Urban America
The Gilded Age
Learning Targets
 Know who Mark Twain was.
 Understand the concept of “individualism”.
 Know the work of Horatio Alger.
 Understand how the ideas of Charles Darwin were applied to
society.
 Know what “philanthropy” is.
 Understand Carnegie’s “Gospel of Wealth”.
 Know the work of Thomas Eakins.
 Know the work of Edith Wharton.
 Know how Saloons were used in the late 1800s.
 Know which was the first salaried team in baseball.
 Know the work of Scott Joplin.
 Be able to explain the meaning of “Gilded” and why the period
between about 1870 and 1900 was called the “Gilded Age”.
A Changing Culture
 In 1873 Mark Twain and Charles Warner wrote a novel
together entitled The Gilded Age.
 Mark Twain wrote the first true American Novel.
 A time of great cultural activity.
A Changing Culture
-The Idea of Individualism
 Many Americans firmly believed that no matter how
humble their origins, they could rise in society and go as
far as their talents and commitment would take them.
A Changing Culture
-Horatio Alger
 No one expressed the idea of individualism better than
Horatio Alger.
 Wrote more than 100 “rags-to-rich” novels.
Social Darwinism
-Herbert Spencer
 Philosopher Herbert Spencer applied Charles Darwin’s
theory of evolution and natural selection to human
society.
 Spencer and others who shared his views became known
as Social Darwinists.
Social Darwinism
-Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth
 Andrew Carnegie, believing that those who profited from
society owed it something in return, he attempted to
extend and soften harsh philosophy.
 Gospel of Wealth, this philosophy held that wealthy
Americans bore the responsibility of engaging in
philanthropy-using their great fortunes to further social
progress.
Realism
-Realism in Art
 Realism painters.
 One such painter, Thomas Eakins, he even dared to paint
President Hayes working in shirtsleeves instead of in
more traditional formal dress.
Realism
-Realism in Literature
 Twain wrote a true American novel.
 Edith Wharton, she won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel The
Age of Innocence, a stark portrait of upper-class New
York society in the 1780s.
Popular Culture
-The Saloon
 Functioning like community centers, saloons played a
major role in the life of male workers in the 1800s.
 They also served as political centers.
Popular Culture
-Vaudeville and Ragtime
 One of the most important African American ragtime
composers was Scott Joplin.
 He became known as “King of Ragtime.”
Review Questions
 Who was Mark Twain?
 What is the concept of “individualism”?
 What did Horatio Alger do?
 What is “philanthropy”?
 What is Carnegie’s “Gospel of Wealth”?
 What did Thomas Eakins do?
 What did Edith Wharton do?
 How were Saloons used in the late 1800s?
 Which was the first salaried team in baseball?
 What did Scott Joplin do?
Essay Question and Answer:
 Explain the meaning of “gilded” and why the period
between about 1870 and 1900 was called the
“Gilded Age”.
 By calling the era the “Gilded Age,” Mark Twain and Charles
Warner were sounding an alarm. Something is “gilded” if it is
covered in gold on the outside but made of cheaper material
inside. A gilded age may appear to glitter, but the writers were
trying to point out that beneath the surface lay corruption,
swindles, poverty, crime, and great disparities in wealth
between the rich and the poor.
Essay Question and Answer:
 Explain the philosophy of Social Darwinism.
 Charles Darwin had argued that plant and animal life evolved
over the years by the process of natural selection. In this
process, those species that cannot adapt to the environment
in which they live gradually die out, while those that adapt
best thrive. Social Darwinists took this theory of biology,
intended to explain developments over millions of years, and
applied it to human society, arguing that human society also
evolved through competition and natural selection. They
argued that society progressed and became better because
only the fittest people survived.