U2: The Gilded Age in America

The Significance of the Frontier in American Society (1893)

Frederick Turner’s essay which argued that the settling of the frontier was an evolutionary process of building civilization and frontier experience shaped American culture.

Homestead Act of 1862

An Act which offered each settler 160 acres of land on the condition that they occupy it for 5 years, improve it, and pay a small fine, encouraging western settlement.

Cash Crops

Crops grown for market rather than personal use.

Challenges of Farming in the West

Financial Problems:

• Due to deflation — when the supply of goods outweighs the supply of currency —, taxes, and costs for transporting goods, farmers struggled financially. They often relied on loans from banks and merchants, which put them in debts.

Environmental Problems:

• Mosquitoes spread disease,

• Grasshoppers destroyed crops,

• Lumber was scarce, making it hard to build homes and barns,

• Drastic weather in the summers and winters made farming difficult,

• Droughts and low rainfall made farming difficult before irrigation systems were used.

Agricultural Technology of the Gilded Era

• The steel plow helped farmers prepare land to plant seed more efficiently than the iron plow because it had less impurities, was lighter, and lasted longer,

• Prairie fans allowed farmers to irrigate farmland by bringing water up from wells using wind power.

Sharecropping

System of agriculture where a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced.

Southern farmers relied on sharecropping to recreate slave conditions in the south.

Cotton as a Cash Crop

The South’s economy primarily relied on cotton exports. Due to the increased output of cotton, cotton prices declined, hurting the South’s economy.

To combat this, George Washington Carver promoted growing crops such as peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes.

The “New” South

An attempt to regain the South’s power following the civil war with the goals of

• Industrializing the south,

• Diversifying agriculture,

• Cooperating economically with the north,

• “Improving” race relations through segregation.

The “Solid” South

A vision of the South by redeemers where the Democratic Party regained control of local and state governments.

Reservation

System that allotted land with designated boundaries to Native American tribes in the West, beginning in 1851 and ending with the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887.

Many American settlers settled on Native American reservations, creating tension between the U.S. and Natives.

Indian Appropriation Act of 1871

An act that ended recognition of Native American tribes as independent nations and negotiation of treaties with Native Americans.

This act led to more fighting between the U.S. and Natives.

Assimilation

When an ethnic group is brought into conformity with the customs of another nation and loses many culturally distinct traits.

After reservation plans failed, the U.S. made various attempts to assimilate Native Americans into American culture. Notably, Americans established schools where Native American children were segregated from their people and taught White culture and farming and industrial skills.

Dawes Severalty Act of 1887

An act which divided tribal lands into plots of up to 160 acres and granted U.S. citizenship to Native American families who lived there for 25 years.

This act ended reservation systems and tribal affiliations, and this act demonstrated the ethnocentric viewpoint of Americans during the Gilded Age.

The Ghost Dance and the Massacre of Wounded Knee

The Ghost Dance was a religious movement by the Sioux tribe to appease the prophet Wavoka. They believed that all Whites would die and dead Natives would be brought back to life if the Natives:

1. Lived together in peace,

2. Abandoned all white influences,

3. Danced the “Ghost Dance.”

Believing the Ghost Dance was a war dance, the U.S. banned its practice. Regardless, Natives continued to dance the Ghost Dance. As a result, during the Massacre of Wounded Knee, the U.S. military killed several Sioux Natives. Consequently, the Ghost Dance was the last major resistance against U.S. influence.

Vigilantes

Groups which punished crime and maintained order without legal authority to do so. Vigilantes took on the role of law enforcement in Western cities where there was no law enforcement, resulting in them becoming a symbol of the American Identity.

Open-Range System

Fencing livestock outside of developed land to keep them from destroying property. Cowboys herded livestock to keep them within their areas until barbed wire was developed by Joseph Glidden in the 1870s

Exoduster

African Americans, mainly former slaves, who traveled west after the Civil War for opportunities.

Many exodusters worked as railroad laborers, miners, farmers, and cowboys.

Cattle Rangers

Professionals who helped move animals from farms to railroads along cattle trails.

Cattle rangers were needed to ensure cattle arrived safely at railroads, especially after the invention of barbed wire by Joseph Glidden in the 1870s.

The Pacific Railroad Act (1862) and the Transcontinental Railroad

The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 provided funding for the railroad and required the railroad company Central Pacific to build from Sacramento, California, eastward and Union Pacific to build from Omaha, Nebraska, westward. This act began the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad.

