Unit I Use this information to complete part A of your assignment
Gilded Age Term created to describe the 30 years after the Civil War in which we saw a large growth in industry and business Industries with the most growth Railroads Oil Steel Finance
Growth of Corporations Business flourished into large corporate, money making machines Helped the U.S. economy to expand but… Many people began to view these businesses as a problem Child labor, low wages, poor conditions
Too much growth? Business leaders began merging businesses to the point that monopolies were created Two types of mergers: Vertical Integration – owning/controlling all steps in the creation of a product (i.e. resources manufacturing distribution) Horizontal Integration – buying out companies making similar products (i.e. two oil refineries merging)
Monopoly v. Trusts Monopoly – one business controlling and owning the production of a good/service Trust – multiple companies “joined” together and ran by a board of trustees as if they are one company Both have a lot of control over the market, so much so that they become a problem for the economy
Social Darwinism Business owners were not always sympathetic to workers because they believed they earned their money through hard work and determination The “deserved” to be on top because they were the best there was – they followed the idea of the “survival of the fittest” This is how they justified their mass amounts of wealth Was also used to justify the government staying out of business regulation, i.e. if a business is successful it shouldn’t be penalized for being the best
Gospel of Wealth Many of these business tycoons did believe in giving back to those less fortunate though They gave very large sums of money to charities to help the poor and invest in the arts There was a belief that they had a responsibility help those with less
Document Analysis – Use these resources to complete part D of your assignment
#1 – Cartoon Analysis
#2 – Quote Analysis
#3 – Text Analysis