POLITICS OF THE GILDED AGEmreidsocialstudies.weebly.com/.../8/...gilded_age_.pdfWhat is the “Gilded Age?” ... each document •These responses DO NOT have to be formal, but should

The Gilded Age

What is the “Gilded Age?”

• Term coined by Mark Twain to describe American in the late 19th

century:1. Glittering exterior

(growth of business, wealthy elites, powerful politicians)

2. Corrupt political core(government plagued with scandals)

3. Growing gap between rich and poor

The Incorporation of America

Essential Question:Industrialization increased the standard of living

and the opportunities of most Americans, but at what cost?

Causes of Rapid Industrialization• Steam Revolution of the 1830s-1850s (steamboats)

• The railroad fueled the growing U.S. economy:

• First big business in the U.S.

• A magnet for financial investment.

• The key to opening the West.

• Aided the development of other industries

• Technological innovations.

• Bessemer process (increase production of steel = lower cost)

• Edison →light bulb, phonograph, motion pictures.

• ABUNDANT:

– Unskilled & semi-skilled labor

– Abundant capital ($)

– Natural resources

• New, talented group of businessmen (entrepreneurs)

• U.S. population increased = larger market

• Government willing to help at all levels to stimulate economic growth (corruption?)

Thomas Edison, the “Wizard of Menlo Park”

New Business Culture

U.S. entrepreneurs developed a new business culture around three basic ideals.

1. Laissez-faire→ government “hands off” of business

• Emphasis on the individual (moral and economic ideal/compete freely in the marketplace)

• Markets are not man-made• No room for government in economics

2. Social Darwinism• Adapted the ideas from Darwin’s “Origin

of Species” to human economic interactions

• “Survival of the Fittest”→ individuals must have the freedom to succeed or fail (struggle)

• Government intervention to reward society is futile

3. Protestant (Puritan) “Work Ethic”• Horatio Alger (100+ novels) emphasizing

the “self-made man”• “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps”

Tactics of Industry• Monopolies: control of an entire

market or good by a single corporation

• Trusts: combination of independent corporations under one group of managers

• Holding companies: ownership of multiple companies by a single controlling company which doesn’t actually produce anything itself

• Interlocking Directorates: when the directors of one company serve on the board of directors of multiple other related companies

Andrew CarnegieIndustry? –Carnegie Steel Co.

Techniques- Vertical integration-company takes over suppliers, distributors, and transportation systems to gain total control of its product

Monopoly

• –Complete control of a product or service

Philosophies:

1. Gospel of Wealth

Philosophy by Andrew Carnegie stating that people should be free to make as much money as they can but then they should give it away

Invention that helped?

–Bessemer Process-Air is injected into molten iron to remove carbon and other impurities producing steel (a more flexible and rust-resistant metal)

–Brooklyn Bridge

With great economicpower must also come

great responsibility!

John D. RockefellerIndustry? Standard Oil Co.

Techniques- Horizontal integration–Merging of companies that make similar products

Invention that helped?–Drake-steam engine to drill for oil

Trust

• –A group of separate companies that are placed under the control of a single managing board

• Created in 1870 by Rockefeller and several partners– Used Volume pricing which allowed Standard Oil to bankrupt any competitors who refused to sell out

• Became so powerful a monopoly that it was ordered broken up by the Supreme Court in 1911

New Types of Business Entities• Trusts→

entities created to hold corporate wealth for the “trustee” →HOW?:

– Horizontal Integration: merging the same types of business into a monopoly

• John D. Rockefeller = Standard Oil

– Vertical Integration: combining into one company all the phases of manufacturing

• Andrew Carnegie → U. S. Steel

Cornelius Vanderbilt• 1794 –1877

• •“The Commodore”

• •Dropped out of school to operate a ferry business which grew into a huge fortune in the shipping and railroad industries

• •Founded Vanderbilt University with a $1 million donation, the largest in US history at that time

• •One of his grandsons built Biltmore House in Asheville, NC

J.P. Morgan• 1837 –1913

• •Financed the merger of steel companies into the giant US Steel; also financed the merger of electric operators into General Electric

• •Key stakeholder in several other corporations, including International Harvester, AT&T, and numerous railroads

• •Was scheduled to sail on the Titanic, but cancelled his reservation at the last minute

Regulating the Trusts

• 1877 →Munn. v. Illinois→ private property used for the public good could be regulated by the government

• 1886 →Wabash v. Illinois→ federal government (not states) is in charge ofregulating interstate commerce (led to the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission)

• 1890 → Sherman Antitrust Act → This act banned any formations that would restrict trade, not distinguishing between bad and good trusts.

• The act was a hamper on worker unions, but it showed that the government was slowly moving away from laissez faire ideals

• 1895 → U.S. v. E. C. Knight Co.→ the government sued E.C Knight Co. due a violation in the Sherman Anti-Trust Act since E.C. controlled 98% of the sugar refinement industry

• The court ruled in favor of E.C. Knight, stating that manufacturing was not subject to the act. This made regulation more difficult.

