1. “The Gilded Age” Social Darwinism and the Early Reform Movement
(and a quick word on the state of POLITICS)

2. lets figure out this whole “GILDED” Age name thing!
FIRST of all…
lets figure out this whole “GILDED” Age name thing!
Mark Twain, Missouri's most famous author, continued to produce both popular and socially significant literature. In 1873, Twain, along with Charles Dudley Warner, published the book The Gilded Age, which was a scathing commentary on society in this time period. Twain's title coined the phrase that permanently named the era. The apt title points to the greed, corruption, poverty, and social injustice hidden by a radiant veneer that covered up the guilt of the wealthy who did not take action to cure society's ills. Although a fictional story, the novel depicts an American society riddled with corruption, scandal, and huge economic disparity among its citizens.
"The golden gleam of the gilded surface hides the cheapness of the metal underneath."
New inventions, booming industries, millions of ‘new’ Americans, skyscrapers, electricity and wealthy entrepreneurs, BUT…

3. The Gilded Age – Main Ideas
Americans form VERY distinct attitudes towards the newly emerged industrial society!
Individualism and Social Darwinism
Reformers developed new ideas for helping the urban poor…
Pre-Progressive era reform
The politics of Washington even focused on the economy!
Democrats vs. Republicans and Political Machines

4. The American Attitude Towards Success
Do you think that every person should be left on their own to succeed or fail?
Why did Americans develop distinct attitudes towards societal success and industrial society?
Horatio Alger and his “rags-to- riches” novels…
The idea of “individualism”
Social Darwinism

5. The American Attitude Towards Success
Horatio Alger, Jr. – late 19th century author…
What idea did his books describe?
Americans saw themselves as the reason for progress!
This is the idea of individualism…
These ideas probably had the greatest affect on who?
Wrote juvenile novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through hard work, determination, courage, and honesty. His writings were characterized by the "rags-to-riches" narrative, which had a formative effect on America during the Gilded Age…

6. The American Attitude Towards Success
Charles Darwin
What is Natural Selection?
Herbert Spencer and…
Social Darwinism
“Survival of the fittest”
Who supported these ideas?
NOT Christians!
Wealthy industrialists, of course…

7. The American Attitude Towards Success
A bit softer version of Social Darwinism…
Andrew Carnegie’s The Gospel of Wealth
Philanthropy and “helping those that cannot help themselves”
The central thesis of Carnegie's essay was the peril of allowing large sums of money to be passed into the hands of persons or organizations ill-equipped mentally or emotionally to cope with them…
As a result, the wealthy entrepreneur must assume the responsibility of distributing his fortune in a way that it will be put to good use, and not wasted on frivolous expenditure. In this he represented a captain of industry who had risen to power by his own hand…

8. The Early Reform Movement
The Progressive Era was ALL ABOUT reform and change…
Reform during the Gilded Age was slow and gradual – but, started the movement!
How did the early reform movement begin?
Society begins to challenge Social Darwinism
The Social Gospel movement begins to spread

9. The Early Reform Movement
Industrialization, Urbanization and Immigration triggered debate on how to address society’s problems… (STILL TODAY!!!)
Government’s role in economy and society
Social Darwinism is challenged!
1879, Henry George, Progress and Poverty *
1883, Lester Frank Ward, Dynamic Sociology
1888, Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward
Progress and Poverty seeks to explain why poverty exists notwithstanding widespread advances in technology and even where there is a concentration of great wealth such as in cities.
George saw how technological and social advances (including education and public services) increased the value of land (natural resources, urban locations, etc.) and, thus, the amount of wealth that can be demanded by the owners of land from those who need the use of land. In other words: the better the public services, the higher the rent is (as more people value that land).The tendency of speculators to increase the price of land faster than wealth can be produced to pay has the result of lowering the amount of wealth left over for labor to claim in wages, and finally leads to the collapse of enterprises at the margin, with a ripple effect that becomes a serious business depression entailing widespread unemployment, foreclosures, etc.
George examines various proposed strategies to prevent business depressions, unemployment and poverty, but finds them unsatisfactory. As an alternative he proposes his own solution: a single tax on land values. This would be a tax on the annual value of land held as private property. It would be high enough to allow for all other taxes—especially upon labor and production—to be abolished. George argued that a land value tax would give landowners an incentive to use the land in a productive way, thereby employing labor and creating wealth, or to sell the land to those who could and would themselves use the land in a productive way. This shift in the bargaining balance between resource owners and laborers would raise the general level of wages and ensure no one need suffer involuntary poverty.
Dynamic Sociology – PEOPLE SUCCEEDED because of their ability to cooperate! …government is better able to fix economic and social problems because it represents a cooperative effort on the part of everyone; regulate economy and prevent inequality, cure poverty and social issues, promote and provide education.
Looking Backward – Julian West quickly learns that twentieth-century society is vastly different from that of the nineteenth century. The economy is based on publicly owned capital rather than private, as was the case in Julian's day. The government controls the means of production and divides the national product equally between all citizens. Every citizen receives a college-level education. Individuals are given a great deal of freedom in choosing a career, and everyone retires at the age of forty-five. Society is based on an ideal of the brotherhood of man, and it is unthinkable that any individual should suffer the evils of poverty or hunger…

10. The Early Reform Movement
* The Social Gospel movement spread as societal problems became more apparent…
Protestant Christian movement to solve problems in society!
“Salvation” and good deeds were tied together – emulate the life of Jesus Christ!
Purpose of wealth was not to…
* Challenged Social Darwinism and would heavily influence the Progressive Movement!
The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States…
The movement applied Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as wealth perceived as excessive, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, bad hygiene, child labor, inadequate labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war…
Ministers, especially ones belonging to the Protestant branch of Christianity, began to tie salvation and good works together. They argued that people must emulate the life of Jesus Christ. To honor God, people must put aside their own earthly desires and help other people, especially the needy.
The purpose of wealth was not to hoard it but to share it with other, less fortunate people. The ideas that originated from the Social Gospel would heavily influence the Progressive Movement. The Social Gospel Movement also attacked the concept of Social Darwinism.

