The Growth of America: The Gilded Age 1877 - 1900 Gilded - Covered with a thin layer of gold The American economy expanded rapidly during the last quarter of the 19th century. There was westward growth, an expansion of industry, and the rise of big business. The results of this were poverty for farmers, poor conditions for industrial workers, prejudice and discrimination, political corruption, and urbanization.

Reasons for Westward Growth 1. Railroads - Land Grants – 200,000,000 acres - Transcontinental Railroad – 1869 – Promontory Point – Irish and Chinese Workers 2. Government + Homestead Act - 160 Acres of public land if: - 21 years old, citizen or applied for, had $10 fee - 5 yrs. to improve land = ownership - Other Land Grants 3. Jobs and Opportunity - Farming – Bonanza Farms - Mining – Boomtowns - Herding Cattle – Texas Longhorn Frederick Jackson Turner – 1893 – Frontier is closed - 1900 – 45 States

Reasons for Industrial Growth 1. Railroads - standard tracks and times 2. Communication - telegraph - Alexander Graham Bell - Telephone - 1876 3. Electricity- Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse 4. Bessemer Process - Henry Bessemer – Steel - Brooklyn Bridge 5. Advances in Farming and Ranching 6. Raw Materials and Mining– Oil, Coal, Etc. 7. Labor Supply – Immigration – 30 Million 8. Republican Control of Government during Reconstruction – Tariffs, Banking, Internal Improvements

Big Business Monopoly - complete control of a product or service Purpose – Reduce Competition = Increase Demand = Increase Prices and Profits Andrew Carnegie Steel Mills Vertical Integration – purchase of companies at all levels of production Coal and Iron Mines RRs and Steamships

Big Business Cont. Trusts - number of companies run by a board of trustees John D. Rockefeller – Standard Oil Trust – Horizontal Integration - purchase of competing companies in the same industry By 1900 – 100s of Monopolies - Singer, Morgan, Edison, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Swift

Pros v. Cons of Monopolies Captains of Industry Robber Barons

Government Response What should the government do? Laissez Faire Regulate Business v. Laissez Faire Laissez Faire Social Darwinism Andrew Carnegie and “The Gospel of Wealth” Government Corruption – Political Bosses and the US Senate Sherman Antitrust Act – 1890

Problems with Westward Expansion Debt for Farmers Complaints: 1. Overproduction = Drop in Prices 2. Monopolies and Railroads 3. Tariffs 4. Money Supply – Deflation v. Inflation - Gold Standard and Silver 5. Drought – Great Plains 1880s 3 D’s = Debt, Drought, and Deflation

Rise of the Populist Party The Grange – 1866 The Farmers Alliance - 1877 Populist Party – 1890 – Political Reform Platform = Regulation of Businesses and Railroads, Lower Tariffs, Direct Election of Senators, Free Coinage of Silver (Bimetallism) Election of 1892 – 1500 Local Reps, 3 Governors, 5 Senators, 10 Congressmen, James Weaver

Problems Continued - Election of 1896 – William Jennings Bryan (D) “ You will not press upon labor this crown of thorns, you will not crucify mankind on a cross of gold.” – Cross of Gold Speech – Populist Party absorbed by Democrats - William McKinley (R) Importance of Third Parties - Force the major parties to change

Problems Continued 2. Native Americans - Plains Indians and Buffalo - Railroads and the Buffalo - 1867 Reservation System and Native American Wars - Cheyenne + Black Kettle – Sand Creek Massacre - Sioux War and Sitting Bull – Little Big Horn and Massacre at Wounded Knee - Helen Hunt Jackson – A Century of Dishonor - Dawes Severalty Act of 1887

The Factory Workers Working Conditions

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (146)

Labor Unions 1. Knights of Labor - Terrence Powderly – ‘all who toil’ - government reform 2. American Federation of Labor (AFL) – Samuel Gompers – skilled labor - ‘bread and butter’ unionism Collective Bargaining and Strikes

The Era of the Great Strikes - Railroad Strike of 1877 – 10% Wage cut, President Hayes and federal troops – 100 killed, millions in damages - Haymarket Square of 1886 – May 1 – 8 hr. workday rally, Chicago Police, 11 people killed, 8 arrested - Homestead Strike of 1892 – Pinkerton Detective Agency and Scabs, 13 Killed, National Guard Troops - Pullman Strike of 1894 – American Railway Union, President Cleveland, Court Injunction, Federal Troops

The Era of the Great Strikes Results of the Strikes: - All of the strikes failed to accomplish the goals - All of the strikes ended violently - The government got involved to end all of the strikes Reasons for Failure: - Unskilled Work and Immigrants - Violence and Worker’s Reputations - Anarchists - Government Support of Business – Sherman Antitrust Act – Use of Federal Troops

Minority Groups: Immigrants 1865-1920 – 30 Million Reasons for Immigration: Immigration: - European Immigration – Old v. New - 1860-1890 – North and West (Old) - 1890–1920 – South and East (New) -Asian Immigration- - Chinese – 250,000 - Japanese – 200,000 - Mexican Immigration – 1,000,000 Cities of the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast – Ethnic Neighborhoods

Minority Groups: Immigrants – Rise of Nativism Nativism – Anti-immigration – Why? New Restrictions: - Ellis Island and Angel Island – Medical and Mental Tests - Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 - Gentleman’s Agreement– 1907 - Why were there so few? Settlement Movement and Social Gospel Movement - Jane Addams and Hull House

Minorities: African Americans - Voting Rights – Poll Taxes, Literacy Tests, Citizenship Tests, Grandfather Clauses – 15th Amendment Jim Crow Laws – Segregation - 1896 - Plessy v. Ferguson – 14th Amendment – “Separate but Equal” Doctrine Lynching – 180/yr. in 1890s

Minorities: African Americans Civil Rights Leaders during Gilded Age: 1. Booker T. Washington – Atlanta Compromise - “Cast down your bucket where you are” - Industry, thrift, intelligence, and property - Education - Tuskegee Institute 2. W.E.B. DuBois - Niagara Movement – Agitate and demand political equality – Top Ten Percent - NAACP – Legal Battles

Urbanization Immigrants, Rural Americans By 1900 – New York = 3.5 Million, Chicago = 1.6 Million, 1700 Cities, 40% Urban - Ethnic Neighborhoods City Planning – Sewage, Transportation, Fire and Police

Tenements Multi-Family Apartments for the working poor

- Political Machines and Party Bosses – Graft, Fraud, Trading Votes for Jobs - NYC - Boss Tweed

Leisure + Entertainment Saloons and Trolleyparks Movies – “The Great Train Robbery” Theater – Vaudeville and Minstrel Shows Sports Newspapers – Yellow Journalism – William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer Magazines and Books Music - Ragtime