The Gilded Age and the Birth of Modern America

Unit 4 (1865-1900)

What we’ll cover in this unit….

• Industrialization
• Rise of Big Business
• Urbanization
• Immigration
• Corruption in politics

Intro to the Gilded Age

Gilded = covered thinly with gold

The Gilded Age = term coined by Mark Twain…. what does he mean?

• a period of serious problems masked by economic growth

Intro to the Gilded Age

Unit 1 BIG Question:

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Are we living in a 2nd Gilded Age?

The Rise of Industry

EQ: What factors led to industrialization and what impact did industry have on the economy?

The Rise of Industry

What event caused America to ramp up production in its factories?

• The Civil War… why?

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America enters into a “second industrial revolution” and becomes an economic powerhouse

The Rise of Industry

Factors of Industrialization:

• Natural Resources
• timber, coal, iron and copper
• located: in the west
• new resource: petroleum
• turned into kerosene
• lanterns and stoves
• Edwin Drake = 1^st to use steam engine to drill for oil in 1859

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The Rise of Industry

2. Large Workforce

• population: tripled
• created workforce and demand for manufactured goods

Why increase in population?

• immigrants
• better living conditions

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The Rise of Industry

3. Free Enterprise

• aka capitalism
• individuals own most businesses

An increase in entrepreneurs fueled this system

• entrepreneur = people who take risk to start own business
• rags to riches: idea that ANYBODY can become rich with hard work
• Horatio Alger’s Ragged Dick, or Street Life in NY was a popular novel that spread this idea

The Rise of Industry

4. Government supports free enterprise

• protective tariffs
• taxes that make imported good more expensive
• PROTECT AMERICAN INDUSTRY
• laissez-faire policies: businesses operate without gov’t interference (HANDS OFF!)

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The Rise of Industry

This period also marked by an increase in new inventions… why?

• gov’t protection of patents
• patent = grant by federal gov’t giving person exclusive right to develop and sell invention for period of time

The Rise of Industry

Alexander Graham Bell

• invented telephone
• 1876
• revolutionized communication
• created jobs for women (secretaries)

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The Rise of Industry

Thomas Edison

• invented light bulb
• patent over 1000 inventions
• created GE (General Electric Company)

George Westinghouse

• developed technology to send electricity over long distances
• used in homes and factories

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The Rise of Industry

Bessemer process

• efficient and cheaper way to make stronger steel
• used for skyscrapers, elevators, suspension bridges, and much more

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The Rise of Industry

The Railroad

• time zones created in 1884
• help w/ train scheduling

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Could transport lots of goods quickly and cheaply = more production in factories

• mass production = systems for turning out large numbers of products quickly
• allows natural resources to be moved to factories

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The Rise of Big Business

EQ: What practices allowed for the development of big business and what impact did these businesses have on the economy?

The Rise of Big Business

What were most businesses like prior to the Civil War?

• small, family owned, local
• this changes with industrialization

corporations = group of people share ownership of business

• less risky - only lose what you invested
• allowed businesses to grow much larger

The Rise of Big Business

• Little to no gov’t intervention

Big business created:

• monopolies: when a single company controls an entire product - free to set prices
• trusts: a way of merging businesses together: one person still controls
• both pretty much same thing

Small businesses couldn’t compete = driven out of business

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U.S. Corporate Mergers

The Rise of Big Business

J.P. Morgan

most powerful and influential financial banker

• created holding companies
• bought out another company's stock
• did this with railroads

By 1900 Morgan controlled ½ of the RR mileage in the country

The Rise of Big Business

Cornelius Vanderbilt

• made money in steamships first
• then he moved into railroads

Changed the RR industry…

• iron tracks become steel
• made trains safer
• standardized track size
• consolidated NY RR’s (made a monopoly)

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The Rise of Big Business

John D. Rockefeller

• founder of Standard Oil Company (monopoly)
• controlled 90% of the oil market in the US
• used cut-throat tactics to buy out competitors and force them out of business
• used horizontal integration

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The Rise of Big Business

Horizontal integration = gaining control of many businesses that make the same product

The Rise of Big Business

Andrew Carnegie

• Scottish immigrant, grew up poor
• made money in steel and founded the US Steel Company
• Used new business ideas
• Bessemer process
• vertical integration

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The Rise of Big Business

Vertical Integration = gaining control of businesses that make up all parts of a product’s development

The Rise of Big Business

Robber Barons = term used to describe business men that formed monopolies and trusts

• negative viewpoint
• hurt consumers (high prices)
• paid low wages to their workers

The Rise of Big Business

Captains of Industry = term applied to same businessmen because they served the nation positively

• provided jobs
• built the economy
• philanthropists: established universities, museums, and libraries

The Rise of Big Business

Gospel of Wealth

• article written by Carnegie in 1889
• businessmen have the right to make money, but also the responsibility to give it away
• believed $ was more wisely spent by the wealthy than the masses
• encouraged philanthropy
• Carnegie gave away 80% of his wealth (over $350 million)

This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth:

• To set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance;
• to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon him; and, after doing so,
• to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is called upon to administer, and strictly bound as a matter of duty to administer in the manner which, in his judgment, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community,

the man of wealth thus becoming the mere trustee and agent for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for them selves. . . .

