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Wealth of Nations
Political essay by Adam Smith that argued mercantilism was less efficient than free markets. Politicians in the Gilded Age appealed to this laissez-faire economic theory to avoid regulating businesses, although this essay noted that competition was needed for free markets to work, and competition was virtually nonexistent in many Gilded Age industries. Others argued Social Darwinism, the theory that natural selection should be applied to the marketplace. This justified ignoring the poor. -
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Inventions
Telegraph (1844), transatlantic cable (1866), typewriter (1867), telephone (1876), cash register (1879), fountain pen (1884), calculating machine (1887), adding machine (1888), Eastman's Kodak camera (1888), and the safety razor and blade (1895). Notable inventors included Alexander Graham Bell, George Westinghouse, and Thomas Edison, who created the Menlo Park research lab that pumped out 1,000 patented inventions and introduced the concept of collaboration. -
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Population Growth
U.S. population tripled in this period. Negative "pushes" of foreign countries (poverty, overcrowding, joblessness, religious persecution, etc.) and positive "pulls" of the U.S. (freedom, economic opportunities in the West, industrial urban jobs, etc.) attracted immigrants. Unlike antebellum "old" immigrants, "new" immigrants were poor, did not speak English, and were not Protestant. This contributed to strong nativism in the U.S., although organizations like Tammany Hall aided them (for votes). -
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National Grange Movement
Fought the monopolistic trusts, "middlemen," railroads, and taxes and led to insufficient funds for farmers. It established cooperatives to cut out middlemen. Granger laws were passed to regulate railroad rates, and Mann v. Illinois affirmed the constitutionality of these. -
Homestead Act
Gave 160 acres of free land for settlement for five years. However, five times as many families built this land. Two-thirds failed by 1900 due to rough conditions, but the rest survived on dry-farming techniques, Russian wheat, and government aid. The Great Plains ("Great American Desert") was not hospitable. West of the 100th, the terrain was desert. Amerindian tribes in this area were nomadic. -
Morrill Act of 1862
Granted land to create universities. Its predecessor in 1890 gave funds. Philanthropists and advocates of education for women and Blacks also donated. Colleges added electives, a focus on research, social activities, and social sciences. Additionally, kindergarten, compulsory education laws, and public high schools greatly increased education in the Gilded Age. -
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Reconstruction
Through various measures, the presidents and then Congress sought to reunite the two sections while ensuring civil rights at the same time. They failed. The two sections were reunited by the 1870s, and African Americans briefly enjoyed heightened rights from the Civil War Amendments and corresponding acts of Congress. However, when the Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction, African Americans were left defenseless in a racist land, their supports distracted by economic issues. -
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Gilded Age Changes & Reforms
The development of a middle class, the "Gospel of Wealth" (Andrew Carnegie), urban development and urbanization, industrialization, leisure time (used for media, circuses, music, sports, etc.), the Social Gospel Movement (Christians should focus on social justice), women's suffrage, temperance (excessive drinking --> poverty), and realism & naturalism in art and literature. -
National Labor Union
The first labor union to gather from all states. It advocated higher wages, an 8-hour workday (which it won for gov't workers), equal rights for women and African Americans, monetary reform, and worker cooperatives. It lost support in the 1870s due to depressions and failed strikes, although its platform foreshadowed the Populist Party's Omaha Platform (1892) and changes that would occur in the Progressive era (1900-1917). -
NY Central Railroad
Cornelius Vanderbilt used the profits from a steamboat business to merge local railroads into the NY Central Railroad. This was a major theme throughout the Gilded Age; railroads expanded extremely quickly, relying on federal funding and lands. However, many companies owned them and competition rendered them inefficient. Men like Vanderbilt in 1867 and J. P. Morgan in 1893 sought to consolidate them to maximize profits and build monopolies. -
Knights of Labor & Haymarket Bombing
A secret society that went public in 1881. It opened membership to all workers and fought for a variety of reforms. It was loosely organized and had little control over local strikes. In 1886, a public meeting in Haymarket Square in Chicago became violent after Chicago police tried to break it up, and someone threw a bomb, killing 7 officers. The bomber was not found, but local anarchists were tried and some sentenced. The Knights lost popularity and support for their association with the event. -
Promontory Point
The Union Pacific (from Omaha) and Central Pacific (from Sacramento) railroads met at Promontory Point, creating the First Transcontinental Railroad. Further major railroads were built, although they harmed the environment and local Amerindians. -
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Gold vs. Silver Debate
The gold standard was blamed for the Panic of 1873 and caused massive debate towards the end of the Gilded Age. Would the U.S. switch to greenbacks (paper money)? Silver? The Specie Resumption Act (1875) removed greenbacks (used in the war) from circulation. The Brand-Allison Act allowed limited coinage of silver monthly. Politicians acted lethargically regarding economic issues until the Panic of 1893, focusing more on winning elections than advancing their platforms. -
Indian Wars
Caused by continued White abuses of treaties made with Amerindians. The reservation policy sought to restrict them to definite boundaries, which was not compatible with the nomadic plains tribes (Whites did not have a nuanced understanding of the differences between the tribes). The Indian Appropriation Act of 1871 ended recognition of their sovereignty. Several wars broke out: the Red River War, the Sioux Wars, Little Big Horn (U.S. General Custer lost), and the Nez Perce War. -
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
During a depression, railroads cut wages. Strikes on the Baltimore and OH railroads spread to Northern states and across industries. Hayes shut down the strike as it grew national, but not before over 100 people died. Some employers addressed grievances, while some busted union organizations. This strike exemplified the growing wealth gap during the Gilded Age. By the Pullman Strike (1894), many feared industrial warfare would evolve into all-out class warfare. -
