What does the term “gilded” mean? What natural resources were key to U.S. industrialization? How did inventions in the period effect business and social life? Things you will learn:

Industry in the “Gilded” Age Oil: used for lamps, machinery Begin to use steam drill by Edwin Drake to get out of ground Drill in KY, OH, IL, IN Natural Resources Iron Ore: used to make steel use coal fires to burn carbon out and make steel

Coal: used for fires to power steam engines on trains, fires to make steel, heat homes Mined in WV, PA, OH, IN, IL

Steel: William Kelly & Bessemer Process uses: RRs, barbed wire, farm machinery, bridges, skyscrapers

Inventions Electricity: Thomas Edison Perfected light bulb Power grid Uses: Factories streetcars appliances Typewriter: Christopher Sholes/ James Densmore Sped up / standardized communication Telephones: Alex Graham Bell Speeded communication / rate of business Creates clerical jobs for white single women

Who were the major business leaders of the Gilded Age and what were their business strategies? How were these men regarded differently by different interest groups? Things you will learn:

‘Big Wigs’ of the Gilded Age What is the strategy to win at the game of monopoly?

Carnegie US Steel Practices: Quality Control Cost Control / accounting Stock incentives for managers Vertical Integration: buying out your suppliers

J.P. Morgan RRds & bought US Steel Practices: Holding Companies: Companies that are formed only to buy up other companies

Pullman Railroad Cars Practices: Company town: The company owns the land, houses, churches, and schools around a factory. Have great control over workers

Rockefeller Standard Oil Trusts / Price fixing: Companies in the same industry band together, drop prices, & drive out competitors. Then raise prices artificially high RRd. Kickbacks: He would get rebates from RRd companies, they pass cost onto farmers

Vanderbilt Railroads Consolidation: Made all RR tracks the same in width, then bought out all his competitors (horizontal integration) Duke Tobacco Advertising / Label Leveraging: Developed a label- “Bull Durham.” Advertise it / creates demand. Wouldn’t let other brands be sold if his was sold there.

Competing Philosophies Are these men heroic or evil? Heroic: “Captains of Industry” Horatio Alger Stories: “Rags to riches” tales of young men who succeed due to their own efforts / character Social Darwinism: “These men are better and deserve their wealth”. “Survival of the fittest” is the natural process of natural selection. Evil: “Robber Barons” These men use unethical practices to squash out their competition and overcharge common people. Belief in this idea led to people wanting the government to stop the “Robber Barons”

Political Machines How They Got Money: Graft / Padding Bills: Overcharge taxpayers to build stuff for the gov’t. The builders and machine members split the extra $. Bribes: Gov’t officials would accept bribes for licenses, not doing inspections, etc. The officials would “kick back” some of the money to the machine Organizational Structure: Party Boss Ward Bosses Precinct captains Common People Businessmen who want gov’t contracts Definition: A ‘gang’ of people who controlled city governments for their own profit and self interest.

How They Got Votes: Immigrants: The machine members gave them jobs / arranged housing…then took them to vote Padding Lists / fraud: Machine members use dead people’s names, dogs, imaginary people…and add them to the list of registered voters and then vote them illegally Example: Tammany Hall / Boss Tweed Democratic Political boss Headquarters of NYC Of NYC

Exposing Machines & Corruption Thomas Nast: a cartoonist exposed political machines through his drawings. Most poor people couldn’t read well. Raised awareness among the common people of why political machines were bad

Reform in the Gilded Age You will learn: - What the rich and poor wanted in regards to tariff, monetary and civil service reform. - Which reform movements succeeded and which ones failed.

Tariff Reform What is a tariff? Taxes on imported goods

Tariff Reform What do the rich want – a high or low tariff? –HIGH WHY? –So the goods they produce won’t have to compete with foreign made goods.

Tariff Reform Relevant Presidents: –Cleveland – Democrat tried to lower tariff. No success. –Harrison – Republican Raised to 48%

Tariff Reform: Relevant Presidents (cont’d.) –Cleveland (term 2) Lowered to 41% (Wilson Gorman tariff) –McKinley Republican Raised tariff back to 46% (Dingley tariff)

Tariff Reform: Result Sooooo..... In the end was the tariff: –HIGH or LOW ?????? –High. Did tariff reform succeed or fail? –Tariff reform fails. Who’s happy? –Rich people.

Monetary Reform Monetary reform has to do with.... –Money, currency What has been the poor people’s complaint about the money supply since 1792? –Too little money is being printed

What do the poor want? More money printed Bimetallism

What do the rich want? Stable currency The gold standard

Monetary Reform Relevant Presidents: –No president is ever elected that fully supports bimetallism. –In 1900, McKinley passes the Gold Standard Act.

Monetary Reform Soooo..... Does monetary reform succeed or fail? –Monetary reform fails. Who’s happy? –The rich.

Civil Service Reform What are civil servants? –Government employees. –Were these good or bad jobs back then? –What is the spoils system? –What’s another word for the spoils system? patronage

Civil Service Reform Do the common people like or dislike the spoils system? Why? –They want to end the spoils system. –Want qualified people who are not corrupt being paid by taxpayer dollars.

Civil Service Reform Do the rich like or dislike the spoils system? –They like the spoils system. –Allows them to control government with their $. –Oppose reform – called Stalwarts.

Civil Service Reform Relevant presidents: –Hayes supports it. No Congressional support. –Garfield starts reform. –Is assassinated by a Stalwart. His VP, Chester Arthur, was a stalwart. –Arthur turns into a reformer! Passes the Pendleton Act. –Limits the jobs a new president can fire / hire for –Requires civil service exams of government employees.

Civil Service Reform Soooo….. Does Civil Service Reform succeed or fail? Succeeds! Who’s happy? The poor!