APUSH Period 6: Ultimate Guide to Period 6 APUSH

Summary

Jocz Productions delivers a comprehensive breakdown of APUSH Period 6, covering the transformative years from 1865 to 1898. This era, marked by post-Civil War expansion, industrialization, and the rise of big business, laid the foundations for modern America. Economic opportunities spurred Western migration, while industrial leaders like Carnegie and Rockefeller revolutionized industries. However, this growth came with challenges such as labor exploitation, government corruption, and social injustices. As America faced internal and external migrations, urbanization, and immigration surges, reform movements began addressing these issues, setting the stage for the Progressive Era.

Highlights

• Westward expansion was incentivized by laws like the Homestead Act and driven by government infrastructure projects such as the Transcontinental Railroad. 🚂
• Government policies towards Native Americans were predominantly aggressive, including violent conflicts and forced assimilations. 🌾
• The Gilded Age saw rapid industrial growth but also highlighted stark economic disparities and labor struggles. 📈
• Labor unions like the Knights of Labor and AFL formed to combat poor working conditions and low wages. 👊
• Reform movements, including the Populist Party and social gospel advocates, aimed to correct economic and social injustices. ⚖️

Key Takeaways

• Post-Civil War expansion led to significant economic opportunities and challenges in the West. 🌄
• Industrial magnates like Carnegie and Rockefeller reshaped industries with aggressive business tactics. 🏭
• Labor and farmers faced exploitation, driving the formation of unions and populist movements. 👷‍♂️🚜
• The rise of nativism and urbanization highlighted social tensions in a rapidly changing America. 🏙️
• Reform movements began addressing the rampant inequalities and corruption of the Gilded Age. ✊

Overview

The Gilded Age, spanning 1865 to 1898, was a period of rapid expansion and industrialization in the United States. Post-Civil War, America saw significant migration westward, aided by policies like the Homestead and Pacific Railroad Acts. While these moves opened up economic opportunities in mining, farming, and cattle industries, they were also synonymous with the displacement and aggressive suppression of Native American populations.

Simultaneously, industrial giants such as Andrew Carnegie in steel and John D. Rockefeller in oil revolutionized American industry through techniques like vertical and horizontal integration. However, this boom in business also concentrated wealth in the hands of a few, neglecting the burgeoning labor force that experienced low wages and poor working conditions. In response, labor organizations formed, such as the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor, while the South grappled with its agrarian economy transitioning post-Reconstruction.

