Download Themes of US History - Madison Public Schools

Themes of US History
Intro to US II
Theme I: People of the United States
• Focus Question: How did the United States become a
multiracial/multicultural society?
• What is an American?
• What factors contributed to ethnic and racial diversity within the
United States?
• How have Americans responded to the challenges of living in a
diverse society?
• How has cultural diversity contributed to the development of the
United States economy?
•
The Changing
Face of U.S
Immigration,
1865-1920
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Maps/Figs/Tables, 19–4
Push & Pull Factors:
Reasons Immigrants
came to the United
States
Push – why are
people leaving their
home countries?
Pull – why are people
moving to the United
States?
Most were:
agrarian workers
mostly unskilled and
uneducated
Catholics, Jews, and
Buddhists
unfamiliar with American
republican institutions,
coming from despotic or
repressive regimes
Return Rates of roughly 30% are believed accurate
1907 arrival statistics vs 1908 departure statistics
Highest:
61% of the Southern Italians returned home.
Croatians and Slovenians (59.8%),
Slovaks (56.1%)
Hungarians (48.7%)
Lowest:
Jews (categorized as “Hebrews”) had the lowest rate at 5.1%.
This is understandable since they fled the pogroms to save their
lives and had nowhere to return.
Irish (6.3%) – Surprising, when you think of all the nostalgic
songs about their homeland
The Long Voyage
Most immigrants were poor ($50 fair to America on
steamship), and had to travel across the Atlantic or
Pacific Ocean in miserable conditions
Most immigrants traveled in the steerage section
airless rooms below deck
Diseases spread rapidly in such close quarters
ELLIS ISLAND,
NEW YORK
• They had to pass inspection at the
immigration stations
• Immigration officials had minutes to
check each new arrival
• Names were changed as a result
• Immigrants also had to show that
they were not criminals, had some
money ($25), and were able to work
• From 1892-1924, 17 million immigrants
passed through Ellis Island’s facilities
• Ellis Island came to be known either
as the "Isle of Tears" or the "Isle of
Hope.“
ELLIS ISLAND,
NEW YORK HARBOR
Theme 2: Technology, Environment, and the
Economy of the United States
• Focus Question: How did the United States evolve economically?
• How has the availability of natural resources impacted American
economic thought?
• How important have economic considerations been in the development
of American political life?
• What has been the relationship between a capitalist economic system
and a democratic political system in the American system?
• To what extent have the emphases on equality and success been
mutually achievable?
Industrial Revolution Factors
Innovations & Inventions
Transportation advances (railroads, etc)
New lands & greater ability to utilize
natural resources
Government policies in relation to big
business
New business practices & investments
Social Darwinism
Rising immigration & growing population
Urbanization
What are some examples of manufacturing areas that
were located near centers of population?
• Examples of manufacturing areas clustered near centers of
population.
• Textile industry — New England
• Automobile industry — Detroit
• Steel industry — Pittsburgh
• What forms of
transportation
moved goods in &
out of region?
• Identify the major
iron/steel
manufacturing
centers?
• Why would
Wisconsin &
Michigan have a
large number of
sawmills?
Breakthroughs in steel processing led to a boom in
railroad construction.
Technological advances were important
to Second Industrial Revolution, period
of rapid growth in U.S. manufacturing in
late 1800s
Bessemer process, invented mid-1850s,
allowed steel to be produced quickly and
cheaply.
Helped increase steel production from
77,000 tons in 1870 to more than 1
million tons in 1879
As steel dropped in price, so did the cost
of building railroads, generating a boom
in railroad construction.
Railroads Spur Immigration
• Railroads attracted settlers to
the Great Plains by offering
them free land
The Automobile
The automobile industry grew in
steps.
 1876 – German engineer
invented the gasoline-powered
engine.
 1893 – The United States built its
first practical motorcar.
 1908 – Henry Ford introduced
the Model T.
Ford was first to implement the
moving assembly line in
manufacturing, making cars more
affordable.
To maximize efficiency he focused
on vertical integration
• The gap
between the
urban and
rural
populations
narrowed in
the late 1800s
• Why?
• About how
many more
people lived in
urban areas in
1900 than in
1860?
Theme 3: The United States and the World
• Focus Question: How have relations with foreign nations shaped the
history of the United States?
• To what extent has American involvement in the world reflected
domestic concerns?
• What tensions have emerged due to economic and political
influences in American foreign policy?
• How and why have American wars resulted from desire or need?
• To what degree has American foreign policy been determined by
national ideals?
Theme 4: An Evolving Democracy
• Focus Question: How has the government of the United States changed?
• How have particular understandings of human nature affected American
democratic development?
