the gilded age 1870-1890. gilded means to cover something of poor quality with gold what does this...
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Gilded means to cover something of poor quality with gold
What does this imply about American Society?
Mark Twain
Wealth and economic growth covered up the many problems
that existed
Positives
1. Industrialization 2. Economic Growth 3. New Inventions4. Growth of Middle
Class and Suburbs5. Manifest Destiny
Negatives
1. Working Conditions 2. Poverty and Living
Conditions in Cities3. Gap between Rich
and Poor Increases4. Farmers Struggle5. Political Corruption 6. Treatment of
Minorities
Characteristics of the Gilded Age
Middle Class and the Growth of Suburbs
• commute to the city for jobs and shopping.
• made possible by railroads, horse cars, and streetcars.
• get away from poor immigrants
• Quiet and healthier for family
• Segregated Communities
The Shift to the City
Urbanization- process in which an increasing proportion of a population lives in cities or suburbs of cities
MIGRATION FROM COUNTRY TO CITY
• Immigration
• improvements in farm technology meant less labor
• Many rural people left for cities to find work
• African Americans
URBAN PROBLEMS• Overcrowded
Housing • Sanitation: garbage
was often not collected
• Polluted air• Lack of clean water • Crime• Fire Harper’s Weekly image of Chicagoans
fleeing the fire over the Randolph Street bridge in 1871
POLITICS IN THE GILDED AGE
• As cities grew in the late 19th century, so did political machines
• Political machines controlled the activities of a political party in a city
• The head of the Political machine was known as the “Boss”
ROLE OF THE POLITICAL BOSS
• The “Boss” controlled jobs, business licenses, granting of contracts and influenced laws and courts
• Political Machines helped immigrants with naturalization (citizenship), jobs, and housing in exchange for votes
Boss Tweed ran NYC
Political Corruption was considered to be widespread
• President Grant’s Administration
• Voter Fraud- used fake names and voted multiple times
• Patronage- granting favors in return for political support
• Graft- bribes• kick-backs - Return of
money in exchange for a business
THE TWEED RING SCANDAL
• William M. Tweed, known as Boss Tweed, became head of Tammany Hall, NYC’s powerful Democratic political machines
• Between 1869-1871, Tweed led the Tweed Ring, a group of corrupt politicians, in defrauding the city
• Tweed’s ring stole between 40 and 200 million
• Tweed died in Jail
Boss Tweed
CIVIL SERVICE REPLACES PATRONAGE
• Nationally, some politicians pushed for reform in the hiring system
• The system had been based on Patronage; giving jobs and favors to those who helped a candidate get elected
• Reformers pushed for an adoption of a merit system of hiring the most qualified for jobs
• The Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 authorized a bipartisan commission to make appointments for federal jobs based on performanceApplicants for federal jobs
are required to take a Civil Service Exam
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