1. The first federal regulatory agency
designed to protect the public interest
from business combinations was the
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Federal Trade Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission
Consumer Affairs Commission
Federal Anti-trust Commission
Warren Commission
Corporations used this Amendment (designed to protect the rights
of ex-slaves during Reconstruction) to defend themselves against
regulation by state governments?
2. Which of the following socially-conscious
authors does NOT match-up with the novel
next to his or her name.
a. Jack London - The Call of the Wild
b. Frank Norris - The Octopus
c. Charlotte Perkins Gilman - Women and
Economics
d. Stephen Crane - The Gilded Age
e. Edward Bellamy - Looking Backward
Name the organization that was formed by women to combat
the effects of alcoholism in America during the Gilded Age.
Name one of the women involved in the organization.
3. By 1900, American attitudes toward labor
began to change as the public came to
recognize the right of workers to bargain
collectively and strike. Nevertheless
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Labor unions continued to decline in
membership.
The Knights of Labor failed to take
advantage of the situation.
The vast majority of employers continued
to fight organized labor.
Congress declared labor unions illegal.
Big business continued to fail in their
attempts to break up strikes.
The most effective and most enduring labor union of the Gilded
Age and its founder? - “Show me the country in which there are
no strikes and I’ll show you that country in which there is no
liberty.”
4. The “Gospel of Wealth” referred to the
idea that
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Excess wealth would prevent those who
possessed it from going to heaven.
Real wealth comes from the love of those
around you, not from money.
Money talks.
Being wealthy wasn’t sinful so long as you
didn’t hurt other people in the process of
gathering that wealth.
Rich people obtained their wealth because
God gave it to them.
Name the best-selling idealistic novelist and lecturer who wrote
“Progress and Poverty”. His socialistic “single tax” rhetoric and
ideas were quite unpopular with the wealthy and were extremely
controversial for the time.
5. In the cartoon shown below, Thomas Nast
presents Boss Tweed as
a. A politician ruled by
greed.
b. A benefactor of the
public.
c. A political reformer.
d. A politician corruptly
influenced by business.
e. A politician who rejected
business influence.
Who co-wrote the book The Gilded Age which eventually
became the name of this era in U.S. History?
Analyze the cartoon
and explain how it
relates to U.S.
economic and
governmental
practices of the late
1800s.
Are Rockefeller’s
words reflective of
the time? Explain
Overview
The most important force reshaping
American politics, diplomacy, life, and
thought in the late 19th century was
industrialization. Between 1865 and
1890, the U.S. changed from an
agricultural country to an industrialized
nation with all of the advantages and
disadvantages that go along with such a
transformation.
Themes of the Gilded Age:
• Politics: hard vs. soft money ('70s & '90s); tariff ('80s);
corruption due to greed, patronage & trusts (throughout
late 19th c.)
• Industrialism: U.S. became the world’s most powerful
economy by 1890s: railroads, steel, oil, electricity, banking
• America was transformed from an agrarian nation to an
urban nation between 1865 and 1920.
• Urbanization: millions of "New Immigrants" came from
Southern and Eastern Europe, mostly to work in factories.
• Unions and Reform movements sought to curb the
injustices of industrialism.
• Farmers increasingly lost ground in the new industrial
economy and eventually organized (Populism)
• The "Last West": farming, mining, & cattle raising
• By 1900 society had become more stratified into classes
than any time before or since.
FAMOUS PEOPLE
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
CHARLES DARWIN – “Origins of the Species”
HERBERT SPENCER – Social Darwinism
ANDREW CARNEIGE – Steel Tycoon
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER – Oil Tycoon
HORATIO ALGER
COMMODORE VANDERBILT – Railroad Tycoon
MARK TWAIN - author
1. Plentiful raw materials
2. Available capital
3. Available labor
4. “Yankee” ingenuity
5. Government encouragement
6. Attraction of able leadership
The rich resources of the East had scarcely been
tapped while still greater riches waited in the West
Lumber: Great Lakes,
Rockies, Pacific NW, &
Parts of South
Coal: PA westward
Iron ore: PA, AL, MI, MN
Oil: PA & Southwest
Copper: MI, MT, AZ
Silver: CO & NV
Gold: CA & SD
Lead: CO, MO, IL
1) Foreign
2) DOMESTIC
(England, Holland, Germany)
(Decline of commercial
industry)
Investors eager to finance
American industry
-American ships which
because:
carried 66% of commerce
in 1860, carried only 9%
a) Higher interest rates
in 1900
were paid
b) U.S. bought more abroad -Money formerly invested in
commerce flowed into
than it sold abroad
industry
(Unfavorable balance of
-Factories expand/More
trade)
capital to reinvest
1) Within
CW soldiers / Former
farmers / Freedmen
-Improved agricultural
machinery reduced
need for farmers
(over 4 million freed
to work in industry)
1830 - 1900:
From 3 hrs. - 10 min.
per wheat bushel
2) From Abroad
-Between 1860 and 1900 almost 14 million immigrants
reached the U.S. (Push - Pull factors)
Push (Causes)
• Overcrowding at
home
• Escape military
service
• Religious/Racial
persecution
• Liberalized
emigration laws
Pull (Attractions)
• Demand for cheap
labor in U.S.
