Pacific Railroad Act (1862)
Connected CA to East and opens settlement of the West
Called for a mix of national and state chartered RR companies, the former of which dealt through travel through territories while latter dealt with travel through states
Homestead Act (1862)
Offered cheap federal land for Amercians who want to settle in the west…160 acres for $1.25 per acre or free if you settle and improve land over 5 years → was open to citizens and immigrants → attempt to replicate eastern agrarian culture across the country, but difficulty of water access makes this difficult
Morrill Land Grant College Act 1862
Created educational institutions to promote agriculture, fostered advanced farming techniques and military arts → funded through federal land sales; 30,000 acres given to states for each member of Congress.
Omnibus Act of 1889
- Democrats lose 1888 election badly, they fear the GOP will push for admission of new presumably Republican states → which they do through the Omnibus Act, which includes ND, SD, WA, MT, ID and WY added in 1890 → Democratic leaning states come in late UT/NM/AZ
- Why are Republicans so concerned about getting as much political power as they can via the admittance of states? → Republicans fear for their vision of political economy, fear the southern Dems re-entering politics → Repubs want to maintain some part of the government in face of southern return (at least one veto-point) → fear of returning to Jefferson/Jackson rural and regional economic structure
Dawes Act of 1887
- Took reservation land and broke it up into 160 acre plots (like homestead act) without Indian’s permission and tried to make Indians homesteaders → to do this Indians had to break with tribal identities and become Americans proper → Indians often given subpar land, leftover land created by Dawes act given to white settlers → Teddy Roosevelt thought breaking up the “tribal mass” was great
- Dawes Act is a failure that violates Indians social cohesiveness and entrenches Indians in a subsistence lifestyle relying on US government for protection from whites and for economic assistance → the policy does eliminate Indians as an obstacle for western expansion
Morrill Tariff Act 1861
Established broad-based protective duties on imports, was part of Republican policy of support for industry and developing US economy , part of their “harmony of interests” philosophy.
Welton v. Missouri 1875
- Singer sewing company challenged state law requiring a fee for ppl to sell products manufactured out of state → says law violates commerce clause of the constitution, which SC rules in favor of saying you cant discriminate in terms of products coming from out of state
- Crucial in fostering a national economy and preventing an “internal tariff” phenomenon
Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad 1886
Southern Pacific calls on 14th amendment to challenge CA’s ability to collect taxes→ interpretation of SC ruling that the 14th amendment could be use to protect businesses/corporations as well as people
Homestead Strike 1892
Homestead was carnegie’s only unionized plant, who’s skilled workers were part of the AFL → Henry Clay Frick locks out all workers due to the AFL cohort, workers then strike → strikers are then broken by Pennsylvania militia but not b4 Frick is attacked in an attempted assassination attempt by Anarchist Birkman → violence was used on both sides, but it was highlighted more with regard to workers and made them look worse in the public opinion
American Federation of Labor 1886
Samuel Gompers → federation of craft unions/skilled workers → didn’t involve themselves in anti-capitalism or politics, simply wanted better conditions/pay for their workers
