The Gilded Age
Ch 15 Skeleton Notes
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15.1 Gilded Age

Thin glittering layer of prosperity covering
poverty and corruption of society

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Golden period for America’s industrialists

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Mark Twain
Wealth helped hide the problems of the
immigrants, laborers, and farmers and the
widespread abuse of power in business and
government
Ex: Jay Gould and corruption with the
railroads
Remember laissez-faire?
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Adam Smith’s ideas in The Wealth of Nations
How US gov ran things in late 1800s
Most people supported but also agreed on
gov aid when it helped them
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Ex: high tariff helped American manuf. goods,
land grants, subsidies (payments to encourage
industry)
To ensure gov aid, business giants gave
political gifts of money to the gov leaders
Credit Mobilier Scandal
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Congress hired the Union Pacific Railroad Co to
build the 1st transcontinental RR
Union Pacific hired Credit Mobilier to build the tracks
Credit Mobilier overcharged Union Pacific, who
overcharged Congress
Extra money pocketed and used to bribe gov
officials
Congress didn’t investigate until 1872, 3 yrs after
RR opened
Spoils System/Patronage System
Led to corruption and bribery for government jobs, and corruption
when used by dishonest appointees for personal profits
Republicans
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Industrialists, bankers, eastern farmers
Strongest in North and upper Midwest
,
almost non-existent in South
Favored tight money supply, gold standards,
high tariffs, generous pensions for Union
soldiers, government aid to RR, strict limits
on immigration, enforcement of blue laws
Democrats
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Less privileged, Northern urban immigrants,
laborers, southern planters, and western
farmers
Claimed to represent the interests of ordinary
people
Favored increased money supply, lower
tariffs, higher farm prices, less government
aid to big business, and fewer blue laws
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Presidential Candidates and Parties

Parties were almost equal in size so presidential
candidate needed almost all the votes from their
party to win

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Avoided well-defined stands on issues (cost them votes)
Most states had strong ties to one party so most
candidates came from swing states

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7 of 8 presidents who followed Johnson came from OH or NY
Republicans stirred up Civil War and won votes (blamed on
the Democrats)
Democrats stirred up Reconstruction
1877: Hayes Elected

Didn’t use the spoils system
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Angered his party by doing so

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Appointed qualified gov officials and fired those
not needed
Began to reform the civil service: gov’s nonelected
workers
And more when removed Arthur and replaced him
with a Democrat
Strengthened the gov but weakened the
Republicans
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1880 election

Republicans split 3 ways
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Stalwarts (defended the spoils system) Senator
Conkling
Half-Breeds (wanted reform but to stay loyal to the
party) Senator Blaine
Independents (opposed the spoils system
altogether)
James Garfield won nomination (friend of
Half-Breeds)

Chester A. Arthur (Stalwart) won VP nomination
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Democrats: General Winfield S. Hancock
Results: slim win by Garfield

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Assassinated over expected job through the spoils
system that didn’t happen (7/2/1881)
Arthur became the next president

Fought for patronage in NY but encouraged
reform in Congress
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Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)

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Created Civil Service Commission: classified
gov jobs and tested applicants’ fitness for
them
Federal employees couldn’t be required to
contribute to campaign funds and couldn’t be
fired for political reasons
1884 Election
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Republican Candidate: Blaine
Democratic Candidate: Grover Cleveland


Scandals ran that election campaign not the many
issues
Cleveland became first Democratic president
since 1856
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Cleveland’s Presidency

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Favored tight $ policies, business interests
supported him
Not all policies were pro-business

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Opposed high tariffs, took back 80 million acres of
federal land given to RRs and other interests
Supported more gov regulation of RRs
Regulating Railroads

By 1880 about 14 states had RR
commissions that looked into complaints
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charging more for short hauls than long hauls
Rebates
Keeping rates secret & charging different rates to
different people for the same service
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Munn v. Illinois (1877)
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Allowed states to regulate certain businesses
within their borders including RRs (intrastate
commerce)
Problem: many RRs crossed state borders
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Only fed gov had power to regulate (interstate
commerce)
1886: Wabash Case

RRs continued to be unregulated
Interstate Commerce Act (1887)

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Congress responded by passing this
Required that rates be set in proportion to
distance traveled and that rates be made
public
Outlawed special rates to powerful customers
Set up Interstate Commerce Commission
(ICC) to enforce the act
ICC’s Abilities

