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Gilded Age

Explore the era from 1877 to the turn of the century with industrial growth, labor conflict, and the rise of monopolies. Learn about technological innovations like Bessemer Steel and figures like Edison and Roosevelt.

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Gilded Age

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  1. 1877-1900, Compromise 1877 to Turn of century, Teddy Roosevelt becomes President Time of tremendous business growth and labor conflict Mark Twain coined the term Gilded= gold plated Age glittered with new technology, but at its core was corruption and human suffering Growth of monopolies and trusts Labor strikes: Great RR, Haymarket, Pullman, & Homestead New Stock immigrants from Eastern & Southern Europe Urbanization 2nd Industrial Revolution, (ROSE), Railroads, Oil, Steel, & Electricity Gilded Age

  2. The Incorporation of America

  3. What were the Causes of Rapid Industrialization? • Steam power from 1st IR of the 1830s-1850s. • The Railroad fueled the growing US economy: * First big business in the US. * A magnet for financial investment. * The key to opening the West. * Aided the development of other industries.

  4. Causes of Rapid Industrialization 3. Technological innovations.* Bessemer Steel Process • Puts air into iron to remove carbon to make steel • New Uses for Steel: • Steel used in railroads, barbed wire, farm machines • Changes construction: Brooklyn Bridge; steel-framed skyscrapers * Refrigerated cars

  5. America wasn’t discovered; it was built

  6. Iron & Steel Production

  7. Thomas Alva Edison “Wizard of Menlo Park”

  8. The Light Bulb

  9. The Phonograph (1877)

  10. The Ediphone or Dictaphone

  11. The Motion Picture Camera

  12. Alexander Graham Bell Telephone (1876)

  13. Alternate Current George Westinghouse

  14. Alternate Current Westinghouse Lamp Advertisement

  15. Causes of Rapid Industrialization • Unskilled & semi-skilled labor in abundance. • Abundant capital. • New, talented group of businessmen [entrepreneurs] and advisors. • Market growing as US population increased. • Abundant natural resources.

  16. tariffs private property laws railroad land grants little governmental taxation of corporate profits armed protection of companies with federal troops Supreme Court rulings 9. Government Support

  17. Relative Share of World Manufacturing

  18. New Business Culture • Laissez Faire the ideology of the Industrial Age. * Individual as a moral and economic ideal. * Individuals should compete freely in the marketplace. * The market was not man-made or invented, rather it was a state of nature. * No room for government in the market!

  19. 2.Social Darwinism • British economist. • Advocate of laissez-faire. • Adapted Darwin’s ideas from the “Origin of Species” to humans. • Notion of “Survival of the Fittest.” Herbert Spencer

  20. 2.Social Darwinism in America • Individuals must have absolute freedom to struggle, succeed or fail. • Therefore, state intervention to reward society and the economy is futile! William Graham SumnerFolkways (1906)

  21. New Business Culture:“The American Dream?” • Protestant (Puritan) “Work Ethic”*Horatio Alger [100+ novels] Is the idea of the “self-made man” a MYTH??

  22. New Type of Business Entities • Pool1887 Interstate Commerce ActInterstate Commerce Commission created. • Trust John D. Rockefeller *Standard Oil Co.

  23. Trust Holding Company

  24. Standard Oil Co.

  25. 2009 World Robber Baron List Rank NameCitizenshipAgeNet Worth ($bil)Residence • 1 William Gates III United States 53 40.0 United States • 2 Warren Buffett United States 78 37.0 United States • 3 Carlos Slim Helu & family Mexico 69 35.0 Mexico • 4 Lawrence Ellison United 64 22.5 United States • 5 Ingvar Kamprad & family Sweden 83 22.0 Switzerland • 6 Karl Albrecht Germany 89 21.5 Germany • 7 Mukesh Ambani India 51 19.5 India • 8 Lakshmi Mittal India 58 19.3 United Kingdom • 9 Theo Albrecht Germany 87 18.8 Germany • 10 Amancio Ortega Spain 73 18.3 Spain • 11 Jim Walton United States 61 17.8 United States • 12 Alice Walton United States 59 17.6 United States • 13 Christy Walton & family United States 54 17.6 United States • 14 S Robson Walton United States 65 17.6 United States • 15 Bernard Arnault France 60 16.5 France

  26. New Type of Business Entities • Trust:*Horizontal Integration John D. Rockefeller, oil *Vertical Integration:A. Gustavus Swift  Meat-packing B. Andrew Carnegie  U. S. Steel C. James Duke  tobacco

  27. New Type of Business Entities

  28. Industrial Consolidation:Iron & Steel Firms

  29. New Financial Businessman The Broker:*J. Pierpont Morgan

  30. Wall Street – 1867 & 1900

  31. The Reorganization of Work Frederick W. Taylor The Principles of Scientific Management (1911)

  32. The Reorganization of Work The Assembly Line

  33. Robber Barons or Captains of Industry?

  34. Wealth Concentration Held by Top 1% of Households(Rockefeller at his height was worth 1.4 billion $, or 665 billion in today’s $, Gates worth 56 Billion)

  35. % of Billionaires in 1900

  36. % of Billionaires in 1918

  37. William Vanderbilt • The public be damned! • What do I care about the law? H’aint I got the power?

  38. Religion in the Era of Industrialization • Wealth no longer looked upon as bad. • Viewed as a sign of God’s approval, the Protestant (Puritan) Work Ethic • Christian duty to accumulate wealth. Russell H. Conwell

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