Daily Comment & Card
1860-1935
JANE ADDAMS
-American social reformer
-Provided the services of Hull
House in Chicago (a settlement
house to help poor immigrants
adapt)
-Member of the “Social Gospel”
movement which applied the lessons
of the Bible to help solve issues of
immigration and urbanization—Won
1931 Nobel Peace Prize
"Give me your
tired, your
poor,
Your huddled
masses yearning
to breathe
free,
The wretched
refuse of your
teaming shore.
Send these, the
homeless,
tempest-tost to
me,
I lift my lamp
beside the
golden door.“
-Emma Lazarus
“The New
Colossus”
(1883)
SONG FOR THE DAY: WE BUILT THIS CITY
Daily Comment & Card
1886
AMERICAN
FEDERATION OF
LABOR
-National craft unions representing
workers in wages, hours, & safety
-Individuals were members of their
local unions, which then made
them members of the AFL
-They sought a better working life;
their philosophy was “pure and
simple unionism”—not trying to be
revolutionary
-Samuel Gompers was 1st president
SONG FOR THE DAY:
"Give me your
tired, your
poor,
Your huddled
masses yearning
to breathe
free,
The wretched
refuse of your
teaming shore.
Send these, the
homeless,
tempest-tost to
me,
I lift my lamp
beside the
golden door.“
-Emma Lazarus
“The New
Colossus”
(1883)
Daily Comment & Card
1860-1935
1886
JANE ADDAMS
-American social reformer
-Provided the services of Hull
House in Chicago (a settlement
house to help poor immigrants
adapt)
-Member of the “Social Gospel”
movement which applied the lessons
of the Bible to help solve issues of
immigration and urbanization—Won
1931 Nobel Peace Prize
AMERICAN
FEDERATION OF
LABOR
-National craft unions representing
workers in wages, hours, & safety
-Individuals were members of their
local unions, which then made
them members of the AFL
-They sought a better working life;
their philosophy was “pure and
simple unionism”—not trying to be
revolutionary
-Samuel Gompers was 1st president
"Give me your
tired, your
poor,
Your huddled
masses yearning
to breathe
free,
The wretched
refuse of your
teaming shore.
Send these, the
homeless,
tempest-tost to
me,
I lift my lamp
beside the
golden door.“
-Emma Lazarus
“The New
Colossus”
(1883)
SONG FOR THE DAY: WE BUILT THIS CITY
THE GILDED AGE
A. WHAT WAS IT?
B. ROBBER BARONS OR CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY?
1. THE MEN
2. THE PHILOSOPHIES
3. CONSOLIDATING
4. INVENTIONS & TECHNOLOGY
C. LABOR FIGHTS BACK
1. FORMING UNIONS
2. VIOLENCE
D. THE BOSS SYSTEM
Mark Twain was the first to use
the term “Gilded Age” in 1873. It
referred to the superficial glitter
of the new wealth at the end of
the 19th century…
It was a period of weak
presidents, a change in
immigration, the
development of industry
and urban areas
2. INDUSTRIAL GIANTS
Leaders of large, efficient corporations,
often used questionable business
practices…Monopolies led to demands for
government regulation…
ROBBER BARONS OR CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY?
-ANDREW CARNEGIE
-JP MORGAN
-JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER
-VANDERBILT FAMILY
THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH PROMOTED THE IDEA OF THE
PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC. IT SAID THAT HARD WORK AND SUCCESS
WERE SIGNS OF GOD’S FAVOR. THE WEALTHY WERE TO HELP THE
POOR…
Carnegie supported this idea and donated
more than $350 million to libraries,
schools, peace initiatives, and the arts
during his lifetime…
SOCIAL DARWINISM WAS BASED ON CHARLES
DARWIN’S THEORY OF EVOLUTION (SURVIVAL OF
THE FITTEST). THE IDEA WAS BASICALLY THAT
WHEN WEALTH WAS CONCENTRATED IN THE
HANDS OF THE “FIT” THAT THEY WOULD HELP THE
POOR AND DO WHAT WAS BEST FOR THE REST.
BIG BUSINESS BEGINS TO CONSOLIDATE…
Vertical integration
A company controls both the
production and distribution of its
products (Carnegie & U.S. Steel)
Horizontal integration One company gains control over
the other companies that
produce the same product.