Directions: Using the documents, create a chart which explains the following: Industrialist treatment of workers & competition and use of wealth. Then in a jigsaw present your Industrialist to your group and fill in your chart. After discussing all of the industrialist, your group needs to come to consensus of whether these Industrialists should be considered a Robber Baron or Captain of Industry?

Captain of Industry or Robber Baron?

Essential Question:

Can an individual have too muchmoney?

Captains of Industry or Robber Barons DBQ

• Read the Overview and Background Essay• This information will form the basis by which you will judge the Documents

– Now “test” your knowledge by completing the Captains of Industry or Robber Barons Labeling Activity• Ready? Go!

• Examine each of the Documents– On a separate piece of paper respond to the questions that correspond to

each document• These responses DO NOT have to be formal, but should reflect an understanding of the

document

• Use the Buckets to sort the information presented in the Documents– Based on your understanding of the document, can you use this as evidence

that these men were “Captains of Industry” or “Robber Barons”• Circle your selection• In the Bucket, briefly describe what your evidence will be to support your selection

Labor Unions &Labor Leaders of the Gilded Age

Essential Question:How can people who are without

means (money, resources, stuff) affect change?

Working conditions⚫ Monotonous – same job day

after day

⚫ 12 – 16 hour shifts, 6 days a week

⚫ Dangerous machinery with no safety precautions

⚫ Workers frequently lost fingers, limbs, eyesight, & hearing

⚫ Lung diseases from coal and lint dust

⚫ When workers were injured or too sick to work, they were fired

Child Labor⚫ Factory owners often

hired children because:

⚫ They were smaller, so more room for machinery

⚫ They were cheaper –children were paid less than half of what grown men were

⚫ They were easier to intimidate with beatings and abuse

Union Tactics⚫ Strikes: workers walked off the job in

protest⚫ Boycotts: encouraged the public to not

buy goods from companies that would not negotiate with labor

⚫ Collective bargaining: employees negotiate contracts as a group rather than as individuals

⚫ Mediation: allowing a neutral third party to oversee negotiations

⚫ Arbitration: allowing a neutral third party to hear both sides’ arguments and make a final, binding ruling

⚫ Closed shops: agreement where employers could only hire union members, non-union workers were banned from the workplace

Employer Responses⚫ Yellow-dog contracts: contracts

which forbade workers from joining unions

⚫ Blacklists: known union sympathizers were fired

⚫ Lockouts: closing of factories to punish workers for unionizing

⚫ Scabs: replacement workers hired to replace strikers

⚫ Injunctions: sought legal court orders that forbade strikes

⚫ Strikebreakers: hired thugs used to violently attack union leaders, strikers

Government ResponsesSupported employers over labor unions by:

⚫ Courts often ruled unions and strikes to be illegal conspiracies.. Thus passing an injunction (court order to end strike)

⚫ Courts authorized use of force to break strikes when necessary

⚫ Presidents even used the US Army to break strikes

⚫ Laws- Sherman Antitrust Act

Labor Unions & Labor Leaders• With your assigned group:

– Use the available resources (book and internet) to research your assigned Labor Union.

– Complete the information for your assigned Labor Union.

– Then create a power point slide to present to the class which displays the information.

– Be able to answer the essential question as it pertains to your labor leader and Union! ☺

– Rubric: Characteristics/Beliefs of Union (15pts), Strikes/ Happened (10pts), Picture (5pts), Power point Slide Creativity ( 5pts) Group Effort (5pts), & EQ (10 pts.)

Essential Question:How can people who are without means (money,

resources, stuff) affect change?

Labor Leader Labor Union Characteristics Strikes

William Sylvis

Uriah Stephens & Terence Powderly

Samuel Gompers

“Big” Bill Haywood

Eugene V. Debs

Mother Jones

Key

Skilled Workers → trades/crafts that required training

Skilled AND Unskilled Workers → little training; jobs held by immigrants

Violent→ Non-violent→ arbitration, collective bargaining

Socialist→ overthrow of capitalism; government control of business

Labor Unions & Labor Leaders

Labor Leader Labor Union Characteristics/Beliefs of the Union What happened to the Union/Strikes?

William Sylvis

National Labor Union (NLU)

Organized by an ironworker; wanted to link smaller local unions together; excluded African Americans

Persuaded Congress to pass an 8-hour workday for government workers




Knights of Labor

Open to all workers; supported an 8-hour workday; “equal pay for equal work”; supported arbitration over using strikes to achieve goals

Public support died off after the violence of the Haymarket Affair (blamed on KOL)

An injury to one is the concern of all!



Samuel Gompers

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Skilled workers only; focused on collective bargaining and written agreements between management and labor; used strikes

Achieved pay raises and shorter workweeks



“Big” Bill Haywood

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW); “Wobblies”

Made up of more radical unionists and socialists; included African Americans; included unskilled workers; used strikes

One successful strike; provided dignity to workers; violence was justified



Eugene V. Debs

American Railway Union (ARU)

Skilled and unskilled workers; used strikes; won a major strike but declined after the failure of another

Debs became the presidential candidate for the American Socialist Party

I am not a Labor Leader; I do not want you to follow me or anyone else; if you are looking for a Moses to lead you out of this capitalist wilderness, you will stay right where you are…You must use your heads as well as your hands, and get yourself out of your present condition; as it is now the capitalists who use your heads and your hands.