• Shipping/RR
companies
advertisements
• Freedom/New life
Mechanical / Managerial skill allowed industrialists to offset
their greatest handicap: competition with cheap-labor areas
with lower standards of living
1)Mass production techniques
-Produced more cheaply,
despite higher labor
costs
-Europe: Tradition hindered
innovation
2)Inventions
-638,000 patents issued
-typewriter, incan. lamp,
telephone, Bessemer
process, dynamo, air
brake, RR parlor &
refrig. car
Domestic and foreign markets expanded steadily
throughout the Gilded Age
1) Improved living standards
-Econ. Growth, industrialization, and new
inventions allowed Americans to live above
their immediate means
2) RR building
-1860 (31,000 mi) - 1890 (164,000 mi.)
-Expanded markets for domestic mftrs.
“LAISSEZ-FAIRE”
-Government noninterference with
industry
-Allowed businesses to:
1. Pay low wages
2. Charge high prices
3. Employ corrupt practices
4. Enter into monopolies
w/o govt. interference
5. Govt. did support
through:
-High tariffs, land grants
and loans to RRs
The ablest men of the generation were attracted into
industry rather than politics
Industrial geniuses who
in an earlier
generation might have
been outstanding
statesmen.
“CAPTAINS OF
INDUSTRY” OR
“ROBBER BARONS”
Impact of Economic Revolution on American Life
When the Civil War began, Americans were an
agricultural people, provincial in viewpoint,
unaware of the world around them, distrustful
of strong government, and culturally immature.
Before the close of the 19th century, they had
become an industrial people, international in
viewpoint, imperialistically minded, and
culturally awakened.
Industrialization forced various
segments of the population to
reassess their roles in society:
Long accustomed to
dominating the nation,
farmers were forced
into a subsidiary role
as industrialists
gained control
Led to a rebellion which
launched the agrarian
uprising in the last
quarter of the 19th
century (Populism)
•
•
•
•
Bad Weather (1886-1887)
Foreign Competition drives down prices
High cost of farm machinery
RRs charge high prices to transport food to markets
Increased Demand for
Farmers’ Goods
Farmer increases
investment
home,
Farmers unable equip.
to pay off loans
ORGANIZE!
Grange/ Populist
More supply than
demand (Crop
Prices drop)
1870 - 1897
Wheat: $108.70
To 63.30 / 100
bushels
Bank foreclosures
(equipment, land,
mortgages)
Increased Grain
(Crop) Output
Overproduction!
“THE MONEY ISSUE”
Deflation makes
the dollar worth
more
Increasing the
money supply creates
inflation
Supply &
Demand: If
supply of
something
increases it
becomes less
valuable (even
the dollar)
Inflation makes
the dollar worth
less
ELECTION OF 1896
Democrat: Wm. Jennings Bryan
Republican: Wm. McKinley
“Silverites” vs. “Gold bugs”
(working America)
(big business)
Debtors like
inflation
$ worth less
/ debt is less
Late 19th cent.
Farmers were
debtors
1 - Senators elected by the people
2 - Government ownership of RRs,
banks, and communication
3 - 8-hour work day (factory
workers)
4 - Expand the money supply
(print more paper currency)
Powerless to bargain
individually with big
corporations
Formation of labor
unions for better
wages and shorter
hours
Minority of workers
joined radical parties
to express their
discontent
Late 1800s were economically uncertain times
“BOOMS” & “BUSTS”
GOOD TIMES:
Stock market up
Increased production
Increased consumer
spending
Jobs available
HARD TIMES:
Depressions (1873/1893)
Stock market down
Unemployment
Child Labor
Child Labor
“Galley Labor”
Labor Unrest: 1870-1900
The Molly Maguires
(1875)
James
McParland
Led to Union Formation
Unions Formed To:
• Increase Wages
• Improve Working
Conditions
• Organize workers to
bargain with
employers
• Guarantee job
security
• Compete with growing
size and strength of
industry
Membership:
Samuel
Gompers
•Workers paid dues
Skilled workers
No Blacks
Actions: •Closed shop: employer
No Women
hire only union workers
No recent
immigrants
•Strikes
Leaders:
Leaders:
William
Sylvis
Most successful
Why?
American
•Bargained with employer
Federation
of Labor
(Did not seek government help)
3
Unions
of the
Late
1800's
•Skilled workers
(More respected by
management)
Membership:
Skilled and
Unskilled
(blacks and
women)
Membership:
1st union
for skilled
and
unskilled
workers
Kights of
Labor
Actions:
Uriah Stephens
•8 hour day
Terence Powderly
•Sought government
help
Leaders:
•End child labor
Actions:
National
Labor
Union
•Government ownership of RR’s
•Political party
Knights of Labor
Terence V.
Powderly
An injury to one is the concern of all!
ù
Goals of the Knights of
Labor
Eight-hour workday.
