hist_1302_ch_16
TRANSCRIPT
The Gilded Age1870-1890
The Second Industrial Revolution Railroads essentially cause the Second
Industrial Revolution and become the country’s first big business Stimulated the post-war national economy
and marketplace National rail network
Promoted by federal loans, standardization, and state aid
Helped contribute to mass production, distribution, and mass marketing of goods
Railroad Shipping
The Second Industrial Revolution The Industrial Economy
By 1913, the United States produced 1/3 of the world’s industrial output
The 1880 census indicated that a majority of the U.S. workforce was engaged in non-farming jobs (for the first time)
Financing industrialization became an industry in itself Pittsburgh and Chicago begin to grow as a
result
The Second Industrial Revolution:Inventions
Nikola TeslaWireless communications;Induction motor
Thomas EdisonElectric power distribution;Light bulb
A.G. BellTelephone;Metal Detector
The Second Industrial Revolution Railroads and Politics
Became a major political issue through the end of the century
Regulation was a hotly debated issue However, most people did not want to interfere
with progress Eventually, the Supreme Court ruled that
railroad regulatory commissions were legal Interstate Commerce Act of 1877 allowed for
a commission to hear complaints against railroad companies accused of charging outrageous rates
Big Business
Competition and Consolidation Depression plagued the economy
between 1873 and 1897 Businesses engaged in cutthroat
competition To avoid competition, large businesses
battled to control entire industries Between 1897 and 1904, 4,000 business
consolidated into larger corporations Many of these large corporations became
monopolies
Big Business
Andrew Carnegie and Steel Manufacturing Worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad By the 1890s, Carnegie dominated the
steel industry Used vertical integration
Buy everything that can be used to take a product from raw material to finished
His whole life was focused on success Also generously gave back to society
Big Business
John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil Ran a trust that bought everyone else in
the oil industry out by purchasing stocks Rockefeller slowly consolidated the oil
business Lowered costs by paying attention to
minute details Focused on production and marketing
aspects of the oil industry Utilized horizontal integration
Buy everyone else out in the same industry
Big Business
Factory conditions 35,000 factory and mining workers were
killed each year in work related accidents Highest rate in the industrial world
Many skilled laborers had their jobs taken by machines
Workers had few protections from mistreatment on the job Economic insecurity was a fact of life Long work hours No workers’ compensation
Class Stratification
Class divisions became more visible The rich get richer The poor get poorer
Many wealthy American gave up their old lives to pursue an aristocratic lifestyle Consumerism and consumption of goods
became the key to this new form of freedom
Class Stratification
The working class lived in terrible conditions 12 hour work days; 7 days a week 1 of 115 workers died in work related
accidents 1 in 8 were injured on the job
182,000 children under 16 were employed in the mining or manufacturing industries Almost the population of Waco
The American West
Farming boomed; more land came into cultivation in the 30 years after the Civil War than the previous 2 and ½ centuries of American history combined; one of the reasons why we have issues during the 1930s with the Dust Bowl; over farming A great deal of the farming burden fell on women
Caused in part by the push by “Redeemers” in the South who celebrated the end of Reconstruction and wanted to bring industrialization and economic improvements to the South by the expansion of population and rail networks
The American West
Bonanza farms Powell stated that the arid region of the West would
require large-scale irrigation projects and cooperative, communal farming
Millions of farmers moving to the west to seek crop bonanzas and a new way of life; by 1900, the west was settled and it held 30% of the national population
Small farms tuned in and realized that they had to appeal to a national and international market (beginning of the international American identity)
Didn’t help the problems as crop production increased, prices fell, small farmers suffered greatly difficulties in the last quarter of the 1900s
The American West
Mining Boom and Bust California in 1849 was the big mining boom state Boom came to an end during the 1890s Western mines contributed millions to the
economy, helped finance the Civil War, supported industrialization, changed relative value of gold (leaving room for the amount of silver to change)
Mining populations were primarily based of men; sounds a lot like early colonial Virginia (men outnumbered women 2:1)
After towns became unprofitable, mining ventures moved on leaving Indian reservations, hills, and ghost towns
The American West
The ‘real’ West; the Cowboys Cowboys became a symbol of a life of
freedom on the open range; no big cities issues to get you down
They governed themselves (like miners) and typically weren’t as violent as Old West films portray.