Central Pacific recruited Chinese immigrants and Mormons while Union Pacific recruited Irish immigrants, former slaves, and Civil War veterans. Both companies looked for unskilled labor so they could pay their laborers less.

On May 10, 1869, the railroad companies met at Promontory Point, Utah, marking the end of the railroad’s construction.

The Transcontinental Railroad drastically sped up transportation, united the markets of the east and the west, and led to the development of time zones and new cities

Unfortunately, railroads were poorly constructed due to railroad companies attempting to cut costs and save time. Additionally, many buffalo were killed for food, apparel, and to diminish Native American populations.

Land Grants

A grant of public lands (as to a railway or college).

The U.S. gave over 155 million acres of land to the railroad companies as payment for constructing the Transcontinental Railroad. The land was given in alternating mile-square sections in a checkerboard pattern along railroads.

Interstate Commerce Act (1887)

An act that required railroad rates to be reasonable and just and established the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), which had the power to investigate and prosecute pools and discriminatory practices. This act was created after the Supreme Court decided that individual states could not regulate interstate commerce in Wabash v. Illinois (1887).

National Parks

Parks created by the government to preserve and protect the land and its resources during the Conservation Movement of the Gilded Age.

The Forest Reserve Act (1891) and the Forest Management Act (1897)

Acts that withdrew federal timberlands from development and regulated their use.

Industrialization

The widespread development of industries, machine production, technologies, and factories within a region.

Causes of industrialization during the Gilded Age include:

1. The invention of steamboats,

2. The creation of the railroad,

3. Technological innovations,

   • Thomas Edison’s laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, led to many new inventions — most significantly the lightbulb,

   • George Westinghouse’s alternating current perfected the lightbulb and led to the development of the electric industry in cities,

   • Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone (1876),

   • Typewriter (1867),

   • Cash register (1879),

4. An abundance of unskilled and semiskilled labor (due to U.S. population growth),

5. A growing market which increased demands for new innovations (due to U.S. population growth),

6. New entrepreneurs,

   • Commodore Vanderbilt — shipping and railroads,

   • Charles Schwab and Andrew Carnegie — steel,

   • John Davison Rockefeller — oil.

7. Pro-industrialization government policies,

8. Abundant natural resources.

Entrepreneur

An individual who initiates a business at some risk in order to expand it and thereby earn profit.

Robber Baron

A derogatory term to describe entrepreneurs who became rich through ruthless or unethical means.

Patent

Set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a limited period of time, which varies depending on how impactful the invention is to society, in exchange for a disclosure of an invention, preventing others from using the invention for that time period.

Protective Tariff

A tax on foreign goods meant to protect American industry by discouraging Americans from buying foreign goods, thereby keeping money circulating within America and increasing demand for American goods.

Laissez-Faire

A "hands-off” approach to handling industry in which the government allows industry to be free of state intervention, especially restrictions in the form of tariffs.

Laissez-Faire allowed the economy to take off. However, due to limited government intervention, there were little legal protections for workers and consumers.

Social Darwinism

The application of Charles Darwin’s concept of Survival of the Fittest to the economy, where the fittest and wealthiest companies survive while the weakest and poorest companies perish.

Initially, Social Darwinism advocated for limited government involvement in the economy. Later it was used to justify racial intolerance.

The Gospel of Wealth

Andrew Carnegie’s idea that wealth was a reward from God and that the wealthy had a God given responsibility to give back their wealth to society.

J. Pierpont Morgan, a billionaire of the Gilded Age known for creating day-trading, gave millions of ounces of gold to the U.S. Treasury to save the U.S. from debt.

Bessemer Process

Process of converting iron into steel by blowing air through molten iron to burn out impurities.

Through the Bessemer Process, hiring good managers, and incentivizing production through competition, Andrew Carnegie was able to produce 3x more steel daily than anywhere else in the world, cutting the cost of steel.

Mass Production

The manufacturing of many identical products by the division of labor into small repetitive tasks, lowering the cost of production.

Henry Ford’s assembly line technique allowed his company to mass produce cars.

How did markets change during the Gilded Age?

• Advertising and new marketing techniques promoted a consumer economy,

• Brand names became common,

• Refrigerated railroads and canning changed American diets.

Vertical Integration

The act of combining all phases of the industrial process into one organization so that the organization controls the quality of the product at all stages of manufacturing.

Andrew Carnegie used vertical integration to control the U.S. steel industry.

Horizontal Integration

The process by which a company buys out or merges with all its competitors, creating a monopoly.

John Davison Rockefeller used horizontal integration to monopolize the U.S. oil industry.

