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Westward Expansion- Louisiana Purchase
To expand our fledgeling country, we purchased thousands of miles of land from people who didn't own it. Over the next few years we began a crucibal of westward progress, systematic extermination of buffalo, and the mass exhodous of the people who had lived there for hundreds of generations. -
Indian Removal Act
President Jackson, contrary to congress' continued discouragement, passed the Indian Removal Act. This mandated the forced migration of Native Americans to reserves on startlingly short notice. The migration was known as the "Trail of Tears" as the Natives were not allowed adiquate supplies for a long jorney and as many as 1 in 3 died from hunger, exhaustion, or exposure. -
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Andrew Carnagie
A Scottish industrialist, Adrew Carnagie made his money from a choke-hold on the iron industry, and massive ammounts of bribery to supply nearly all of the steel for the transcontinental railroad. He was a philanthropist and was known to give his money to people other than politicians from time to time. -
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Industrialization
During these years, America built factories to make goods at an alarming rate. This came at the small price of horrific working conditions, massive pollution, and an unprecidented wealth gap like no other before or since. -
California Gold Rush
Upon the discovery of gold in California, thousands of Americans were so overwhelmed by greed, I mean financial oppotunity, they abandoned their farms and city lives to go west in hopes of digging up shiny yellow rocks. -
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Cattle Boom
With the Native Americans forced into reserves and the buffalo poulation reduced to a mere fracton of what it was the newly vacant land in the prarie was used for hearding cattle. This was highly profitable until most of the good grass had been eaten by free range heards. Sparse food coupled with a harsh winter caused cattle to die in uge numbers- making it significantly less profitable. -
Transcontinental Railroad Completed
The railroad, built predominately by underpaid Chinese and African Americans, made the east to west transfer of well-off white people and their goods slightly more convenient. The workers were not known to ride the railroad after it was built as a result of racism, classism, or the fact that they were too dead from the harsh labor conditions. The transcontinental railroad increased economic activity and racial slurs astronomically. -
Standard Oil Founded
Standard Oil, started by John D. Rockefeller became the single largest (and in some cases the only) oil company in America, and South America, and China, and the Southern Arabian Peninsula. As a result of controlling more than 88-90% of the oil market, they could charge any price people would pay. Which is to say any price they came up with.