UNIT #3 – URBANIZATIONLESSON #4 -

The Gilded Age (122-132)

New Plan for Composition Book:

NEW VOCABULARYGilded Age (122)

Social Darwinism (123)

Gospel of Wealth (123)

Philanthropy (123)

Settlement House (125)

Americanization (126)

Realism (126)

Vaudeville (127)

• ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

13. What does “gilded” mean?

14. Why is the word “gilded” a good name for this era?

Gilded Age

Find the term “gilded age” on p. 1221. What does it mean?

2. If this was a description of America at the time, what does it say about America?

3. What do you think the “crap” is on the inside?

Looks nice on the outside, but it’s fake. Inside is not all that great.

It says that even though American LOOKED good, we had serious problems right below the surface.

Poverty, crime, corruption… lots of people living poorly

Horatio Alger• He was a novelist• He wrote in excess of 100 novels• They all had the same theme.• What was the theme?

• Rich people loved being rich• Many had no goal to help the poor• Social Darwinists thought that if you help the poor, you’re going

to make them weak and dependent• Do you agree? Why?

Social DarwinismRags to riches – how a poor person can make it big, and become rich

Gospel of Wealth• Carnegie was a “sort of” Social Darwinist• He believed that you should NOT give to poor, but you should

give them opportunities• He believed that rich people should use their power and money

to create those opportunities.• Think of the people in America born into the worst conditions.

1. What are those conditions?

2. How could the Gospel of Wealth help them?

3. Giving to the poor in this way is called philanthropy. What’s one example of philanthropy

VERY poor – no electricity or plumbing (maybe homeless)

Help them become something more than just “getting by”

Help pay for an education, or help them get a job

Settlement Houses• Some poor people had no means of surviving without direct

assistance. • For them, wealthy women set up SETTLEMENT HOUSES.• Read on p. 125 what they provided:

• Immigrants had the toughest time making enough to survive. • What might be their greatest disadvantages?

• To combat this, public schools included AMERICANIZATION education. What did they teach immigrants? (p. 126)

Provided community services, like medical care, child care, libraries and English classes

Language barrier was the biggest issue

How to speak English

Entertainment• Americans were much less refined than their European

counterparts. They liked their entertainment “raw” and “rough.”• Examples:• They liked their art to be more realistic. What’s this called? (p.

126)

• They liked their theater more wild. VAUDEVILLE was one of their favorites. Describe a Vaudeville show (p. 127)

• They also got into sports. BASEBALL was king.

Realism

Lots of acts, like animals performing, singers, comedians, acrobats and dancers. It was hectic and a bit wild.