Life in the Gilded Age
Government practices Government supported laissez-faire economics Means “hands off” Government does very little regulation Result=very wealthy businesses and lots of corruption and little competition
Social Darwinism Idea that the best individuals will succeed The survival of the fittest Government should do very little
Robber barons Andrew Carnegie Built a giant steel firm Bought out competition and provides of raw materials and transportation of his goods Known as vertical consolidation
John D. Rockefeller Another robber baron Controlled Standard Oil Bought other oil companies This is horizontal consolidation=controlling competition at one step in the process of a product.
Other robber barons Cornelius Vanderbilt: Railroad monopolist J. P. Morgan: banking monopolist Robber barons did philanthropy work JDR philanthropy was attacked as "tainted money"; 1910 Puck cartoon shows him purifying it through a foundation
Monopolies and trusts Robber barons created monopolies Where a firm controls all the competition Also created trusts Companies agree to work together
What ’ s wrong with this? What’s wrong with having monopolies and no competition?
Sherman Anti-trust Act Congress passed the Sherman anti-trust act to outlaw trusts and monopolies Difficult to enforce
Working conditions Conditions were terrible Long hours Dangerous conditions Poor living conditions Child Labor To improve conditions formed labor unions
Unions Group of workers who want to protect their rights Knights of Labor: unskilled/skilled workers demanded reforms in child labor, safety, hours (8 hr day), equal pay for women American Federation of Labor: skilled workers demanded higher pay, shorter work weeks.
Strikes Strikes resulted and usually ended in violence. Government usually sent in troops against the unions
Notable Strikes Haymarket Square Riot: bomb killed 7 policemen, police fired on strikers Homestead Strike: Carnegie hired Pinkertons to violently end strike Pullman Strike: railroad shut down, federal troops brought in and people get hurt and lose their jobs.
Immigration Change from: Western and Northern Europe Germany, Ireland, and Great Britain To Southern and Eastern Europe Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Russia
Ellis Island Europeans enter through Ellis Island See Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island Usually stay 5 hrs Undergo mental and health tests Requirements to enter: pass health tests, literacy test, prove they can work, and have at least $25 20% are detained for a day or more 98% allowed to stay in the US
Angel Island Asian immigrants came through Angel Island Different from Ellis Island Harsh questioning Long detention Filthy, ramshackle buildings Confined like prisoners More sent back
Problems for Immigrants Culture shock Confusion and anxiety from being in a new culture they didn’t understand Jobs Housing
Survival Settle in neighborhoods with people from their culture Little Italy, China, etc. Good: makes transition easier Bad: excluding themselves, slows down assimilation Americanization movement: use schools and volunteers to teach immigrants English and how to be American.
Nativism and xenophobia Anti-immigration feelings grow Nativism-idea that native-born Americans are better Xenophobia-fear of foreigners
Urbanization Immigrants moved to the cities this produced urbanization: rapid growth of cities People also moving from the country to cities
Urbanization problems Housing Row housing-houses built so that they are connected and share walls Dumbbell houses-housing that is shaped like a dumbbell (includes air vents in the middle) People use air vents to dump sewage Crime increases
Sanitation Need clean drinking water Trash is in the street Not uncommon to see a dead horse in the street Children play in the street Start insisting on indoor plumbing
Fires Water shortage, houses built together and of wood=big chance for a fire Both Chicago and San Francisco had huge devastating fires
Reform movements Settlement houses-community centers in slums that provide assistance, especially to immigrants. Provided: educational, cultural, and social services Jane Addams founded Hull house in Chicago An important settlement house.
Racial Equality Booker T. Washington: self- improvement before racial equality Racism will end if African Americans prove useful to society WEB Dubois: established NAACP for work for racial equality
DuboisWashington
Racial Inequality Plessy v. Ferguson: established “separate but equal” clause in 1896 Made segregation legal Jim Crow laws develop-separates public and private facilities
The Emergence of the Political Machine Political machine was an organized group that controlled the activities of a political party in a city and offered services to voters and businesses in exchange for political or financial support.
Organization of the machine Machine was run by a “boss” It was like a pyramid At the top was the city boss who controlled jobs in police, fire, and sanitation, and controlled the city government. They tried to help immigrant problems and so won immigrant votes and loyalty.
Corruption It was like the mob You had to go through the boss to get things in a city: new businesses, licenses, inspections, money for schools, hospitals, etc. The machine then got paid for providing these governmental services
More corruption To keep the machine running they falsified elections Put in names of dog, children, and dead people Had more votes than registered voters Used “kickbacks” Machine would choose a worker that contracted for a government job, the worker would charge more than necessary and kick back a fee to the political machine
Boss Tweed William “Boss” Tweed became one of the most powerful bosses He headed Tammany Hall (Democratic Party) in New York Tweed ring pocketed $200 million from the city in kickbacks and payoffs Newspapers and cartoonists attacked him Finally arrested and died in jail