1 / 45

Capitalism in the Gilded Age

Adam Smith (1776) Origins of Species (1859) Social Darwinism William Graham Sumner (1880s) Andrew Carnegie (1901). Gospel of Wealth (1889) J. P. Morgan (1837-1913) U. S. Steel (1901) John D. Rockefeller (1881) Standard Oil (1882). Capitalism in the Gilded Age.

terah
Download Presentation

Capitalism in the Gilded Age

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Adam Smith (1776) Origins of Species (1859) Social Darwinism William Graham Sumner (1880s) Andrew Carnegie (1901) Gospel of Wealth (1889) J. P. Morgan (1837-1913) U. S. Steel (1901) John D. Rockefeller (1881) Standard Oil (1882) Capitalism in the Gilded Age I. Origins of Capitalist Thought II. The Ideology Capitalism III. Industrial Concentration Key Terms

  2. I. Origins of Capitalist Thought

  3. Adam Smith

  4. The Wealth of Nations “Were the Americans, either by combination or by any other sort of violence, to stop the importation of European manufactures, and, by thus giving a monopoly to such of their own countrymen as could manufacture the like goods, divert any considerable part of their capital into this employment, they would retard instead of accelerating the further increase in the value of their annual produce, and would obstruct instead of promoting the progress of their country towards real wealth and greatness.”

  5. Thomas Jefferson

  6. Charles Darwin

  7. Herbert Spencer

  8. William Graham Sumner

  9. The Concentration of Wealth: Its Justification “What matters more than that some millionaires are idle, or silly, or vulgar. . . . The millionaires are a product of natural selection, acting on the whole body of men to pick out those who can meet the requirement of certain work to be done. . . they get high wages and live in luxury, but the bargain is a good one for society”

  10. “Let it be understood that we cannot go outside of this alternative: liberty, ineqaulity, survival of the fittest; not-liberty, equality, survival of the unfittest. The foremost carries society forward and favors its best members; the latter carries society downwards and favors its worst members”

  11. II. The Ideology Capitalism

  12. 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.

  13. Andrew Carnegie

  14. The Gospel of Wealth and Other Essays “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 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 becomes 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 themselves.”

  15. Carnegie’s House on Fifth Avenue, New York

  16. Carnegie’s Vacation Home—Skibo Castle in Scotland

  17. Income Comparison

  18. III. Industrial Concentration

  19. Farmer in Missouri, Growing for a Local Market

  20. New Farm Machinery

  21. Spread of Railroads

  22. Railroad Expansion, 1870-1890

  23. Land Grants to Rail Roads -- Total of 224,000,000 Acres

  24. John Pierpont Morgan

  25. J. P. Morgan’s Private Library

  26. U.S. Steel Charles M. Schwab

  27. Charles Schwab’s Home

  28. “The day of combination is here to stay. Individualism has gone, never to return.” John D. Rockerfeller (1839-1937)

  29. Standard Oil • Used special rates with railroads to drive smaller competitors out of business. • By 1881Rockerfeller’s cartel controlled 90% of the nation’s oil refining capacity. • Within three years the number of oil refineries were reduced from 53 to 22.

  30. Discussion • How does the practice of capitalism in the Gilded Age compare to the ideology? • What is the justification of monopolies? Are they good for society? • What does Gilded Age style capitalism mean for democracy?

More Related