My Notes on the Gilded Age (1865-1902)
Gilding is a technique for covering something cheaply with gold to make it look nicer. The Gilded Age got its name from Mark Twain’s book The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. In the book, Twain elucidated that the Gilded Age was a time full of poverty and injustice with only a coat of glamour. The name was a great way to describe the era and sum up what America was like at the time.
Many American Nouveau Riche married European aristocrats so they would be legitimized and receive potentially millions of dollars in dowry. They wanted this money for both their own use and for renovating old structures, such as palaces. Evidently, women were only worth as much as their families would fork over for a dowry.
Education for women became increasingly popular because an educated woman was seen as more worthy of marrying. However, some educated women delayed marriage so they could get a job, such as teaching, though they were still expected to quit their jobs when they married. Later, women were able to work jobs like lawyers, doctors, and accountants.
About 25% of cowboys were Black men who traveled Westward in search of better lives. Interesting that Black cowboys aren’t depicted much in the present, though.
Education and the concept of childhood were a luxury for those “under the gold plating”. These people often worked from a young age, for long hours, yet mobility remained difficult.
Many factory workers were paid in credit rather than cash, which could be redeemed only at company stores; therefore, they were often trapped in debt, poverty, and bondage, with no good way out. Factory owners must have done this because they realized they could retain workers and maintain their social standing and money this way.
Many children got hurt in factories because they could fit into the small machines and had to work at night
The Temperance and Suffrage movements were started by women
Women were tired of their drunkard husbands coming home and abusing their families
Birth control was not a thing at the time
Labor Unions were formed to protest for fair wages and hours, like the 8-8-8 plan (8 hours of work, 8 hours of sleep, 8 hours of leisure), but factoryowners quickly shut them down and suppressed them. Workers responded by striking.
Homestead Strike (Pittsburgh, 1892)- violent labor strike at the Carnegie Steel Company that resulted in protests, spycraft, infiltration, 10 deaths, and militia interference
Strikers were threatened by Henry Clay Frick, and he was frowned upon until someone attempted to assassinate him; then, workers returned to work with lower wages
Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act (1906), as a result of Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle
The Landlord’s Game (aka Monopoly)
1893: New Zealand becomes the first country to allow women to vote
Robber Barons- powerful industrialists and financiers who controlled much of the wealth
Ex. John D. Rockefeller and Elon Musk
Panic of 1893 - sparked by hard vs. soft money and everyone putting things on credit
Agricultural overproduction, gold depletion, business failures, and tariffs
Precursor to the Great Depression?
There was no federal income tax at this time, so the government made most of its money from tariffs
The Wizard of Oz as an allegory:
Silver was added to gold during the Gilded Age, and Dorothy walked the yellow brick road in silver shoes in the book
Rich North and poor South (Populus Movements), and Dorothy’s poor life in Kansas was turned upside down
The characters who follow her on the road can be compared to those of the Gilded Age (Scarecrow as a farmer, Tin Man as an industrial workers, Lion as William Jennings Brian, etc.).
Emerald City meant to acclimate people to the new, shiny America
Puck Magazine (1877-1918)- “a satirical magazine that made commentaries about the social issues of the time”
“Bosses of the Senate” - commentary about mass corruption from industrialists and corporations
Said Boss Tweed was rigging the election