American economy expands on all fronts between 1860-1900

A. Farm Production Doubles.

B. Manufacturing Grows Six-Fold.

C. Real Wages Rise.

D. Economy driven by new industries:

1. railroad

2. steel

3. oil & coal.

E. From self-employment to wage work

A. SpeculationB. Laissez-Faire EconomicsC. Labor ProblemsD. Business Consolidation & ControlE. Unfair Business PracticesF. Little or No Business Regulation

“Get rich dishonestly if we can, honestly if we must.”~ M. Twain & C. D. Warren, The Gilded Age

A term for late-nineteenth-century America.

Government was controlled by corrupt two-party system and by big business.

A time of:•Political Corruption and/or Inactivity•Laissez-Faire Economics•Social Darwinism•Get-Rich-Quick Schemes•Cycles of Economic Boom & Bust

““To the victor belongs the spoils.”To the victor belongs the spoils.”Political “machines” that turned out the vote & won the elections distributed the “spoils”: government jobs & contracts.

Strengths• Machines Found Jobs for Party Supporters• Machines Provided Some Social Welfare Services• Participation in Elections was Very High• Machines Built Urban Infrastructure

Problems• Corrupt Elections• Embezzlement of Public Money by Machines• Party workers Paid Kickbacks to Machines• Corporations That Support Machine Get Special Treatment

Citizens & some politicians begin to call for political & economic reform in the 1870s & 1880s.

•Reformers in Republican Party (“Goo-Goos” / “Mugwumps”)B.Reporters Who Exposed Corruption (“Muckrakers”)C.Third-Party Movements1. Farmers in Granger Movement

Granger Laws2. Workers in Labor Movement Knights of Labor, Union Labor Party, Workingmen’s Party

Major Reforms:•Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)•Interstate Commerce Act (1887)•Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)