The Gilded Age1870-1890

The Second Industrial Revolution Railroads essentially cause the Second

Industrial Revolution and become the country’s first big business Stimulated the post-war national economy

and marketplace National rail network

Promoted by federal loans, standardization, and state aid

Helped contribute to mass production, distribution, and mass marketing of goods

Railroad Shipping

The Second Industrial Revolution The Industrial Economy

By 1913, the United States produced 1/3 of the world’s industrial output

The 1880 census indicated that a majority of the U.S. workforce was engaged in non-farming jobs (for the first time)

Financing industrialization became an industry in itself Pittsburgh and Chicago begin to grow as a

result

The Second Industrial Revolution:Inventions

Nikola TeslaWireless communications;Induction motor

Thomas EdisonElectric power distribution;Light bulb

A.G. BellTelephone;Metal Detector

The Second Industrial Revolution Railroads and Politics

Became a major political issue through the end of the century

Regulation was a hotly debated issue However, most people did not want to interfere

with progress Eventually, the Supreme Court ruled that

railroad regulatory commissions were legal Interstate Commerce Act of 1877 allowed for

a commission to hear complaints against railroad companies accused of charging outrageous rates

Big Business

Competition and Consolidation Depression plagued the economy

between 1873 and 1897 Businesses engaged in cutthroat

competition To avoid competition, large businesses

battled to control entire industries Between 1897 and 1904, 4,000 business

consolidated into larger corporations Many of these large corporations became

monopolies

Big Business

Andrew Carnegie and Steel Manufacturing Worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad By the 1890s, Carnegie dominated the

steel industry Used vertical integration

Buy everything that can be used to take a product from raw material to finished

His whole life was focused on success Also generously gave back to society

Big Business

John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil Ran a trust that bought everyone else in

the oil industry out by purchasing stocks Rockefeller slowly consolidated the oil

business Lowered costs by paying attention to

minute details Focused on production and marketing

aspects of the oil industry Utilized horizontal integration

Buy everyone else out in the same industry

Big Business

Factory conditions 35,000 factory and mining workers were

killed each year in work related accidents Highest rate in the industrial world

Many skilled laborers had their jobs taken by machines

Workers had few protections from mistreatment on the job Economic insecurity was a fact of life Long work hours No workers’ compensation

Class Stratification

Class divisions became more visible The rich get richer The poor get poorer

Many wealthy American gave up their old lives to pursue an aristocratic lifestyle Consumerism and consumption of goods

became the key to this new form of freedom

Class Stratification

The working class lived in terrible conditions 12 hour work days; 7 days a week 1 of 115 workers died in work related

accidents 1 in 8 were injured on the job

182,000 children under 16 were employed in the mining or manufacturing industries Almost the population of Waco

The American West

Farming boomed; more land came into cultivation in the 30 years after the Civil War than the previous 2 and ½ centuries of American history combined; one of the reasons why we have issues during the 1930s with the Dust Bowl; over farming A great deal of the farming burden fell on women

Caused in part by the push by “Redeemers” in the South who celebrated the end of Reconstruction and wanted to bring industrialization and economic improvements to the South by the expansion of population and rail networks

The American West

Bonanza farms Powell stated that the arid region of the West would

require large-scale irrigation projects and cooperative, communal farming

Millions of farmers moving to the west to seek crop bonanzas and a new way of life; by 1900, the west was settled and it held 30% of the national population

Small farms tuned in and realized that they had to appeal to a national and international market (beginning of the international American identity)

Didn’t help the problems as crop production increased, prices fell, small farmers suffered greatly difficulties in the last quarter of the 1900s

The American West

Mining Boom and Bust California in 1849 was the big mining boom state Boom came to an end during the 1890s Western mines contributed millions to the

economy, helped finance the Civil War, supported industrialization, changed relative value of gold (leaving room for the amount of silver to change)

Mining populations were primarily based of men; sounds a lot like early colonial Virginia (men outnumbered women 2:1)

After towns became unprofitable, mining ventures moved on leaving Indian reservations, hills, and ghost towns

The American West

The ‘real’ West; the Cowboys Cowboys became a symbol of a life of

freedom on the open range; no big cities issues to get you down

They governed themselves (like miners) and typically weren’t as violent as Old West films portray.