In bestowing charity, the main consideration should be to help those who will help themselves; to provide part of the means by which those who desire to improve may do so; to give those who desire to rise the aids by which they may rise; to assist, but rarely or never to do all. Neither the individual nor the race is improved by alms giving. Those worthy of assistance, except in rare cases, seldom require assistance. . . .

… the best means of benefiting the community is to place within its reach the ladders upon which the aspiring can rise-free libraries, parks, and means of recreation, by which men are helped in body and mind; works of art, certain to give pleasure and improve the general condition of the people; in this manner returning their surplus wealth to the mass of their fellows in the forms best calculated to do them lasting good.

Thus is the problem of rich and poor to be solved. The laws of accumulation will be left free, the laws of distribution free. Individualism will continue, but the millionaire will be but a trustee for the poor, intrusted for a season with a great part of the increased wealth of the community, but administering it for the community far better than it could or would have done for itself. The best minds will thus have reached a stage in the development of the race in which it is clearly seen that there is no mode of disposing of surplus wealth creditable to thoughtful and earnest men into whose hands it flows, save by using it year by year for the general good. . . .

Such, in my opinion, is the true gospel concerning wealth, obedience to which is destined some day to solve the problem of the rich and the poor, and to bring "Peace on earth, among men good will."

• Andrew Carnegie, “Wealth” (1889)

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The Rise of Big Business

Social Darwinism

• “survival of the fittest” applied to humans
• people were successful bc they were better (brains, talent, etc.)
• people were poor bc they were less fit - shouldn’t use public funds to help them

The Rise of Big Business

Government begins to intervene…

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) (1887)

• established to oversee the railroad industry
• first federal body to monitor business operations

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

• outlawed trusts that interfered with interstate commerce or trade

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**Neither of these laws were enforced at first but set a precedent that the gov’t should be involved in business

The Organized Labor Movement

EQ: How did the rise of labor unions shape relations among workers, big business, and the government?

The Organized Labor Movement

Working Conditions

Very unsafe!!!

• unskilled work - people not trained
• child labor
• long hours
• no unemployment/insurance
• low wages (paid 3-12 dollars a week = $400.00 a year)

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• From 1890-1917 over 200,000 workers were killed and 2 million injured
• Some children chained to machines
• By 1901, 1 in 5 children were working---no school

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The Organized Labor Movement

Company towns

• workers forced to live in areas near factory
• factory owners owned the housing and the “company store” - set high prices
• workers not allowed to leave if they have debt = “wage slavery”

The Organized Labor Movement

In 1830s a movement called socialism spread

• socialism: philosophy that favors public, not private, control of property and income

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Communist Manifesto: book that denounced capitalism and said workers would overthrow it

• written by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels
• why important?
• labor activists borrowed these ideas!

The Organized Labor Movement

Labor union

• organized group of workers to protect and further their rights

The Organized Labor Movement

Knights of Labor

• labor union
• largest and most important labor organization of 1880s but short-lived
• important leader: Terrance V. Powderly
• fought for better conditions + 8 hr workday
• included
• skilled and unskilled workers
• men and women
• all races and ethnicity

The Organized Labor Movement

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

• founded by Samuel Gompers
• the AFL was a union open only to skilled laborers (aka a craft union)
• they did not allow minorities or women
• they were able to help shorten the work week and raise wages
• most successful at organizing skilled labor

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The Organized Labor Movement

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

• aka “Wobblies”
• founded in 1905 in Chicago
• led by William “Big Bill” Haywood
• Eugene V. Debs helped create
• welcomed EVERYONE
• radicals
• socialists
• known for violent protests

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The Organized Labor Movement

Eugene V. Debs

• Socialist union leader
• helped organize American Socialist Party and ran for president in 1900
• wanted unions for skilled and unskilled workers
• member of the IWW

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The Organized Labor Movement

Business Tactics

yellow dog contracts

• pledge not to join unions
• weakens the labor movement

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The Organized Labor Movement

Business Tactics

Lockouts

• owners would literally lock out their employees
• way for owners to get what they wanted