The influx of immigrants, primarily from Southern and Eastern Europe, changed the American social fabric, prompting nativism and urban crowding issues. In large cities, disparities were stark, with affluent lifestyles clashing against the poverty of tenement living. Reform efforts began to take shape, with movements like the Populist Party advocating for government intervention in the economy, and social initiatives like the settlement house movement helping integrate immigrants. The groundwork for the Progressive Era was being laid, addressing the corruption and excesses of the Gilded Age.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to APUSH Period 6 In the 'Introduction to APUSH Period 6', the discussion focuses on the time span from 1865 to 1898. The video sets the stage for this period in the APUSH curriculum, offering an overview to help viewers grasp the significant historical changes and events. While the episode mentions a series of other videos providing more detailed information, the primary aim of this section is to give a brief and straightforward introduction to Period 6, covering key transformations during this era, such as the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the Progressive Era.
• 00:30 - 01:30: Post-Civil War Expansion and Government Role The chapter discusses the economic opportunities that arose in the post-Civil War era, particularly in the western United States. It highlights how industries such as mining, farming, and cattle were areas of growth during this time. The government played a significant role in facilitating this westward expansion through policies like the Homestead Act, which offered 160 acres of land to settlers at low cost, albeit not always prime land. Additionally, the Pacific Railroad Act was important as it designated the route for the Transcontinental Railroad, further aiding in the movement of people and development of the West.
• 01:30 - 03:00: Conservation Movement and Native American Policies The chapter discusses the role of the government in the westward expansion of the United States, specifically focusing on how native people were forcibly removed from their lands and placed onto reservations. It also touches on the government's support of railroad companies through land grants and subsidies to facilitate this expansion. Additionally, the chapter notes the emergence of a conservationist movement, highlighting the growing awareness of conservation issues amidst the expansion.
• 03:00 - 09:00: Industrialization and Labor Movement The chapter discusses the conflict between government agencies, conservationist groups, and corporate interests concerning natural resource management. It highlights the battle over control of water, air, and other resources. The role of the Department of the Interior, established in 1849, is emphasized as being responsible for the management and conservation of federal lands and natural resources.
• 09:00 - 11:30: Agricultural Changes and Farmer Organizations The chapter discusses the establishment of organizations and movements aimed at conservation and preservation of natural resources in the United States. In 1871, a significant effort was made to regulate fisheries to prevent overfishing. John Muir, a prominent figure in the conservationist movement, founded the Sierra Club in 1892 to advocate for environmental conservation. The chapter hints at further developments in this area, particularly under Theodore Roosevelt's leadership, where conservation efforts began receiving federal attention.
• 11:30 - 15:00: Politics and Government Regulation During this time period, the government's policies towards Native Americans can be categorized into violent conflicts or assimilation strategies. Several significant events include massacres, such as the Sand Creek Massacre, where the Colorado militia attacked and killed over 100 Native people, including women and children. Additionally, the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876 saw the Sioux tribe, under the leadership of Sitting Bull, defeat Colonel Custer and his men.
• 15:00 - 18:00: Migration and Immigration Changes The chapter discusses significant events during a period of changes in migration and immigration in the USA, focusing on the plight of Native Americans. It mentions the Seventh Cavalry, also known as Custer's Last Stand, and its role in the aftermath of the Battle of Little Big Horn. The government's actions to suppress the Sioux resistance, particularly through the Ghost Dance Movement, are highlighted. This movement was seen as a cultural revival among the Sioux Indians in the Dakota Territory, with hopes of ridding the area of white settlers and restoring buffalo populations. The chapter concludes with the description of the Battle of Wounded Knee, noted as the last major Indian battle in 1890, where the US Army intervened.
• 18:00 - 25:00: Urban Challenges and Responses The chapter discusses the aggressive and oppressive policies towards Native American tribes, emphasizing massacres misrepresented as battles. It delves into assimilation policies, where tribes were forcibly relocated to reservations exemplified by the Great Sioux Reserve. Furthermore, it examines legislative acts like the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887, which aimed to terminate tribal land ownership and dissolve native tribes, reflecting governmental strategies to undermine indigenous autonomy.
• 25:00 - 30:00: Social and Economic Reform Movements This chapter provides an overview of the social and economic reform movements post-Civil War, focusing on the forced assimilation of Native Americans through government-supported schooling. The phrase "kill the Indian, save the man" highlights the harsh approach towards cultural assimilation. The chapter also touches upon the significant industrialization during this era, characterized by large-scale production, technological advancements, and improved communication networks, prompting businesses to maximize their operations.