Monopoly

A market structure in which an individual firm has sufficient control of an industry or market, so much so that it faces little to no competition from other firms.

Monopolies eliminated competition, allowing firms to gouge prices, create lesser quality goods, bribe politicians to keep the firms in power, and create unsafe work conditions for laborers.

Corporation

A business owned by many people, allowing large amounts of money to be raised to start and carry on a growing business.

Pool

Secret agreements among competitors to divide the market and keep prices high.

Trust

A business structure by which stockholders in several companies transfer their shares to a single board of trustees who run the separate companies as one large corporation. Trusts allow small companies to share resources and compete against larger companies.

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

Prohibited trusts and anything that restrains trade or commerce. Because the act was very vague, companies found loopholes to get around it.

In U.S. v. E.C. Knight Co. (1895), the Supreme Court ruled that the act only applied to commerce, not manufacturing.

Sweatshops

Factories where workers are employed at very low wages for long hours and under poor conditions.

Why were children hired to work in factories during the Gilded Age?

Children are employed because they could easily get into small, dangerous places and they were less likely to stand up for better pay or conditions.

Labor Unions

Associations of workers who advocated for better pay, hours, and working conditions, and pushed for a more socialistic economy.

Socialism

Political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community rather than individuals.

Because Laissez-Faire was enabling companies to treat workers poorly, labor unions pushed for socialism so the government would be more involved in the economy, thereby increasing the likelihood of the government enforcing more protections for workers.

Knights of Labor

The first national labor union, founded in 1869. They advocated for:

1. Eight hour workdays,

2. Equal pay for men and women,

3. Abolishing child labor, prison labor, and the National bank,

4. Worker owned factories,

5. Prohibiting foreign labor

The American Federation of Labor

A labor union founded in 1886 and led by Samuel Gompers. They advocated for:

1. Recruiting skilled labor,

2. Closed shops,

3. National legislation in favor of workers.

Closed Shops

Factories where every worker is required to be associated with a union.

The International Workers of the World (“Wobblies”)

A labor union founded in 1905 and led by Eugene V. Debs, who pushed for Socialism, and “Big Bill” Haywood, who pushed for overthrowing Capitalism by any means possible — including violence. They advocated for:

1. Less “speed up” policies, which put excess pressure on workers, in workplaces,

2. Less immigrant discrimination

Collective Bargaining

The process by which many laborers come together with management to negotiate wages and working conditions, leading to written agreements.

The Haymarket Riot (1886)

A bomb went off among a mob, killing several protestors and policemen, during a strike against McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. in Chicago. The blame was thrown onto the Knights of Labor and the U.S. government restricted the right to protest in Chicago for a few months after.

The Homestead Steel Strike (1886)

After Pinkertons, people who are paid by companies to violently force workers to stop protesting, were used to stop a strike at a steel factory in Pennsylvania, a shooting broke out. The U.S. Military forced the strike to end and workers to get back to work.

The Pullman Strike (1894)

All of the railroad workers left, shutting down Chicago’s railroads and creating an economic crisis. As a result, President Grover Cleveland used military intervention to forcibly end the strike.

What do the three biggest strikes of the Gilded Age have in common?

1. They failed to accomplish their goal,

2. The government was involved in favor of businesses

“Old” Immigrants

• Mainly from northern and western Europe — England, Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia,

• Migrated between 1830 and 1865,

• Spoke English,

• Protestant Christian,

• White

• Willing to Americanize.

Americanization

When immigrants assimilate into American culture.

“Melting Pot” Theory

The idea that diverse groups are or should be “melting” into a single cultural group by shedding some of their previous cultural traits.

“New” Immigrant

Second wave of immigrants who congregated mainly in ethnic neighborhoods and faced heavy discrimination due to the vast differences between themselves and Americans and their refusal to Americanize.

• Mainly from eastern and southern Europe — Russia, Poland, Italy, Romania, Austria-Hungary — and Asia — China and Japan,

• Migrated from 1865-1910,

• Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist,

• Unfamiliar with English

Migrant Chains

Networks between immigrants’ homelands and the U.S. used to arrange work for immigrants before their arrival in the U.S..

Steerage

The section of a ship providing the cheapest accommodations for passengers and used to house luggage of wealthier guests. Passengers housed in the steerage were viewed as less human.

Many new immigrants migrated to America in steerage.

