HIST 1302 Gilded Age

What drove rapid industrial development after the Civil War?

Railroads were key drivers, along with rapid technological growth, new materials, and processes.

What is horizontal integration? Give an example.

Merging of companies in the same industry to reduce competition; example: Rockefeller’s early Standard Oil, railroads.

What is vertical integration? Give an example.

Control of every stage of production from raw materials to distribution; example: Carnegie Steel.

By the late 19th century, how concentrated was U.S. manufacturing?

1% of corporations controlled 33% of U.S. manufacturing.

What was the Great Merger Movement (1895–1904)?

Rapid consolidation of companies leading to monopolies.

Who was Andrew Carnegie?

An immigrant who rose to lead Carnegie Steel, practicing vertical integration.

Who was John D. Rockefeller?

Founder of Standard Oil (1870), controlled 90% of U.S. oil by 1880s, moved from horizontal to vertical monopoly.

What does the term 'The Gilded Age' mean and who coined it?

Coined by Mark Twain in his 1873 novel; described an era of rapid industrialization, wealth concentration, and hidden poverty beneath prosperity.

Which elite families symbolized Gilded Age wealth?

Carnegies, Rockefellers, Vanderbilts.

What is Social Darwinism?

Herbert Spencer’s idea (1864) of 'survival of the fittest' applied to society, used to justify inequality and monopolies.

Who opposed Social Darwinism and what was their argument?

Frank Ward argued society is shaped by intelligence, not nature.

What was Andrew Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth (1889)?

Wealthy should promote social progress through philanthropy.

What were working conditions like during the Gilded Age?

Long hours, low pay, unsafe factories, child labor.

What was the Great Railroad Strike of 1877?

Strike after wage cuts, spread nationally, suppressed by federal troops; ~100 killed.

What was created in 1884 in response to labor unrest?

The Bureau of Labor.

What were the Knights of Labor and their goals?

Inclusive labor union (women, Black workers); goals: 8-hour day, equal pay, end child labor. Declined after Haymarket Riot (1886).

What was the Haymarket Riot (1886)?

Chicago protest where a bomb killed 8 policemen; backlash weakened the labor movement.

What was the AFL and who founded it?

The American Federation of Labor, founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers. Initially broad but later restricted to skilled, mostly white male workers.

How did the AFL treat immigrants?

Lobbied against Chinese immigrants and practiced segregation.

What movement did the Farmers’ Alliance give rise to?

The Populist/People’s Party (1892, Omaha Platform).

What were key Populist Party demands?

Nationalize railroads/telegraphs, graduated income tax, currency reform (silver coinage), support unions.

Who was William Jennings Bryan and what was his famous stance?

Populist leader who championed free silver in his 'Cross of Gold' speech; lost 1896 election to McKinley.

What did the Gold Standard Act (1900) do?

Upheld gold-only currency.

What role did Chinese immigrants play in the Transcontinental Railroad?

12,000+ worked under harsh conditions for the Central Pacific; 1866 strike crushed; after 1869 many moved to cities.

What law restricted Chinese immigration?

The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), banning immigration and naturalization; renewed 1892, permanent in 1902.

What case established birthright citizenship for children of immigrants?

Wong Kim Ark case.

What happened in the South after Reconstruction?

White supremacist resurgence (KKK, Red Shirts, White Leagues).

What were the Civil Rights Cases (1883)?

Ruled 14th Amendment didn’t restrict private discrimination.

What did Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) decide?

Upheld segregation under 'separate but equal.'

What did Cumming v. Board of Education (1899) rule?

Allowed whites-only schools.

How were Black voters disenfranchised in the South?

Poll taxes, literacy tests; turnout dropped 62% by 1890s.

What were Jim Crow laws?

Laws enforcing segregation in public facilities.

Who was Ida B. Wells-Barnett?

Leading anti-lynching activist who called lynching a 'national crime.'

Was a federal anti-lynching law passed during this period?

No, despite activism, it was never passed in the Gilded Age.

What are anti-miscegenation laws?

Laws banning interracial relationships and marriage, enforced in the South during the Gilded Age.