APUSH Period 6: Ultimate Guide to Period 6 APUSH Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] what's up aush crew today we're going to break down period 6 in the APUSH curriculum we're going from 1865 to 1898 if you want to get real super smart on these topics click any one of these four videos and you'll get all the real nitty-gritty details today we're going to try to go quick so one important
• 00:30 - 01:00 topic is post Civil War expansion in the post- Civil War era there's a lot of economic opportunities out in the west these include mining farming and the cattle industry and the government had actually established policies such as the Homestead Act if you went West you can get 160 acres of land it's not necessarily the best land but you can get this land for relatively cheap the Pacific Railroad Act which established the route for the Transcontinental Railroad so the government is facilitating the movement of people West
• 01:00 - 01:30 in fact the government is very active in this process because it is going to be the government unfortunately removing the native people forcing them onto reservations more on that in a moment and giving land and Grant subsidies to the railroad companies for this expansion to take place so it's important you know the role of the government in this western expansion as the nation is expanding West there is a growing conservationist movement in the country they're starting to realize that
• 01:30 - 02:00 we need to preserve some of our natural resources and there's really a battle between government agencies and conservationist groups versus Corporate interest who want to make money off the water and the air and other things and who's really going to control these natural resources you do have the department of the Interior it was established in 1849 and its job it was responsible for the management and conservation of federal land and other natural resources the US Fish Commission
• 02:00 - 02:30 is established in 1871 it's created to preserve the Fisheries of the us so we don't overfish and run out and really a huge person in the conservationist movement is John Mir in 1892 he establishes the Sierra Club and its whole purpose was to fight for conservation and preservation of natural resources and we're really going to see in Period 7 Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt is going to be the guy who's going to make this happen on a federal level unfortunately conserv ation is not going
• 02:30 - 03:00 to be something the government's interested in when it comes to Native Americans their policy kind of can go into two categories during this time period violent conflict or assimilation policies there's a whole bunch of battles that take place really they're massacres the San Creek Massacre the Colorado militia goes in attacks and kills over a 100 native people many of them women and children the Battle of Little Big Horn 1876 the Sue tribe inspired by the leadership of Sitting Bull kills Colonel kuster and his men in
• 03:00 - 03:30 the seventh cavalary it's also known as kuster's Last Stand however the government's going to come in after the battle Little Big Horn and round up the Sue resistance there's a ghost Dance Movement which begins amongst the Sue Indians in the Dakota territory where they feel like this is a kind of cultural Revival they're going to get rid of the white man the Buffalo are going to return and all is going to be well however the US government is going to come in with the Battle of Wounded Knee which is the last major Indian battle in 189 where the US Army goes
• 03:30 - 04:00 into the dtas and kills over 200 native people once again this is more of a massacre than it is a battle assimilation policies tribes were often times forced onto reservations such as the great Sue reserve and this was supported by laws such as the Daw severalty Act of 1887 its whole purpose was to end tribal ownership of land they want the government wants native tribes to dissolve and they want to force them
• 04:00 - 04:30 onto private Farms we also see various Native American schools opening up with the support of the federal government and their goal their Duty was to assimilate native people kill the Indian save the man was the idea in these schools another thing happening during this post Civil War era is industrialization you have large scale production tremendous technological change all sorts of new inventions making life easier improv communication networks and you see business during this time seeking to maximize the
• 04:30 - 05:00 exploitation of a growing labor force and natural resources key to this though is industry leaders such as Carnegie of course the steel guy and Rockefeller oil who are seeking to dominate their respective Industries through a variety of techniques you got horizontal integration being used where you control all competition in a particular industry in other words you're consolidating all your competitors to monopolize a market vertical integration you control all aspect of production of manufacturing
• 05:00 - 05:30 from extracting the raw materials to selling the finished product and in order to eliminate or reduce competition Business Leaders sought to establish monopolies trust and pools they also believed and defended their wealth with ideas such as social Darwinism meaning the rich are rich because they're hardworking and the poor are poor because they're lazy or inferior and this is this idea of survival of the fittest in fact one of the other key aspects of this period is
• 05:30 - 06:00 advocating for Lazare policies in other words the government should not regulate business it's important you know about the regional differences so you have the West experiencing its own economic growth and population growth the North and the Midwest is industrializing but you also have the South and after reconstruction there was an attempt at industrializing the southern economy some refer to it as the new South and there is a growth in the number of textile Industries in the South remember the South was largely agriculture so you
• 06:00 - 06:30 have textile mills and factories coming into Southern States however the South remained even though you have this idea of the new South the South remained primarily agriculture in fact tenant farming and sharecropping continue to be the predominant labor system of the Southern economy and it's really africanamerican laborers and poor whites but really black laborers who are doing much of this work in the farming and
• 06:30 - 07:00 sharecropping now during this time during this Industrial Revolution there's a lot of good happening industrialization and urbanization people moving to the cities largely because they're looking for jobs they're bringing about economic new economic opportunities for immigrants and workers people are going from rural areas to urban areas immigrants are coming from other countries looking for these new economic opportunities and the workforce is expanding we also see this time period presenting new career
