Unit 1 Gilded Age 1877 1898 U S

Unit 1: Gilded Age 1877 -1898 U. S. History

• Gilded Age – era was characterized by the expansion of big business , rise of labor unions, industrialization, urbanization, westward expansion, political machines, and corrupt government officials • Innovations – • Telephone – 1876, Alexander Graham Bell • Electric Power – increased production in factories (lightbulb) • Steel production- Bessemer process; significantly speeded up the process • Petroleum-based products – Edwin Drake; hit oil in 1859, led the way to introduce kerosene lamps, gasoline, and gascombustible engines

Western Expansion • Cause – Homestead Act 1862, Klondike Gold Rush late 1800 s in northern Washington and Alaska; Transcontinental Railroad 1869 • Effect – populated western U. S. and forced Indians off land Population Growth • Workers migrated to cities • Cities became polluted • Urban sprawl; growth of suburbs • Settlement in animal habitats; deforestation • Increased demand of water and energy Assimilation • American Indian children were sent to boarding schools to become “Americanized” • Immigrants were Americanize in schools

Tenement Americanization

Economic Issues • • Industrialization shifted people from rural to urban society Innovations - Bessemer steel process, electricity, mass communications, and shipping Railroads – westward expansion, and shipping Labor Unions – Factory workers joined labor unions in order to engaged in collective bargaining Strikes – Haymarket Riot, Pullman, Homestead Farm Issues – mechanization led to the overproduction of goods Cattle Boom – demand of beef in cities increased Free enterprise – U. S. promoted free enterprise A. K. A. little government involvement

Social Issues • Factories used cheap labor – women, children, and immigrants • Skilled immigrants used their skills to establish businesses • Chinese Exclusion Act 1892 – prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the U. S. • Cities – became overcrowded, living conditions were unhealthy, lacked sanitation, and clean drinking water • Ethnic neighborhoods were established

Political Issues Indian Policies: • Westward expansion brought conflicts with American Indian tribes • Destroying Buffalo populations • Assimilation • Dawes Act: granted small parcels of land to tribe members

Political Machines: • Growth of political machines manifested in growing government corruption • Prominent Political machine was Tammany Hall in NYC led by Boss Tweed • Thomas Nast’s depicted political machines in political cartoons Civil service Reform: • The assassination of President Garfield by Charles J. Guiteau in 1881 propelled political corruption to the National stage • President Arthur helped pass the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 which was set up to end Patronage and instituted an exam system

Populism: • Populist movement appealed to poor farmers and ranchers who believed industrialists and bankers charged high prices on loans and shipping costs on trains • Populist Party 1896 was its peak; ran as a third-party candidate in elections • William Jennings Bryan ran for president in 1896 lost to William Mc. Kinley; Jennings Bryan ran 3 times for president • Populist party platform called for civil service reform, direct election of senators and elimination of national banks

Philanthropy • The Social Gospel – reform movement led by those who preached that salvation could be reached by serving the poor • The Gospel of Wealth 1889 – Andrew Carnegie proposed that rich men are “trustees” of their wealth and should administer it for the good of the public • Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Foundation • Vanderbilt University, Stanford University • Rockefeller created medical schools • J. P. Morgan was for the Arts