Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Immigration

1. Describe the causes of the immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans, Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Many imigrants came to the United States because of the gold rush in California. They also tryed to escape religous persecution. They left to get away from the rising population. They wanted to flee political turmoil and they wanted to find high paying jobs.










2. Describe the journey immigrants endured and their experiences at United States immigration stations.
By the 1870s, almost all the immigrants travled by steamship. The trip across the Atlantic Ocean from Eyrope took approximately one week, while the Pacific crossing from Asia took nearly three weeks. Many immigrants travled with the cheapest accomodations in a ship's cargo holds. Rarely allowed to exercise or get a breath of fresh air. They had to sleep in lice infested bunks and share a toilet with other passengers. Disease spreads quickly in these conditions and many immigrants died before they reached their destination.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Labor Unions & Big Business

Identify each of the following events or people. Give an explanation or description of the item. Answer the questions who, what, where, and when.
Explain the historical significance of each item in the space provided. Establish the historical context in which the item exists. Establish the item as the result of or as the cause of other factors existing in the society under study. Answer this question: What were the political, social, economic, and/or cultural consequences of this item?









the Knights of Labor









Identification-was one of the most important American labor organizations of the 19th century









Significance-He was one of the most important American labor oganizator of the 19th century









the Haymarket riot









Identification- was a disturbance that took place on Tuesday May 4, 1886, at the Haymarket Square in Chicago, and began as a rally in support of striking workers. An unknown person threw a bomb at police as they dispersed the public meeting. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of eight police officers and an unknown number of civilians. In the internationally publicized legal proceedings that followed, eight anarchists were tried for murder. Four were put to death, and one committed suicide in prison.









Significance- one mistake by a cicilian who through a bomb at the police killed many civilians bc the police shot them









the American Federation of Labor









Identification- an aliance of trade and craft unions, formed in 1886









Significance- This helped trade and unions









Samuel Gompers









Identification-was an American labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and served as the AFL's president from 1886-1894 and from 1895 until his death in 1924. He promoted harmony among the different craft unions that comprised the AFL, trying to minimize jurisdictional battles. He promoted "thorough" organization and collective bargaining to secure shorter hours and higher wages, the first essential steps, he believed, to emancipating labor. He also encouraged the AFL to take political action to "elect their friends" and "defeat their enemies









Significance-He was the founder of the American Federation of Labor









the Homestead strike









Identification-A U.S. law enacted in 1862,that provided 160 acres in the West









Significance- It provided 160 acers of land for people





the Pullman strike









Identification- refers to a nationwide conflict between labor unions and railroads that occurred in the United States in 1894. The conflict began in the town of Pullman, Illinois on May 11 when approximately 3,000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company began a wildcat strike in response to recent reductions in wages, bringing traffic west of Chicago to a halt. The American Railway Union, the nation's first industry-wide union, led by Eugene V. Debs, subsequently became embroiled in what The New York Times described as "a struggle between the greatest and most important labor organization and the entire railroad capital" that involved some 250,000 workers in 27 states at its peak.









Significance- 250,000 workers went on strike to get higher wages









Eugene V. Debs









Identification-was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), as well as candidate for President of the United States as a member of the Social Democratic Party in 1900, and later as a member of the Socialist Party of America









Significance-He was a president and an American union leader and a founding member of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World









the Industrial Workers of the World









Identification- A labor organization for unskilled workers, formed by a radical unionists and socialists in 1905









Significance- a labor organization for unskilled workers

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Andrew Carnegie- he is a privet seceretary for the pennsylvania railroad he was born poor but later became rich. He relayed messages to the trains to help them.







Social Darwinism-An economic and social philosophy having to do with Darwins theory of evolution.







John D. Rockefeller-Rockefeller was trusted by everyone to have complete control over the oil in america







Sherman Antitrust Act- A law, enacted in 1890,that was intended to prevent the creation of manopolies by making it illegal to establish trusts that interfered with free trade.







Samuel Gompers- led the Cigar Makers' International Union to join with other craft unions.







American Federation of Labor (AFL)- An aliance of trade and craft unions, formed in 1886







Eugene V. Debs- formed an industrial union the American Railway Union.







Industrial Workers of the World- aq labor organisation for unskilled workers, formed by a group of radical unionists and sociolists of 1905







Mary Harris Jones- organizer of the womens labor movement. she supported the Great Strike of 1877and later organized for the United Mine Workers.

Monday, September 14, 2009

railroad development

The government was so eager to promote railroad stations because they were used as transportation and moving things place to place. They were used to travel from one state to another. It built up the economy by transportating goods from one state to another.

Expansion of Industry

The three major factors that contributed to the immense technological boom that took place in the U.S. after th Civil War is electricity, metal, and coal. These were used to generate power to almost everything and to make things. Metal is used to make machinery and buildings. Coal was used to power machines.