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The Gilded Age: Captains of Industry or Robber Barons?

Explore the Gilded Age through the lenses of industrial giants, labor movements, and government policies. Learn about influential figures like Carnegie, Morgan, Rockefeller, and the Vanderbilt family. Understand Social Darwinism, Gospel of Wealth, and business consolidation. Discover the impact of inventions and technologies during this transformative era in American history.

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The Gilded Age: Captains of Industry or Robber Barons?

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  1. 1. The Gilded Age IF YOU MISSED THIS CLASS, YOU NEED TO: 2 • 1)DO THE DQ FOR THE DAY. WRITE THE DAILY QUOTE AND ANSWER THE QUESTION FOR THE DAY. • 2) COPY THE NOTES (I GET MY COPY BACK). • DO THE REVIEW, NOTES QUESTIONS, AND CARTOON QUESTIONS • DO THE “HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES” QUESTIONS.

  2. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teaming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door.“ -Emma Lazarus “The New Colossus” (1883) Daily Comment & Card 1860-1935 JANE ADDAMS -American social reformer -Provided the services of Hull House in Chicago (a settlement house to help poor immigrants adapt) -Member of the “Social Gospel” movement which applied the lessons of the Bible to help solve issues of immigration and urbanization—Won 1931 Nobel Peace Prize SONG FOR THE DAY: WE BUILT THIS CITY

  3. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teaming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door.“ -Emma Lazarus “The New Colossus” (1883) Daily Comment & Card 1886 AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR -National craft unions representing workers in wages, hours, & safety -Individuals were members of their local unions, which then made them members of the AFL -They sought a better working life; their philosophy was “pure and simple unionism”—not trying to be revolutionary -Samuel Gompers was 1st president SONG FOR THE DAY: HOT CHILD IN THE CITY

  4. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teaming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door.“ -Emma Lazarus “The New Colossus” (1883) Daily Comment & Card 1860-1935 1886 JANE ADDAMS AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR -American social reformer -Provided the services of Hull House in Chicago (a settlement house to help poor immigrants adapt) -Member of the “Social Gospel” movement which applied the lessons of the Bible to help solve issues of immigration and urbanization—Won 1931 Nobel Peace Prize -National craft unions representing workers in wages, hours, & safety -Individuals were members of their local unions, which then made them members of the AFL -They sought a better working life; their philosophy was “pure and simple unionism”—not trying to be revolutionary -Samuel Gompers was 1st president SONG FOR THE DAY: WE BUILT THIS CITY

  5. THE GILDED AGE A. WHAT WAS IT? B. ROBBER BARONS OR CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY? 1. THE MEN 2. THE PHILOSOPHIES 3. CONSOLIDATING 4. INVENTIONS & TECHNOLOGY C. LABOR FIGHTS BACK 1. FORMING UNIONS 2. VIOLENCE D. THE BOSS SYSTEM

  6. Mark Twain was the first to use the term “Gilded Age” in 1873. It referred to the superficial glitter of the new wealth at the end of the 19th century… It was a period of weak presidents, a change in immigration, the development of industry and urban areas

  7. Leaders of large, efficient corporations, often used questionable business practices…Monopolies led to demands for government regulation… • INDUSTRIAL GIANTS • ROBBER BARONS OR CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY? • -ANDREW CARNEGIE • -JP MORGAN • -JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER • -VANDERBILT FAMILY

  8. SOCIAL DARWINISM WAS BASED ON CHARLES DARWIN’S THEORY OF EVOLUTION (SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST). THE IDEA WAS BASICALLY THAT WHEN WEALTH WAS CONCENTRATED IN THE HANDS OF THE “FIT” THAT THEY WOULD HELP THE POOR AND DO WHAT WAS BEST FOR THE REST. THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH PROMOTED THE IDEA OF THE PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC. IT SAID THAT HARD WORK AND SUCCESS WERE SIGNS OF GOD’S FAVOR. THE WEALTHY WERE TO HELP THE POOR… Carnegie supported this idea and donated more than $350 million to libraries, schools, peace initiatives, and the arts during his lifetime…

  9. BIG BUSINESS BEGINS TO CONSOLIDATE… A company controls both the production and distribution of its products (Carnegie & U.S. Steel) Vertical integration Horizontal integration One company gains control over the other companies that produce the same product. By the end of the 19th century, monopolies & trusts exercised a great deal of control over the American economy… THE GOVERNMENT POLICY TOWARD BUSINESS WAS “HANDS OFF” OR “LAISSEZ-FAIRE.” THIS MEANT THEY PRETTY MUCH LEFT BUSINESS ALONE TO DO THEIR OWN THING…