Black list

• employees on this list would be considered trouble makers and less likely to get hired
• passed around from one boss to another

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The Organized Labor Movement

Worker Tactics

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Labor strike

• workers refused to work
• to force owners to accept their demands

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The Organized Labor Movement

Business Tactics

• it is difficult to unionize unskilled labor
• when conducting strikes many ppl are willing to break
• why?
• immigrants who work for less money… considered scabs
• people are paid to beat up strikers and union workers

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The Organized Labor Movement

4 main strikes:

• Great Railroad Strike (1877)
• Haymarket Square Riot (1886)
• Homestead Strike (1892)
• Pullman Strike (1894)

The Organized Labor Movement

Great Railroad Strike (1877)

• strike against the RR’s
• first national strike
• spread across 11 states
• federal troops sent in to stop the strikers
• who does the gov’t support?
• over 100 people killed in strike violence
• protesting long work hours and low wages
• other groups supported them (miners, etc.)

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The Organized Labor Movement

Haymarket Square Riot (1886)

• national demonstration for an 8 hour work day
• at Haymarket Square in Chicago a bomb was thrown killing dozens of protesters and police officers
• four anarchists executed
• Effect: Knights of Labor ended because people associated them w/ violence

The Organized Labor Movement

Homestead Strike (1892)

Homestead Steel Company cut wages by 20%

• the steel workers walked out on strike
• Henry Clay Frick, the manager locked out the workers
• hired the Pinkerton’s (private police force)
• ~30 workers are killed/injured in the violence

This was a union failure because they eventually gave in to the company

video

The Organized Labor Movement

Pullman Strike (1894)

During the Panic of 1893, Pullman laid off more than half of its 5800 employees

• cut wages 25 – 50% without cutting the cost of employee housing

Strike led by Eugene V. Debs

• Pullman hires strikebreakers to keep the trains running and things get violent
• President Grover Cleveland sent in federal troops to keep the trains moving

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The Organized Labor Movement

Gov’t supports big business:

• used legislation like Sherman Antitrust Act AGAINST unions
• labor union influence declined in early 1900s

Immigration and Urbanization

EQ: Why did immigrants come to the U.S., what challenges did they face, and how did they help shape cities?

Immigration and Urbanization

“old immigration”

• mostly from Northern and Western Europe (Irish, German, GB)
• usually skilled or educated
• many settled on farms
• able to adapt to English culture easier

“new immigration”

• after 1870
• Southern and Eastern EU (Italy, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Russia)
• unskilled, poor, Catholic or Jewish
• settled mostly in cities
• faced more prejudice

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Immigration and Urbanization

Push Factors = conditions that force people to leave homelands

• religious persecution
• economic problems
• lack of jobs
• war

Pull Factors = conditions that encourage people to move to a country

• religious and political freedom
• cheap land
• factory jobs
• family & friends

Immigration and Urbanization

Difficult journey

• one to three weeks
• many only had money for ticket
• only brought what they could carry easily (clothes, photographs, tools for job)
• travelled in steerage (worst on ship)
• dirty, crowded, diseases spread

Immigration and Urbanization

Ellis Island - immigration processing station in NYC

• for European immigrants
• 12 million immigrants btwn 1892-1954
• officials decided if you could stay
• had to be healthy and w/ money or a skill
• legal and medical inspections

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Immigration and Urbanization

Statue of Liberty - many immigrants first view when entering America

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"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

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Ellis Island Immigration Museum

Immigration and Urbanization

Angel Island - immigration processing station on West Coast

• for Asian immigrants
• much harsher
• many immigrants kept for weeks or months in poor conditions

Immigration and Urbanization

Ethnic neighborhoods

• formed by immigrants from the same country
• retained culture and language

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Little Italy, NYC

Immigration and Urbanization

Americanization programs

• designed to assimilate immigrants
• assimilate: bring into dominant culture
• learn English
• American ways of dressing and eating
• many immigrants retained traditions

Settlement house in Chicago

Immigration and Urbanization

nativism - belief that native-born white Americans were superior to immigrants

• religious differences
• job competition

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

• prohibited immigration of Chinese laborers
• limited rights of Chinese in the U.S.
• forbade immigrants from becoming citizens

Immigration and Urbanization

EQ: What inventions allowed for the birth of the modern city and what problems were created by urbanization?

Immigration and Urbanization

urbanization = growth of cities in size and population

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Why move?

• jobs (especially for women and immigrants)
• new opportunities (rural -> urban)
• excitement!

Immigration and Urbanization

skyscrapers - 10-story or taller buildings with steel frames

Why are they important to the growth of cities?

