The Gilded Age Gilded Age Term coined by

The Gilded Age

Gilded Age �Term coined by Mark Twain that describes this era as gilded �Gilded means looks good on the outside but was not so pleasant on the inside.

Government from 1877 -1900 �Laissez-faire (hands off) Government �Government policies helped business by not placing restrictions on business and giving them special consideration �Supported by Republicans

Innovations �Edwin Drake- First person to drill for oil in Titusville, PA �Thomas Edison. Perfected the incandescent light bulb �George Westinghouse. Invented Airbrakes for Railroad Cars

More Innovations �Alexander Miles- Improved the method of the opening and closing of elevator doors �Christopher Sholescreated the typewriter which created opportunities for women in clerical jobs �Elias Howe- invented the sewing machine for textile industry

Business Innovations �Corporation- Organization owned by many people but treated as a single entity -allowed limits for liability �Holding Companiescorporation formed to buy the stock of other companies and thus creates a monopoly.

Monopolies and Trusts �Monopoly- A company that controls most or all of the market and limits competition �Trust- Organization of two or more corporations that allows their shares to be managed by someone else (trustee) �Trustee- person has no ownership so it can’t be considered a corporation

Horizontal v. Vertical Integration �Horizontal integration- business activity involving the merger of two similar companies -ex. Oil company A + oil company B Vertical Integration. Business practice in which all levels of production are owned by the same company

Captains of Industry Or Robber Barons? � Captains of Industry- Positive term for business leaders who helped America � Robber Barons- Negative term for business leaders who are seen as exploiting Americans

Business Leaders �Andrew Carnegie- Made fortune in Steel industry (Carnegie Steel) �Used the Bessemer steel process �Gospel of Wealth- rich should give back to community

Business Leaders � J. P. Morgan- made his fortune in banking and financing -Bought out Carnegie Steel and Formed U. S. Steel � John D. Rockefeller- Oil Tycoon, founded Standard Oil using horizontal integration � Cornelius Vanderbilt- merged railroad

Social Darwinism �Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection that could be applied to people �Herbert Spencer“Survival of the Fittest” �Horatio Alger- “Rags to Riches”