  10. Consequences of Consolidation: -FACTORIES (work done by machines & unskilled workers) -TAYLORISM “scientific management” increase production & lower costs -CAPITAL (Corporations accumulated Investment $) -NATIONAL MARKETS (railroads)

  11. INVENTIONS/TECHNOLOGY • - SAMUEL MORSE • -THOMAS EDISON • -WESTINGHOUSE & TESLA • - ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL • MASS PRODUCTION • ASSEMBLY PRODUCTION • MARKETING • ROTARY PRESS DEPT. STORES • BRAND NAMES CHAIN STORES • CATALOGS telegraph Light bulb, motion picture camera, phonograph Electric motor telephone

  12. SOON WORKERS BEGAN TO ORGANIZE… • KNIGHTS OF LABOR -LED BY TERENCE V. POWEDERLY -GREW RAPIDLY BECAUSE OF OPEN MEMBERSHIP POLICY (WELCOMED UNSKILLED & SEMI-SKILLED WORKERS: WOMEN, IMMIGRANTS, AND AFRICAN-AMERICANS) -BELIEVED THEY COULD ELIMINATE CONFLICT BETWEEN LABOR & MANAGEMENT. -DECLINE BECAUSE OF VIOLENCE AND BEING ASSOCIATED WITH ANARCHISTS. (BLAMED FOR HAYMARKET SQUARE RIOT)

  13. INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD (IWW) • “WOBBLIES” -led by “Mother” Jones, Elizabeth Flynn, and Big Bill Haywood -strove to unite all laborers including unskilled African-American labor which had been excluded from craft unions. -Goal was “One Big Union” -embraced class conflict and endorsed violence -collapsed during World War I

  14. AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR (AFL) -LED BY SAMUEL GOMPERS (LEADER OF CIGAR MAKERS UNION) -AFL WAS AN ALLIANCE OF SKILLED WORKERS IN CRAFT UNIONS -AFL CONCENTRATED ON ISSUES SUCH AS HIGHER WAGES, SHORTER HOURS, AND BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS

  15. AS LABOR BEGAN TO ORGANIZE AND STRIKES BECAME COMMON…THE MOVEMENT BECAME ASSOCIATED WITH VIOLENCE! -President Hayes calls out federal troops in the RAILROAD STRIKE OF 1877 -HAYMARKET BOMBING (Union blamed for violence and deaths—Knights of Labor) -HOMESTEAD STRIKE(1892) Carnegie steel crushes workers who strike with Pinkertons -PULLMAN STRIKE (1894) During a depression, the company cut wages (kept rent and prices of goods for 12,000 workers) It stopped a lot of railroad business and ended when President Cleveland sent in federal troops.

  16. IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE SIMIILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES OF THE KofL, IWW, & AFL. ALL THREE WERE DEDICATED TO ORGANIZING LABORERS. THE KofL STROVE FOR A COOPERATIVE SOCIETY, WHILE THE IWW EMBRACED CLASS CONFLICT AND VIOLENCE. THE AFL ORGANIZED SKILLED WORKERS, AVOIDED VIOLENCE AND FOUGHT FOR HIGHER WAGES AND BETTER CONDITIONS.

  17. BOSS SYSTEM DEVELOPS IN CITIES • Took ADVANTAGE OF THE IMMIGRANTS who tended to settle in ethnic neighborhoods… Political parties in major cities came under the control of organized groups of politicians known as “machines”. This was known as the BOSS SYSTEM GREEDY AS WELL AS GENEROUS, THESE POLITICAL BOSSES BOTH USED AND SERVED THE NEW POOR INNER-CITY POPULATIONS… Boss Tweed of Tammany Hall was the most famous…

  18. DID DO SOME GOOD: SEWER LINES, WATER, • BUILT PARKS, PLAYGROUNDS, • PAVED STREETS, PUBLIC FACILITIES • A LOT DONE WITH “DONATIONS”-BUT WHAT WAS EXPECTED? (VOTES, LOYALTY)

  19. Morse code versus texting… http://www.myspace.com/video/steve/morse-code-vs-text-messaging/8542413

  20. Arrival in America: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxqkOtAGgwE

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