a steady supply of newcomers eager to help continue building
the
United States of America.
5. What signs were visible
by the...
By the late 1800s many Americans were
actively taking on
the problems that rose alongside big industry, the growth of cities,
and
other trends of this period.
In Chicago, the settlement house movement led by Jane
Addams set a model for urban reformers in other cities. She not
only
operated the famous Hull House as a community center in one of the
city's
poor neighborhoods, but also pushed for changes in city government to
improve
neighborhood life generally.
New York City passed laws to try to improve living
conditions
in tenement buildings. Jacob Riis exposed, through books and
newspaper
articles, the plight of the poor living in crowded tenements. He
also wrote about the problem of child labor.
At a national level, the Sherman Antitrust law showed
an effort by Congress to control the power of the big trusts, although
the law proved not very effective during this period. Also in
politics,
the growth of the Populist party was a sign of widespread desire for
reform.
Labor unions were a strong and visible force for social
change in these years. The American Federal of Labor was
organized
by Samuel Gompers. He and other union leaders kept a spotlight on
problems affecting working men and women.
The efforts of these and countless other Americans helped
improve life in the Gilded Age, but also laid a foundation for later
reformers
to build upon.
6. Describe the changes of
this era...
A visitor to an
American city in
1900 would marvel at the changes visible since 1865, the year the Civil
War ended.
In New York City, the Brooklyn
Bridge
was already a landmark and famous as an incredible feat of
engineering.
The Statue of Liberty was another impressive sight. Nearby was
Ellis
Island, with long lines of immigrants eager to join their fate with
that
of America.
In all big cities, electric
lights
and telephone wires were visible in many areas. The new
department
stores were filled with products made possible through the vast
expansion
of factories across America. Prices of things bought and used by
ordinary people were much lower than in 1865.
Buildings themselves were
starting
to reach higher, thanks to steel frameworks first used in
Chicago.
Many cities had installed electric streetcar systems that greatly
improved
transportation. Although horse-drawn carts were still common, a
few
"horseless carriages" or automobiles could occasionally be seen.
Visitors would also
notice the spread
of large slum areas, however. The contrast between these
areas and
the rich neighborhoods would have been troubling to anyone with a
social conscience. On the other side, however, a visitor might
notice
the rise of settlement houses and other signs that Americans had grown
more concerned about the plight of people at the bottom of the social
ladder.
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