Brandon Cole Part A Question 2 Professor Pittenger February 15, 2016 The Pullman Strike of 1894 and the Presidential Election of 1896 were not only key moments in the Gilded Age, but proved to be pivotal in the future of American society bringing social and economic injustices to the forefront of the conversation. Mr. George Pullman was a successful entrepreneur of the 1890s who found his riches in the luxury railroad car business. Pullman was so successful that he bought enough land, roughly 400 acres, to build not only his train car factory, but also a surrounding city which he named after himself. The town of Pullman seemed to be a utopian society, but Pullman workers described the town as “a gilded cage.” (Roark 647) This sentiment came …show more content…
Things such as Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws were racist in their intent and were in place to try to keep Black people from advancing as a people. Black Codes denied freed slaves the right to vote, marry whites, and bear arms, or assemble after dark. Many argue that these Black Codes was the offspring of slavery in a disguised form, but the Jim Crow Laws weren’t much better. Jim Crow Laws regulated social, economic, and political relationships between whites and African Americans. Laws that segregated public and private facilities between blacks and white. Schools, hospitals, train cars, stores, and even restrooms were segregated by ‘Whites Only’ and ‘Black Only’ signs. These sets of laws were created to keep blacks down and they very successful in doing so. Blacks that tried to speak out against these laws or any injustice they were experiencing during the Gilded Age were met with violence. In most cases these rebellious ones would be lynched and left there to hang to scare the black community from talking against the …show more content…
This mass migration of blacks to the North was called the Great Migration. The North wasn’t a place of complete fairness to all peoples, but overall blacks had a better chance there. The biggest push back Blacks faced was the racism that stemmed from the completion for jobs and housing in the region. Just like the immigrants the big factories welcomed new employees and as the competition for jobs grew between the natives, immigrants, and blacks sentiments of racism and elitism
Even though northerners were hesitant to work with blacks, employers were recognizing the demand for labor. The North heavily depended on southern reserve of black labor. This is when black men in particular got their first taste of industrial jobs. One motive for the great demographic shift as we know today as the “Great Migration” were jobs. Jobs in the North offered many more advantages than those in the South. Advantages such as higher wages, which was another motive. Other motives included educational opportunities, the prospect of voting, and the “promised land.” As blacks were migrating to the North in search for jobs, there was also a push for equality. There were heightened efforts to build community and political mobilization as more people migrated. Although white conservatives did not hold back their postwar reactions, the optimism to move forward with attempting to change racial order did not disappear. The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in the 1920’s, the National Negro Congress, Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work, as well as the March on Washington launched a style of protest politics that carried on well into the
During the 1980's southern blacks from the United States dedicated to migrate to the north with the belief that the north had more opportunities and advantages blacks. Although, Frederick Douglas and Booker T. Washington opposed a migration to the north, millions of blacks migrated northward. The industries for the blacks migrating t o the north was what Douglas and Washington feared, black northern workers being placed in the same situation prior to their movement. Blacks were going to experience the same obstacles and disadvantages as they had in the south just with different situations. Northern blacks were going to experience prejudice, riots and murdering.
The period from 1877 to 1901 in American history was known as the Gilded Age, it was titled so because during this time things on the surface seemed peaceful and good but underneath lay corruption in the society. This era was marked by the end of Reconstruction of the South, as well as the presidencies of Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison, and McKinley. Significant events of this time were the 1878 Bland Allison Act in which the federal government bought silver and turned it into cheap money. The 1881 Chinese Exclusion Act which banned all Chinese immigrants coming into America because they were hurting employment opportunities for American laborers. The 1883 Pendleton Act that ended Jackson’s spoils system in the government and made the Merit System based on intelligence and ability. The 1887 Interstate Commerce Act which regulated the railroads. The Sherman Antitrust Act which outlawed any combination in restraint of trade. And last, the Gold Standard Act of 1900 that made the American monetary unit based on gold.
5. Perry, Elisabeth Israels, and Karen Manners Smith. The Gilded Age and Progressive Era: a student companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print.
Blacks in the north were separated from their white counterparts in everyway. Legislators were always creating laws to keep the races divided. Many states tried to impose laws that would segregate schools. The whites did not want black kids going to the same school because if blacks and whites mingled there could be inter marriage. Even the trains were segregated. Negroes had to sit on a certain part of the streetcars and whites on another. Blacks were not allowed to go to certain cities because people thought that they brought down the property value. Imagine people thought just the presence of blacks could bring down property value down.
