Overview
This lecture reviews the major social, technological, and political changes occurring in America around 1900, setting up key themes for upcoming study units.
The Closing of the American West
- By 1900, the American frontier was considered closed due to settlement and expansion.
- Native American tribes were confined to reservations, and buffalo populations were decimated.
- Homesteads (farms given to settlers) and barbed wire ended open land and free-range practices.
- Railroads (nearly 200,000 miles) enabled transporting goods, people, and connecting the country.
Industrial Expansion and Urbanization
- Oil was first discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859, leading to major new oil fields in states like Texas and Oklahoma.
- Figures like John D. Rockefeller amassed great wealth from the booming oil industry.
- Steel production, led by Andrew Carnegie, allowed cities to grow vertically and expand rapidly.
- Industrialization spurred urbanization, with cities like Chicago transforming into major population centers.
Political Developments and Shifts
- After the Civil War, Reconstruction aimed to rebuild the South, with limited success and lasting racial issues.
- William McKinley (president from 1896–1901) was assassinated, succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt.
- Roosevelt changed American domestic and foreign policy, promoting conservation and expansion abroad.
Emergence as a Global Power
- The United States fought in the Spanish-American War, gaining territories like the Philippines.
- Concepts like the "white man's burden" influenced American expansionism.
- Around 1900, the U.S. began its rise as a major global influence.
Preview of Upcoming Topics
- Focus will shift to pre-World War I America, analyzing how these developments lead into global conflict.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Homestead — A farm or land given to settlers moving west, often for free or at low cost.
- Reservation — Land allotted to Native American tribes by the government, often confining them.
- Barbed Wire — Fencing technology that limited free-range movement of people and livestock.
- Urbanization — The process of population moving into cities and cities growing larger.
- Reconstruction — The post-Civil War effort to rebuild and integrate Southern states.
- Spanish-American War — 1898 conflict leading to U.S. overseas expansion.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review previous notes on U.S. westward expansion, industrialization, and Reconstruction.
- Prepare to study immigration, urbanization, and early 20th-century U.S. history in detail.