Period 6 Review Lecture Notes

Key Period 6 Themes

• Rapid economic growth
• Industrialization
• Corruption post-Civil War

Key Figures and Business Strategies

• Andrew Carnegie: Vertical integration in steel
• John D. Rockefeller: Horizontal integration in oil
• Cornelius Vanderbilt: Railroads
• J.P. Morgan: Banking

Business Practices

• Use of trusts to consolidate power
• Social Darwinism to justify wealth
• Low wages and poor worker conditions

Philanthropy

• Andrew Carnegie: Gospel of Wealth, responsibility to give back

Government Policies and Political Corruption

• Laissez faire: Minimal government intervention
• Pro-business Republican presidents
• Financial contributions to politicians (e.g., William McKinley)
• Political machines: Votes for favors (e.g., Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall)

Political Reforms

• Pendleton Civil Service Act: Ended the spoil system
• Sherman Antitrust Act: Aimed to limit monopolies (hard to enforce)

Labor Movement

• Knights of Labor: Open to all workers, declined after Haymarket Riot
• American Federation of Labor (AFL): Focus on skilled labor, wages, working conditions
• Prominent strikes: Great Railroad Strike of 1877, Pullman Strike, Homestead Strike (generally ineffective)

Social Reforms

• Social Gospel Movement: Address poverty and homelessness
• Jane Addams: Settlement house movement, Hull House
• Jacob Riis: Exposed urban poor living conditions, "How the Other Half Lives"

Technological Innovations

• Electricity, typewriter, telephone
• Improved communication, working conditions
• Increased middle-class jobs, development of streetcar suburbs

Leisure and Culture

• Increased leisure time and disposable income
• Activities: Sports, theater, amusement parks, fairs

Immigration and Migration Patterns

• African-Americans: Great Migration out of Jim Crow South
• Rapid urbanization in cities like NYC, Chicago, Pittsburgh
• Old Immigrants: Ireland, Germany
• New Immigrants: Southern/Eastern Europe, Asia (especially Chinese via Ellis Island)

Nativism

• Chinese Exclusion Act: Response to increased immigration

Southern Economy and Racial Issues

• Henry Grady: Advocated for New South, diversification from agriculture
• Continued racism and inequality through Jim Crow laws
• Plessy v. Ferguson: Upheld segregation
• African-American leaders: Ida B. Wells (anti-lynching), Booker T. Washington (economic independence, vocational education, Tuskegee Institute)

Western Expansion

• Homestead Act, Transcontinental Railroad: Rapid settlement of the West
• New industries: Mining, cattle ranching
• Negative effects: Decimation of buffalo, violent conflicts with Native Americans

Native American Conflicts

• Sand Creek Massacre, Battle of Wounded Knee
• Forced assimilation: Carlisle School, Dawes Severalty Act
• Helen Hunt Jackson: "A Century of Dishonor" exposing mistreatment of Native Americans

Farmers' Struggles and Political Movements

• Issues: Low crop prices, high shipping rates, debt
• Farmers Alliances, Grange Movement: Response to exploitation
• Populist Party: Omaha Platform, bimetallism, direct election of senators, graduated income tax, government-owned railroads
• William Jennings Bryan: "Cross of Gold" speech

Exam Preparation Tips

• Causation: Causes of big business rise, effects of westward expansion
• Comparison: Gilded Age reforms vs. Period 4 reforms, Gilded Age immigrants vs. pre-Civil War immigrants
• Change and Continuity: Economic changes, labor practices, new South changes

Additional Resources

• APUSH Ultimate Review Packet: Timeline, study guides, essay practice (link in description)
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