Throughout the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century, the United States economy changed dramatically as the country transformed from a rural agricultural nation to an urban industrial gian, becoming the leading manufacturing country in the world. The vast expansion of the railroads in the late 1800s’ changed the early American economy by tying the country together into one national market. The railroads provided tremendous economic growth because it provided a massive market for transporting goods such as steel, lumber, and oil. Although the first railroads were extremely successful, the attempt to finance new railroads originally failed. Perhaps the greatest physical feat late 19th century America was the creation of the transcontinental railroad. The Central Pacific Company, starting in San Francisco, and the new competitor, Union Pacific, starting in Omaha. The two companies slaved away crossing mountains, digging tunnels, and laying track the entire way. Both railroads met at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869, and drove one last golden spike into the completed railway. Of course the expansion of railroads wasn’t the only change being made. Another change in the economy was immigration.
The important prelude to the Coal Strike of 1902 was the strike of 1990. This strike occurred just as the 1900 presidential elections were happening (Grossman). John Mitchell, president of the United Mine Workers called this strike into effect on September 17, 1900 (Grossman). It proved effective because he had the support of most miners. The election also helped the miners cause as it brought the strike to national attention. Political bosses took note and convinced mine owners that a strike was bad news for their party (Grossman). This allowed the strikers to get the 1...
“Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-black laws. It was a way of life.” (“What was Jim Crow?”). The laws created a divided America and made the United States a cruel place for over 70 years. The Jim Crow Laws caused segregation in the education system, social segregation, and limited job opportunities for African Americans.
Mark Twain wrote in his biography, “I like the exact word, and clarity of statement”. Upon examining the parameters of this self-reflection, it bounces back onto his famous characterization of the 1870s to 1890s period, ‘the Gilded Age’. This particular wordplay implied (and referred) to the “glittering, deceptive” appearance of America’s current political and economic expansion (Foner 528). Although naturally certain societal views are held more strongly than others, with how much certainty could this term be used to accurately describe all of this period’s major events? Despite the inevitable negatives produced from the Second Industrial Revolution, the achieved growth and benefits balanced
The strike affected much of the country, and it had great influence on public opinion on the rights of workers. It showed how the roles of management and the roles of government handled this situation. The Pullman Strike of 1894 and its aftermath had a huge effect on the course of the labor movement in the United States. The use of federal troops and the labor injunction sent a message to U.S. workers that would not change until the new deal of the 1930s. George Pullman was no longer look at as the great enlightened employer who took care of his workers, but a greedy intolerant man. After the strike he was worried that people would rob him so when he was buried he had it lined in concrete so no one could. The Pullman strike ultimately was unsuccessful at the time. Workers were sent to jail and many couldn’t find any jobs after. Although, it was successful in several ways. The federal government was involved for the first time in history because of a strike, and because they all took a stand for their human rights it impacted the future and how workers are treated
Though the issue of slavery was solved, racism continues and Southerners that stayed after the war passed Black Codes which subverted the ideas of freedom including the actions of state legislatures (Hakim 19). Black Codes were a set of laws that discriminated blacks and limited their freedom (Jordan 388). Such restrictions included: “No negro shall be permitted to rent or keep a house within said parish...No public meetings or congregations of negroes shall be allowed within said parish after sunset…” (Louisiana Black Codes 1865). A solution to this was the 14th Amendment. It meant now all people born in America were citizens and it “Prohibited states from revoking one’s life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” This meant all states had to...
The Great Migration was a time where more then 6 million African Americans migrated North of the United States during 1910-1920. The Northern Parts of the United States, where African Americans mainly moved to was Chicago, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia and Cleveland. They migrated because of the work on railroads and the labor movement in factories. They wanted a better life style and felt that by moving across the United States, they would live in better living conditions and have more job opportunities. Not only did they chose to migrate for a better lifestyle but they were also forced out of their homes by unsatisfactory economic opportunities and harsh segregation laws. They were forced to work in poor working conditions and compete for
...s became even more desperate at the time of the great depression that ultimately led to the great railway strike, in which many workers lost their lives at the hand of the Pennsylvania militia. This act proved to be a major turning point in the evolution of the labor movement in the United States.
Krause, Paul. The Battle for Homestead, 1890-1892: Politics, Culture, and Steel. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1992. ISBN 0-8229-5466-4
for generations Both white and black families had grown up in a culture where the two races were separate. this created a vicious circle in which “discrimination breeds discrimination.” This, along with harsh Jim Crow laws and poor economic conditions forced a major portion of African Americans towards the north. By 1925, more than 1.5 million Blacks lived in the north.