The Gilded Age Industry, Urbanization, Immigration

1. The Gilded Age Industry, Urbanization, Immigration

2. What is “The Gilded Age,” and whyis it given this name?

3. The Gilded Age REPRESENTS THE TIME PERIOD FROM THE 1870’S TO THE 1890’S, WHEN THE EXTERNAL GLITTER OF WEALTH CONCEALED A CORRUPT POLITICAL CORE AND REFLECTED A GROWING GAP BETWEEN THE VERY FEW RICH AND THE MANY POOR.

4. The Gilded Age • Phrase coined by Mark Twain; used to represent America during this time • Post-Reconstruction America • Also, think of a beautiful, shiny, red apple… that is rotten on the inside

5. A Brassy, Flamboyant Age • The Gilded Age, the period between the end of Radical Reconstruction (1877)and the beginning of the Progressive Era (1901), was a brassy, flamboyant age dominated by big business values, political corruption, and extremes of wealth and poverty. • During the Gilded Age, the United States changed from a predominantly rural agrarian nation to an urban industrial one.

6. This was America during this time period (1870-1900) • On the outside, golden, shiny, beautiful: • Expanding economy, population growth • Extravagant displays of wealth by America’s upper class

7. Hiding the rotten inside: Political corruption, scandals, greed, child labor, materialism, racial discrimination, etc.

8. Major Developments • Establishing the foundation for 20th century America, the period witnessed these major developments: • Industrialization • Urbanization • Immigration

9. Changes in Daily Life • Life in the 1900s • US Govt issued 500,000 patents—electricity • Refrigerated railroad cars • Sewer systems and sanitation • Increased productivity made live easier and comfortable. • Power stations, electricity for lamps, fans, printing presses, appliances, typewriters, etc. • New York to San Francisco to 10 days using railroad. • 1.5 million telephones in use all over the country • Western Union Telegraph was sending thousands of messages daily throughout the country. Life in the 1860s • No indoor electric lights • No refrigeration • No indoor plumbing • Kerosene or wood to heat • Wood stoves to cook with • Horse and buggy • In 1860, most mail from the East Coast took ten days to reach the Midwest and three weeks to get to the West Coast. • A letter from Europe to a person on the frontier could take several months to reach its destination.

10. Era Characteristics • Strong and rapid growth of industry, mass production, mechanization, and the factory system • Consolidation of wealth and creation of an American aristocracy • Political and corporate corruption and laissez-faire/hands off approach to government involvement • Exploitation of cheap, immigrant labor • The creation of the American city and the expansion and urbanization of the West • Rapid population growth (natural and migratory) • Increased social, racial, and labor tension • The beginning of social, political, and labor reform movements

11. Who’s Job is it to make sure peoples basic needs are being met?

12. Gilded Age Politics

13. Very Laissez Faire Federal Govt. • From 1870-1900  Govt. did verylittle domestically. • Main duties of the federal govt.: • Deliver the mail. • Maintain a national military. • Collect taxes & tariffs. • Conduct a foreign policy. • Exception  administer the annual Civil War veterans’ pension.

14. The Presidency as a Symbolic Office • Party bosses ruled. • Presidents should avoid offending anyfactions within theirown party. • The President justdoled out federal jobs. • 1865  53,000 people worked for the federal govt. • 1890  166,000 “ “ “ “ “ “ Senator Roscoe Conkling

15. Find your name and put Your phone in vault

16. CIVIL SERVICE REPLACES PATRONGAGE • Patronage (spoils system)- giving of gov’t jobs to people helping a candidate get elected. • Led to incompetence and fraud • Reformers pushed for the merit system. Jobs would go and stay with most qualified as long as work was satisfactory. • President Hayes (1876) and Garfield (1880) pushed for reform in gov’t. Received opposition from the Stalwarts. (Group who opposed changes in the spoils system.) • Garfield shot and killed in 1881 by Charles Guiteau- looked over for jobs in gov’t. Arthur becomes Pres. (ties to Stalwarts) • 1883, Pendleton Act passed- set up a bi-partisan civil service commission to appoint federal jobs through the merit system (90% of federal jobs done this way today.)