Ellis Island

An island in New York used to process poor immigrants from 1882-1954. Immigrants were expected to:

• Undergo health inspections,

• Be literate in at least the language of their home country,

• Have $25 in start up cash so they didn’t immediately waste U.S. resources,

• Fill out paperwork before arrival,

Chinese Immigrants

Chinese immigrants were poor and migrated for economic opportunities. Chinese immigrants faced the most discrimination of all immigrant groups due to their physical, lingual, and religious differences compared to Americans. Additionally, Americans didn’t like how the Chinese could survive with so little and how they didn’t demand more.

Angel Island

An island in California used to process Asian immigrants. Immigrants were expected to:

• Be literate in at least their own language,

• Have $25 in start up cash so they didn’t immediately waste U.S. resources,

• Fill out paperwork before arrival,

• Undergo a medical exam. Unwell immigrants were housed in Quarantine Quarters. These quarters became so full that the ship, the U.S. Quarantine, was needed to house more people.

Because it took time for immigrants’ paperwork to go from Washington D.C. to California, immigrants stayed on Angel Island in quarters.

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

An act that banned immigration from China with the exception of students, teachers, merchants, tourists, and government officials — all of whom only temporarily reside in America — with the goal of eliminating unskilled Chinese laborers from migrating to the U.S..

Nativism

The belief that immigrants are sources of urban disaster and economic concerns, leading to increased immigrant discrimination.

Rural-to-Urban Migration

Migration from the country to the city caused by the arrival of new immigrants, job opportunities in urban areas, and improvements in transportation. Rural to urban migration produces political and social dislocation because many people with different political views and backgrounds move to the city, changing U.S. electoral maps.

Urbanization

The development of dense concentrations of people into settlements, leading to a population shift from rural, agricultural lifestyles to urban, industrial lifestyles.

• Cities provide laborers to factories and markets and consumers for factory-made goods,

• Cities become more densely populated, creating competition for factory jobs located mainly in cities,

• Cities produce issues of homelessness and disease,

• Birthrates and family size decreased due to a lesser need for children and the economic liabilities of children in urban environments,

• Cities provide new opportunities for women, especially through the textile industry.

Skyscraper

Tall, steel framed buildings, which became a large part of the U.S.’s urban environment as it provided living spaces for cities’ populations to grow upward instead of outward. Elevators and heating systems helped make skyscrapers possible.

Architectural Styles of the Gilded Age

Louis Sullivan preached “form follows function.” His designs were geometric and had little unnecessary space. His designs were found in Chicago where design was less important for calling attention to brands.

Frank Lloyd Wright preached “function follows form.” His designs emphasized looks, had unnecessary space, and were often built around the environment to accentuate it. His designs were commonly found in New York where elaborate designs were needed to draw attention to brand names.

Tenements

Skyscrapers with more apartments created by landlords to increase profits.

Tenement were in poor conditions, leading to overcrowding and disease.

Muckrakers

Individuals who publicize problems caused by urbanization to encourage government involvement to solve those problems.

Popular Muckrakers were:

• Jacob Riis — poor living conditions in urban environments;

• Ida Tarbell — unfair business policies and trusts, often criticizing Rockefeller;

• Lincoln Steffers — municipal corruption, specifically William Meager “Boss” Tweed;

• John Spargo — child labor;

• Upton Sinclair — unsanitary conditions in the meat-packing industry;

• Helen Hunt Jackson — the poor treatment of Native Americans.

Settlement Houses

Houses in poor neighborhoods inhabited by well-educated, middle class citizens where social services were provided for the neighborhood.

Mass Transit

The expansion of railroads, streetcars, and subways.

Mass transportation led to the development of central business districts and segregation of workers by income. Upper and middle class citizens lived in suburbs and commuted to cities along transit routes to escape pollution, poverty, and crime. Low class citizens lived in cities.

Suburbs

Less densely populated settlements on the outskirts of cities connected to the cities through transit routes.

What led to the development of the middle class?

The growth of industries and corporations created new jobs for salaried employees whose jobs generally don’t involve manual labor, leading to the development of the middle class.

Mass Culture

A common culture experienced by large numbers of people. Mass culture became possible thanks to a growth in leisure time caused by a decline in work hours, improved transportation, and changing social standards against old values that discouraged wasting time.

Cities became hearths from which cultural traits diffused.

Mass culture included:

• Newspapers,

• Magazines,

• Theaters,

• Orchestras,

• Sports.

Vaudeville

A genre of variety entertainment popular in the United States between 1880 and 1930 where each performance was made up of a series of unrelated skits.

Conspicuous Consumerism

Economist Thorstein Veblen’s theory that overspending by the affluent occurs primarily to display wealth and status rather than for enjoyment.

