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

3. 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
Mining Law of 1872-Allowed almost unrestricted mining in the west.

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

5. 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.

6. 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.”

7. 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

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

9. II. Re-creation of “Frontier”

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

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

12. 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.

13. 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.

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

15. 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

16. Layout of 1896 Presidential Election.

17. 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

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

19. 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.

20. Depiction of Haymarket Strike, Chicago, 1886