Gilded Age Politics, Industry, and Social Movements: Key Concepts and Figures

Government role in employer-employee conflicts during the Gilded Age

government sided with employers over workers in disputes, using both military force and legal authority to suppress strikes. This intervention was guided by a prevailing laissez-faire ideology

Vertical integration

The company controls all production steps (ex. carnegie steel)

horizontal integration

The company buys competitors (ex. Rockefeller oil)

Sale of Carnegie Steel

andrew Carnegie sold his steel company to J.P. Morgan

The gold standard

the U.S. dollar was backed by a fixed quantity of gold, making paper money directly convertible to physical gold. This system, supported by the Republican Party, became a major political issue as many, particularly farmers in the Populist movement, saw it as favoring the wealthy

Free Silver movement

advocacy of unlimited coinage of silver "People's Money" (as opposed to the gold-based currency,

Populism (in the Gilded Age, not now)

political movement that sought to empower farmers and ordinary citizens against the nation's financial elite and large corporations.

"New Immigrants" v. "Old Immigrants"

"Old Immigrants" came primarily from Northern and Western Europe were Protestant, literate, and skilled workers, The "Old Immigrants" faced less hostility and assimilated more easily, whereas the "New Immigrants" faced more challenges, discrimination, New immigrants (Southern & Eastern Europe) → lived in crowded tenements,while more likely to be Catholic or Jewish, illiterate, and unskilled laborers.

Limitations on workers during the Gilded Age

long hours, low pay, and dangerous working conditions.

Goals of unions

working for 8-hour workday,Minimum wage,Better safety

General foreign policy

isolationist foreign policy focused on domestic issue

approaches of the Progressive Presidents

using federal power to regulate the economy and address social injustices. Their main approaches included trust-busting to break up monopolies, consumer protection through laws on food and medicine, conservation of natural resources, and supporting labor reforms and political reforms like civil service and campaign finance laws.

Goals of the Progressive Movement

Fix problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, and corruption, Wanted government regulation and social reform, Middle-class reformers believed laissez-faire no longer worked.

Anti-Chinese legislation/sentiment

blamed chinese for taking their jobs and wages

Progressive Amendments

16th-income tax, 17th-direct election of senators, because they wanted a fair gov, not corrupt

18th

prohibition era started bc of temperance movement, people thought alc was making society decline and was responsible for social problems

19th-women's suffrage

The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, prohibits denying the right to vote based on sex

"Titans of industry"

Andrew Carnegie (steel), Cornelius Vanderbilt (railroads/shipping), John D. Rockefeller (oil), J.P. Morgan (finance),These individuals are known for their innovation, ruthless business tactics, and the consolidation of power that shaped modern American capitalism.

Gilded Age

a period of American history from the 1870s to the 1890s, rapid economic growth and industrial expansion, also by political corruption and social problems The term, coined by Mark Twain, suggests a glittering, golden surface covering a more corrupt and unequal reality,

Gospel of Wealth

the idea that wealthy individuals have a moral responsibility to use their fortunes to benefit society through thoughtful philanthropy, rather than leaving it to heirs or spending it on extravagance. Proposed by industrialist Andrew Carnegie

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

federation of labor unions . Its goals were to secure better wages, shorter work hours, and safer working conditions through collective bargaining and political lobbying. Founded by samuel gompers

Sherman Anti-Trust Act

bans anticompetitive business's to fix prices or rig bids, and making it illegal for a company to monopolize a market

Tariff

tax on imported goods

Hull House

Founded by Jane Addams in Chicago (1889); a settlement house offering education, childcare, and services to immigrants and the poor.

Settlement houses

Community centers in urban areas that provided social services and education to immigrants and working-class families

Progressivism

A reform movement (1890s-1920s) that sought to improve government, reduce corruption, regulate business, and promote social welfare.

Muckrakers

investigative journalist trying to bring public attention to societal problems that needed to be fixed

Yellow journalism

Sensationalized, exaggerated news to attract readers; contributed to public support for the Spanish-American War (1898)

"Southern Horrors"

Pamphlet by Ida B. Wells exposing lynching and racial violence in the South; a foundational text in the anti-lynching movement.

Prohibition

Ban on alcohol (18th Amendment); aimed to improve morals and reduce crime but led to bootlegging and organized crime.