17. TARIFF ISSUES • Americans agreed tariffs were needed to protect domestic industries. • 1884- Demo’s win presidency. 1st time in 28 years. Grover Cleveland • Knew nothing about the Tariff • Tried to lower it, congress refused to support him • 1888- Harrison wins presidency, raises tariff to highest level ever. (McKinley Tariff Act 1890) • 1892- Cleveland elected President again. • Supported a bill for lower the tariff, but refused to sign it because it provided for a federal income tax. • Wilson-Gorman Tariff became law in 1894 w/o pres. sign.

18. Farmers And Populism

19. Industry Comes of Age 1865-1900 Ch. 24-1

20. Essential Question Industrialization increased the standard of living and the opportunities of most Americans, but at what cost?

21. Industrialization • Civil War to 1900 was an era of unmatched economic growth. • Agriculture was important, but industry was key. • 1889-Income from Manufactured Goods exceeds farm goods • 1894-US leading manufacturer in the world.

22. Causes of Rapid Industrialization • Steam Revolution 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.

23. Causes of Rapid Industrialization • Technological innovations. • Bessemer and open hearth process • Refrigerated cars • Edison • “Wizard of Menlo Park” • light bulb, phonograph, motion pictures.

24. 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. • Government willing to help at all levels to stimulate economic growth. • Abundant natural resources.

26. The Iron Colt Becomes an Iron Horse

27. Railroads • 1. Outburst of railroad construction crucial • 2. 1865: 35,000 miles of railways • 1900: 192,556 miles, much of it west of Mississippi • 3. Transcontinental railroad building required government subsidies because so costly and risky • 4. Construction of railway systems promised greater national unity and economic growth

28. Railroads • Putting the rails to good use

29. Book Assignment • Read pages 512-520 (Stop at “The Trust Titan Emerges”) and answer questions 1-11

30. Industry Comes of Age 1865-1900 Ch. 24-2

31. IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRIES REVOLUTIONALIZED COKE *soft coal with the impurities removed, proved to be an excellent fuel for iron-smelting blast furnaces. 2. THE BESSEMER PROCESS Technology and Inventions

32. William Kelly and Henry Bessemer *discovered new process to make steel cheaply. HOW IT WORKS- Heat Iron Blast the heated Iron with cold air Impurities are removed, leaving good, strong solid steel Technology and Inventions

33. Bessemer cont. -Opens door for steel industry to soar -Steel becomes basis for other Industrial advances *Steel train rails last up to 10x longer *Bigger buildings (skyscrapers) *Better built, stronger bridges Technology and Inventions

34. Flat Iron Building

35. Brooklyn Bridge

36. SAFE WORKING CONDITIONS?

37. What is the American Dream?

38. The Men Who Built America

39. Thomas Alva Edison “Wizard of Menlo Park”

40. Technology and Inventions THE LIGHT BULB • 1876, Electricity was harnessed producing the Electric Arc Light • Cities begin lighting their streets • Edison claims he can devise a better lighting system- He was right.

41. Technology and Inventions EDISON- • New Approach to Invention *factory/ laboratory *people work on a trial and error basis *laboratories produce many new inventions or improvements • 1880- Patents first incandescent light bulb • 1882- Sets up first permanent central power station

42. The Light Bulb

43. The Phonograph (1877)

44. The Ediphone or Dictaphone

45. The Motion Picture Camera

46. Giants of Industry • Expansion led to a mass market, which in turn led to mass production Mass production- production of large quantities of goods at low costs. • Late 1800’s becomes known as Age of Big Business • The heroes of big business were the entrepreneurs.

47. Giants of Industry • Entrepreneurs organized everything -land -labor -capital -raised money -adapted new technology -made huge profits

48. ANDREW CARNEGIE

49. Embodies the rags to riches story Born in Scotland, 1835 Family emigrated to US at age 13 1st job was a bobbin boy- $1.20 week Messenger boy- telegraph operator Pennsylvania RR- T.A. Scott’s personal secretary and telegrapher By age 24 he was the superintendent of the Pittsburgh division, Pullman Car Purchased stock in several iron/steel companies ANDREW CARNEGIE

50. Formed Keystone Bridge Company in 1865 70’s – concentrated all his efforts on steel Carnegie Steel *20 years concentrated on making company totally self sufficient *owned coal an iron mines, facilities for making coke, plants that produced finished products, trans. on Carnegie owned RR and ships. CARNEGIE cont.