US_Ch3_info

=**Reconstruction Era Background Information**=

The post-Civil War period in which the nation had to come back together is called **Reconstruction**. There was a lot of despair to overcome and the Union victory wanted to give hope for the future. In addition to the 600,000+ lost in the war, 2,100 Union soldiers boarded a ship at Vicksburg to start coming home when a boiler explosion engulfed the ship into flames and 1,547 died, which added to the despair. Celebrating Lee's surrender and the war coming to an end, the Secretary of War ordered an 800 gun salute (500 for Richmond and 300 for Petersburg). In terms of reuniting the Union, Lincoln jotted down some goals. He intended to have all property (except the slaves) returned to the owners once each state in the South stopped their support for the rebellion. He didn't want to punish the South. Not much else is known since Lincoln was assassinated. The Reconstruction period would go along in three stages: (1) Presidents Lincoln then Andrew Johnson would try to re-admit the former Confederate states as soon as possible with full emancipation; (2) Radical Republicans would dominate the Congress and push for full political equality for the freedmen (former slaves), punishment for the rebels, tough requirements for re-admission, and would clash with President Johnson; (3) the final phase was when the Radicals lost momentum and public support faded, then Southern Democrats, called **Redeemers**, would attempt to restore white supremacy to state governments and put in laws that discriminated against and segregated the blacks.
 * __Reconstruction__:**

When Lincoln was assassinated, **Andrew Johnson** became president. Johnson was a Democrat from Tennessee. He was a Douglas-Democrat before the war and supported both slavery and the Fugitive Slave Law. However, when secession took place he stayed in the Senate and loyal to the Union. Therefore, he was put on as Lincoln's running-mate to show a pro-Union party. So, now, a Democrat was in charge with a Radical Republican controlled Congress. Johnson was detested in the North and distrusted in the South. Johnson looked to get the nation back together as quickly and with the least amount of pain as possible. If the Radicals had complete control, there would've been trials for treason. The 13th Amendment was already added to the Constitution, which outlawed slavery. Southern states would have to put this into their state constitutions as well before being re-admitted.

The South was devastated after the war. Lee had urged reconciliation and accepted a job as President of Washington College (now Washington and Lee). However, some former Confederates fled to Europe. Fire eater Edmund Ruffin committed suicide. Some Southerners who use to be wealthy plantation owners complained about having to do their own tasks. The new **Freedman's Bureau** was set up to supervise captured Confederate lands and make sure the former slaves were given their rights. The South didn't help itself by electing former Confederates to state government positions after the war. Johnson tried to reconstruct the South while Congress was on recess but the South wasn't willing to quickly admit to the sin of slavery and war. The Republicans saw the freed slaves as a new voting bloc and a way to make the Democrat Party a minor party (not necessarily caring that former slaves had the right to vote similar to how the Democrats used the blacks for a new voting bloc in the Great Depression during the 1930s).

"//Slavery isn't abolished until the black man has the ballot//." - Frederick Douglass

Economics would be part of Reconstruction. **Sharecropping** became common. Plantation owners could farm some of their land and hire sharecroppers to farm some and the owner keep 50% of the profits. This was the free market solution and allowed for competition. Blacks would be able to increase wealth and own their own property. There would obviously be racism and discrimination against the former slaves. Some blacks were able to become entrepreneurs such as Nate Shaw who expanded his share of the sharecropping and rented his mules. He then began the Sharecroppers Union. Andrew Jackson Beard developed a plow (he would sell the patent), worked on the railroads and knew dangers of attaching the cars - if the pin wasn't put in at the right time, one could lose their hand or fingers. He developed the Jenny Coupler to hook the railroad cars together. Black newspapers began in the 1870s and put out ads to help reunite families. **Booker T. Washington** began teaching skills to blacks in 1875 and later began **Tuskegee Institute**. He felt education, getting property, and living in good character was the best way to improve life for the blacks. Unlike the pre-Civil War period and despite racism and discrimination, blacks were free to earn a living and wealth.

Political status of the freedmen would be another question of Reconstruction. Whites in the South (who had wealth or power before the war) would be terrified of any movements of blacks in the Southern states. Therefore, Southern states began to pass the **Black Codes**, which put heavy restrictions on the ability of blacks to travel as well as other restrictions. The Radical Republicans used this as evidence to say that the South was not reforming. Former Confederate cavalry General Nathan Bedford Forrest began the anti-black group KKK and was the first Grand Wizard, which would lead to the spread of violence against blacks in the South. In terms of government actions, the courts lacked the will power or ability to convict whites of crimes against blacks in the South and the Freedman's Bureau was unable to handle the KKK or Black Codes all of which showed limits to how much the government is able to do despite good intentions.

