Gilded Age Notes (HIS 315L)

I. Themes for a Gilded Age

  • Core themes identified in the lecture: Economic Growth, Political Corruption, and the Responses to those dynamics.
  • Opening context: The era is framed by cultural references (Opening Song: “Charles Guiteau”) to emphasize political scandals and the environment of corruption.
  • Source framing: The Gilded Age as presented in The Gilded Age by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, highlighting a surface of growth with underlying problems.

II. Economic Growth: Industrial Capitalism

  • A. Technological Innovation Fueled Growth
    • Key drivers: Technological breakthroughs that boosted productivity and efficiency.
    • Expansion of railroads as a backbone of national integration and commerce.
    • Introduction of new methods of production contributing to mass manufacture.
  • B. Mega Corporations
    • Created by vertical integration: consolidating production stages under one corporate umbrella.
    • Horizontal expansion: growth by acquiring competitors in the same industry.
    • Finance capitalism: reliance on financial markets and mechanisms to fuel expansion.
    • Example mentioned: The Bessemer Converter (steel-making technology) enabling scale in steel production.
    • Newspaper reference: February 27, 1901 announcement of the incorporation of U.S. Steel.
  • C. Created National Markets
    • Example: Gustavus Swift of Chicago as a representative of national marketing and distribution networks.
    • Importance of advertising in building national brands and consumer reach.
  • D. Received Federal Backing
    • Corporations portrayed as “people” under the 14th Amendment (corporate personhood) and related legal interpretations.
    • Federal land grants to railroad companies as a form of government backing.
    • Ideology: “Laissez-Faire” attitude in government—limited government intervention in markets.
  • E. Result: Rising indicators of economic change
    • Rising per capita income and life expectancy (see Table 16.1 for data).
    • Emergence of monopolies and accompanying corruption and public mistrust.
    • Increasing income inequality.
    • Visual representations: Political cartoons depicting Rockefeller as king of oil; Standard Oil as an octopus.

III. Political Corruption

  • A. Weak Presidents, Strong-ish Congress
    • Presidents listed: Hayes (R, 1877–1881), Garfield (R, 1881), Arthur (R, 1881–1885), Cleveland (D, 1885–1889, 1893–1897), Harrison (R, 1889–1893), McKinley (R, 1897–1901).
    • Commentary: The era is characterized by weak executive leadership relative to a Congress with strong party control.
  • B. Stronger Courts
    • In re Jacobs, 1885 (NY State Court of Appeals): labor protections were limited for workers (cigar makers).
    • Sherman Anti-Trust Act used against unions (addressing combinations that restrain trade, sometimes applied in labor disputes).
    • Jacob Riis photography: Czech cigar maker; Baxter Street Court, 1890. Riis documented living conditions in New York City slums; visual evidence of urban poverty.
  • C. Mudslinging and Spoils
    • The practice of political mudslinging and the spoils system in government hiring and rewards.
  • D. Ideologies
    • Individualism as a guiding principle in policy and culture.
    • Social Darwinism: advocated by thinkers like William Graham Sumner and influenced by Herbert Spencer; applied to social and economic hierarchies.
    • Andrew Carnegie as a representative figure in debates about wealth and responsibility; political cartoons critique political figures (e.g., Cleveland) and their personal lives.
  • E. The Political Machine
    • Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall as emblematic of machine politics and urban corruption.
  • F. Rise of Jim Crow (and related themes)
    • Segregation and disenfranchisement as institutionalized in the post-Reconstruction era (covered in a separate lecture).
  • G. The Garfield Assassination (1881)
    • Context: Political violence and the fragility of reform efforts; the Pendleton Act (1883) emerges as a reform response to the spoils system.
    • Cultural artifacts: Song and cartoons such as “An Office or your Life!” and “In Counting there is Strength.”
  • H. “Exciting” Issues
    • High protective tariff debates; sectional and party differences influence electoral politics.
    • The Election of 1888 and Harrison campaign poster as examples of tariff and policy conflicts shaping elections.

IV. Responses?

  • Working Class Revolts
    • Emergence of labor organizing and resistance against industrial capitalists’ control.
  • Rise of Progressive Movements
    • Early pushes for reforms addressing corruption, labor rights, and social justice.
  • Early Civil Rights Activism
    • Activism and organizing around racial equality and civil rights (contextualized in the period).
  • Visual culture and commentary
    • Jay Gould as a spider (metaphor for manipulation and control in finance).
    • The Granger Collection imagery and other political cartoons (e.g., “Justice in the Web”).
  • Additional sources listed in the material
    • Chapter 18, The American Promise: A History of the United States, Seventh Edition (Bedford/St. Martin's).
    • Standing at Armageddon by Nell Painter (Further reading).

Appendix: Table 16.1 — Indicators of Economic Change, 1870-1920

  • 1870 1900 1920
  • Farms (millions): 2.7, 5.7, 6.4
  • Land in farms (million acres): 408, 841, 956
  • Wheat grown (million bushels): 254, 599, 843
  • Employment (millions): 14, 28.5, 44.5
  • In manufacturing (millions): 2.5, 5.9, 11.2
  • Percentage of workforce
    • Agricultural: 52, 29, 20
    • Industry: 38, 31, 31
    • Trade, service, administration: 27, 44, 27
  • Railroad track (thousands of miles): 53, 258, 407
  • Steel produced (thousands of tons): 0.8, 11.2, 46
  • Gross national product (billions of dollars): 7.4, 18.7, 91.5
  • Per capita (in 1920 dollars): 371, 707, 920
  • Life expectancy at birth (years): 42, 47, 54
  • Notes: a Percentages are rounded and do not total 100. b Includes manufacturing, transportation, mining, and construction. Includes trade, finance, and public administration.

Connections and significance

  • Industrial growth underpinned by rail expansion, technological innovation, and new production methods laid groundwork for American capitalism and corporate power.
  • The period’s politics show a tension between corporate power and the push for reform, leading into Progressive Era responses.
  • The 14th Amendment and corporate personhood blurred lines between private wealth and public rights, influencing legal debates on governance, regulation, and labor protections.
  • Public perception of inequality and corruption, as evidenced by cartoons and journalism, helped shape reform movements and policy change.
  • Data from Table 16.1 illustrate dramatic shifts in employment, production, and national wealth, underscoring the transformation from an agrarian to an industrial economy.