• 07:00 - 07:30 opportunities um in spite of a lot of social Prejudice for African-Americans and women and other disadvantaged groups now a real key point in Period 6 is this while industrialization brought numerous opportunities to workers and dramatically expanded the workforce low wages and dangerous working conditions continued to be a problem so yes there were jobs but life was very difficult for workers and as a result result of
• 07:30 - 08:00 this workers are going to fight back they're going to fight back to try to change this reality and you're going to see workers organize you have the Knights of Labor you should know about in 1869 found it Terrence powderly is one of the key figures in this Union they opened up the union to all workers skilled and unskilled workers this was unique women and African-Americans were also allowed to join the union however after the Hay Market Riot where labor unions were kind of attached to radical
• 08:00 - 08:30 movements they are going to suffer a decline in numbers the big one though is the American Federation of Labor the AFL founded in 1886 make sure you know about Samuel gomers they're going to focus on skilled workers and they're not really interested in social reforms they focus on bread and butter issues practical things like wages working condition and hours and by 1900 it was the largest Union in the country now workers if
• 08:30 - 09:00 you're going to evaluate the labor movement during the Gilded Age during this industrial era they are going to have some successes and failures workers did form local and National unions that did directly confront growing corporate power and you're going to get the beginning of a National Labor movement and the rise of union leaders such as Eugene Debs you're going to see him at the Pullman Strike and Mother Jones in the Knights of Labor however this is going to be followed by a lot of failures Homestead Strike in 1892
• 09:00 - 09:30 workers at Carnegie steel are defeated during a strike Henry Frick is going to call out the guards and the union is going to be busted Pullman Strike in 1894 President Cleveland is going to use the Army in a court injunction to defeat the strike Eugene devs will be thrown in jail and a big problem for the unions was also division amongst themselves you have division between skilled and unskilled workers ethnic and racial groups very often workers unions were
• 09:30 - 10:00 against immigrants like the Chinese in the west so you going to have problems organizing you're also going to have hostility from corporations they're going to be hiring Pinkerton guards yellow dog contracts pledging you won't form a union and the government is going to be on the sidelines offering no protection because of the Lazare policies of the time period it's important you know that the lives of farmers was also changing as they had to adapt to meize agriculture they had to buy all this new equipment which made
• 10:00 - 10:30 them more efficient in producing crops and a dependence on powerful railroad companies farmers are going to have a lot of problems as they become more efficient at growing crops as agriculture becomes more and more recognize prices are going to fall you're also going to see unfair railroad business practices railroad companies will often times charge small farmers more than large Farmers the high cost of Machinery is going to cause huge amount of debt Tight money supply not having
• 10:30 - 11:00 access to cheap money is going to be a concern and of course High tariff policies amongst many republican administrations all of these things are going to cause Farmers to also organize couple of key Farmers groups you should know about the Grange movement is going to start off organizing social and educational activities but later on they're going to Lobby the state legislators in places such as Illinois for reforms we're going to see how that works out in a moment the farmer Alliance will follow in the 1870s really
• 11:00 - 11:30 in Texas they're going to be split though because in the South you're going to have division African-American farmers are going to have to form their own Farmers group called the colored Farmers Alliance and they're going to ignore the plight and the problems of tenant farmers and the big one you should know about is the one that actually forms into a political party the populist party they're going to be key their strength is going to be amongst Farmers but also amongst workers
• 11:30 - 12:00 and their platform is pretty varied in what they want and they're really calling for political reform and a stronger role of the government in the economy for instance they want the government to own the railroad companies two they want the free and unlimited coinage of silver to increase the money supply so that farmers have access to cheap money three they want to have an income tax which the rich would pay more for they want to have political reform where people would have the direct election of senators this was not the
• 12:00 - 12:30 case at this time and five they also want reforms such as the initiative and referendums so that you could take away power from these powerful business interests and these political machines which leads us to the government and the role of the government Mark Twain famously called this era the Gilded Age and what he meant was below the surface things are not as good as they seem there was rampant corruption and problems in this time period politics during the guild age was tied heavily to
• 12:30 - 13:00 Big Business and remember there's a Laz Fair philosophy which prevented the government from actively regulating the economy but it's important you understand that you're going to see the start of government regulation during this period during the gra movement they got laws pass Granger laws which protected Farmers against abuse of the railroad industry in the case mun versus Illinois the Court ruled that states could in fact regulate the railroads however that's overturned in the Wabash
• 13:00 - 13:30 case in 1886 where the court rules the states cannot regulate interstate commerce trade between different states and that's going to eventually lead to the passage of the Interstate Commerce Act which is going to regulate the federal government is going to regulate trade between different states in the beginning it's going to be ineffective but it's going to be an important precedent the other big one you should know about is the Sherman Antitrust Act this is is going to Outlaw trust and