The **Freedman's Bureau** was under the authority of General Oliver Howard, which was set up to help former slaves in their transition to freedom. It was an Executive Branch agency, but Congress thought they could use it to gain control of reconstruction. Some of the problems that would exist would be that the bureau would lead to a growing dependence on the government (Booker T. Washington wanted blacks to rely on themselves, not the government) and like all government agencies, there was bound to be corruption from the flow of money. The bureau's most lasting contribution was its commitment to helping the freed slaves become productive and equal in society.

Politics would change with blacks now being free. They would count for 100% for the census count for the House of Representatives, which is based on population instead of 60%, which would mean more representatives for the Southern states, which would mean they could elect more Southern Democrats. Therefore, the Radicals added a measure that reduced representation in the House for any state denying voting fights for freedmen. Johnson vetoed extension of the Freeman's Bureau until the South was brought back into the Union. Moderates in Congress went with the Radicals in passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866 that said blacks were citizens and made it a federal crime to deny anyone civil rights, which was vetoed by Johnson (said it would upset balances of power between state and federal levels) but the Radical Republicans overrode his veto. In addition, the **14th amendment** was added to the Constitution, which made black citizenship to the Constitution. The Radical Republicans would get a 2/3 majority in both houses of Congress in the 1866 midterm elections, which meant that they could override any veto of Johnson (remember Johnson wanted peaceful reconstruction while the Radical Republicans wanted to punish the South). Over Johnson's veto the Military Reconstruction Act divided the Shout into military districts led by loyal Republican governors. Also over Johnson's veto, the First Reconstruction Act passed (calling it this implied that Johnson's actions were illegitimate), which stated that Southern states would only be readmitted once their constitutions recognized the 14th amendment and the black right to vote. Military tribunals were set up to determine the loyalty of Southern whites. Three political groups developed that worked together: (1) **Scalawags** - Southerners who allied with Republicans many of who were pre-war Whigs; included Confederate General James Longstreet; (2) **Carpetbaggers** - Northerners who came South to impose their views; (3) **Black Republicans** - Republicans who favored the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. During Reconstruction, the government enforced the 14th amendment, introduced public schools, had prison reforms, but with little experience the government did what governments do - throw money at the problem. For example, no transportation...give railroad bonds that would never be repaid; no education...put up a school and assume educated blacks would be respected by former masters.

President Johnson was able to control the pace of change since he was commander-in-chief of the military, which was in charge of control in the South. The conflict between Johnson and the Congress would come to boil over the **Tenure of Office Act**, which said the President couldn't remove a federal office holder without Senate approval, which would limit the power of a president...it was vetoed but overridden. Also over his veto, the Command of the Army Act said that the president's orders (or Secretary of War's orders) had to go through the general of the army, which would keep Johnson from sending radical military people away. Johnson decided to challenge the Tenure of Office Act. He removed Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and replaced him with Grant, which was rejected by the Senate. Johnson again removed Stanton, this time replacing him with Lorenzo Thomas. Based on past situations, Johnson wasn't doing something new, but it did violate the Tenure of Office Act, which was new. A House Judiciary Committee recommended 11 articles of impeachment against Johnson mostly for abuse of power (using his power of veto and for removing Stanton) and the House impeached Johnson by a 126-47 vote. The next step would be a trial in the Senate to determine whether or not to remove Johnson from the presidency. A 2/3 vote was needed in the Senate to remove Johnson. When the votes came in, Johnson survived by one vote. Those who voted against removal said the future of the presidency would be unsafe if a president was removed for disagreeing with the Congress. The Radicals realized the nation didn't yet agree on full black equality or Northern dominance of the South so they focused on winning the presidency in 1868. They needed someone not associated with the radicals and someone who was trusted so they went with Ulysses S. Grant. Grant believed in the traditional Republican values of the day, which were high tariffs, internal improvements (roads, railroads, canals), stability and moderation toward Reconstruction. Grant, not the platform, was the deciding factor with his slogan "Let us fight for peace."


