Chapter 7: New Frontiers

Chapter 7 surveys the many ways in which the United States expanded its borders and power following the Civil War.

Section 1 describes western settlement and its effects on Native Americans. Settlers poured into the West drawn by opportunities in mining, forestry, agriculture, and the cattle industry. The government helped build a transcontinental railroad that made it easier for people to move west but made things more difficult for Native Americans already living there. Soon the federal government took away Native Americans' rights, relocated them to reservation areas, and undermined their culture.

Section 2 tracks the rise of industrialism and the growth of national markets. After Reconstruction, the nation concentrated on big business and heavy industry. American technology and entrepreneurial skills combined to produce thousands of new inventions that reshaped communications, manufacturing, business, and consumerism. Railroads revolutionized transportation and the movement of goods. Nationwide businesses reached consumers in every part of the country. Shrewd business leaders used mergers to make their corporations even larger and adopted a new philosophy to justify their aggressive business practices. Some industrialists, however, worried about the plight of the less fortunate.

Section 3 traces the rise of Populism and labor unions. During the late 1800s, reformers, farmers, and laborers made efforts to gain more control over their lives. They formed a political party that aimed at putting the government back into the hands of the people. Farmers also formed alliances in an effort to wield political muscle. Different labor unions organized and used negotiations, strikes, and boycotts to improve wages and working hours. Sometimes labor protests turned violent. The unions' exclusion of women, minorities, and unskilled workers was crippling to the labor movement.

Section 4 describes the reasons and methods of expansionism in the late 1800s. The Monroe Doctrine found new life as Americans resolutely defied any foreign nation to form colonies in the Western Hemisphere. In turn, the United States went from simply policing its borders to acquiring new and faraway lands. Close to home, it acquired much of what became the Southwest after a war with its neighbor Mexico, while the outcome of the Spanish-American War gave the United States significant new territory to add to its growing overseas empire. Still other lands were simply purchased. Patriotism, religion, and diplomacy were among the reasons used to justify expansionism, but economics stood as the greatest motivator of American expansion.