Gilded Age APUSH

Gilded age terms, events, and people for chapters 17 & 18

The Gilded Age

The age between the Civil War and WWI when the American economy grew rapidly and individuals were able to use monopolies to amass great wealth. Marked by political corruption and shady business deals. Named after the Mark Twain book with "gilded" meaning having a thin veneer of gold, but no gold on the inside. A time of social unrest between the classes.

Government Support for Railroads

The government granted of thousands of acres of public land to the railroads to help them build and paid the railroads a subsidy per mile. The government saw this as part of Manifest Destiny and pushed to connect Pacific coast to the east. Railroads benefited by selling lumbar and land. Government benefited from a transportation system for military and a better/cheaper way to move mail. Tens of thousands of immigrants from Ireland and China worked as laborers.

Promontory Point, Utah 1869

Located in Utah, it is the point where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met to connect the Atlantic and Pacific states. The occasion was marked by a grand celebration where a gold spike was used to connect the two lines.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Created a railroad empire worth millions by crushing competitors and ignoring protests from the public. By the time of his death in 1877, his companies controlled 4,500 miles of track and linked New York City to the Great Lake Region. Also a philanthropist. His son continued the empire.

Railroad industrialization

The railway system was able to connect the country and make it cheap and easy to transport raw materials as well as finished goods. Even building the railroads stimulating the economy because of the need for workers and raw materials. Cities grew around railroad hubs.

Railroad Corruption

Unhindered by government regulation, railroaders turned enormous profits using unethical methods. Union Pacific officials formed the dummy Crédit Mobilier construction company and hired themselves as contractors for huge profits. Several U.S. congressmen were implicated in the scandal after the company bribed them to keep quiet about the corruption. Railroads inflated the prices of their stocks and gave out noncompetitive rebates to favored companies.

Tycoons such as the Vanderbilts were notorious for their lack of regard for workers. Some states passed laws to regulate corrupt railroads, the Supreme Court made regulation on a state level impossible with the 1886 Wabash case ruling, which stated that only the federal government could regulate interstate commerce.

Wabash Case 1866

Supreme Court severely limited the right of states to regulate businesses (especially the railroads) that dealt with interstate commerce. This meant only the federal government had a power that had been granted to the states. Farmers responded to this case with increased political organizing, and Congress responded by creating the first real business regulatory body: the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Interstate Commerce Act 1887

prohibited rebates and pools, required railroads to publish rates, forbade discrimination against shippers, and outlawed charging more for short haul than for a long one over the same line

Reasons for post-war industrial expansion

Vast numbers of new immigrants for a large pool of labor; Railroads were able to move raw materials and finished goods. Factories consolidated production and machinery (as well as methodology) meant that workers could be more productive.

Alexander Graham Bell Invents Telephone 1876

Inventor ad educator; his interest in electrical and mechanical devices to aid people with hearing impairments led to the development and patent of the telephone. Telephone improved business practices because people could immediately find get info on materials, transportation, and prices to broker the best deal.

Thomas Edison Invents Electric Light 1879

American inventor, scientist and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park"

Monopolies

Monopoly- a business that controls so much of a product, service, or industry that little or no competition exists. Monopolies are created by trusts (a form of business consolidation in which several corporations combine their stock and allow a board of trustees to operate as a giant enterprise.) The trustees could set production quotas, fix prices, and control the markets. Congress's first attempt to halt monopolies was in 1890 with the passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Worked more with the Clayton Antitrust Act with came in 1914

Andrew Carnegie

Scottish-born industrialist who developed the U.S. steel industry; master the art of vertical integration to build his monopoly and limit competition. His is a rags-to-riches story as he made a fortune in business and sold his holdings in 1901 for $447 million. He spent the rest of his life giving away $350 million to worthy cultural and educational causes. Funded many libraries.

J.P. Morgan Forms U.S. Steel 1901

Investment banker who channeled European capital into America and grew into a financial power; he also controlled one-sixth of the nation's railway system, and consolidated the steel industry with the United States Steel Corporation, the first billion-dollar corporation. Formed General Electric. Helped replenish the U.S. gold supply in 1895 and prevented a panic. His wealth and influence gave him great power in the country. Notable collector of art.

Cartoon shows Uncle Sam and J.P. Morgan rowing a boat. Morgan's enormous size reflects his stature and the importance of his banking operations to the country.