Standard Oil Trust
John D. Rockefeller created this company as a monopoly which was so powerful it could manipulate rival railroads into collapse. This company was very controversial. It was a trust, meaning it was a board that managed the assets of other companies. Other monopolistic techniques included horizontal integration (controlling competitors), vertical integration (controlling an industry), and holding companies (created to control many companies). These were criticized for their excessive power. -
Pendleton Act of 1881
In response to Garfield's assassination by an angry job applicant, Congress ended the patronage system and set up one of merit instead. This also created the Civil Service Commission. Candidates focused less on their parties and more on the rich. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
Blocked Chinese immigration. Chinese had greatly affected the population of the West Coast. Many came for gold rushes like the CA Gold Rush in 1849. Anti-Asian feelings caused Congress to block other Asian immigrants in 1917 and 1924. -
Civil Rights Cases of 1883
SCOTUS ruled Congress can't ban discrimination by private individuals and businesses serving the public. Jim Crow laws had completely overtaken the South. Disenfranchisement through literacy tests, poll taxes, White-only primaries, and the grandfather clause ("you can vote if your grandfather could before the war") shut down Black suffrage. Other elements of the Jim Crow era included no jury duty for Blacks, harsher convictions, vigilante lynching, and economic discrimination. -
Contract Labor Law
Restricted temporary workers in the U.S. Other roadblocks to immigration included medical exams and taxes. Opposition to immigration included: labor union members (who feared competition), employers (who feared reform), nativists (who were anti-Catholic), and Social Darwinists (who thought everyone was inferior to English and Germans). Only political machines like Tammany Hall sided with immigrants (and almost always to gain voters). Settlement houses arose to help immigrant neighborhoods. -
American Federation of Labor
Led by Samuel Gompers, this organization adhered to simple unionism such as boycotting and collective bargaining to gain higher wages and better conditions. It had little success until the 20th century. -
Dawes Severalty Act
Ended tribal organizations, distributed land, and offered citizenship to Amerindians who assimilated for 25 years. The act failed and the population dropped to 200,000 by 1900. In 1934, the Indian Reorganization Act recognized tribes once more. Now, three million Amerindians live in the U.S. Assimilationists like Helen Hunt Jackson (who wrote A Century of Dishonor in 1881) meant well but advocated assimilation, the trading of cultural traditions to enter mainstream U.S. culture. -
Interstate Commerce Act
Created to regulate railroad rates because states could not regulate interstate commerce. Part of this act was the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). Ironically, this helped the railroads more than farmers because the ICC lost most of its cases but stabilized railroad rates, removing destructive competition. The federal government also gave land grants to railroads to subsidize them. This was meant to encourage construction and increase the value of gov't lands but actually led to corruption. -
Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890
An anti-monopoly act. In U.S. v. E.C. Knight Co., SCOTUS ruled this law applied only to commerce, not manufacturing. -
Homestead Strike
On behalf of rags-to-riches industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick cut wages by nearly 20% at Carnegie's steel plant. The people, whose entire lives were tied to the plant, went on strike, but Frick used a lockout, private guards, and strikebreakers to defeat them. 16 died, tarnishing Carnegie's reputation. Many powerful big business leaders ("robber barons," "captains of industry") like Carnegie had the support of state governments. -
Omaha Platform (Populist Party Platform)
The Populist Party platform (adapted from the Ocala Platform) calling for: 1) Direct election of Senators, 2) initiatives & referendums, 3) unlimited silver coinage, 4) graduated income tax, 5) gov't ownership of railroads, telegraphs, and telephones, 6) loans and federal warehouses for farmers, and 7) an 8-hour workday -
Election of 1892
The Populist candidate James B. Weaver won votes, startling the two-party system, but not enough. Former President Cleveland won again, becoming the first (and so far only) POTUS to serve two non-consecutive terms. Immediately, the Panic of 1873 struck due to a stock market collapse over over-speculation. As foreclosures and unemployment increased, Cleveland adhered to the gold standard. He turned to Morgan for a gold loan, causing many to believe D.C. was in the hands of bankers. -
Pullman Strike
In response to wage cuts, workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company went to the American Railroad Union (ARU) for help. The ARU's leader, Eugene V. Debs, directed them to not handle Pullman cars, blocking national rail transportation. Railroads turned to Cleveland for help, who used injunctions and force to end the strike. In re. Debs (1895) approved court injunctions against strikes. Debs turned to socialism in response to the strike's failure. -
Coxey's March
"Coxey's Army" marched to D.C., gaining numbers along the way, to demand that the federal government hire the unemployed to work on internal improvements. It ended in disappointment, as Coxey was immediately arrested for trespassing. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
SCOTUS upheld a Louisiana law establishing the "separate but equal" doctrine that led to segregation Jim Crow laws in the South and existed until the decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). -
Election of 1896
Dems and Populists advocated the introduction of silver and both nominated William Jennings Bryan (famous for his powerful "Cross of Gold" speech). Reps and "Gold Bug" Dems supposed William McKinley, who advocated a high protective tariff (but was known as a friend of labor) and the gold standard. McKinley's manager Mark Hanna used mass media while Bryan crusaded around the nation. McKinley won, issuing in an era of Republican dominance, modern politics, and the U.S. as a world power. -
Buffalo & Cattle
By 1900, buffalo herds had been killed by hunters, partially to prevent Amerindians from accessing them. Just before this, cattle drives from Texas died out due to the Homestead Act (1862) and barbed-wire fencing (created by Joseph Glidden), ending the brief but iconic age of the cowboy.