Study Notes on the Gilded Age and the Second Industrial Revolution

Introduction to the Gilded Age

  • Period: 1870s to 1890s (approximately 20 years)

  • Features:

    • Labor strikes and protests

    • Immense growth of wealth

    • Significant historical events, such as the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty in 1886

Statue of Liberty

  • Dedicated in New York Harbor in 1886

  • Represents:

    • Friendship between the United States and France

    • Triumph of freedom following the Civil War

    • Symbol of American freedom for generations of immigrants

  • Context:

    • Coincided with one of the most significant strike waves and labor protests in U.S. history, raising questions about social conditions and governmental roles in citizens' rights

The Second Industrial Revolution

  • Overview: Massive economic transformation during the late 19th century

  • Characteristics:

    • Abundant natural resources

    • Growing labor supply

    • Expanding markets for manufactured goods

  • Federal government involvement:

    • Enactment of tariffs to protect U.S. industry from foreign competition

    • Large land grants to railroad companies, facilitating westward expansion and transformations in agriculture and industry

    • Military actions to remove Native Americans to obtain land for economic activities

Economic Growth During Gilded Age

  • By 1913:

    • U.S. produces a third of the world's industrial output

    • Nearly half of industrial workers in factories with 250 - 300 employees

  • Workforce demographics:

    • By 1890, two-thirds of Americans working for wages

    • 11 million Americans migrated from farms to cities (1870-1920)

  • Major cities experiencing growth:

    • New York, supported by banks and stock exchange funding industrial projects

    • Great Lakes region with cities like Pittsburgh and Chicago, benefiting from resources (iron, steel, machinery)

Railroads and Economic Expansion

  • Role of railroads:

    • Enable the Second Industrial Revolution

    • Tripled miles of rail from 1860-1880 and again in the next 40 years

    • Established five transcontinental rail lines by the 1890s

    • Four time zones established in 1883

  • Impact:

    • Expansion of commercial farming

    • Creation of a national market for manufactured goods

    • National brands and convenience of mail-order firms like Sears and Roebuck

Technological Innovations

  • Significant innovations include:

    • Telegraph lines across the Atlantic

    • Telephone, typewriter, handheld camera

    • Thomas Edison’s inventions:

    • Phonograph

    • Light bulb

    • Motion pictures

  • Electricity's impact:

    • Distribution systems enabling cities to have electric power

    • Reliability for factory production (replacing water and steam)

    • Improvement in living conditions, safety perception connected to light

  • Electric motor development by Nikola Tesla (Serbian immigrant) contributed to household and industrial applications

Economic Volatility and Business Practices

  • Extreme economic growth brought volatility:

    • Inundation of goods leading to price reduction

    • Market pooling, fixing prices, and creation of trusts

    • Mergers resulting in corporate monopolies (4,000 companies incorporated from 1897-1904)

  • Notable corporations:

    • Standard Oil, International Harvester, U.S. Steel formed in 1901 by J.P. Morgan

Key Figures in Industry

  • Andrew Carnegie:

    • Scottish immigrant who built a steel empire

    • Employed vertical integration (controlling all production stages)

    • Dominated the steel industry by the 1890s

    • Philanthropic efforts contrasted with his ruthless business practices

  • John D. Rockefeller:

    • Merchant clerk turned oil industry titan

    • Engaged in cutthroat competition and bribery to eliminate rivals

    • Mastered both horizontal and vertical integration, controlling much of the oil market

Class Divisions and Social Implications

  • Wealth in the Gilded Age:

    • Captains of industry vs. public resentment

    • Class resentments exacerbated by labor conditions

    • Wealth disparity: Richest 1% of Americans owned as much property as the bottom half combined by 1890

  • Social conditions:

    • Urban poor in slums near wealthy estates

    • Documentaries like Jacob Riis’s How the Other Half Lives capture stark contrasts

Redefining Freedom in the Gilded Age

  • The term "Gilded Age" derives from Mark Twain's 1873 novel, implying a superficial layer masking underlying issues

  • Economic growth accompanied by corruption and the questioning of American freedoms and values

  • Emergence of social Darwinism:

    • Misapplication of Darwin's theories to societal structures

    • Social policies favoring business and dismissing the plight of the poor

  • Labor disputes emphasized the divide between social classes and changing notions of freedom and democracy

Workers and Labor Movements

  • Emergence of labor organizations, particularly the Knights of Labor:

    • Inclusive of unskilled, skilled, men, and women, though only limited inclusion for Asian immigrants

    • By 1886, union membership peaked at 800,000, leading strikes and boycotts

  • Calls for reforms included:

    • Requests for government intervention in working conditions

    • Opposition to the Liberty of Contract which restricted worker rights

  • The first national strike, the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, revealed worker solidarity and dissatisfaction with class policies

Conclusion

  • Class divisions deepened, revealing dissatisfaction across social classes

  • Writers and thinkers throughout this period highlighted issues of poverty and inequality, suggesting potential remedies and avenues for reform as perceptions of freedom changed.