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Could not set RR rates
Had to take the RRs to court

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Usually lost
Of 16 cases that came before Supreme Court
between 1887 and 1905, the Court ruled against
the ICC 15 times
Economy of the 1890s

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American business grew
But 1893 a depression struck and lasted for
up to 7 years
Ups and downs in economy made it the “hot
topic” of politics in this time
1888 Election
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Republican candidate: Benjamin Harrison
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Democratic candidate: Grover Cleveland

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Increase the tariff
Give more money to war soldiers
Won business support
Reduce tariff
Cleveland lost
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Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)
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Law passed by Congress to stop companies
from getting a monopoly
Another act was later passed to enforce this
act
Election of 1892
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Harrison vs. Cleveland
Cleveland was re-elected

Campaigned to lower tariffs
Cleveland’s Presidency
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1893: depression
1894: repealed Sherman Silver Purchase Act
1894: used troops to end the Pullman Strike
which upset the unions
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1896 Election
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Republican candidate: William McKinley
Democrat and Populist candidate: William
Jennings Bryan
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Cross of Gold Speech
McKinley won
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McKinley’s Administration
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New tariff
Stronger gold standard
Ran again against Bryan in 1900
Depression ended
September 6, 1901: McKinley assassinated

Shot by a mentally ill individual, died a few days
later
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15.2 Immigration
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In the late 1800s people were moving from country
to country and many came to US
Why?
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Crop failures
Famine
Political persecution
Religious persecution
Wanted to fulfill the American dream
Russian pogroms of 1880s
Shortage of jobs and land
Rising taxes
Getting Here

By ship
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1st and 2nd class: pretty comfy
Steerage: most immigrants traveled this way

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Limited toilet facilities, no privacy, poor food, but cheap
tickets
Not sure on exact # of immigrants or
countries of origin

1/3 were “birds of passage”
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Immigration
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1865-1890: 10 million immigrants mostly from NW
and central European countries
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Until 1880 the states decided who was allowed in
1882: Fed gov began to control it by excluding certain
categories of people
1891: Office of the Superintendent of Immigration was
formed
1890s: shift happened and most came from central,
southern, and eastern Europe and the Middle East

1890-1920 10 mill immigrants came
Entering the US

Entered through port cities
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NYC, Boston, & Philadelphia on east coast
San Francisco and Seattle on the west coast

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These would be Asian immigrants
More than 70% of all immigrants came
through NYC which was called the “Golden
Door”
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Immigrants From Europe
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1892: Ellis Island immigration station opened
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Physical exam was required
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Show papers, collect baggage
Find a home
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Could deport or quarantine
Ghettos developed in cities and towns
Find a job (many employers took advantage of
them)
Faced discrimination like restricted covenants

Agreements among homeowners not to sell property to
certain groups in better neighborhoods
Immigrants from Asia
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Largest groups were Chinese and Japanese
Many worked for RR companies
Faced racist attitudes

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Labor unions worked hard to exclude Chinese
immigrants
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act: stopped Chinese
laborers from entering the US

If you were already here you were allowed to return
through Angel Island, San Francisco, CA
Japanese Immigration
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1st settled in Hawaii
Some came to CA as farmers
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1907 Gentlemen’s Agreement: President Theodore
Roosevelt
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Did not compete with union laborers like Chinese did
Still discriminated against by unions and politicians
San Francisco stopped school policy and Japan stopped
issuing laborers passports
Webb Alien Land Law 1913: (CA) Alien Asians could
not own land
Mexican Immigrants
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1902: Newlands National Reclamation Act
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More irrigation in southwestern lands
Millions of acres of farm land coming from the
desert (TX-CA)
More jobs available
Mexicans immigrated
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Pull factor: new work opportunities
Push factor: revolution and civil war in Mexico
1921: Immigration Restriction Act
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Limited immigration from Europe and Asia
15.3 High Populations of Cities
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Immigrants and Americans moving into the
cities
Americans:
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Left hardships of farms for factory work in cities
New products are putting people out of work
African Americans:
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Went to cities to look for work
How Cities Changed
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Horse-drawn carriages that ran on rails
introduced in the 1850s
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Allowed people to live farther away from work
Suburbs: people moved to residential
communities outside cities
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Motorized Transportation
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1868: 1st elevated trains in NY
1873: cable cars intro in San Francisco
1887: subway in Boston
1888: electric trolleys in Richmond, VA
1890s: automobile invented
1910s: automobile mass produced
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Upward Change Too
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Skyscrapers (before
Civil War, no building
more than 5 stories
high)
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1852: Otis invented a
safety device for
elevators
1885: Chicago’s Home
Insurance Company
Building appeared (1st
skyscraper of 10 stories)
Cities Become Specialized
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Specialized areas emerged in cities
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Banks, financial offices, law firms, and gov offices
located in one area in center
Retail shops and department stores located in
another in center
Industrial, wholesale, and warehouse districts
formed a ring around the center of the city
Urban Living Conditions