Education Reform During the Gilded Age

Education became more valued in the Gilded Age. More public schools and colleges were formed and compulsory education laws were created which required children to attend school, increasing literacy rates.

Jim Crow Laws

Laws enacted by Southern states in the 1890s to separate whites and blacks. These laws segregated facilities and prevented blacks from voting.

Jim Crow Laws include poll taxes, literacy tests, and voter registration laws.

In the Civil Rights Cases of 1883, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress could not ban racial discrimination practices. In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court required “separate but equal accommodations for white and black railroad passengers.”

Poll Tax

A fixed tax per person payable as a requirement for the right to vote.

Literacy Test

A test administered as a precondition for voting.

Grandfather Clause

A clause in registration laws allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867.

Civil Service

A sector of the government composed mainly of career federal jobs hired rather than appointed.

The Pendleton Act (1881), created after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, established the Civil Service Commission, created a system by which applicants for civil service would be selected based on their scores on an exam, and prohibited civil servants from making political contributions. This act forced politicians to turn to big business leaders for money and encouraged companies to lobby politicians.

Patronage/Spoils System

The giving away of government offices for votes, kickbacks, and party service, resulting in corruption. This led to party members getting jobs they weren’t qualified for, worsening problems withing cities.

Democrats During the Gilded Age

Democrats advocated for states’ rights and limited federal power. They were supported by political machines and immigrants.

In the election of 1896, Democrats were divided between pro-silver coinage and pro-gold coinage. Pro-silver Democrats led a fused campaign with the Populist Party.

Political Machines

Political groups that controlled the activities of a political party in a city and offered services to immigrants, the poor, and businesses in exchange for votes or financial support.

Boss System

A system consisting of a boss, ward bosses, and captains where local captains helped people in exchange for votes while the boss and ward bosses controlled government jobs and “helped” where needed.

The most famous boss was William Meager “Boss” Tweed who laundered millions from NYC by overcharging for jobs and keeping the kickback.

Graft

Using political power for personal gain.

The Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890)

An act that required the U.S. Treasury to purchase $4.5 million oz of silver a month, created to appease Populists’ demands for silver coinage.

The government deposited most of the silver into the U.S. Treasury rather than putting it into the circulation of currency, building the country’s wealth while doing little to help consumers.

The Grange Movement (1870s)

An organization that helped farmers fight railroads in the Midwest, South, and Texas.

Farmers’ Alliances (1880s)

Political organizations that ran candidates for office to increase government involvement in favor of farmers.

These alliances had some success. They controlled 8 state legislatures and had 47 representatives in Congress.

Populist Party/The People’s Party/The Farmer’s Party

A political group helped farmers fight political unfairness. They advocated for unlimited coinage of silver, a graduated income tax, and more government involvement in businesses.

The Omaha Platform of 1892 called for

• eliminating national banks,

• better work conditions,

• unlimited coinage of silver to increase money supply,

• etc.

The Populist Party declined after 1896, but its values were adopted by both Republicans and Democrats.

Economic Depression of 1893

An economic depression where many corporations went bankrupt, triggering a stock market crash, bank closures, a loss of 16,000 businesses, and unemployment to reach 3 million.

Coxey’s Army (1894)

Jacob Coxey and unemployed workers marched to Washington demanding the government fund public works programs to create jobs. The protest was stopped by military force and Coxey was arrested.

Gold Standard

A monetary system in which the circulating currency is exchangeable for a specific amount of gold. Advocates for the gold standard believed gold should be used for coinage and the value of paper banknotes should never exceed the government’s supply of gold.

What was the difference between “Gold Bugs” and “Silverites”

“Gold Bugs” were Bankers and Businessmen who advocated for the Gold Standard and less money circulating to prevent inflation and maintain a stable money supply. This would cause prices to fall, the value of money to increase, and less people to have money.

“Silverites” were farmers and laborers who advocated for bimetallism and more money in circulation so that products would sell at higher prices. This would cause prices to rise, the value of money to decrease, and more people to have money.

Republicans During the Gilded Age

Republicans advocated for pro-business economic programs, high protective tariffs, and the gold standard. They were supported by African Americans and reformers.

William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925)

The Democratic candidate in the election of 1896 who campaigned nationally along railroads through “whistle stops” and gave the “Cross of Gold” speech":

“You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”

Bryan lost the election because

• his focus on silver undermined efforts to build bridges to urban voters,

• he did not focus on forming alliances with other groups,

• McKinley’s campaign was well funded.

How did Marcus Hanna influence campaigns?

Marcus Hanna used mass media and publicization to campaign for McKinley. His campaign was so successful it is still used today.