Mother Jones

United Mine Workers of America (UMW)

Worked with coal miners to strike; led mill children on a march to President T. Roosevelt; non-violent strikes

Passage of child labor laws; supported the Great Railroad Strike of 1877

Labor Leader Labor Union Characteristics Strikes

William Sylvis National Labor Union (NLU)

Organized by an ironworker; wanted to link smaller local unions together; excluded African Americans

Persuaded Congress to pass an 8-hour workday for governmentworkers


Knights of Labor Open to all workers; supported an 8-hour workday; “equal pay for equal work”; supported arbitration over using strikes to achieve goals

Public support died off after the violence of the Haymarket Affair (blamed on KOL)

Samuel Gompers American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Skilled workers only; focused on collective bargaining and written agreements between management and labor; used strikes

Achieved pay raises and shorter workweeks

“Big” Bill Haywood Industrial Workers of the World (IWW); “Wobblies”

Made up of more radical unionists and socialists; included African Americans; included unskilled workers; used strikes

One successful strike; provided dignity to workers; violence was justified

Eugene V. Debs American Railway Union (ARU)

Skilled and unskilled workers; used strikes; won a major strike but declined after the failure of another

Debs became the presidential candidate for the American Socialist Party

Mother Jones United Mine Workers of America (UMW)

Worked with coal miners to strike; led mill children on a march to President T. Roosevelt; non-violent strikes

Passage of child labor laws; supported the Great Railroad Strike of 1877

Key

Skilled Workers→ trades/crafts that required training

Skilled AND Unskilled Workers→ little training; jobs held by immigrants

Violent→ Non-violent→ arbitration, collective bargaining

Socialist→ overthrow of capitalism; government control of business

Management v. Labor

Management v. Labor v. Government

• “Scabs” (workers to take the place of strikers)

• Pinkertons (spies/private police)

• Lockout (not allow workers to enter)

• Blacklisting (list of “trouble makers”)

• Yellow-dog/iron-clad contracts (agree not to join a union)

• Court Injunctions (court orders ending strikes)

• Open shop (workers not required to join a union)

“Tools” of Management

• Boycotts, Picketing (protesting with signs)

• Closed shop (required workers to join the union)

• Organized strikes & “Wildcat” strikes (strikes without the permission of the union)

• Collective Bargaining

• Mediation ( allow 3 party to over see negotiations) and Arbitration ( 3rd part makes final decision)

“Tools” of Labor

Supported employers over labor unions by:

⚫ Courts often ruled unions and strikes to be illegal conspiracies.. Thus passing an injunction (court order to end strike)

⚫ Courts authorized use of force to break strikes when necessary

⚫ Presidents even used the US Army to break strikes

⚫ Laws- Sherman Antitrust Act

Government Response to Strikes

Labor Unions & Major StrikesLabor Union Involved

Strike Outcome

N/A (Mother Jones supported)

Great Railroad Strike of 1877 (Ohio)

• B &O Railroad employees (80,000) went on strike because wages were cut

•Angry strikers damaged equipment, ripped up tracks, and blocked other tracks•President Hayes sent in federal troops and over a 100 people died in the violence (government support for business)•Millions of dollars in damage done to railroads

Knights of Labor

Haymarket Affair (Chicago)

• Unions called for a day of general strike to promote the 8-hour workday

•Strikers and police clashed in Chicago, 1 striker killed •Anarchists protested in Haymarket Square the next day; police arrived to break up the demonstration •A bomb was set off, followed by a gun battle, killing 8 policemen, 4 strikers•8 anarchists were arrested, including a member of the Knights of LaborImportance: Knights of Labor lost popularity for being associated with anarchists

Labor Unions and Major Strikes

Steel workers

Homestead Steel Strike of 1892 (Pennsylvania)

• Steel workers demanded higher wages•Carnegie response: locking out workers, fortifying the plant with high fences and guard towers and trying to hire scabs •Striking workers laid siege to the plant, refused to allow scabs or even managers entry. Then , Carnegie sent 300 armed agents of the Pinkerton Security firm to secure the plant and a gun battle erupted•The riot put down by Pinkerton Police (private) and the state militia& the plant reopened with (mostly black) replacement workers •The strike failed; union voted to accept the pay cut and go back to work

Labor Unions and Major Strikes

American Railway Union (ARU)

PullmanStrike of 1894 (Illinois)

• Pullman cut wages and fired union leaders

• Workers went on strike and were led by Eugene V. Debs

• Railroad traffic came to a halt;• President Cleveland used the army to

break the strike (government support for business)

• Strike only ended when Pullman got company attached to the delivery of US Mail

• Union leaders were jailed • American Railway union never recovered

from the Pullman defeat

Other Incidents

• Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

• In 1911 fire erupted at the factory killing 146 women

• Exit doors had been locked to prevent theft

• Led to new regulations of factory conditions