 * Ulysses S. Grant** would win in 1868 and became our 18th president. His administration was labeled by one historian as the "Era of Good Stealings." Grant himself wasn't corrupt, but others around him were. When Grant put his trust into someone then he was completely loyal, which would be the undoing of his administration. He held old Whig views of Congress makng the laws and the President just being a check on the Congress's power. The Congress was happy to continue directing Reconstruction. The radicals wanted to make black voting rights permanent. Grant won the election of 1868 and would win re-election in 1872. The **15th amendment** would give blacks the right to vote. Almost immediately, Grant's associations put his administration into scandal. In Wall Street's "Gold Room" (Wall Street is where the stock exchange is located in New York City) speculators Jim Fisk and Jay Gould tried to corner the market on gold. Prices skyrocketed due to their backroom manipulating. They used Grant's brother-in-law Abel Corbin who told Fisk and Gould insider information that if there was a run on gold (large amounts of people rushing to purchase gold or gold stocks) the federal government would not sell its gold and therefore prices would rise. Therefore, Fisk and Gould bought all of the gold they could at $135 per ounce and cornered the supply and then drove the price up to $160 per ounce. Then, they dumped the gold at the higher price and kept the profits. When Grant's Treasury Secretary told him what had taken place, he sold federal gold to stabilize the price. Grant himself wasn't corrupt but his administration would be tarnished by Corbin's connection. Another scandal was the **Credit Mobilier scandal**, which was a result of using public (taxpayer) funding for transcontinental railroads. The Union Pacific and Central Pacific joined the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory Point, Utah in May of 1869. In 1862, the Pacific Railroad Act had given numerous incentives to build a transcontinental railroad. Railroads would lay track in any area and got more money for bulding on rougher terrain. Union Pacific chief engineer Granville Dodge laid track on ice so it had to be rebuilt in the spring (public money was being given to him to do this a.k.a. taxpayer money...this is common then and now with government spending that the government isn't able to have enough oversight of its spending). The Union Pacific and Central Pacific came within vicinity of each other and even built lines that ran parallel to each other...all on the government taxpayer dollar (think about it...a private business which has a motive of profit would NOT waste their own money...this is common still today of waste in government spending that's given to businesses). Finally, the federal government stepped in and made sure the transcontinental railroad was completed after a lot of waste (even when the golden spike was being driven in plans were being made to rebuild and even relocate the trancontinental railroad due to shoddy construction (government gives money to build - build cheaply - keep leftover money --- often done with government handouts). In contrast to government subsidized railroads, James Hill was able to build more efficiently and without federal aid. The Credit Mobilier scandal had its roots in this government money. The company (Credit Mobilier) formed in 1864 to prop up the struggling Union Pacific Railroad. A Congressional charter required the railroad to sell stock at $100 cash, but the price sank and investors questioned if it could be built. Thomas Durant came up with **Credit Mobilier**, which stockholders of it were the same as the Union Pacific's. The railroad would give contracts to Credit Mobilier, which would balloon the costs to double the actual expenses (remember government was paying). The Union Pacific would pay the expenses and Credit Mobilier would take the leftover money and buy stock at $100 per share. Basically, Durant got the railroad to buy its own stock and got Credit Mobilier to sell it on the open market (he wouldn't lose anything because it wasn't his own money or his own profits that was being put in). Directors and stockholders of Credit Mobilier made profits buy overcharging the railroad, all being funded by the government a.k.a. the taxpayers. Some Grant Administration officials were investors (not Grant himself). The era sometimes got labeled the "Era of Good Stealings" since there was more opportunity for illegally gaining money (graft) and corruption could mean earning a profit, all because government was getting too big.

