“The Gilded Age” Reconstruction-1900 Pacific Railroad Act (1862) gave railroads land tracts. “Done,” May 10, 1869, Promontory Summit, Utah.

I. Final Settlement of the West, Destruction of the Plains Tribes “The Gilded Age” Reconstruction-1900 I. Final Settlement of the West, Destruction of the Plains Tribes Homestead Act (1862). Person could settle 160 acres of land. Timber Act (1862)-similar to Homestead Act for lumber companies. Land Grant universities created (1862). U.S. Grant, President 1868-1876 Mining Law of 1872-Allowed almost unrestricted mining in the west.

Yellowstone National Park created, 1872. Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Old Faithful in Winter Buffalo nursing its young in springtime Yellowstone

I. Final Settlement of the West, Destruction of the Plains Tribes Policy of Concentration-all Plains tribes to go to Black Hills & Oklahoma. Destroy Buffalo herds-about 32 million in 1850’s, by 1900, maybe 100 left. Stacked buffalo hides, ready for sale & transport.

I. Final Settlement of the West, Destruction of the Plains Tribes Open warfare w/Natives, 1870’s-90’s. Battle of Little Big Horn (July 1876). Artist’s Depiction of “Custer’s Last Stand.”

I. Final Settlement of the West, Destruction of the Plains Tribes The Dawes Act (1887): tribal lands divided into individual lots. Reservation Theory-”detribalize” & individualize. Wounded Knee Massacre (1890), more than 200 dead. Dead at Wounded Knee Chief Big Foot Dead in Snow

“Americanization”:Native children at an Indian boarding school. “Before” & “After” Arrival Photos of Native Youth.

II. Re-creation of “Frontier”

III. Minority Issues of Gilded Age The Post Reconstruction South: Sharecropping, KKK & Jim Crow.

III. Minority Issues of Gilded Age Intimidation and terror was both subtle…and not so subtle.

III. Minority Issues of Gilded Age Civil Rights Act (1875) ruled unconstitutional (1883). African-American Activist Frederick Douglass Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Chinese Exclusion Act (1882). “Gentlemen’s Agreement” with Japan, 1907. Chinatown, San Francisco at turn of century.

IV. Rural Organization & Economics “The Gilded Age” Reconstruction-1900 IV. Rural Organization & Economics Grange Movement (1867) battled poor farm prices, unfair railroad practices. Steel Tycoon Andrew Carnegie Interstate Commerce Act (1887) step to standardize trade, stop discrimination. Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) anti-monopoly legislation. Oil Giant John D. Rockefeller Populist Party (1890); pushed election of senators, currency & banking reforms.

Life on the Great Plains did not turn out to be the paradise that it was advertised to be.

V. Election of 1896-New vs. Old “The Gilded Age” Reconstruction-1900 V. Election of 1896-New vs. Old William Jennings Bryan (D-Neb) vs. William McKinley (R-Ohio). Bryan-supported by south & rocky mountain/plains states. McKinley supported by north & far west. Bryan campaigns in person, McKinley’s supporters (big business) use newspaper advertising. Bryan focuses on complicated silver/currency issues. McKinley pro-growth image carried via advertising. McKinley Ad

Layout of 1896 Presidential Election.

VI. Early Labor Movement Blue collar workers: 885,000 (1860), 3.2 million (1900). The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor (1869). For skilled & unskilled workers. 2. Crossed race & gender lines. 3. Addressed community issues. 4. Had a “No Strike” policy. Constitution of Knights of Labor

VI. Early Labor Movement American Federation of Labor (1886) for white male, skilled workers. Will strike. AFL founder Samuel Gompers Coal Miners, 1900.

Homestead Strike (1892). Wages cut, workers fight Homestead Strike (1892). Wages cut, workers fight. 60 wounded, 10 killed. Pullman Strike (1894). Train traffic halted in Chicago. Army breaks strike.

Depiction of Haymarket Strike, Chicago, 1886