Gilded Age and Populism

Gilded Age

Gilded Age

• Period from late 1870s-1890s

• People saw the late 19th-century economic expansion as a time of materialistic excesses marked by widespread political corruption

J.P. Morgan

American banker; he made a fortune taking over and merging businesses built by others, building a reputation for turning around mismanaged companies and making them more efficient

John D. Rockefeller

American industrialist and philanthropist; he made a fortune in the oil business and used vertical and horizontal integration to establish a monopoly on the oil business

Cornelius Vanderbilt

major figure in the expansion of regional railroads

Andrew Carnegie

American industrialist and humanitarian; he focused his attention on steelmaking and made a fortune through his vertical integration method

Robber Barons

Presents a negative view of business and banking leaders by focusing on negative aspects such as unfair business practices, unsafe working condition, and unfair pay to make their fortune

Captains of Industry

Presents a more positive view of business and banking leaders by focusing on the increased productivity, new markets, philanthropy efforts, and overall good they did for people

Political Boss

• Access to jobs and licenses

• Influenced agencies

• Created public works

• Often immigrants - could connect with the immigrant community

Election fraud

voting more than once

Graft

• illegal use of political influence

  • favors to business in exchange for cash

Tweed Ring/Boss Tweed

• Tammany Hall NY

• Construction fraud

Populism

the movement of the people, most popular among Midwest farmers

Greenbacks

money issued during the Civil War that was worth less than hard money (coins or paper money printed in yellow)

Affect on greenbacks

Farmers lost money, crop prices fell, farmers paid back more than they borrowed

Patrons of Husbandry aka The Grange

• Started by Oliver Hudson Kelly

• Started as social and education for farm families, fought railroads

Farmers’ Alliance

groups of farmers and non-farmers who sent lecturers from town to town to educate people about agricultural and rural issues

Panic of 1893

• Farmers overextended on debts

• Railroad construction grew too fast

• Gold supply too thin due to Sherman Silver Purchase Act

• Stock & silver prices fell

• Mines closed

• Repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act

Result of 1896

• McKinley won the election with more votes than Bryan

• Populist party collapses

Legacy of Populism

• The downtrodden could organize and have political impact

• Agenda of reforms

Gold Standard

backing dollars solely with gold

Pendleton Civil Service Act

authorized a bipartisan civil service commission that made appointments to federal jobs through a merit system based on candidates’ performance on a test

William Jennings Bryan

Populist politician; favored the free coinage of silver, an economic policy expected to help farmers and was a Democratic candidate for president in 1896

William McKinely

Republican candidate for president in 1896; he supported remaining on the gold standard and won the election

Bessemer Process

the first inexpensive industrial process that allowed for the mass production of steel

Horizontal integration

the acquisition of a business operating at the same level of the value chain in the same industry

Vertical integration

a business arrangement in which a company controls different stages along the supply chain