Many politicians (in both parties) believed reform was needed due to what was taking place at the federal level but also due to corruption at the local level (Tweed Ring in New York City - "Boss" William Tweed in NYC set up a system with graft to line his own pockets as well as friends...anyone that would help keep the Tweed Ring in power. Another group of Republicans called **Liberal Republicans** (not the same use of the liberal as today) called for reform. This group included Horace Greeley, Gideon Welles, Charles Francis Adams, Carl Schurz, and newspaper editor E.L. Godkin. They favored free trade, redeeming greenbacks in gold, having a stable currency, restore the rights to former Confederates, and civil service reform. Liberal Republicans nominated Greeley to run against Grant and the Democrats went with Greeley too thinking he was the only one who could defeat Grant. Greeley's wife died, which led him to a mental or emotional breakdown plus attacks on him by the Grant campaign such as cartoonist Thomas Nast linking him to the Tweed Ring would help lead Grant to victory. However, Liberal Republican ideas began to help reshape the party as the party of free trade, less government, low taxes, sound money, and character in the government (all conservative values today). The Democrats made gains in the South and even embraced some former Confederates (do you think the former Confederates had a change of heart to anti-slavery and pro-Union?). Violence from the KKK spread, which led to the Force Act, which put on heavy fines and prison time for attempting to hinder citizens from voting. More legislation came that was aimed at the KKK and Grant was able to push the hate group into operating underground (secretly) as they waited for an administration that was less concerned about black rights. Redeemer Democrats didn't want black equality. The Panic of 1873 helped the Democrats win control of most Southern state houses in 1874 and got control of the U.S. House of Representatives, which wouldn't be good for blacks since they would not have any intentions to enforce civil rights laws in a time period when **Jim Crow Laws** were being passed in Southern states, which were a series of laws that allowed segregation (separation) of blacks and allowed discrimination against blacks.

Northern Americans were growing tired of defending black rights and their own corrupt Reconstruction governments in the South. A common trait in America is that American support for something often declines over time (example today is the war on terror). Losing the 1874 midterm showed the Radical Republicans that they were losing support for their policies. The frontier west distracted Americans. Soldiers were sent to fight the Indians in the west. These soldiers would have to be taken from the South so there would be less in the South to open the election polls to ensure the black right to vote and less soldiers to control the KKK. Economic disruption also drew attention from the South. The **Panic of 1873** was a depression brought about by the failure of Jay Cooke's banking house. In addition, the government announced it would redeem greenbacks in gold starting in 1879 and also announced the government wouldn't monetize silver (redeem in silver...only gold) and refused to inflate the currency. There would be protests from western farmers, miners, and others hurt by postwar deflation (prices decreased for farmers and miners who wanted prices to increase). With army regiments redeploying to the west, Republican voters in the South lost some security. White Republicans and blacks feared going to the polls so many just stopped. It was tough to defend black equality with hard times and high taxes and the South undermining equality laws that were passed. The last attempt of the Radical Republicans to show their commitment to Reconstruction on their terms was by passing the **Civil Rights Act of 1875**, which they passed after the Democrats had won elections in 1874 to retake the House (the Democrats didn't take office till March of 1875). The law said there would be "full and equal treatment" to all persons of race and decreed access to all public facilities and needed troops to enforce it. Redeemer Democrats gradually gained control in the South and would not enforce any civil rights laws passed. The North would start to abandon what it had started losing public opinion (by the mid 1870s the public was saying it's been going on for 10 years and time to move on). The South tried to institute legal slavery.

Going into the election of 1876 **Rutherford Hayes** would be the Republican nominee. He was a Civil War officer before getting into politics and he criticized Republican corruption. He would run against Democrat Samuel Tilden, the man who crushed the Tweed Ring. Tilden won Indiana and New York so Hayes went to bed thinking he'd lost but the election got close. The results in Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida were troubling since black votes may not have been counted. Hayes was hesitant to contest the results but he had fought for black rights in the Civil War so he contested. A commission of 15 would certify the results for Hayes after Hayes agreed that he would remove the soldiers from the South and end Reconstruction (called the Compromise of 1877). Hayes came into office with a divided country, party, and Congress so it would be tough to accomplish much. In addition, with troops spread thin due to Indian wars in the west, the South began to act as if it had defeated the North's legislation if not its armies.

The 1890 census would show that the West was no longer a frontier. The West had made Americans democratic, egalitarian, nationalistic, pragmatic, and adaptive through some negatives as life made westerners coarse, violent, and anti-intellectual. However the "Wild West" wasn't as violent as modern society according to crime percentages.
 * __Civilizing the Western Frontier__:**

Wagon trains were the main ways to the West as pioneers traveled together and formed wagon circles at night for defense as pioneers often worked together on the journey westward. Stage coaches were vital carriers of passengers, freight, and the mail. This began as a small business but as owners grew capital, the business got bigger. Eastern companies had begun under Henry Wells, John Butterfield, and William Fargo, which became the basis for the modern firms American Express and Wells-Fargo. Steamboat companies were gaining success at the time too. However, railroads started to undercut river travel by the Civil War. After the Civil War, the government was committed to a transcontinental railroad. Therefore, the government subsidized with federal land and money, but there were privately built railroads as well. James Hill built more efficient railroads without government aid. The railroads were important fo several reasons: (1) the West was no longer isolated, (2) railroad stations would be the hub of communities, (3) the telegraph offices would grow in importance, and (4) the rise of national parks. **Cornelius Vanderbilt** became the wealthiest in railroads controlling the railroad network from New York to Chicago. He also replaced iron rails with stronger steel, which could handle a heavier load (more train cars and cargo).