Tenements: low-cost apartment buildings
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Groups of run-down tenements turned an area
into a slum
Slums
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Cities declined
Grass and trees disappeared
People crammed into small areas
Dirty and unhealthy (diseases spread fast)
Fire was a constant danger
Dumbbell Tenements
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1879 NY laws required outside window in
every room so new shape of building was
created
Results of City Growth
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Middle and upper class began to move to
suburbs widening the gap b/w rich and poor
Some wealthy kept houses in the city and in
the country
Governing Cities
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Pressure to improve police, protection,
transportation systems, sewage disposal,
electrical and water service, and health care
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Cities raised taxes and set up offices to deal with
people’s needs
New income made city gov more powerful
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Competition for control rose
Some groups represented the middle and upper
classes, others represented the majority of the
population (workers and immigrants)
Political Machines and Bosses
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Political Machine: unofficial city organization
designed to keep a particular party or group in
power and usually headed by a single powerful
“boss”
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Sometimes he held public office
Often picked those who would hold office
Worked through exchange of favors
Used ward leaders to help people in exchange for their
votes
If you wanted a gov job, you had to pay the machine 1st
Political Machines and Graft

Using one’s job to make a profit (bribery)
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Major source of income for the machines
Many blamed immigrants for power of
political machines
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Said the immigrants were taken advantage of
because they didn’t understand democracy
Immigrants supported them because they helped
them with jobs and housing
Examples of “Bosses”
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George B. Cox: Cincinnati’s “boss”
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Actually fairly honest
William “Boss” Tweed: most infamous boss
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Controlled Tammany Hall: club that ran NYC’s
Democratic Party
Used city’s treasury for his own
Padded bills for construction projects, used fake
expenses, kept extra money for themselves
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Gained millions of dollars
Eventually brought down and jailed
Other leaders took his place though
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15.4 Helping the Needy
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Charity Organization Movement: charity becomes
scientific enterprise (1882)
Social Gospel Movement (1880s and 90s)
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Treat problems that drove people to drinking and gambling
Apply the gospel to society – charity and justice, especially
labor reforms
Settlement Movement: settlement houses
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Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr: Hull House in
Chicago
Henry St. Settlement – Lillian Wald in NYC’s Lower East
Side
Development of Sociology
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Study of how people interact with one
another in society
Scientific counterpart to settlement houses’
practical experience
Studied effects of industrialization and
urbanization on establishing communities
Controlling Immigration and Behavior

Many blamed new problems in cities on
immigrants
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Nativism
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Favoring native-born Americans over immigrants
(reappeared)
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
American Protective Association (1887) founded to
target immigrants and Catholic Church
1885 Congress repealed the Contract Labor Act
(1864) which allowed employers to recruit foreign
laborers to replace strikers
Immigrant Restriction League (1894) by Harvard
grads hoping to exclude immigrants considered unfit
by requiring literacy tests
Prohibition
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Ban on manufacturing and
sale of alcoholic beverages
(from Temperance
Movement)
Prohibition Party (1869)
Woman’s Christian
Temperance Union (1874)
Anti-Saloon League (1893)
By 1890 only 3 states were
“dry”
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Purity Crusaders
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Vice (immoral/corrupt behavior) was highly visible
and profitable in society
NY Society for the Suppression of Vice founded by
Anthony Comstock 1873

Comstock Law: prohibited mailing obscene materials
through US mail
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Slowed distribution of information on birth control
Others focused on urban political machines
Sometimes they ran for office, sometimes got the
pol machine out but usually regained control
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