• How has the tension between community and individual been addressed
over time?
• To what extent have the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
remained relevant?
• Why and in what manner has the relationship between the individual and
the government changed over time?
• To what degree has the American political system evolved toward
fulfillment of the principles embodied in the nation’s founding documents?
•
CREDIT MOBILIER SCANDAL
• Stockholders of Union Pacific
Railroad formed a construction
company in 1864
• Stockholders then gave contracts
to the company to lay track at 3
times the actual costs and
pocketed the difference
• They donated shares of the stock
to 20 Republican members of
Congress in 1867
POSTER FOR BOGUS
CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
THE GRANGE AND THE RAILROADS
GRANGERS PUT A
STOP TO RAILROAD
CORRUPTION
Farmers were especially
affected by corruption in the
railroad industry
Grangers (a farmers
organization) protested land
deals, price fixing, and
charging different rates to
different customers
Granger Laws were then
passed protecting farmers
States were given regulatory
control of railroads by the
Courts
Munn v Illinois
Railroads
challenge Granger
laws regulating
rates.
Supreme Court
rules in favor of
states establishing
the government’s
right to regulate
private industry
for the public
good
INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT
In 1887, the Federal government
re-established their control over
railroad activities
Congress passed the Interstate
Commerce Act and established a 5member Interstate Commerce
Commission (ICC)
The ICC struggled to gain power
until 1906
1887 – CONGRESS
PASSED THE ICA
• Laissez-Faire “Hands Off!”
• The reality is that government
was there from the very
beginning:
• imposed tariffs on foreign
imports to protect
American industries
• passed legislation to
facilitate corporate
financial growth, and
• provided millions of dollars
in cash and land subsidies
to developing industries.
31
BUSINESS GROWTH & CONSOLIDATION
• Many entrepreneurs formed their businesses in the late 1800s as
corporations, or businesses that sell portions of ownership called stock
shares.
• Mergers could result in a monopoly (Trust)- complete control over an
industry
• Holding companies buy out stock of other companies (J.P Morgan)
In 1870, Rockefeller Standard Oil Company owned 2% of the
country’s crude oil
By 1880 – it controlled 90% of U.S. crude oil
Standard Oil Company was country’s largest refinery
Rockefeller - Developed horizontal integration, owning all
businesses in a field
Formed a trust, grouping many companies under a single
board of directors.
Andrew Carnegie
One of most admired businesspeople of the time
Focused on steelmaking
Used vertical integration, owning
businesses involved in each step
of manufacturing, to lower costs
Accounting systems to track
expenses
Attracting quality people by
offering them stock & benefits
By 1899, the Carnegie Steel
Company manufactured more
steel than all the factories in
Great Britain combined
Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)
made it illegal to create monopolies or
trusts that restrained trade.
The law forbade any combination or
organization involved in the restraint of
interstate trade (trade between states which
the federal government regulates, as opposed
to intrastate trade which is trade within a
state).
Roosevelt and
Taft would put
the Sherman Act
be put to its
proper use. (The
case against
Microsoft in the
late 1990s was
prosecuted under
this 1890 law.)
The act did not clearly define a trust in
legal terms, so it was hard to enforce.
Corporations and trusts continued to grow
in size and power.
Congress left it up to the courts to define
what "restraint of trade" meant - often sided
with business.
Theme 5: Social Change
• Focus Question: How did individuals or groups initiate change in
American life?
• Why have some groups needed to fight for their rights?
• What methods have been used to achieve social change?
• In what ways have the goals of different groups been related?
• To what extent have individual and group demands affected American
politics and traditions?
•
Social Darwinism
• This philosophy has its
origins in Darwin’s theory
of evolution
• Darwin theorized that some
individuals in a species
flourish and pass their traits
on while others do not
• Social Darwinists (like
Herbert Spencer) believed
riches was a sign of God’s
favor, and being poor was a
sign of inferiority and
laziness
URBAN PROBLEMS
• Problems in American
cities in the late 19th and
early 20th century
included:
• Housing: overcrowded
tenements were
unsanitary
• Sanitation: garbage was
often not collected,
polluted air
Famous photographer Jacob Riis
captured the struggle of living in
crowded tenements
When America needed cheap workers for
it's factories, guess who it picked?
For about 5 cents a day you could work in
an unsafe factory just like this and
you might come home after work missing
a finger or worse! This was no easy job,
and there were no protections for
workers. What do you notice about this
boy?
• The number of women and children
in the work force doubled between
1870 and 1890 to 4 million women
and 1.5 million child workers (ages
10-15)
• 14 hour days
• In 1899 women made $267
annually, while men were paid $498
(the same year Carnegie made a tax
free $23 million)