Name ___________________________
The Gilded Age (1870-1900):
I. During the Gilded Age, America became the most industrialized country in the world
A. The 19th century was an age of invention
1. Telegraph, “business” machines, textile improvements, the camera, & the telephone
2. Thomas Edison (“Wizard of Menlo Park”) developed DC electricity; Tesla created the more powerful AC
B. New technologies allowed for increased production
1. New machinery allowed for the first assembly lines & continuous production of goods
2. Railroads connected America & allowed for mass consumption & regional specialization
C. Marketing became a “science”: Advertising firms, department stores, “chain” stores, & mail-order catalogues
D. New forms of business organization helped increase profits for corporations
1. Trusts & holding companies allowed for business mergers & management by a board of directors
2. Corporations used horizontal and vertical integration to reduce competition & create monopolies
3. Frederick Taylor’s scientific management emphasized time efficiency & use of middle class managers
E. Business leaders justified their wealth with “Gospel of Wealth” & Social Darwinism
II. The Industrialization of America was fueled by railroads, steel, & oil
A. The expansion of railroads transformed the U.S. & became America’s first big business
1. Railroads were faster, more direct, more dependable, stimulated coal, petroleum, & iron/steel industries
2. Large companies (Cornelius Vanderbilt) consolidated small railroads, pooled cars, & created trunk lines
3. Overbuilding led to problems: too much competition, speculation, rebates
4. “Morganization” ended “wasteful” competition & led to 7 giant RR companies
B. Steel transformed world industry
1. Aided urban development, agriculture, RRs, industry & made the U.S. the steel leader of the world
3. Andrew Carnegie (Carnegie Steel) dominated the steel industry & represented the “American dream”
C. Petroleum (oil) changed industry
1. Lubricants & kerosene were in high demand
2. John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil produced 90% of all U.S. oil
III. The Industrial Workers
A. Industrial workers faced low wages, expensive cost of living, dangerous conditions, monotony, & discrimination
B. Bad conditions led to a small (only 3% of workers were unionized) but significant union movement:
1. Knights of Labor (1868) was idealistic & inclusive but did not yield results
2. Samuel Gompers & the American Federation of Labor (1886) was practical but exclusive
3. Labor unrest led to an era of strikes: Great Railroad Strike (1877), Haymarket (1886), Homestead (1892)
IV. Urbanization
A. American cities grew due to new immigrants, blacks, & rural migrants seeking economic opportunities
1. Steel allowed for skyscrapers & the Chicago Fire of 1871 allowed Root & Sullivan to redesign the city
2. Gilded Age cities developed central business districts with middle class suburbs, streetcars, & rapid transit
B. “Dumbbell” tenement housing for the urban poor was unhealthy & dangerous
C. From 1880 to 1920, 23 million “new” immigrants came to America
2. “New” immigrants were from eastern and southern Europe
3. Immigrants maintained their culture & eastern cities experienced a resurgence in nativism
D. Urban political machines like Tammany Hall and the Boss Tweed Ring used corruption & “honest graft”
E. Urbanization & industrialization changed American society
1. Self-sufficient female workers decreased family time & led to fewer children
2. New education laws, kindergartens, & public & private universities were formed
3. New amusements were introduced: public parks, vaudeville amusement, & sporting events like baseball
V. The Politics of the Gilded Age
A. From 1876 to 1892, American politics experienced a stalemate between the Republican & Democratic Parties:
1. Five closely contested presidential elections & Congress was split between Democrats & Republicans
2. Parties feared losing votes, avoided bold platforms, ran lackluster presidential candidates from “swing states”
3. Gilded Age politics had weak presidents but intense party loyalties & well-defined voting blocs
B. Civil Service Reform—the most important issue of the 1880s was reforming the patronage system (spoils)
1. The swelling of the national bureaucracy, corruption, & dominance by political machines led to reforms
2. President Garfield’s assassination led to the Pendleton Act (1883)—competitive exams for bureaucrats
C. Government Regulation of Industry
1. From 1870-1900, 28 state commissions (Illinois led the way) were formed to regulate industry, especially railroads
2. Munn v Illinois (1876) supported state regulation but Wabash v. Illinois (1886) overturned it
3. In response, Congress created the:
a. Interstate Commerce Commission (1887) to regulate railroads
b. Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) which outlawed monopolies from restraining trade
D. The Depression of 1893
1. The most serious blow to U.S. politics during the Gilded Age was the five-year depression that began in 1893
a. When the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad collapsed, a stock market panic ensued
b. Banks, railroads, & businesses closed; 20% unemployment; led to 1,400 labor strikes in 1894
c. Coxey’s Army in 1894 demanded government action to end the depression & job creation programs
2. The Pullman Strike of 1894 was led by Eugene V. Debs & became a national railroad strike
a. President Cleveland issued an injunction & sent the U.S. army to stop the Pullman strikers; led to violence
b. Effects: Debs became a socialist & In re Debs (1895) applied the Sherman Antitrust act to attack labor unions
VI. The Farmers’ Movement and the Rise of the Populists
A. The Gilded Age saw a rise on political organization among labor unions, women, & farmers
1. Labor unions encouraged members to vote
2. Women’s Christian Temperance Union attacked alcohol use & promoted race relations & women’s suffrage
3. The most disaffected group were farmers
B. Problem for farmers
1. Farmers were plagued by falling prices, high railroad & mortgage rates, & deflationary policies
2. Farmers lashed out at Eastern bankers, railroads, & U.S. monetary policies
3. The debate over gold and silver currency
a. Grant’s decision to reduce greenbacks restored the US to the gold standard but hurt farmers
b. Western farmers demanded “free silver” (unlimited minting of silver coins) at a ratio of 16:1 to gold
c. Bland-Allison Act (1878) & Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890) coined more silver but neither helped
C. Organizing Farmers
1. The Granger movement was the 1st attempt to organize; advocated farm cooperatives to end Eastern exploitation
2. National Farmers’ Alliance (1890) replaced the Grange & issued the Ocala Demands: gov’t “sub-treasuries” (silos to store grain), free
silver, income tax, railroad regulation, & direct election of Senators
D. The Populist Party
1. In 1890, the Populist Party was formed & advocated Ocala Demands, 8-hour workday, increased gov’t regulation
2. Populists emerged as a powerful 3rd party in Congress & state gov’ts, but were disappointed in the election of 1892
E. The Election of 1896 proved to the most critical election in the Gilded Age since the 1876 corrupt bargain
1. William Jennings Bryan looked capable of merging the Populists & Democrats to challenge Republican McKinley
2. Bryan called for free silver (“Cross of Gold” speech) & went on a whistle-stop campaign across the U.S.
3. McKinley & Mark Hanna promoted economic growth & aroused fears of “free silver”
4. McKinley won & the Populist Party died, but many of its ideas lived on
F. McKinley’s presidency began a new era of Republican leadership: active presidency willing to regulate the economy