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Gilded Age
The Gilded Age was the title of a book by Mark Twain (1873). The novel's title is
used for the period between 1865 and 1900 because its images of corrupt politicians and
money-hungry industrialists were a very vivid and accurate depiction of the times.
Politics were an important feature of Gilded Age life. Before radios and movies,
political parades, rallies, and campaigning were major forms of entertainment. Indeed,
interest in the political process was so intense that turnout for elections averaged 80-90%
of eligible voters for most elections from 1876 to 1900. The right to vote, however, was
very restricted. Only white males and blacks living in the North had the right to vote.
Most states prevented women from voting. After Reconstruction, southern states passed
laws that prevented most blacks from voting, despite the 15th Amendment.
The two major political parties were the Republican and the Democratic. However,
there were a number of influential small third parties such as the Greenback and Populist.
National support for the two major parties was evenly split. Thus, a relatively small
number of votes in a few key states could determine the results in national elections.
Neither party was able to completely gain the upper hand.
Republicans drew more support from the business-oriented Northeast and Midwest.
They wanted the government to promote economic and industrial development.
Although many Democrats supported industrial expansion, the party's base of support
was in the South. Thus, most favored a laissez-faire approach, which opposed
government interference. Until the late 1880s, both parties supported tariffs on imported
goods because they provided the government with revenue. After this point, the
government had enough money, so Democrats began to call for lowering tariffs (not their
elimination). However, Republicans argued that higher tariffs protected American
industry from foreign competition.
One of the most important political issues of the era was government corruption.
Political patronage (the spoils system) had been an established custom since President
Andrew Jackson's election. As a result, incompetent and dishonest people held many
government jobs throughout the country. Reformers called for the creation of a
professional civil service system. They wanted government job applicants to take meritbased tests for federal government positions. In 1883, they achieved their goal with the
Pendleton Civil Service Act.
Another major political issue was whether or not the government should expand the
money supply by allowing the coinage of silver as well as gold to back paper money.
Those who wanted to expand the money supply thought that a larger money supply
would cause prices to rise. Farmers in particular wanted to receive higher prices for their
farm products. During the 1890s, the Populist Party campaigned to expand the money
supply by allowing the coinage of silver. Populists were also interested in a broad range
of economic, social, and political issues. For example, they backed government
ownership of railroads, regulation of monopolies, and the direct election of U.S. Senators
by all voters instead of by state legislatures.
In the election of 1896, Republicans nominated William McKinley. The Populists
backed the Democratic candidate, William Jennings Bryan, who favored the coinage of
silver. In the South and West, farmers and miners backed Bryan. However, McKinley
won the election because the more populous North and Midwest voted for him. In 1900
Congress passed the Gold Standard Act that established gold as the sole metal to be used
to back paper money. The Populist Party declined and went out of existence.
Nevertheless, the Party's ideas endured when progressive politicians in both major parties
adopted Populist proposals after the turn of the century.
America changed dramatically during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Prior to
the Civil War, it was predominantly a rural and agricultural nation. After the Civil War,
people increasingly lived in urban areas and worked in factories, stores, and other
business enterprises. With this transition, economic independence decreased and
dependence increased. Farmers produced fewer items for their own use and increasingly
chose to produce crops that they could sell. With their earnings, they could purchase
what they needed.
Millions of Americans left the countryside for the nation's rapidly industrializing
cities. Indeed, by 1900 less than 37% of Americans were agricultural workers. In 1860,
they had represented almost 60% of the labor force. The migration from the countryside
contributed substantially to the expansion of the cities. Nevertheless, the most significant
source of urban growth was the millions of immigrants from overseas. Most immigrants
were attracted to America because of the jobs and other economic opportunities that
cities offered. Some immigrants were also attracted by the political and religious
freedom that America provided.
Upon arriving in America, some immigrants wanted to assimilate immediately and
completely, while others wanted no part of the culture of their new home. Indeed, some
immigrants did not intend to remain permanently in the U.S. -- they intended to work for
a time, then return home with their earnings. Immigrants frequently transplanted their
languages, food, religious practices, social institutions, and leisure activities. This
completely transformed America's cities.
As immigration reached an all-time high, the large number of immigrants began to
provoke fear and resentment among some native-born Americans. The majority of
immigrants who arrived in the U.S. at this time experienced anti-immigrant prejudice.
Despite the fact that every American other than Native Americans was either an
immigrant or the descendant of one, most Americans at this time had some form of antiimmigrant bias.
This was partly because of the higher volume of immigrants, but also at least in part
due to the change in origin of the bulk of the immigrants. Historically, most immigrants
had been very similar in background, religion, and heritage to those who were already in
America. However, with more immigrants coming from southern and eastern Europe,
this was not true anymore.
The Americans who feared immigrants did so for several reasons. Some were
motivated by religious intolerance or political conservatism. Some were afraid that
immigrants would threaten their jobs or wages. Some even established organizations that
sought to preserve and defend their culture, such as the Know-Nothing Party, etc. In
response, Congress gradually enacted restrictions to immigration, including quota
restrictions in 1921.
Industrialization, rural migration, and immigration completely transformed America's
cities. They became increasingly overcrowded, polluted, and dilapidated. Soot from the
coal-powered engines and boilers made the air dark and foul-smelling. Open sewers and
garbage bins attracted rodents and other disease-spreading pests. In addition, crime
increased in the cities because there were high rates of unemployment and intense
poverty.
As difficult as it could be, city life did bring with it some benefits and new residents
continued to flock to urban areas. In addition to the jobs available in cities, people were
attracted by the variety of new leisure and consumer opportunities that were rapidly
emerging in urban areas. These included movie houses, theaters, dance halls, large
department stores, museums, and new spectator sports like baseball.
According to the 1920 census, a majority of Americans now lived in urban areas. The
U.S. was no longer a rural agrarian nation of independent small farms. It was no longer
mostly populated by white people of northern and western European descent or former
slaves of African descent. It had become a nation of large urban centers that teemed with
multi-ethnic populations who worked in factories and other urban places of employment.
It was a nation that would be unrecognizable to Thomas Jefferson and the other Founding
Fathers.