John D. Rockefeller forms Standard Oil 1970

Rockefeller received significant rebates from the railroads and made his own oil barrels, built pipelines and oil storage facilities, and bought tank cars to reduce expenses. These methods of vertical integration allowed Standard Oil to cut prices and drive competitors out of business. The company also led the way in horizontal integration, controlling businesses in the same industry. In 1882, Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil Trust, which controlled upward of 95 percent of the refining capacity in the United States. As gasoline grew in importance, his wealth soared, and he is often regarded as the richest person in history. His method of philanthropy targeted giving; he gave to education, medicine, and scientific research.

Political cartoon showing a Standard Oil tank as an octopus with many tentacles wrapped around the steel, copper, and shipping industries, as well as a state house, the U.S. Capitol, and one tentacle reaching for the White House.

"Gospel of Wealth" 1889

People of great wealth, argued advocates of "the gospel of wealth", had not only great power but great responsibilities. It was their duty to use their riches to advance social progress. Andrew Carnegie elaborated on this in his book The Gospel of Wealth, in which he wrote that the wealthy should consider all revenues in excess of their own needs as "trust funds" to be used for the good of the community. Carnegie, as well as many of the other robber barons, gave extensively as philanthropists.

Social Darwinism (late 19th Century)

A social application of Charles Darwin's biological theory of evolution by natural selection, this late-nineteenth century theory encouraged the notion of human competition and opposed intervention in the natural human order. Social Darwinists justified the increasing inequality of late-nineteenth-century industrial American society as natural. Used as a justification against social welfare programs. Also used as a justification for imperialism and expansion (the "superior" whites had a responsibility to look after the inferior races in a paternalistic way).

Sherman Anti-Trust Act

First Federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies, and today still forms the basis for most antitrust litigation by the federal government. Passed nearly unanimously. Used at first against unions (especially to break the Pullman Strike), but Teddy Roosevelt later used it extensively as a trust buster to go after corporations.

Industrialization in New South

The attempt to break the South of its reliance on slavery an industrialize the region. The region became a leader in the textile industry, but overall the effort failed, and the South remained mostly poor and unindustrialized.

Gibson Girl 1890s

Magazine image of the new ideal in women. Tall, athletic, hair up, practical but feminine, capable, adventurous, beautiful. Selling the Gibson look with purchasable sewing patterns made it possible to emulate. 1890s as pictured by C. D. Gibson.

Suppression of Labor Unions

Companies, often in conjunction with government entities, suppressed labor unions with public opinion by painting unionists as anarchists and radicals. Companies used militia were used to break up strikes and protests. Companies could hire replacement workers in the event of a strike, jail strike organizers, and protect the interests of companies with military troops or court orders. Businesses infiltrated unions and worked to crush efforts to improve conditions for workers.

National Labor Union 1866

Established by William Sylvis. Excluded women, but worked for equal pay for women, but worked toward equal pay for women thinking that if women's labor were more expensive, it would drive them out of the work force. Disintegrated and disappeared after the panic of 1873.

Knights of Labor 1869

Led by Uriah Stephens; membership open to all who "toiled," and excluded corrupt and well-off. Wanted equal female pay, end to child/convict labor, employer-employee relations, proportional income tax; "bread and butter" unionism (higher wages, shorter hours, better conditions). Worked to replace wage system with with cooperative system where employees could control part of the company. Loosely organized and originally a secret organization. Disappeared in the 1890s.

Haymarket Square Bombing 1886

The AFL (American Federation of Labor) called for a general strike if demands for an eight-hour workday were not met. On the day of the general strike, labor leaders met in Haymarket Square to protest the treatment of striker by Chicago police. Police ordered the protesters to disperse, and and someone threw a bomb that killed seven police officers. The public demanded justice. No one knew who threw the bomb, but eight anarchists were charged with murder because their words had incited the throwing of the bomb. All eight were found guilty in a sham trial.

American Federation of Labor 1886

Most important and enduring American labor organization. Association of skilled artisans (didn't want to organize unskilled laborers also wanted to keep women out of the workforce because they brought wages down and "belonged in the home"), led by Samuel Gompers that focused on wages and job security issues. The labor organizing spread to mining towns and lumber camps. They wanted workers to own the means of production; a union for skilled laborers that fought for worker rights in a non-violent way. It provided skilled laborers with a union that was unified, large, and strong. Gompers accepted capitalism, but wanted a larger share for workers.

