The Gilded Age

Today’s Key Terms The Gilded Age Social Problems Booker T. Washington W.E.B. DuBois Political Problems Political Machines Tammany Hall Graft Thomas Nast Pendleton Civil Service Act

What Does It Mean To Be Gilded Gilded: To coat something in Gold The Gilded Age: This is a time period from 1877-1900 An era that looks rich and prosperous on the surface But, underneath that “gilded” surface is a rotten core

The Rotten Core Underneath the surface we will find the following problems Social problems for African Americans Factory workers and the poor Government corruption Like political machines Poverty Awful living and working conditions

The Rotten Core: African American Life Jim Crow Laws Segregated public venues by race Literacy Tests Requires voters to be able to read Who will this stop from voting?

The Rotten Core: African American Life Poll tax Require voters to pay in order to vote Who does this stop from voting? Grandfather Clause In order to vote, one’s grandfather had to be eligible to vote All of these strip Southern AA’s of their political rights Effects?

The Rotten Core: African American Life Laws Force Segregation Plessy v. Ferguson This case upheld the constitutionality of the Jim Crow Laws Declared the “separate but equal clause” For every $14 spent on white students, only $3 were spent on black students

Opposing Racial Injustice Booker T. Washington He believed AA’s should not demand immediate end to Jim Crow Laws AA’s should “pick themselves up by their own bootstraps” This means, he thought they should learn a skill Earn a good reputation Eventually, whites would see AA’s as equal and overturn Jim Crow Laws

Opposing Racial Injustices W.E.B. Dubois AA’s should demand full and immediate equality He didn’t believe AA’s should have to earn equality, but believed it was their right He wanted AA’s to learn more than simple skills i.e. Become doctors, lawyers, etc

Opposing Racial Injustices Ida B. Wells AA women who fought for AA rights Wrote newspaper called Free Speech This paper condemned lynching and poor treatment of AA’s

Struggles for Women Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton Formed NWSA to fight for women’s right to vote Anthony voted in one election and was arrested By 1906 only Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Idaho allowed women to vote

Struggles for Women Number of women attending college did increase at this time Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was formed to end alcohol abuse

Political and Economic Challenges

Political Problems Democrats and Republicans made it hard on each other to pass new laws Weak Presidents were corrupt or unable to pass legislation Grover Cleveland was noteworthy for his integrity

Political Machines Political Machine: Unofficial city organization designed to keep a particular party or group in power. Tammany Hall: The political machine in New York City that dominated the Democratic Party. It used its power to provide jobs and favors to its supporters, but its leaders often used corrupt means to get elected and to enrich themselves. Boss Tweed was the leader of Tammany Hall.

Graft: illegal or unfair gain. Graft still occurs today. With a partner, find an article in The New York Times about a person in government who misused their position for their own profit. Make a list of all the ways this specific example of corruption hurts others. Compare your list with the results of Tammany Hall graft years ago. Then on a blank piece of paper, created an advertisement denouncing this graft.

Political Cartoonists: These men expressed concern of corruption through cartoons Joseph Keppler “Bosses of the Senate” What does this cartoon say about corruption in politics? Thomas Nast The most famous of political cartoonists He exposed men like Boss Tweed

The Spoils System This system gave jobs to loyal party members This made civil service (govt jobs) inefficient, as many were not qualified for the jobs they were given.

Political Reform Pendleton Civil Service Act In order to work in civil service you had to pass a test This ensured that only qualified persons took civil service jobs