There were plenty of natural resources in the western frontier. Animals for fur, thick forests for lumber, the **Comstock Lode** was a major silver strike and other strikes led to more gold and silver rushes, and plenty of land for farming and ranching. Various towns grew due to mining. Advances in mining included **hydraulic mining**, which was spraying water at high pressure on the mountain, which washed away dirt, gravel, and rock and exposed minerals beneath the surface. Tombstone was one in which there was a lot of lawlessness and where Marshall **Wyatt Earp** gained fame at the O.K. Corral. The extraction of these resources tended to start small but grew to overharvest and the failure to conserve would lead to higher prices. Historians often blame free market capitalism for over usage of resources, but the federal government gave federal land to miners, loggers, farmers, ranchers, and fisherman and like today regulate resource extraction by giving incentives to over-extract instead of allowing the market to increase prices and therefore conserve resources, which does the harm in terms of over-extraction of natural resources. The canning process developed, which especially increased the fishing industry (canned fish, especially salmon). Fur trappers had been some of the earliest to go west. Logging grew as an industry with cross-cut saws, donkey engines, steamloaders, and steam-powered band saws. Lumber companies saw that they would have to focus on reforestation and prevention of soil erosion and improve fire protection. Kimberly-Clark was a paper company that in 1902 set up long-term wetlands management programs and hired foresters, which would all improve the lumber industry. This was done before the U.S. government got into forest conservation. This shows that private industry has incentives to be environmental friendly and the government does not have to be involved. Today, the government doesn't want to drill for oil in the U.S. due to environmental reasons, but oil companies would have incentive to be environmentally friendly. Growing **boomtowns** developed, which were towns in the West that had massive economic growth.

The **Cattle Kingdom** was the main way of life on the Plains from 1865 through the 1880s. The Texas Longhorn cattle was shipped to New Orleans and taken to the east. However, the cattle often carried ticks to the east that harmed other livestock. Ranchers found that if they shipped cattle north when there was frost, the ticks froze and died. Jess Chisholm cut a trail (**Chisholm Trail**) from Texas to Abilene, Kansas. Two million cattle would be driven along the trail over the decades. Other trails would be cut as well. Other cattle drive destination included Dodge City, Kansas and Sedalia, Missouri. The cowboy developed from cattle ranching. Being a cowboy wasn't as glamorous as portrayed in movies. Cattle drives were often boring as well as lonely and very long. At the end of the drive when cowboys were paid they often stopped by saloons. The combination of liquor, guns, and the boredom of the cattle drive wasn't the best combination. In reality, the "Wild West" wasn't as violent as portrayed in Hollywood. Statistics show less violence than present day. Everyone owned a gun, which meant less crime...an outlaw might be less willing to attempt a crime if the victim was armed. The invention of **barbed wire** by Joseph Gidden kept cattle together. The business would decline in the 1880s when beef prices skyrocketed and overgrazing of the fields limited the food supply for the cattle. In addition, the 1886-7 winter dropped and many cattle died of starvation. Haciendas were common in the Southwest, which were Hispanic ranches. Many cities grew with Hispanics including Los Angeles, El Paso, and Albuquerque.

Another wave of settlers in the Great Plains were farmers. The Homestead Act provided land in the west with a **homestead** being tract of public land available for settlement. Life on the prairie was difficult building houses from sod and drilling deep wells for water all in 100 degree temperatures in the summer and blizzards in the winter. Those who plowed the Plains became known as **sodbusters**. New machinery included John Deere's steel plow that could break the hard ground and Cyrus McCormick's mechanical reaper that did the work of five men. Windmills were also necessary to pump water, which was scarce. Some farms grew and would make huge profits. These farms became known as **bonanza farms**. Such farms formed companies, invested in property and equipment and hired workers.

