Do Now:
• According to dictionary.com “gilded”
means: having a pleasing or showy
appearance that conceals something of little
worth
• So why do you think we call this period in
US History (1870-1900) the Gilded Age?
Key Questions…
•
•
•
•
•
•
During the Gilded Age,
who benefited and who suffered?
what advancements were made?
where did movement occur?
when did the era start and end?
why did many move to the U.S. in general and cities
in particular?
• how did large business owners become profitable?
Industrialization
Herringbone Key Questions…answered
• During the Gilded Age,
• who benefited and who suffered?
• Business owners benefited (growing wealthy), consumers benefited (cheap products
available), workers suffered (low wages, poor/dangerous working conditions)
• what advancements were made?
• Advancements were in areas like railroads, steel, oil, electricity, & communication
• where did movement occur?
• Many workers and families immigrated from Europe and Asia, and many Americans
moved from rural to urban areas
• when did the era start and end?
• The Gilded Age lasted from the 1870s to the early 1900s
• why did many move to the U.S. in general and cities in particular?
• Immigration to the United States and migration to cities was driven by jobs
• how did large business owners become profitable?
• Owners sometimes monopolized industries or bought out the competition
Industrialization
Gilded Age Key Term
QUESTION: Did the Gilded Age prove that capitalism
works or that capitalism fails?
The Gilded Age – The era of U.S. Industrial
Revolution where immigrants and migrants flocked to big
cities, where business and inventions flourished, and
workers’ rights issues came to the forefront. Capitalism
was proven to be a complete success; as seen in the
growth and inventiveness created by a free market
economy. But capitalism had also proven to be filled
with numerous flaws; as seen by poor working conditions,
and unprecedented wealth gap between owners and
workers.
Industrialization
Ideology of Capitalism
1) A natural aristocracy controlled the American
economy for the benefit of all.
2) Politicians, unlike businessmen, were not subject
to natural selection.
3) If the state interfered with the economy it would
upset natural selection.
4) Slums and poverty were the unfortunate but
inevitable results of the competitive struggle.
5) The stewardship of wealth obliged the rich to
help the poor.
Background on the Industrial Revolution
(1400s-1800s)
Agricultural
Revolution in
(1700s)
Industrial
England with
advancement in Revolution in
fertilizer, crop England with
rotation, and
textiles,
using machines
machines in
in farming like
factories,
thrashers,
canals,
tractors & Jethro railways, etc.
Tull’s Seed Drill
(1800s)
Industrial
(mid 1800s)
Revolution in
Industrial
Belgium,
France & Revolution in the
Germany United States
(1870s)
Industrial
Revolution in
Japan
Industrialization
Impact of Gilded Age & Big Business
* Positive Effects
* wide variety of goods for
consumers
* new jobs created
* wealthy people help fund
charities, libraries &
universities
* Increase in Education as
literacy rates went from 80%
(1870) to 95% (1920)
* Negative Effects
* low wages/poor
working conditions
* monopolies keep prices
high, small companies
can’t compete
* prosperity followed by
hard times
* Many children were
forced to work dangerous
jobs
Industrialization
Daily Life in 1865
Daily Life by the 1900s
-no indoor lighting or
lighting at night
- Artificial lighting was available
everywhere
-rise & setting of the sun set
the days work
-work can take place at any time;
day or night
-no refrigeration, food cannot
last without salt or other
preservatives
-refrigeration for train cars and
then home kitchens
-slow long distance
communication
-Instant information over long
distances (telegraph,
telephone, film)
Industrialization
Industrialization – The process of growing
industry and all of its corollaries (urbanization,
concentration of wealth, expansion of business,
innovation, etc.)
Advancements in STEEL, OIL-REFINING,
RAILROADS, ELECTRICITY, and
COMMUNICATION helped the United States
grow into a major industrial country.
Industrialization
STEEL
HENRY
BESSEMER
• BESSEMER PROCESS (1890): A
process for making steel (lighter, stronger,
easier to make)
• Limestone + coke + iron ore = slag & steel
• Made mass production of steel possible
• Led to new age of American buildings and
growth
Industrialization
STEEL
Industrialization
STEEL
What are some things built with steel at this time?
Golden Gate
Bridge (1936)
Brooklyn Bridge (1883)
Statue of Liberty
(1886)
Empire State
Building (1931)
RR tracks (mid 1800s)
Industrialization
OIL-REFINING
Kerosene had long been a useful byproduct of oil.
Kerosene was used to provide indoor and outdoor lighting in
most major U.S. cities. In order to power many of the
machines used in factories during the Industrial Revolution,
oil was in high demand. As companies like Ford started to
mass-produce automobiles at affordable prices, demand for
oil skyrocketed.
Industrialization
OIL-REFINING
The most successful name in the oil industry was John D.
Rockefeller. His wealth would have easily surpassed the
richest modern men in today’s dollars. Rockefeller’s
Standard Oil Company had a monopoly on the competition
for a time, as seen in the cartoon below. The company has
since broken into several smaller companies, including
Exxon-Mobile.
Industrialization
RAILROADS
Prior to the development of
railroads, land travel in the
United States was slow,
inefficient and sometimes
dangerous. To move people or
materials, options included
wagons or trailers towed by
horses, oxen or other livestock.
The advent of railroads meant
safer, faster and cheaper travel
for passengers. But more
importantly, it allowed for faster
and cheaper transportation of
large quantities of goods to
almost anywhere in the country.
Industrialization
RAILROADS
Transcontinental Railroad: a section of railway completed in 1869
spanning the North American continent. This was only 20 years after
the Gold Rush which brought people across the country in wagons.
-
Shipping, postal and transportation
costs dropped significantly. Why?
Industrialization
ELECTRICITY
Thomas Edison is famous as the
inventor of the light bulb and many other
devices. He was also a pioneer of the
broad use of electricity. The expansion of
electricity led to new jobs, not only in the
field of electricity (installing power lines,
power plants, producing light bulbs, etc.),
but for all industries who could now
provide lighting indoors and have
workers continue working after sunset.
Industrialization
ELECTRICITY
AC vs. DC
.
Alternating Current vs. Direct Current
.
George Westinghouse vs. J.P. Morgan
.
.
Nikola Tesla vs. Thomas Edison .
Higher voltage vs. lower voltage
Eventual winner vs. eventual loser
Industrialization
COMMUNICATIONS
Samuel Morse (1844)
 Morse Code
 Telegraph boom
Alexander Graham Bell 
First telephone (1876) 
(By 1900 1.5 million phones in use)
Then
Now
Industrialization
COMMUNICATIONS
Morse Code & the Telegraph
Industrialization
COMMUNICATIONS
Edison Studios (NY) is also credited with creating
one of the earliest and most innovative motion pictures in
history. Director Edwin S. Porter shot his 11-minute film
called The Great Train Robbery in 1903 using neverbefore-seen techniques like moving cameras and onlocation scenes. This gave birth to a decade of popular 5cent admission motion pictures called ‘Nickelodeons’.
http://www.youtub
e.com/watch?v=B
INBZE5XFR4
One of the 1st movies made: The Great Train Robbery