The Growth of America: The Gilded Age

1877 - 1900Gilded - Covered with a thin layer of gold

The American economy expanded rapidly during the last quarter of the 19th century. There was westward growth, an expansion of industry, and the rise of big business.

The results of this were poverty for farmers, poor conditions for industrial workers, prejudice and discrimination, political corruption, and urbanization.

1. Railroads - Land Grants – 200,000 acres

- Transcontinental Railroad – 1869 – Promontory Point – Irish and Chinese Workers

2. Government + Homestead Act

- 160 Acres of public land if:

- 21 years old, citizen or applied for, had $10 fee

- 5 yrs. to improve land = ownership- Other Land Grants

3. Jobs and Opportunity- Farming – Bonanza Farms- Mining – Boomtowns - Herding Cattle – Texas Longhorn

Frederick Jackson Turner – 1893 – Frontier is closed- 1900 – 45 States

1. Railroads - standard tracks and times2. Communication - telegraph

- Alexander Graham Bell - Telephone - 18763. Electricity- Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse

4. Bessemer Process - Henry Bessemer – Steel - Brooklyn Bridge

5. Advances in Farming

6. Raw Materials and Mining– Oil, Coal, Etc.

7. Labor Supply – Immigration – 30 Million

8. Republican Control of Government during Reconstruction – Tariffs, Banking, Internal Improvements

Monopoly - complete control of a product or service

Purpose – Reduce Competition = Increase Demand = Increase Prices and Profits- Andrew Carnegie - Steel Mills- Vertical Integration- Coal and Iron Mines- RRs and Steamships

Trusts - number of companies run by a board of trustees- John D. Rockefeller –- Standard Oil Trust – Horizontal Integration

By 1900 – 100s of Monopolies- Singer, Morgan, Edison, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Swift

Pros v. Cons of Monopolies

What should the government do?- Regulate Business v. Laissez Faire

Social Darwinism – Andrew Carnegie and “Gospel of Wealth”

Government Corruption – Political BossesSherman Antitrust Act – 1890

1. Debt for Farmers

Complaints:

1. Overproduction = Drop in Prices

2. Monopolies and Railroads

3. Tariffs

4. Money Supply – Deflation v. Inflation

- Gold Standard and Silver

The Grange - The Farmers Alliance

Populist Party – Platform = Regulation of Businesses and Railroads, Lower Tariffs, Direct Election of Senators, Free Coinage of Silver (Bimetallism)

- Election of 1892 – 1500 Local Reps, 3 Governors, 5 Senators, 10 Congressmen, James Weaver

- Election of 1896

– William Jennings Bryan (D) “ You will not press upon labor this crown of thorns, you will not crucify mankind on a cross of gold.” – Cross of Gold Speech – Populist Party absorbed by Democrats

- William McKinley (R)

- Importance of Third Parties

2. Native Americans- Plains Indians and Buffalo- Railroads and the Buffalo- 1867 Reservation System and Native

American Wars- Cheyenne + Black Kettle – Sand Creek

Massacre- Sioux War and Sitting Bull – Little Big Horn and Massacre at Wounded Knee- Helen Hunt Jackson – A Century of Dishonor- Dawes Severalty Act of 1887

Working Conditions

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (146)

1. Knights of Labor - Terrence Powderly

– ‘all who toil’

- government reform

2. American Federation of Labor – Samuel Gompers

– skilled labor

- ‘bread and butter’ unionism

- Railroad Strike of 1877 – 10% Wage cut, President Hayes and federal troops – 100 killed, millions in damages

- Haymarket Square of 1886 – May 1 – 8 hr. workday rally, Chicago Police, 4 people killed, 8 arrested

- Homestead Strike of 1892 – Pinkerton Detective Agency and Scabs, National Guard Troops

- Pullman Strike of 1894 – American Railway Union, President Cleveland, Court Injunction, Federal Troops

The End Result –Success?

- Violence, Gov’t support- Sherman Anti-trust?

The Era of the Great Strikes

1865-1920 – 30 Million- Why?

European Immigration – Old v. New- 1860-1890 – North and West (Old)- 1890–1920 – South and East (New)

Asian Immigration-Chinese – 250,000Japanese – 200,000

Mexican Immigration – 1,000,000Nativism – Anti-immigration – Why?

- Ellis Island and Angel Island – Medical and Mental Tests- Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882- Gentleman’s Agreement– 1907

Settlement Movement and Social Gospel Movement- Jane Addams and Hull House

- Voting Rights – Poll Taxes, Literacy Tests, Citizenship Tests, Grandfather Clauses – 15th Amendment

- Jim Crow Laws – Segregation - 1896 - Plessy v. Ferguson – 14th Amendment – “Separate but Equal” Doctrine

- Lynching – 180/yr. in 1890s

Civil Rights Leaders during Gilded Age:1. Booker T. Washington – Atlanta Compromise

- “Cast down your bucket where you are”- Industry, thrift, intelligence, and property- Education - Tuskegee Institute

2. W.E.B. DuBois- Niagara Movement – Agitate and demand political equality– Top Ten Percent- NAACP – Legal Battles

-Ethnic Neighborhoods-Tenements

- City Planning – Sewage, Transportation, Fire and Police - Political Bosses – Boss Tweed - Graft

Boss Tweed

-Leisure + Entertainment- Saloons and Trolleyparks- Movies – “The Great Train Robbery”- Theater – Vaudeville and Minstrel Shows- Sports- Newspapers – Yellow Journalism – William

Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer

- Magazines and Books- Music - Ragtime