Interactions between whites and Indians were similar everywhere: peace and trade - conflict over land - treaty - misunderstanding - the war (usually ending in Indian defeat). Natives in the West relied on the buffalo. They didn't herd or breed the buffalo so never had a surplus. As a result, western tribes were nomadic, or moved around with the buffalo. The Natives weren't the environmentalists they were often made out to be. Dead animals rotting on the roads weren't uncommon. There were three major theories on how to deal with the Natives. (1) Preventionists suggested to allow Indians to roam the Plains and continue hunting and gathering. This theory ignored the brutality of some of the tribes. (2) Exterminationists were racist and wanted rid of the Indians. (3) Assimilationists held the view that industrialization and progress made the first one impossible and the second was un-Christian and uncivilized. This view wanted to put Indians on reservations and have the Indians learn English, Christianity, and adapt to farming and ranching. There would be conflict between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the army. The BIA were to take care of the Indians in terms of their well-being and were assimilationists. The army was in charge of relocating the Indians and were exterminationists.
 * __Native Americans in the West__:**

Four major Indian wars ended once and for all 250 years of white-Indian conflict.

First was in 1864-5 when Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors battled U.S. troops in Colorado. Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle accepted tribal land and raised the American flag only to see members of his tribe massacred by drunken militiamen (not U.S. regulars) at **Sand Creek**. Debate goes on still today as to exactly how it all began. Fighting continued into the fall with the Cheyenne agreeing to go to a permanent reservation.

Second took place North and had started in 1862-3 when the Lakota Sioux resisted white incursions in Minnesota, which U.S. army General John Pope put an end to when he defeated the Sioux and hanged 38 Sioux warriors. Further west in 1866, Lt. Col. William Fetterman was leading 80 men to the relief of a wood-gathering train when a party of Oglala Sioux led by Red Cloud (which included a young warrior named Crazy Horse) annihilated Fetterman's compound. Had the Sioux recognized the power of guns, they may have had an advantage. Two years later, a group of Sioux attacked engineers constructing a road to Fort Bozeman in Montana. Red Cloud led incursions but the army counterattacked promised to cease construction of the road, which persuaded Red Cloud to retire to a reservation in the Dakotas. Corruption often took place with the reservation agency, which antagonized the Sioux, which renewed hostilities into the 1870s.

Third took place in June 1875 when the Cheyenne and Sioux were driven to war by whites coming into the Black Hills of South Dakota looking for gold as well as the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Sioux leaders Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse left the reservation to fight. Crazy Horse recognized the western way of war as powerful, which led him to be the only native to dismount before firing his rifle. The army knew that tribes had gathered below the Yellowstone River and its Bighorn River tributary in southeastern Montana. George Armstrong Custer was sent to find the Sioux. He underestimated their size, capabilities, and leadership since the Sioux and Cheyenne combined forces. Custer was arrogant and attacked thinking victory would be easy. Custer would end up being surrounded in a battle that left Custer and all of his men dead and was over in less than 20 minutes. This was the **Battle of the Little Bighorn** also called **Custer's Last Stand**. Americans embraced Custer as a martyr for the cause of Manifest Destiny and sought revenge. Four months later the Sioux and Cheyenne surrendered. In addition, the Nez Perce, led by **Chief Joseph**, went to a reservation as the chief didn't want to see his tribe lose more members in war said "I fight no more forever."

Fourth, the demoralized Sioux turned to spiritualism. The Ghost Dance was a desperate belief that dancing would banish the white man and would make the Indians invulnerable to bullets and cannons. Military governors got nervous and ordered them to stop. Attempts to arrest Chief Sitting Bull led to shooting and eventually resulted in Sitting Bull's death. On December 29, 1890 an attempt to disarm the Sioux was bungled by troops and led to the **Massacre at Wounded Knee** that saw the deaths of some 200 Sioux. The Indian wars would be over with the Indians being forced to reservations.

The **Dawes Severalty Act** (1887) passed three years before Wounded Knee and had sought to move Indians away from the tribal system and into society by learning English and going to government schools with reservations being set aside. By the late 20th century, there would be success stories of Native Americans in the U.S. An example was with Chief Philip Martin in the 1970s who built up the Choctaw reservation and was competing in American economics. Even though there are numerous modern success stories, it would be unwise to declare a happy ending to a 400 year history of warfare, abuse, theft, and treachery by whites, and of suffering by Indians. However, it's correct to say that the end result has been a certain level of assimilation, a goal that seemed hopeless at one time. Modern Indians are proud Americans who embrace their Indian ethnicity and American folk traditions, Christianity, western legal traditions, capitalism, and all facets of American civilization. But getting there was a difficult, bloody, and tragic struggle.

