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THE GILDED AGE 1876-1900

THE GILDED AGE 1876-1900 . Notes by R. Horner and J. Rosenzweig PPT translation by N. Miller & T. Zigler. Presidents of the Gilded Age. 19. Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877-1881 20. James A Garfield, March 4 to September 19, 1881 21. Chester A. Arthur, 1881-1885 22. Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889

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THE GILDED AGE 1876-1900

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  1. THE GILDED AGE 1876-1900 Notes by R. Horner and J. Rosenzweig PPT translation by N. Miller & T. Zigler

  2. Presidents of the Gilded Age • 19. Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877-1881 • 20. James A Garfield, March 4 to September 19, 1881 • 21. Chester A. Arthur, 1881-1885 • 22. Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889 • 23. Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893 • 24. Grover Cleveland, 1893-1897 • 25. William McKinley, 1897-1901

  3. Industry’s Rise • -Government promotes business interests • -Corporations appear on the landscape • -Laissez-faire arguments are numerous and loud • -The economy booms, for the most part • -Labor unions form, and major strikes begin to occur • -The Supreme Court interferes primarily on behalf of rich men and their corporations, against the unions and striking workers

  4. Government Effects on Industry • -Imposition of tariffs • -Land grants to railroads • -Open lands to the west (Homestead Act of 1862) • -Loose immigration policy • -Low taxes for businesses • Important "Robber Barons" • - Andrew Carnegie (U. S. Steel) • - John D. Rockefeller (Standard Oil) • -William Vanderbilt (railroads) • -J. P. Morgan (investment banking) http://www.canbyhistoricalsociety.org/railroad/railroadmapof1890.bmp

  5. Federal Land Grants to Railroads

  6. The Pro-Capitalism Argument • Social Darwinism (William Graham Sumner) • -Rags-to-riches (Horatio Alger) • -Russell Conwell's "Acres of Diamonds" • -Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth"

  7. Labor Unions - • National Labor Union = Founded 1866 – dissolved in 1872 - - 1st national union • -Knights of Labor (radical objectives): Haymarket Riot of 1886 • -AFL (moderate): Samuel Gompers, skilled workers only • -IWW (socialist/anarchist): "Big Bill" Haywood • --Railroad Strike of 1877 • --Haymarket Square riot of 1886 • --Homestead Strike of 1892 • --Pullman Strike of 1894

  8. Politics in the Gilded Age • Corruption in the Grant administration (Credit Mobilier & Whiskey Ring) means presidents are largely ineffective. Congress rises in power. • Money supply is under debate: Specie Resumption Act of 1875 begins the debate. The Bland-Allison Act of 1878 attempts to compromise. • The "Billion Dollar Congress" is more active: • -McKinley Tariff of 1890 • -Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 • -Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 • -Wilson-Gorman Act of 1894 (higher tariff)

  9. Agrarian Activists • Farmers organize (the Grange) and get results in the courts • Railroads Co. and Banks are the “enemy” • Peik v. C&NW Railway (1876) States can regulate interstate commerce if the federal government isn't • Munn v. Illinois (1877) Local government wins right to restrict railroad price-gouging • Illinois v. Wabash (1886) Peik is overturned, but as a result Congress passes the Interstate Commerce Act to regulate big business

  10. Populists • Populism rises in 1890s: reforms: • -Secret ballot, initiative, referendum, recall • -Direct election of Senators • -Free coinage of silver • -Progressive income tax

  11. Policies toward Native Americans • Sioux in the Black Hills (Custer and Little Big Horn 1876) – Gold in them hills • -Ghost Dancers (Wounded Knee 1890) • -Assimilation (Carlisle Indian School in PA) • -Dawes-Severalty Act ("civilizes" the tribes) • “Kill the Indian, save the man” • Imperialism and its justifications: • -Alfred T. Mahan's "The Influence of Sea Power" • -Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis • -Religious beliefs (tying into "Manifest Destiny") • -Social Darwinism

  12. Spanish-American War • -Yellow journalism pumps up the public • -Sympathy for revolutionary Cubans • -Sinking of the Maine • -Cuba wins independence (sort of: see Platt Amendment) • -We take Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines (for $20 million) • We enter the new century having learned the benefits of imperialism, and having seen the political and social effects of war.

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