• cities can expand upward, allowing for maximum use of space

Elisha Otis - developed a safety elevator that would not drop if lifting rope broke

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Immigration and Urbanization

mass transit - public systems that can carry many people inexpensively

• electric streetcars
• underground subway

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suburbs - housing outside the city for middle and upper classes

• could afford to commute to work

Immigration and Urbanization

City planning

• make cities safer, more functional, and more beautiful

Frederick Law Olmstead (landscaper)

• designed NYC’s Central Park

Immigration and Urbanization

tenement housing - low-cost, designed to fit as many families as possible

• unsafe
• unsanitary
• few windows

Problems highlighted by Jacob Riis in How the Other Half Lives

Immigration and Urbanization

Urban problems

• sanitation
• cities were filthy
• trash, dead animals, and waste littered streets
• poor sewage systems
• gross water
• fire and police departments established to deal with urban problems

Political Corruption

EQ: How and why did politics change during the Gilded Age?

Political Corruption

Growing cities had gov’ts unable to deal w/ the problems caused by urbanization

• led to the rise of political machines

political machine - controlled politics in city gov’ts to make sure

• their candidates are elected
• that gov’t works to their advantage

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• headed by the “boss” (usually the mayor)

Political Corruption

Political Machines

• depended on voter loyalty
• targeted the poor and the immigrants by providing services in exchange for votes
• helped get jobs
• rent money
• food (soup kitchens)
• becoming citizens

Political Corruption

Political Machines

• election fraud - got ppl to vote multiple times under different names
• bribes were common between businesses and gov’t
• construction contracts enabled big business and the machines to get rich off taxpayer money

Political Corruption

William “Boss” Tweed - head of political machine in NYC

Tammany Hall - Democratic headquarters in NY, known as the political machine of NYC

• ruled NY for 12 years at the head of his “Tweed Ring”
• convicted of stealing millions from taxpayers and died in jail

Political Corruption

Building the New York County Courthouse - cost: 13 million ($178 million in today’s money) and 20 years to complete

• A carpenter was paid $360,751 (roughly $4.9 million today) for one month's labor in a building with very little woodwork.
• A furniture contractor received $179,729 ($2.5 million) for three tables and 40 chairs.
• the plasterer got $133,187 ($1.82 million) for two days' work
• When a committee investigated why it took so long to build the courthouse, it spent $7,718 ($105,000) to print its report. The printing company was owned by Tweed.

Political Corruption

Thomas Nast

• political cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly
• attacked Tammany Hall and credited with the downfall of Boss Tweed
• helped popularize the Democratic Donkey, the Republican Elephant, and Uncle Sam

“The Tammany Tiger Loose - what are you going to do about it?”

The Curious Effect of Clean Linen Upon the Democratic Party

The “Brains” that achieved the Tammany Victory

Who Stole the People’s Money? Do tell. ‘Twas Him

Something That Did Blow Over - Nov 7 1871

Political Corruption

Boss Tweed about Thomas Nast:

“Stop them damned pictures. I don’t care what the papers write about me. My constituents can’t read, but they can’t help seeing them damned pictures!”

Political Corruption

Presidencies during the Gilded Age are recognized as either incredibly corrupt or unforgettable because the presidents were weak and did not do much

• President Grant’s administration was marred by scandal though he was not personally involved
• Credit Mobilier
• Whiskey Ring

Mass. Congressman Oakes Ames was a shovel maker and one of the directors of the Union Pacific RR (the company building westward line of the Transcontinental RR)

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Ames and the Union Pacific created a company called Credit Mobilier of America.

It was awarded all the construction contracts for the RR

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The company was paid $94 million by Congress for work actually worth $44 million

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Under President Grant

Whiskey Ring: group of revenue officers convicted during President Grant's administration

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Kept money from excise taxes

• Filed false tax reports
• Stole $ from fed. Gov’t

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Amounting to nearly $2,000,000 in 1875 alone

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Political Corruption

nat’l politics were dominated by the spoils system

• awarding jobs to loyal party members even if not qualified
• led to corruption and inefficient gov’t
• civil service reform had been attempted without success

Political Corruption

President James Garfield is assassinated by Charles Guiteau - a man angry about not receiving a gov’t job

• led to the signing of the Pendleton Civil Service Act in 1883
• established a commission that wrote an exam that you had to pass to receive a gov’t job
• based on merit, not who you know

Political Corruption

Chester A. Arthur

• president following death of Garfield
• started in politics as part of NY political machine
• signed the Pendleton Act

Political Corruption

Grover Cleveland

• only president to serve non-consecutive terms
• recognized for his integrity during period of corruption

Political Corruption

Benjamin Harrison

• president in between terms of Cleveland (1889-1893)
• grandson of William Henry Harrison