New Immigrants

The New Immigrants of the 1880s came from southern and eastern Europe. They came from countries with little history of democratic government, where people had grown accustomed to harsh living conditions. Some Americans feared that the New Immigrants would not assimilate to life in their new land. They began asking if the nation had become a melting pot or a dumping ground.

Social Gospel 1880s

Movement in Protestant churches to apply the teachings of the Bible to the problems of the industrial age; led by Washington Gladden and Walter Rauschenbusch, it aroused the interest of many clergymen in securing social justice for the urban poor. The thinking of Jane Addams, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and other secular reformers was influenced by the movement as well.

Hull House Jane Addams Chicago 1889

Settlement house founded in 1889 in Chicago by Jane Addams, a social worker, that provided social, educational, and artistic programs to neighborhood residents. Encouraged women to become active in reform movements and brought about improved conditions in city neighborhoods. Settlement Houses were designed to help new immigrants adopt the ways of their new country. Staffed mostly by college-educated women

Florence Kelley Late 19th Century

A lifelong battler for the welfare of women, children, blacks, and consumers. Served as a general secretary of the National Consumers League. Led the women of Hull House into a successful lobby in 1893 for an Illinois anti-sweatshop law that protected women workers and prohibited child labor. A leader in women's activism and social reform.

Immigration Restriction 1882-1917

Included the National Origins Act ("Quota Act"; set quotes for the different immigrant countries; mostly Scottish and English were allowed but few Jews and Catholics). Congress proposed literacy tests to keep non-English speakers out Cleavland vetoed it. Prompted by the fear of vast new numbers of immigrants and culturally distinctive communities giving rise to a nativism movement. 1882, Asian immigrants restricted. Businesses owner fought against restrictions of immigration because they wanted the cheap labor.

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882

Outlawed Chinese immigration for 10 years and explicitly denied naturalization rights to Chinese in the U.S. (not allowed to become U.S. citizens) Signed into law by Chester B. Arthur. The first time a particular ethnic group was restricted from immigration / [was extended numerous times]. Enacted in part to protect jobs for whites because Chinese were willing to work for much lower wages. Supported by labor unions. Chinese originally immigrated during the Gold Rush and to build railroads. Chinese were finally allowed citizenship in 1943. Gave rise to human smuggling. San Francisco's City Hall was destroyed in the earthquake and fire of 1906, and many Chinese used the lack of records to claim lineage to legal residents.

Cartoon caption reads: We must draw the line somewhere you know.

Salvation Army Founded 1878

Social and religious organization founded in England and spread to the US. Established by "General" William Booth, uniformed volunteers provided food, shelter, and employment to families, attracted poor with lively preaching and marching bands in order to instill middle-class virtues.

Booker T. Washington

Prominent black American, born into slavery, who believed that racism would end once blacks acquired useful labor skills and proved their economic value to society, was head of the Tuskegee Institute in 1881. His book "Up from Slavery." Believed that blacks should accept segregation and better themselves through education and job skills before trying to gain other rights.

W.E.B. DuBois

He believed that African Americans should strive for full rights immediately. He helped found the Niagara Movement in 1905 to fight for equal rights. He also helped found the NAACP. Earned a Ph.D. from Harvard.

NAACP Founded 1910

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded to abolish segregation and discrimination, to oppose racism and to gain civil rights for African Americans. Worked with the courts, had a legal defense fund, peaceful marches, and political work.

Horatio Alger 1860s-70s

United States author of inspirational adventure stories for boys. A popular writer of the Post-Civil War time period. A Puritan New Englander who wrote more than a hundred volumes of juvenile fiction during his career; the famous "rags to riches" theme.

Comstock Law 1873

Introduced to congress by Anthony Comstock, the founder of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. Was the most powerful spokesman for censorship. The law banned any mail that was designed to incite lust. Comstock was made a special agent to the postmaster general, and confiscated a large quantity of mail that was believed to violate this law.

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton late 19th Century

Pioneers in the Women's Suffrage Movement in the early 1900s. They worked together, lectured, and wrote on the cause of women's rights and suffrage. Traveled all over the country and world promoting the cause. Susan B. Anthony had been an active abolitionist as well.

Carrie Chapman Catt early 20th century

A suffragette who was president of the National Women's Suffrage Association, and founder of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance. Instrumental in obtaining passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920.