By the end of the 19th century, monopolies & trusts
exercised a great deal of control over the American
economy…
THE GOVERNMENT POLICY TOWARD
BUSINESS WAS “HANDS OFF” OR
“LAISSEZ-FAIRE.” THIS MEANT THEY
PRETTY MUCH LEFT BUSINESS ALONE
TO DO THEIR OWN THING…
Consequences of Consolidation:
-FACTORIES (work done by machines & unskilled
workers)
-TAYLORISM “scientific management”
increase production & lower costs
-CAPITAL (Corporations accumulated Investment $)
-NATIONAL MARKETS (railroads)
3. INVENTIONS/TECHNOLOGY
- SAMUEL MORSE
telegraph
-THOMAS EDISON
Light bulb, motion
picture camera,
phonograph
-WESTINGHOUSE & TESLA
- ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL
Electric
motor
telephone
MASS PRODUCTION
ASSEMBLY PRODUCTION
MARKETING
ROTARY PRESS
DEPT. STORES
BRAND NAMES
CHAIN STORES
CATALOGS
NEW LAWS (Gov’t begins to regulate):
-PENDLETON ACT (1883)
Created a Civil Service Commission which gave competitive
exams and selected appointees based on merit. When the
act passed, only ten percent of federal civilian employees
were part of the civil service. Today ninety percent are
covered by the merit system.
-INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT (1887)
prohibited unfair practices by railroads, such as higher
rates for shorter routes. A special regulatory commission
was established to enforce the act. This was the first
time that Congress stepped in to regulate business in
America.
-SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT (1890)
The purpose of this federal law was to stop
monopolies engaging in unfair practices that prevented
fair competition. This act marked a significant change in
the attitude of Congress toward the abuses of big business.
SOON WORKERS BEGAN TO ORGANIZE…
KNIGHTS OF LABOR
-LED BY TERENCE V. POWEDERLY
-GREW RAPIDLY BECAUSE OF OPEN
MEMBERSHIP POLICY (WELCOMED
UNSKILLED & SEMI-SKILLED
WORKERS: WOMEN, IMMIGRANTS,
AND AFRICAN-AMERICANS)
-BELIEVED THEY COULD ELIMINATE CONFLICT
BETWEEN LABOR & MANAGEMENT.
-DECLINE BECAUSE OF VIOLENCE AND BEING
ASSOCIATED WITH ANARCHISTS.
(BLAMED FOR HAYMARKET SQUARE RIOT)
INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD (IWW)
“WOBBLIES”
-led by “Mother” Jones, Elizabeth Flynn, and Big Bill Haywood
-strove to unite all laborers including unskilled African-American
labor which had been excluded from craft unions.
-Goal was “One Big Union”
-embraced class conflict and endorsed violence
-collapsed during World War I
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR (AFL)
-LED BY SAMUEL GOMPERS (LEADER OF CIGAR MAKERS UNION)
-AFL WAS AN ALLIANCE OF SKILLED WORKERS IN CRAFT
UNIONS
-AFL CONCENTRATED ON ISSUES SUCH AS HIGHER WAGES,
SHORTER HOURS, AND BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS
AS LABOR BEGAN TO ORGANIZE AND STRIKES
BECAME COMMON…THE MOVEMENT BECAME
ASSOCIATED WITH VIOLENCE!
-President Hayes calls out federal troops in the
RAILROAD STRIKE OF 1877
-HAYMARKET BOMBING (Union blamed for
violence and deaths—Knights of Labor)
-HOMESTEAD STRIKE(1892) Carnegie steel crushes
workers who strike with Pinkertons
-PULLMAN STRIKE (1894)
During a depression, the company cut wages
(kept rent and prices of goods for 12,000
workers) It stopped a lot of railroad business
and ended when President Cleveland sent in
federal troops.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE SIMIILARITIES
AND DIFFERENCES OF THE KofL, IWW, & AFL. ALL
THREE WERE DEDICATED TO ORGANIZING LABORERS.
THE KofL STROVE FOR A COOPERATIVE SOCIETY,
WHILE THE IWW EMBRACED CLASS CONFLICT AND
VIOLENCE. THE AFL ORGANIZED SKILLED WORKERS,
AVOIDED VIOLENCE AND FOUGHT FOR HIGHER
WAGES AND BETTER CONDITIONS.
3. BOSS SYSTEM DEVELOPS IN CITIES
Took ADVANTAGE OF THE IMMIGRANTS who tended to
settle in ethnic neighborhoods…
Political parties in major cities came under the
control of organized groups of politicians known as
“machines”. This was known as the BOSS SYSTEM
Boss Tweed of
Tammany Hall was the
most famous…
GREEDY AS WELL AS
GENEROUS, THESE
POLITICAL BOSSES BOTH
USED AND SERVED THE
NEW POOR INNER-CITY
POPULATIONS…
DID DO SOME GOOD:
SEWER LINES, WATER,
BUILT PARKS, PLAYGROUNDS,
PAVED STREETS, PUBLIC FACILITIES
A LOT DONE WITH “DONATIONS”-BUT WHAT WAS EXPECTED?
(VOTES, LOYALTY)
FAR AND AWAY
Boston Harbor (Chapter 4)
(Landing in America)
Chicken Factory (58:14)