Short lived phenomena, on the way out by 1880s; cattle trails becoming local; regional only; many cowboys switched to raising sheep
The American West
New Farming Methods Barbed wire; fence in the wilderness! Mechanical technology
What happens to the farmer? Settlers eventually abandon their farms; become
restless and angry (pre-cursor to the Populist movement)
Complaining about declining crop prices, rail rates going up, and heavy mortgages
The “Grange” takes on the issues as a lobby organization; far from their original goal as one that provided social, cultural, and educational opportunities
The West and Indians
The true “last stand” for the Native Americas; rights as they knew it were about to be taken away
Constant warfare between the Plains Indians and military occurred between 1850 and 1890 US army launches a campaign against the Navajo
One effective method of extermination: kill off the buffalo Only 30 million in 1800; nearly extinct by hunting
in 1890
The West and Indians
Land availability diminishing Homestead Act of 1862 – gave farmers public
lands, roughly 160 acres, but that was too small
Timber and Stone Act – help “civilize” Washington, Oregon, California, and Nevada Land at $2.50 an acre Ten times the limit of the Homestead Act
Railroads were making a killing because they’re buying it up at discounted rates
Is it any wonder why the Indians got in the way?
The West and Indians
1871, Congress eliminates the treaty system that dated back to the revolutionary war with the Indians Forced American assimilation on the
Indians; no choice but to become American Dawes Act – attacked tribalism,
essentially outlawing it in 1887 The policy was one of biggest disasters for
Indians; trying to promote them as small farmers
The West and Indians
Indian Citizenship Must give up tribal identity and be assimilated into
American culture However, no rights under the 14th and 15
amendments; thanks for playing, but no voting or citizenship rights
Ghost Dance (Wounded Knee) American soldiers kill between 150 and 200
women and children Indians at Wounded Knee Creek in SD as they were taking part in a “Ghost Dance”
Seen as primitive, backwards, etc.; something the white man should fear
Politics in the Gilded Age
Absolute corruption in politics NYC Boss Tweed Business interests influencing the House and Senate
US was an island of democracy that needed to help the ignorant nations of the world
Democracy was definitely working; very close elections throughout the 1880s State and national elections always very close
The Republican Party dominated national elections though Every Republican candidate was a Civil War veteran
from 1868 - 1900
Politics in the Gilded Age
Gilded Age presidents did little legislation except for big business; did not exert executive leadership at all
Republican candidates for president had all fought in the Union army from 1868 to 1900
Democrats dominated the South and Catholic votes
Economics in the Gilded Age
The government ran on standby was ill prepared to deal with all the problems of rapid economic growth Tariff policy in constant debate Return to gold standard in 1879 (would soon
start issues with the Populists) Interstate Commerce Commission
Another oversight organization in the move toward regulation
Sherman Anti-Trust Act Building block for regulating big business in the
1900s
Social Darwinism
Survival of the fittest in business, society, etc.; White people had to make a reason for why there were rich and why some were poor
Contends that business tycoons deserve everything they get because “God is on their side” because they worked hard and they had money
Just have to accept inequality in the world Failure to advance in society is likely because of
your lack of wits and character Courts typically sided with business on
everything; just another reflection of this mentality
The Social Gospel
Walter Rauschenbusch insisted that freedom and spiritual development needed to be in harmony with an equalization of wealth and power
Fits hand in hand with social Darwinism Acres of Diamonds speech; needed to have
wealth in order to fulfill the duties of being a good Christian
Alternative theories included socialism, communism (things going on in Russia at the time) Early introduction of socialism by Lawrence
Gronlund’s Cooperative Commonwealth
Jacob Riis
Inequity in New York
Inequity in New York
Inequity in New York
Inequity in New York
Inequity in New York
Inequity in New York
Inequity in New York
Inequity in New York
Inequity in New York
Labor in the Gilded Age
1877 Great Railroad Strike Demonstrated that labor rights/regulations
would become an issue in the Gilded Age and beyond
Knights of Labor Organized workers to improve social
conditions in factories Conditions essential to liberty
Labor raised the question whether meaningful freedom could exist in extreme economic inequality
Labor in the Gilded Age
Middle-Class Reformers Alarmed by fear of class warfare and the
growing concentration of wealth in a few The origins of Progressivism
Henry George’s solution to the labor issue was a single tax George also rejected the traditional
equation of liberty with ownership of land
Labor in the Gilded Age
Socialism Lawrence Gronlund’s Cooperative Commonwealth
was the first book to popularize socialist concepts and ideas for an American audience
It explained socialist concepts in common language Bellamy’s Utopia
Edward Bellamy insisted that freedom was a social condition Freedom rested on societal interdependence, not
autonomy Bellamy believed that material abundance made
possible by industrial capitalism could be maintained while eliminating inequality
The Haymarket Affair
On 1 May 1886, roughly 350,000 workers across the country demonstrated for 8 hours
A riot ensued after a bomb killed a police officer on 4 May 7 of the 8 men accused of plotting the Haymarket
bombing were foreign-born Employers took the opportunity to use this
incident against the labor movement Depicted the labor movement as dangerous, un-
American, and prone to violence Also insisted that labor unions were controlled by
foreign-born radicals