glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath. a period of greed and guile shady business practices, scandal- plagued politics, and vulgar display the Gilded Age as an era of corruption, conspicuous consumption, transformed into an urban (city) society dominated by industrial corporations – Big Business Mark Twain called the late nineteenth century the "Gilded Age." By this, he meant that the period was glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath. In the popular view, the late nineteenth century was a period of greed and guile : of rapacious Robber Barons, unscrupulous speculators, and corporate buccaneers, of shady business practices, scandal- plagued politics, and vulgar display. It is easy to caricature the Gilded Age as an era of corruption, conspicuous consumption, and unfettered capitalism. But it is more useful to think of this as modern America’s formative period, when an agrarian society of small producers was transformed into an urban (city) society dominated by industrial corporations – Big Business.

John D. Rockefeller holding the White House and Treasury department in the palm of his hand demonstrating the power big business held over government “WHAT A FUNNY LITTLE GOVERNMENT.” Horace Taylor drew this political cartoon of John D. Rockefeller holding the White House and Treasury department in the palm of his hand for the September 25, 1899 issue of The Verdict. Notice the smoke from the United States Capitol in the background? It has essentially become an oil refinery, itself demonstrating the power big business held over government.

What Twain meant was that the politics of the time looked clean and shiny, but underneath lay rot in the form of corruption and patronage. During this time, businesses bought votes in Congress, leaving workers and consumers with few advocates Political bosses, rather than elected officials ran many cities, In Twain's view, MONEY RULED.

…..used ANTI-COMPETIVE practices to build WEALTH

In 1872, a fraudulent private construction company named Credit Mobilier was discovered to be skimming money off of U.S. government contracts The company was supposed to complete the transcontinental railroad, but instead stole millions of dollars from the government Several prominent Republicans were implicated, including U.S. Grant’s Vice President, Schuyler Colfax. Consequently, blame for the scandal fell on Grant and his cabinet and was one of several scandals that tarred Grant’s 2 nd term in off and diverted public attention away from the FAILURE of Reconstruction in the South.

Of FARMERS movement Of FARMERS had more than a million members by 1875; it is an example of an early, organized POPULIST political movement. Grangers began by forming economic cooperatives that bought farming tools and sold crops en masse, utilizing the benefits of ECONOMIES OF SCALE. lobbying for legislation supportive of farmers They then evolved into a political organization, endorsing candidates and lobbying for legislation supportive of farmers.

Is a group of business that operate together to fix prices and to prevent new competitors from entering the market, forming and effective monopoly. In the 19 th and early 20 th centuries, populist leaders railed against trusts like Standard Oil and U.S. Steel.

As manufacturers turned to machines in the 19 th century, they found that their cost per unit went down as the number of units produced went up The lower their cost, the cheaper they could sell their products for. The cheaper they sold for, the more they SOLD. The more they sold, the cheaper the product became to produce and so on, and so on.

First arose in the 19 th century. Holding companies own enough stock in other businesses to have a controlling interest in every aspect of production, from the production of raw material all the way to the distribution of the final product. They often become monopolies, with effective control of an entire industry.

group of small companies in a single industry are combined to form an effective monopoly Was a business practice common at the end of the 1800s. A group of small companies in a single industry are combined to form an effective monopoly. The smaller companies are either bought out by a larger one, or they are destroyed through ruthless business practices. (survival of the fittest). It became illegal under antitrust legislation passed at the turn of the 20 th century (1900s)

VERTICAL INTEGRATION Carnegie Steel Refinery Rail Lines Raw Materials Limestone Quarries Iron Ore Fields Coal Mines

Held vast power in many cities in the 1880s. Local governments provided few services. Political bosses helped people find jobs, and homes, built parks and constructed INFRASCTURCTURE and funded police, and fire departments. In return, the bosses expected votes from citizens and" donations” from municipal governments. Many political bosses were affiliated with ORGANIZED CRIME; the most NOTORIOUS was News York City’s “BOSS” TWEED