Short lived phenomena, on the way out by 1880s; cattle trails becoming local; regional only; many cowboys switched to raising sheep

The American West

New Farming Methods Barbed wire; fence in the wilderness! Mechanical technology

What happens to the farmer? Settlers eventually abandon their farms; become

restless and angry (pre-cursor to the Populist movement)

Complaining about declining crop prices, rail rates going up, and heavy mortgages

The “Grange” takes on the issues as a lobby organization; far from their original goal as one that provided social, cultural, and educational opportunities

The West and Indians

The true “last stand” for the Native Americas; rights as they knew it were about to be taken away

Constant warfare between the Plains Indians and military occurred between 1850 and 1890 US army launches a campaign against the Navajo

One effective method of extermination: kill off the buffalo Only 30 million in 1800; nearly extinct by hunting

in 1890

The West and Indians

Land availability diminishing Homestead Act of 1862 – gave farmers public

lands, roughly 160 acres, but that was too small

Timber and Stone Act – help “civilize” Washington, Oregon, California, and Nevada Land at $2.50 an acre Ten times the limit of the Homestead Act

Railroads were making a killing because they’re buying it up at discounted rates

Is it any wonder why the Indians got in the way?

The West and Indians

1871, Congress eliminates the treaty system that dated back to the revolutionary war with the Indians Forced American assimilation on the

Indians; no choice but to become American Dawes Act – attacked tribalism,

essentially outlawing it in 1887 The policy was one of biggest disasters for

Indians; trying to promote them as small farmers

The West and Indians

Indian Citizenship Must give up tribal identity and be assimilated into

American culture However, no rights under the 14th and 15

amendments; thanks for playing, but no voting or citizenship rights

Ghost Dance (Wounded Knee) American soldiers kill between 150 and 200

women and children Indians at Wounded Knee Creek in SD as they were taking part in a “Ghost Dance”

Seen as primitive, backwards, etc.; something the white man should fear

Politics in the Gilded Age

Absolute corruption in politics NYC Boss Tweed Business interests influencing the House and Senate

US was an island of democracy that needed to help the ignorant nations of the world

Democracy was definitely working; very close elections throughout the 1880s State and national elections always very close

The Republican Party dominated national elections though Every Republican candidate was a Civil War veteran

from 1868 - 1900

Politics in the Gilded Age

Gilded Age presidents did little legislation except for big business; did not exert executive leadership at all

Republican candidates for president had all fought in the Union army from 1868 to 1900

Democrats dominated the South and Catholic votes

Economics in the Gilded Age

The government ran on standby was ill prepared to deal with all the problems of rapid economic growth Tariff policy in constant debate Return to gold standard in 1879 (would soon

start issues with the Populists) Interstate Commerce Commission

Another oversight organization in the move toward regulation

Sherman Anti-Trust Act Building block for regulating big business in the

1900s

Social Darwinism

Survival of the fittest in business, society, etc.; White people had to make a reason for why there were rich and why some were poor

Contends that business tycoons deserve everything they get because “God is on their side” because they worked hard and they had money

Just have to accept inequality in the world Failure to advance in society is likely because of

your lack of wits and character Courts typically sided with business on

everything; just another reflection of this mentality

The Social Gospel

Walter Rauschenbusch insisted that freedom and spiritual development needed to be in harmony with an equalization of wealth and power

Fits hand in hand with social Darwinism Acres of Diamonds speech; needed to have

wealth in order to fulfill the duties of being a good Christian

Alternative theories included socialism, communism (things going on in Russia at the time) Early introduction of socialism by Lawrence

Gronlund’s Cooperative Commonwealth

Labor in the Gilded Age

1877 Great Railroad Strike Demonstrated that labor rights/regulations

would become an issue in the Gilded Age and beyond

Knights of Labor Organized workers to improve social

conditions in factories Conditions essential to liberty

Labor raised the question whether meaningful freedom could exist in extreme economic inequality

Labor in the Gilded Age

Middle-Class Reformers Alarmed by fear of class warfare and the

growing concentration of wealth in a few The origins of Progressivism

Henry George’s solution to the labor issue was a single tax George also rejected the traditional

equation of liberty with ownership of land

Labor in the Gilded Age

Socialism Lawrence Gronlund’s Cooperative Commonwealth

was the first book to popularize socialist concepts and ideas for an American audience

It explained socialist concepts in common language Bellamy’s Utopia

Edward Bellamy insisted that freedom was a social condition Freedom rested on societal interdependence, not

autonomy Bellamy believed that material abundance made

possible by industrial capitalism could be maintained while eliminating inequality

The Haymarket Affair

On 1 May 1886, roughly 350,000 workers across the country demonstrated for 8 hours

A riot ensued after a bomb killed a police officer on 4 May 7 of the 8 men accused of plotting the Haymarket

bombing were foreign-born Employers took the opportunity to use this

incident against the labor movement Depicted the labor movement as dangerous, un-

American, and prone to violence Also insisted that labor unions were controlled by

foreign-born radicals