Chapter 7 Issues of the Gilded Age
1877-1900
Section 1: Segregation and Social
Tensions
African Americans Lose Freedoms
 Jim Crow Laws – kept blacks and whites segregated, or
apart
 Southern states circumvented the 15th Amendment by
passing restrictive measures such as;
 Poll Tax – required voters to pay a tax to vote
 Literacy Test – “understanding tests,” reading and writing
tests, helped limit African Americans from voting
 How and Why???
Cont.…
 Grandfather Clauses – allowed persons to vote as long as
their ancestors had voted prior to 1866
 Why 1866??? ….and why not after???
New Laws Force Segregation
 Jim Crow laws filtered into all aspects of Southern society,
including: railroad cars, jury boxes, Bibles, cemeteries,
restaurants, parks, beaches, and hospitals
Plessy v. Ferguson 1896, pg. 192 of text
African Americans Oppose Injustices
 During the darkest times of Jim Crow segregation blacks
refused to accept their status. They founded black
newspapers, clubs, schools, colleges, and political groups.
Booker T. Washington Urges Economic
Advancement
 Booker T. Washington – most famous black leader during
the late nineteenth century (pg. 186)
W.E.B. Du Bois
 W.E.B. Du Bois – native of Massachusetts, earned his Ph.D
from Harvard in 1896. (video)
Washington VS. Du Bois
 Similarities
 Differences
Ida Wells Crusades Against Lynching
 Ida B. Wells – African American women who fought for
justice. Born into slavery in 1862, she later founded Free
Speech, a newspaper, and wrote about the practice of
lynching in the south, persecuted she became an outspoken
critic, writing several pamphlets aimed at awakening the
nation.
Chinese Immigrants Face
Discrimination
 Chinese immigrants faced many of the same discriminatory
laws as blacks during this time. Several Supreme Court
decisions ruled in favor of the Chinese including citizenship
and business ownership, but not the “Chinese Exclusion Act.”
Mexican Americans Struggle in the
West
 Land rights and seizer of Mexican Americans lands was the
root cause of discontent in the southwest.
 Las Gorras Blancas – this group targeted large ranch owners
by cutting holes in fences and burning houses.
Women Make Gain and Suffer
Setbacks
 Fighting for a Constitutional Amendment, the National
Woman Suffrage Association led by Susan B. Anthony and
Elizabeth Cady Stanton led the charge albeit slow. Upon
Anthony’s death only four states granted the right to vote,
Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Idaho.
Section 3: Farmers and Populism
Terms and People
 Oliver H. Kelley – Minnesota farmer, businessman,
journalist, and government clerk, organized the Grange in
1867
 Grange – organization that provided education on farming
and called for regulation of railroads and grain elevator rates
Terms and People
 William Jennings Bryan – Democratic presidential candidate
who supported “free silver”
 William McKinley – Republican winner of the 1896
presidential election
Farmers Face Many Problems
 Falling Prices and Rising Debt; the price of selling corn
did not warrant growing it, much was burned for fuel by
farmers
 Big Business Practices Hurt farmers; railroads had
monopolies and could charge what they wanted. Banks set
high interest rates
Farmers Organize and Seek Change
 The Grange Tries Several Strategies; organize and pass
“Grange Laws,” and push for the ICC interstate Commerce
Commission
 Farmers’ Alliances Lead the Protest; formed
cooperatives to sell crops, and push low interest loans
The Populist Party Demands Reforms
 Populists State Their Goals; fight low prices with the
coinage of silver, “free silver,” and the government ownership
of railroads
 Populists Achieve Some Successes; three governors, five
senators, and ten congressmen
Economic Crisis and Populism’s
Decline
 Bryan and the Election of 1896; pushed for “free silver”
and the coinage of silver and gold coins, first presidential
candidate to tour the nation and spoke directly to the people