• 13:30 - 14:00 other monopolies that fix prices and restrained trade and unfortunately for labor unions it's going to be used against them in the beginning not against the monopolies that will change however with the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt during the Progressive Movement in Period 7 another important thing that's happening during this time period is the movement of people and we're talking about large scale internal within the United States and external migration is taking place place we already saw the internal settlers
• 14:00 - 14:30 seeking opportunities on the frontier out in the west you know and remember these opportunities are available as a result of the Homestead Act and the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad they are going west you're going to see the mass movement of people to urban areas as they're looking for jobs and hoping to get economic opportunities African-Americans are going to really begin to move out of the South slowly at first in the around the 1890s but it's going to increase especially during World War I and World
• 14:30 - 15:00 War II leaving Jim Crow laws segregation and heading to Northern cities this will eventually be called The Great Migration and you're going to have external migration of people taking place large scale immigration from China during this period this will slow down dramatically with the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act make sure you know about that and after 1880 you're going to have a different kind of immigrant coming in from Europe the so-called new immigrants from Southern and EAS Eastern Europe and we're talking places like Russia Italy
• 15:00 - 15:30 Poland where my peeps are from and others they are largely going to settle in urban areas looking for job opportunities that are presented as a result of the Industrial Revolution there is going to be a response to this changing immigration and that is going to be the rise of nativism in fact during this time period there's going to be various attempts to exclude and keep out immigrants we've already heard about the Chinese Exclusion Act effectively shutting out Chinese immigration to the
• 15:30 - 16:00 United States the American Protective Association was an anti-catholic group made up of American Protestants that wanted to get restrictions and limits on the number of Catholics coming in and you have various proposals for literacy test which was proposed to keep Southern and Eastern immigrants out of the US and the idea here is that these immigrants are undesirable they're going to undermine and ruin the American way there are going to be very challenges of
• 16:00 - 16:30 urbanization and immigration cities were often divided among classes between the rich and the poor races ethnicities ethnic groups for example the Italians in Little Italy the Chinese in San Francisco are going to form their own communities and cultures low wages and dangerous working conditions kept many workers in extreme poverty since you have so many workers confined in these cities unskilled work leads to low wages there's going to be a contrast during this time between the poor and the
• 16:30 - 17:00 wealthy and the wealthy are enjoying lives of conspicuous consumption they're able to spend huge amounts of money to show off publicly their economic power and Status that's not the reality for the majority of people living in the cities in fact many people in cities like New York are going to be living in tenement housing it was extremely common and Jacob Reese is going to document this in his famous piece how the other half lives in
• 17:00 - 17:30 1890 giving a reality check to many Americans child labor is becoming increasingly common during this time and immigrants attempted to both assimilate for example learn English adopt to mainstream American culture while also maintaining their own unique cultural identities and political machines dominated City Life by exchanging Welfare Services food and other things and jobs for political support and this creates all sorts of corruption and
• 17:30 - 18:00 fraud and waste however these challenges are going to begin to be addressed during the Gilded Age you have the gospel of wealth which was a belief that the wealthy had a moral obligation to help out those less fortunate Andrew Carnegie talked about this in his peace wealth settlement house movement sought to relieve Urban poverty and provide assistance to immigrants um and you see this with Jane Adams whole house in Chicago Chicago helping immigrants
• 18:00 - 18:30 transition to life in America the social gospel movement challenged the dominant corporate ethic of the time and this was a group of Christians which said Christians had a responsibility to deal with Urban poverty and to help alleviate it the Socialist Party and other organizations actually challenged capitalism itself called it exploitive and critiqued it you had Edward Bellamy and his Looking Backward a utopian socialist Society is depicted in this
• 18:30 - 19:00 novel and in this Society they have fixed the social and economic injustices of the time in fact the Socialist Party is going to run candidates for political offices at both the state and National level and eventually and this is in Period 7 the effort to reform these problems will eventually lead to a movement known as the Progressive Movement in the 1890s and we got some videos on that as well check them out finally not only are there going to be people addressing the economic problems
• 19:00 - 19:30 of the guilded age you're going to have people addressing the social ones as well the National American women suffrage association NASA sought to secure the right to vote for women the right of suffrage you have people like Elizabeth cat Stanton and Carrie Chapman cat working tirelessly throughout this time period trying to get the right to vote various African American leaders sought to advance the cause of civil rights important one for period six is Booker T was Washington and he advocated
• 19:30 - 20:00 African-Americans should acquire vocational skills job skills to gain self-respect and economic security he established the Tuskegee Institute to try to accomplish this goal and Idol whales Barnett was very active in not only the women's rights movement but also in the campaign against lynching that's a real quick rundown review this is not meant to teach you everything in aush Period 6 but it's a reminder if you want some more details you you want all the little details that's going to help
• 20:00 - 20:30 you get that five click on any one of those four videos if you haven't already done so make sure you click that button and subscribe tell all your friends to do the same let them know how you're getting all those A's in your a push class if you have any questions post them in the comments and if the video helped you out click like have a great day peace