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 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 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 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 By 1900 – 100s of Monopolies - Singer, Morgan, Edison, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Swift

Pros v. Cons of Monopolies What should the government do? - Regulate Business v. Laissez Faire Social Darwinism – Andrew Carnegie and “Gospel of Wealth” Government Corruption – Political Bosses 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 The Grange - The Farmers Alliance Populist Party – 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

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 – Samuel Gompers – skilled labor - ‘bread and butter’ unionism

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, 4 people killed, 8 arrested - Homestead Strike of 1892 – Pinkerton Detective Agency and Scabs, National Guard Troops - Pullman Strike of 1894 – American Railway Union, President Cleveland, Court Injunction, Federal Troops The End Result –Success? - Violence, Gov’t support- Sherman Anti-trust?

Minority Groups: Immigrants 1865-1920 – 30 Million - Why? 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 Nativism – Anti-immigration – Why? - Ellis Island and Angel Island – Medical and Mental Tests - Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 - Gentleman’s Agreement– 1907 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 Ethnic Neighborhoods Tenements City Planning – Sewage, Transportation, Fire and Police Political Bosses – Boss Tweed - Graft

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