Political complications would prolong statehood for some western territories, such as the Washington territory (today's states of Washington, Idaho, Montana, and parts of Wyoming). The territory leaned Republican but Democrats were regaining control in 1877 but when Republicans would regain Congressional control in 1888, which would also mean statehood for more western territories. On the other hand, the Mormons in Utah leaned Democrat, but still were not getting statehood due to beliefs and practices of polygamy. They were denied citizenship as long as they practiced this belief. Mormons at first ignored territorial government for a theocracy (religious government) under Brigham Young. In 1857, President Buchanan had sent Albert Sydney Johnston to enforce U.S. sovereignty, which concluded with an agreement between Buchanan and Young. The Morrill Act of 1862 outlawed plural marriage, which was taken to the Supreme Court by the Mormons. The Court ruled that the law was constitutional. The Edmunds Act of 1862 denied voting rights to polygamists, which was upheld in //Romney v. U.S.// (1889) at which Mormons officially renounced plural marriage. Alaska had become a U.S. possession in 1867 when Secretary of State William Seward negotiated to purchase Russia for $7.2 million. It was called "Seward's Folly" since it seemed like a bad purchase, but it turned out to be a massive purchase at a low cost. Gold rushes in the Klondike in the 1890s would increase its population.
 * __Prairie Populism and National Radicalism__:**

Despite all of the opportunities on the frontier, life in the West, and especially the Plains, was hard. For every miner who got rich, ten abandoned their claims and found other work. For every farmer who was successful, several gave up and returned east. For every cattle rancher who got success, dowzens sold out and gave up. Miners, farmers, and laborers (workers) grew discontented in the alte 19th century. Economic panics caused unemployment rates to twice go above 30%. Wage earners complained about low salaries and dangers working conditions, which eventually led to violent groups forming unions. Farmers faced low crop prices, and high railroad rates. Opening the western lands meant more farms, which wouldn't help prices increase for farmers. Farmers used the ballot, not the bullet like early unions formed by workers. The Grangers (Patrons of Husbandry) worked to get railroad and grain elevator rates under control. In //Munn v. Illinois// the Supreme Court ruled that private property in which the public has interest must submit to public controls. Basically, any business dealing with the public in any way could be subject to government regulation.

There was discontent in western towns too since the first generation will always carry the brunt of rapid change. Workers endured hardships working an average of 60 hours a week with skilled workers making 20 cents an hour and unskilled workers making 10 cents and hour. There was no job security, no unemployment compensation, no medical insurance, no pensions, and no ability to bargain for wages or working conditions. The Knights of Labor formed in Philadelphia in 1869 and moved west in the 1880s. They sought equity in the workplace, but only for whites and opposed African-American and Chinese workers. The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) took violence to new heights, which severely damaged the collective bargaining goal of workers. The WFM stole a train, loaded it with dynamite, and blew up millions of mining infrastructure. The Wobblies started peaceful but also turned violent.

Even though the start of unions had a lot of violence, western workers and their unions had legitimate grievances they tried to address through the political system. Political activism combined with the prosperity of the capitalist system would eventually bring improvements in wealth and lifestyle that workers had sought. However, it presented a problem for union leaders, which continues to be an issue with union bosses today: when the union has achieved its goal, what next? The union leader would have to either not be the union boss with the big paycheck of a union boss, or find or create new problems that need to be resolved by the union, which was the option union leaders would take rather than admit there was no longer a purpose for the union leaders in the organization. Farmers and miners in the west pushed for inflation to increase prices and wanted the government to purchase silver at artificially high prices at the taxpayer expense and when Congress refused in 1873, the "silverites" called it the "Crime of '73." In addition, farmers looked to create a federal agency to regulate railroad rates (more specifically "to set them artificially low"). They rightly complained that government subsidized railroads were giving better rates to agribusiness (big business farms that small farms had trouble competing with due to modern farming technology). Lost in the debate was whether or not the railroads should have been subsidized by the government. This discontent would lead to the Populist Party of the 1890s, which would have a lasting impact on American politics by pushing for the government to regulate the economy and money in terms of inflation.

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