ù Workers’ cooperatives.
ù Worker-owned factories.
ù Abolition of child and prison labor.
ù Increased circulation of greenbacks.
ù Equal pay for men and women.
ù Safety codes in the workplace.
ù Prohibition of contract foreign labor.
ù Abolition of the National Bank.
The American Federation
of Labor: 1886
Samuel Gompers
How the AF of L
Would Help the Workers
ù
Catered to the skilled worker.
ù
Represented workers in matters of
national legislation.
ù
Maintained a national strike fund.
ù
Evangelized the cause of unionism.
ù
Prevented disputes among the many craft
unions.
ù
Mediated disputes between management
and labor.
ù
Pushed for closed shops.
WHO?
B&O Railroad; gradually
every Railroad
WHY?
Cut wages, fired union
workers
WHAT?
Strike turned violent,
federal troops called
in (10 dead)
-Strike failed
A Striker Confronts a
SCAB!
The Great Railroad Strike
of 1877
The Great Railroad Strike
of 1877
The Tournament of Today:
A Set-to Between Labor and
Monopoly
Anarchists Meet on the
Lake Front in 1886
WHO?
McCormick-Harvester
Company (Chicago)
WHY?
Workers wanted an 8-hour
work day
WHAT?
Strike turned violent, police
showed up, bomb
exploded (anarchist), 11
die, strike failed (Knights
discredited)
Haymarket Riot (1886)
McCormick Harvesting Machine Co.
Governor John Peter Altgeld
Haymarket Martyrs
WHO:
U.S. Steel Company
(Carnegie/H.C. Frick)
WHY:
Management cut
workers pay
WHAT:
Strike turned violent,
Pinkertons and
federal troops called
in; 16 die;
-Strike failed
The Corporate
“Bully-Boys”: Pinkerton
Agents
WHO?
Pullman Company
(made train cars)
WHY?
1893 Depression forced
Pullman to cut wages
but not the rent
(“company town”)
WHAT?
Pullman hired new
workers (SCABS);
turned violent; federal
troops sent in
-Strike failed
A
“Company
Town”:
Pullman,
IL
Pullman Cars
A Pullman porter
The Pullman Strike of 1894
President Grover Cleveland
If it takes the entire army and navy to deliver a
postal card in Chicago, that card will be
delivered!
The Pullman Strike of 1894
Government by injunction!
?? Questions to Ponder ??
Samuel Gompers
• Was the formation of labor unions avoidable?
• Do you believe workers during the late 1800s
made the right choice to fight (sometimes using
violence) for better working conditions?
•Would you have made the same choice?
The Socialists
Eugene V. Debs
International Workers of the
World (“Wobblies”)
“Big Bill” Haywood of the
IWW
Violence was justified to overthrow
capitalism.
Employees refuse to work until their
demands are met.
STRIKE!
Parading in front of the workplace
PICKETING!
Workers and general public refuse to
purchase products and services
of a company whose workers are
striking
BOYCOTT!
Agreement between employer and
union that the company will hire
only union workers
CLOSED SHOP!
Special label placed on product
signifying it was made by union
labor
UNION MADE!
Hire workers to fill jobs of striking
employees
SCABS!/STRIKEBREAKERS!
Employer refuses to permit
employees to work until they
accept conditions of employment
set by mgmt.
LOCKOUT!
List containing names of employees
active in union affairs.
BLACKLISTS!
Contract signed by employees which
states they will not join a union.
YELLOW DOG CONTRACTS!
A shop where union and non-union
workers may be employed.
OPEN SHOP!
Employers seek to prevent growth of
discontent by establishing a
welfare program.
WELFARE CAPITALISM!
Arbitration (must be followed)
-Neutral third party settles
a disagreement
Injunction
-A court order to settle a
dispute
Mediation
(does not have to be followed)
-Neutral third party makes
a recommendation to
solve a disagreement
The
“Formula”
unions  violence  strikes  socialists 
anarchists = immigrants !!
Labor Union Membership
“Solidarity Forever!”
by Ralph Chapin (1915)
When the union's inspiration
through the workers‘ blood shall run,
There can be no power greater
anywhere beneath the sun;
Yet what force on earth is weaker
than the feeble strength of one,
But the union makes us strong!
CHORUS:
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
For the union
makes us strong!
Come On and
Sing Along!!
“Solidarity Forever!”
Is there aught we hold in common
with the greedy parasite,
Who would lash us into serfdom
and would crush us with his might?
Is there anything left to us
but to organize and fight?
For the union makes us strong!
CHORUS:
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
For the union
makes us strong!
“Solidarity Forever!”
* * * *
Through our sisters and our brothers
we can make our union strong,
For respect and equal value,
we have done without too long.
We no longer have to tolerate
injustices and wrongs,
Yes, the union makes us strong!
CHORUS:
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
For the union
makes us strong!
Workers Benefits Today
Unionism & Globalization?
Concerned with plight of
poor
Fearful of the decline in
economic democracy
leading to a decline in
political democracy
Attack on Social
Darwinism and the
“gospel of wealth”
mentality