11. The Early Reform Movement
How did churches get involved in the community to help the urban poor deal with problems?
1880s, the Salvation Army
Drug addicts and “undesirables”
1870s, Young Men’s Christian Assoc. (YMCA)
Libraries, gyms, hotels, etc.
1880s, Settlement Houses
Community Center; health care, education, rec. programs
Jane Addams – “Hull House” (1889)

12. The State of Politics (D.C. and Local)
Democrats and Republicans competed for the interests of the American people while urban problems caused local politics to drastically change…
What issues did politicians focus on at the end of the 19th century?
The Civil Service system (patronage and the “spoils” system)
Interstate Commerce (railroads – the ICC)
Tariffs (Reps vs. Dems)
Trusts
Urban poverty (Political Machines)

13. The State of National Politics
1877, Rutherford B. Hayes (Rep.)
patronage – “spoils”
1880, James Garfield… assassinated! (Arthur becomes Pres.)
1883, Pendleton Act
1884, Grover Cleveland (Dem.)
1887, Interstate Commerce Act
Tariff debate (REPS vs. DEMS)
1888, Benjamin Harrison (Rep.)
McKinley Tariff
* Sherman Anti-Trust Act *
1.) The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of United States is a federal law established in 1883 that stipulated that government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit…
The act provided selection of government employees competitive exams, rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation. It also made it illegal to fire or demote government employees for political reasons and prohibits soliciting campaign donations on Federal government property. To enforce the merit system and the judicial system, the law also created the United States Civil Service Commission. A crucial result was the shift of the parties to reliance on funding from business, since they could no longer depend on patronage hopefuls.
2.) Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 is a United States federal law that was designed to regulate the railroad industry, particularly its monopolistic practices…
The Act required that railroad rates be "reasonable and just," but did not empower the government to fix specific rates. It also required that railroads publicize shipping rates and prohibited short haul/long haul fare discrimination, a form of price discrimination against smaller markets, particularly farmers. The Act created a federal regulatory agency, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), which it charged with monitoring railroads to ensure that they complied with the new regulations.
The Act was the first federal law to regulate private industry in the United States…
3.) The Tariff Act of 1890, commonly called the McKinley Tariff, was an act of the United States Congress framed by Representative William McKinley that became law on October 1, The tariff raised the average duty on imports to almost fifty percent, an act designed to protect domestic industries from foreign competition…
Protectionism, a tactic supported by Republicans, was fiercely debated by politicians and condemned by Democrats…
4.) The Sherman Antitrust Act is a federal competition law passed by Congress in It prohibits certain business activities that reduce competition in the marketplace, and requires the United States federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of being in violation. It was the first Federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies, and today still forms the basis for most antitrust litigation by the United States federal government. However, for the most part, politicians were unwilling to refer to the law until Theodore Roosevelt's presidency…

14. The State of Local Politics
Political Machines pop up in large cities…
“informal political group designed to gain and keep power”
Why did they pop up?
PROS… Provided much needed services to the urban poor
CONS… Took bribes and gave contracts to friends
William “Boss” Tweed and Tammany Hall (NY City – 1860s and 70s)
$50 – 75 million from NYC! ($2 – 6 billion today!)
In the United States during the Gilded Age, patronage became a controversial issue. Tammany boss William M. Tweed was an American politician who ran what is considered now to have been one of the most corrupt political machines in the country's history. Tweed and his cronies ruled for a brief time with absolute power over the city and state of New York. At the height of his influence, Tweed was the third-largest landowner in New York City, a director of the Erie Railway, the Tenth National Bank, and the New-York Printing Company, as well as proprietor of the Metropolitan Hotel. At times he was a member of the United States House of Representatives, the New York City Board of Advisors, and the New York State Senate. In 1873, Tweed was convicted for diverting between $40 million and $200 million of public monies…
Tweed was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1852, and the New York County Board of Supervisors in 1858, the year he became the head of the Tammany Hall political machine. He was also elected to the New York State Senate in 1867, but Tweed's greatest influence came from being an appointed member of a number of boards and commissions, his control over political patronage in New York City through Tammany, and his ability to ensure the loyalty of voters through jobs he could create and dispense on city-related projects…
Tweed was convicted for stealing an amount estimated by an aldermen's committee in 1877 at between $25 million and $45 million from New York City taxpayers through political corruption, although later estimates ranged as high as $200 million… Based on the inflation or devaluation rate of the dollar since 1870 of 2.7%, $25–$200 million is between $1 and $8 billion 2010 dollars…
Tweed recognized that the support of his constituency was necessary for him to remain in power, and as a consequence he used the machinery of the city's government to provide numerous social services, including building more orphanages, almshouses and public baths… Tweed also fought for the New York State Legislature to donate to private charities of all religious denominations, subsidize Catholic schools and hospitals, and keep the King James Bible available in schools…
From 1869 to 1871, under Tweed's influence, the state of New York spent more on charities than for the entire time period from 1852 to 1868 combined Tweed also pushed through funding for a teachers college and prohibition of corporal punishment in schools, as well as salary increases for school teachers. Certain aspects of Tammany Hall's activities – such as aid to the sick and unemployed, and advocacy for tenants and workers – foreshadowed later developments in the U.S. labor movement and Social Security…