Gilded Age

1. Gilded Age Review Created By: Michael Crews

2. Politics • Political Machines – bought votes through providing services and jobs in the administration • Political bosses – controlled the machine • Spoils system – process of paying for votes through money, jobs, and services • Tammany Hall – Democratic Political Machine in New York City (William Tweed) • Presidents • Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison • All lacked personality • Called the “forgotten presidents”

3. Legislation • Pendleton Act (1883) – reformed the spoils system • Created the Civil Service Commission • Hire federal employees based on exams and merit • Sherman Silver Purchase Act- purchased more silver for currency • McKinley Tariff – set import tax at around 50%

4. Industrialization • Second Industrial Revolution • Mechanization and marketing led to great wealth • If you could get people to purchase your mass produced goods you became incredibly wealthy • Transcontinental Railroad • Authorized by congress in 1862 • Federally subsidized by the mile at first • Completed in 1869 @ Ogden, Utah • Built by primarily Chinese and Irish labor • Opened up the west to rapid expansion of population • Provided quick transportation of goods and raw materials to developing industrial centers

5. Important Businessmen and Ideas • Vanderbilt – Railroad tycoon • Carnegie – Steel industry • Sold company to J.P. Morgan who developed the U.S. Steel Corporation • J.P. Morgan – Banking/Investing • Rockefeller – Oil • Created Standard Oil Company • Vertical Integration – combing companies that supply equipment, services and resources for a particular product • Horizontal Integration – combining all other companies in a particular industry

6. Social Ideas and Business Regulations • Interstate Commerce Act (1887) • Outlawed railroad rebates and kickbacks • Created Interstate Commerce Commission • Monitored railroad companies for compliance • Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) • Outlawed monopolies • Social Darwinism • The idea that people succeed based on natural selection or ‘survival of the fittest’ • The ‘Gospel of Wealth’ • God had given them riches for the genius and/or tenacity • The opposite of this is that poor or unsuccessful people were ungodly or biologically inferior

7. Labor Movement • National Labor Union (NLU) • Represented both skilled and unskilled labor to factory owners • Knights of Labor • Another labor union • It allowed blacks and women to join • NLU did not • American Federation of Labor (AFL) • Large organization that coordinated efforts of many smaller unions

8. Strikes • Railroad Strike of 1877 • Threatened second 10% pay cut for workers • Coeur d’Alene Strike (1892) • Silver miners’ wages slashed • Miners blew up the mine • Homestead Strike • Steel workers protested lowered wages • Won a victory after clashing with 300 detectives • Pullman Strike • Pullman railcar company employees wages cut 30% • Eugene Debs organized the strike • 150,000 union members refused to work • Delayed service as far away as California • Grover Cleveland sent federal troops to break up strike

9. Social Issues • Immigration • Push Factors • Avoid forced military service • Avoid religious persecution • Poor economic situation • Pull Factors • Better jobs • Religious freedom • Ability to improve social standing • Negative reactions • Nativists did not feel that immigrants would never assimilate into the ‘American’ culture • Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 banned Chinese immigration until 1943 • Rapid urbanization • Along with native peoples, immigrants settled into the industrialized cities • Lack of adequate housing led to ‘slums’

10. More Social Issues • Equal Rights • Women demand right to vote • Elizabeth Cady Stanton • African Americans continued fight for their rights • Plessy V. Ferguson ( separate but equal) upheld • Booker T. Washington encouraged blacks to become economically self-sufficient before challenging whites on social issues • W.E.B. Du Bois argued that blacks should fight for social and economic equality at the same time