6.2 Westward Expansion: Economic Development

After the Civil War, the government invested heavily in transportation and communication systems, which helped connect the different regions of the nation and create new markets. The Republicans returned to Henry Clay's American System, which advocated for government investment in infrastructure projects, and they used federal funds to build the Transcontinental Railroad.

The Transcontinental Railroad was a massive undertaking that linked the East and West coasts of the United States by rail, and it was completed in 1869. The railroad boom that followed helped connect regional areas of the country and opened up new markets for trade and commerce. It also greatly facilitated the settlement and development of the American West, which had previously been difficult to access.

The construction of the Transcontinental Railroad also had a significant impact on the nation's economy, as it spurred the growth of industries such as steel, coal, and manufacturing. It also provided jobs for thousands of workers, and it led to the growth of many towns and cities along the railway. The railroad was a key factor in the capitalist development of the United States during the Gilded Age, and it played an important role in shaping the nation's economy and society.

🎥 Watch: AP US History - Conquest of the West

Mining Frontier

Mining was a major factor that attracted people to the West during the Gilded Age. The California Gold Rush of 1848 was the first significant mining boom in the West, and it led to a large influx of people to California in search of gold. This was followed by other gold and silver rushes in other western states, such as Colorado and Nevada.

Individual prospectors, known as "49ers", flocked to the West in search of wealth and many did strike it rich, but for most, it was a hard and unprofitable endeavor. Eventually, mining became too expensive for the average miner to undertake, as it required deep shafts and costly equipment. Large corporations then moved in to take over the mining operations, which led to the displacement of many small-scale miners.

The mining boom led to the creation of many boomtowns, which were towns that sprang up overnight as a result of a rich strike. These towns were often characterized by saloons, dance hall girls, and vigilante justice. However, many of these towns would become ghost towns within a few years after the gold or silver ran out. The mining boom brought wealth to some but also brought hardship to many, and it had a significant impact on the development of the American West during the Gilded Age.

Chinese Exclusion Act

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As mining operations developed in the West during the Gilded Age, mining companies employed experienced miners from various parts of the world, including Europe, Latin America, and China. In many mining camps, a significant portion of the population was foreign-born, with as much as 25-50% of the population being made up of immigrants.

However, the Chinese immigrants faced significant discrimination, and in 1882, the United States Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which suspended immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years. This was the first major act of Congress to restrict immigration on the basis of race and nationality. The act was driven by anti-Chinese sentiment and economic competition, as many Americans saw the Chinese as taking jobs away from native-born workers and driving down wages. The act was also motivated by a belief that the Chinese immigrants were not capable of assimilating into American society.

The Chinese Exclusion Act was extended multiple times and was not repealed until 1943. The act had a severe impact on the Chinese-American community, and it created a discriminatory and exclusionary system that denied basic rights to Chinese immigrants and their descendants for over 60 years. It is considered a dark chapter in American history and had a lasting impact on the Chinese-American community.

Agricultural Frontier

The Homestead Act of 1862 was a significant piece of legislation that encouraged farming on the Great Plains by offering 160 acres of public land free to any family that settled on it for a period of five years. Many people moved west to take advantage of this opportunity, and it contributed to the settlement and development of the American West.

The Homestead Act was one of the several government policies that helped spur the growth of agriculture in the West. Innovations such as the McCormick reaper and cotton gin had already led to greater agricultural production, but new innovations like barbed wire and the refrigerated railroad car further boosted the productivity of Western settlers' farms and ranches. These innovations made it possible to fence in and protect large areas of land, and to transport and store perishable goods, which helped to increase the scale of agricultural operations.

However, while the innovations and the Homestead Act led to increased productivity in agriculture, it also led to lower prices for farm products, and many farmers began to see large corporations (banks, railroads, etc.) as the enemy. They felt that many government policies were benefiting large corporations at the expense of small farmers. The farmers began to organize and form cooperatives and political groups to push for policies that would benefit small farmers. This was the start of the farmers movement which will grow stronger during the following decades.

Cattle Frontier 

Cattle ranching dominated the open range, a vast fenceless area extending from the Texas Panhandle north into Canada. The problem was how to get the beef to eastern markets, and Joseph McCoy was one of the people who helped solve this problem. He conceived the idea of taking the cattle to the railheads in Kansas and built the first stockyards in the region in Abilene, Kansas, to hold cattle destined for Chicago. In 1870, 300,000 head of Texas cattle reached Abilene, followed the next year by 700,000.

Cowboys, or cattle herders, pushed steers northward in herds of two to three thousand. While novels and films often portray cowboys as white, at least a quarter of cowboys were black and another quarter were Mexican. The cowboy culture is a diverse culture, and it was not just white men who drove cattle to the railhead.

The rise of the railroads in the late 19th century also helped with the transportation of cattle to eastern markets. The railroads made it possible to transport cattle to places like Chicago, where they could be slaughtered and processed. This led to the growth of the meatpacking industry in the Midwest, and Chicago became known as the "hog butcher for the world."

The cattle drives were a significant part of the history of the American West and had a significant impact on the economy and society of the region. The open range and the cowboy culture that developed around it are an iconic part of American history.

Grange Movement

The Grange movement, also known as the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, was a fraternal organization for farmers that was founded in 1867. The Grange was formed to provide a sense of community among farmers and to organize resistance against the monopolistic practices of railroads, grain elevators, and other large corporations. These groups were typically local cooperatives that encouraged farmers to unite and better their communities.

From these movements, the Farmers’ Alliance was founded after the Panic of 1873. The Farmers' Alliance was a political organization that grew to be one of the largest farmers’ groups ever, with a membership of over one million.

The Farmers' Alliance organized cooperatives to buy supplies for less and sell goods collectively. They also provided loans to farmers and asked for government support in stabilizing the agricultural economy. They also advocated for the regulation of railroads, the creation of a graduated income tax, and the establishment of a graduated land tax.

The Farmers' Alliance played a major role in the populist movement of the 1890s, which aimed to give more political power to farmers and workers. They eventually merged with the People's Party, also known as the Populist Party, which ran a presidential candidate in 1892.

Overall, the Grange movement and the Farmers' Alliance are examples of how farmers and rural communities organized themselves to address the challenges they faced during the Gilded Age, and how they pushed for government policies that would benefit them.

Ocala Platform

Many farmers’ alliances were politically minded and lobbied state legislatures for regulations on railroad rates. 

In 1890, several farmers’ alliances met in Ocala, FL to discuss a few common political initiatives. There, they established the Ocala Platform, which called for the following:

• Direct election of US senators
• Lower tariff rates
• A gradual income tax (people with higher incomes would pay higher rates of tax)
• A new banking system regulated by the federal government.
• It also urged the free coinage of silver ⛓, and increase its use in circulation to create inflation and raise crop prices.
• Federal storage for farmers crops and federal loans, which would free farmers from dependency on middlemen and creditors. These issues (and the government’s failure to address them) eventually led to the foundation of the Populist Party (or the People’s Party) in 1892

🎥 Watch: AP US History - Populism