HST 102 1st Edition Lecture 3Outline of Last Lecture II. Reconstruction’s Revolutions III. Upheavala. Politicallyb. Economicallyc.SociallyIV. Enforcementa. Civil Rights Act of 1875b. Enforcement Acts V. Promises Abandoned & Forgottena. Compromise of 1877b. Rutherford B. HayesVI. Who Killed Reconstruction?Outline of Current Lecture II. Post Civil War America III. Engines of Changea. Transcontinental RailroadIV. Crash and Burna. Panic of 1873V. Explosions of Discontent a. Great Railroad Strike of 1877b. Great Upheaval of 1886 VI. Race, Nation, and Hard timesVII. Golden DaysVIII. Shaken and Stirred Current LectureLecture 1/20/15 - Post-Civil War Americao The end of the civil war spurs massive dislocation and disruption o The war itself had brought about significant changes in the American economyThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. Infrastructure  Banking Land use - Engines of change o One of the most powerful forces transforming American society is the rise of railroads a new transportation revolution takes hold encouraged by federal subsidies o Transcontinental railroad completed in 1869 Spurs significant economic growth and financial speculation - Corruption o Many American industries are plagued by corruption o Few more so than railroads  Construction  Operation - Collusion - “transit” payments- “Watering stock”- Crash and Burn o Panic of 1873  Triggered by the collapse of Jay Cooke’s investment bank due to failed railroad speculation  18,000 businesses collapse within two years By 1876 unemployment is 14% and stays in double digits for a decade o Hardships are worsened by the crime of ’73  Ends the coinage and use of silver as a currency  Tightens the money supply and leads to extensive deflation – lower prices Very bad for farmers and those in debt o Leads to turmoil, unrest, fear, and extended Depression/Recession- Explosions of Discontent o Declining wages and extended hardship spurs unresto Leads to increasing tensions w/ labor:- Great Railroad strike of 1877o Response to coordinated wage cutso Pres. Hayes orders troops to intervene against strikerso Widespread violence ensues- Great Upheaval of 1886o Massive railroad strike in march o More than 1400 strikers during the year involving 600,000 workers  Labor strikes become a day to day lifestyle during the gilded age o Race, nation, and hard times  Railroads spur westward expansion and increasing conflict with indigenous people Machinery of civil war is now trained on native American populations  Military approach soon supplemented by plan of cultural eradication - Control land use – Dawes Severalty Act of 1887- Education – establishment of industrial schools  Depression and recession help make anti-Asian attitudes more widespread - Chinese exclusion act of 1882- Significant violent and local exclusion - Golden Dayso Rapid expansions of the economy and wealth o From just a handful of millionaires before the civil war to more than 4,000 by the 1890s o Increasing concentrated: The income for the richest 1% of Americans equals the total income of the bottom 50% That 1% holds more property combined than the remaining 99% combined o Monopoly Money  Railroad boom drives the growth of related industries:- Iron, steel, oil  Economic downturn spurs massive consolidation - Creation of monopolies  Creates a concentration of wealth and power, coupled with unscrupulous or harmful business tactics o The science and gospel of Wealth  Financial success is attributed to providence and notions of natural hierarchy Social Darwinism gains traction - A survival of the fittest model to explain the conditions of society - If you do well, it is because you are destined too- If not, it’s your fault  Coupled with very positive images of private wealth - A public blessing - Symbol of remarkable social mobility - Shaken and Stirredo Building a labor movement Growing tensions over wealth and industry spur new organization among laborers Federation of Organization Trade and Labor Unions is founded….changes name to American Federation of Labor – AFL  Comprised mostly of skilled workers and limits access of unskilled laborers, women, and AA Led by Samuel Gompers Reject fundamental economic reform and aim instead for a greater share of profit  Demands for an 8 hour day  Only 4% of workers unionized by 1900o Building Reform Movements Discontent with the direction of American society as a whole fuels new waves of protest in many areas - Temperance- Women’s rights- Gov’t reform - Economic reform  A search of a perfectible world – a way to understand, explain, and eliminate America’s social ills - What does it mean?o America is transitions out of reconstruction into a period of continuing and conlict and unrest o The nation is reeling after a sever and prolonged economic criseso Concern over the excesses of industry and the ties between gov’t and big businesseso Characterized by inequalityo Creates a new wave of protest efforts that will begin to reshape American