Temperance

Social movement advocating moderation or abstinence from alcohol; led largely by women (e.g., WCTU).

Suffrage

The right to vote; women's suffrage was achieved with the 19th Amendment (1920) after decades of activism

Nativism

Hostility toward immigrants; belief that native-born Americans were superior and that immigration should be restricted.

Know Nothing Party

Mid-1800s nativist political party that opposed Catholic and immigrant influence; its ideas resurfaced during the Gilded Age.

Social Darwinism

philosophy that tried to explain why some people prospered and others did not

Clayton Anti-Trust Act

officially legalized strikes

Standard Oil

Founded by John D. Rockefeller; became a powerful monopoly controlling the oil industry; broken up by the Supreme Court in 1911.

Bull Moose Party

Roosevelt's party, ran on new nationalism, formed by Theodore Roosevelt after splitting from the Republicans; supported reforms like women's suffrage and direct democracy

John D. Rockefeller

Head of the Standard Oil Company

JP Morgan

An influential banker and businessman who bought and reorganized companies. His US Steel company would buy Carnegie steel and become the largest business in the world in 1901

Andrew Carnegie

owner of a steel company that manufactured more steel than all the factories in GB

Boss Tweed

Leader of Tammany Hall, New York City's powerful political machine. Became a symbol of urban political corruption—used graft, bribery, and patronage to maintain power

William Jennings Bryan

Leader of the Populist and later Democratic movements; advocated for Free Silver and against the gold standard to help farmers and debtors. Gave the famous "Cross of Gold" speech (1896).

Ida B. Wells

African American journalist and activist who exposed lynching and racial violence in her pamphlet Southern Horrors (1892). A founder of the NAACP and a leader for civil rights and women's suffrage.

Upton Sinclair

Muckraker who wrote The Jungle (1906), exposing unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry; led to the Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act.

Jacob Riis

Photojournalist and reformer; his book How the Other Half Lives (1890) exposed the poverty and squalor of New York City tenements, inspiring urban housing reforms.

Lincoln Steffens

Muckraking journalist who exposed corruption in city governments with The Shame of the Cities (1904); pushed for political reform and greater government accountability.

William Howard Taft

Progressive president (1909-1913); continued some of Roosevelt's trust-busting but favored a more conservative approach. His policies split the Republican Party, leading to Roosevelt's third-party run in 1912.

Eugene V. Debs

socialist party (most radical) gets 900,000 popular votes

Theodore Roosevelt

Progressive ("Bull Moose") president (1901-1909). Known for trust-busting, Square Deal reforms, Pure Food and Drug Act, conservation,

and strong foreign policy ("Big Stick Diplomacy").

Woodrow Wilson

Democratic president (1913-1921); led the U.S. during World War I, created Federal Reserve System, Federal Trade Commission, and championed the Clayton Anti-Trust Act. Promoted "Moral Diplomacy."

William McKinley

Republican president (1897-1901); supported high tariffs and the gold standard. Led the U.S. to victory in the Spanish-American War (1898). Assassinated in 1901, leading to Roosevelt's presidency.

Pullman Strikes

National railroad strike after wage cuts at the Pullman Company. Led by Eugene V. Debs; federal troops broke the strike, showing government alignment with big business over labor.

Homestead Steel Strikes

Strike at Andrew Carnegie's steel plant in which Pinkerton detectives clashed with steel workers

Haymarket Square Riots

turned public opinion against unions (seen as violent anarchists).

Jane Addams

Advocated that women needed the vote to improve social conditions ("Why Women Should Vote").

Election of 1896 (depicted in "The Men Who Built America" documentary)

William McKinley (Republican) vs. William Jennings Bryan (Populist/Democrat) McKinley supported the gold standard; Bryan pushed Free Silver for farmers and workers.Represented a turning point where industrial and urban interests defeated agrarian populism.Seen as the triumph of big business and the beginning of modern campaign fundraising

Election of 1912

Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) - Won; supported New Freedom reforms (antitrust, banking, tariffs). Theodore Roosevelt (Progressive/Bull Moose) - Wanted New Nationalism; active government reform. William Howard Taft (Republican) - Conservative wing of the GOP.Eugene V. Debs (Socialist) - Advocated for labor and socialist reforms. This election split the Republican vote, allowing Wilson to win; showcased the height of Progressive Era politics