THE GILDED AGE 1876-1900

Notes by R. Horner and J. Rosenzweig PPT translation by N. Miller & T. Zigler

Presidents of the Gilded Age

19. Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877-1881 20. James A Garfield, March 4 to

September 19, 1881 21. Chester A. Arthur, 1881-1885 22. Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889 23. Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893 24. Grover Cleveland, 1893-1897 25. William McKinley, 1897-1901

Industry’s Rise

-Government promotes business interests -Corporations appear on the landscape -Laissez-faire arguments are numerous and

loud -The economy booms, for the most part -Labor unions form, and major strikes begin

to occur -The Supreme Court interferes primarily on

behalf of rich men and their corporations, against the unions and striking workers

Government Effects on Industry

-Imposition of tariffs -Land grants to railroads -Open lands to the west

(Homestead Act of 1862) -Loose immigration policy -Low taxes for businesses

Important "Robber Barons" - Andrew Carnegie (U. S.

Steel) - John D. Rockefeller

(Standard Oil) -William Vanderbilt (railroads) -J. P. Morgan (investment

banking)

http://www.canbyhistoricalsociety.org/railroad/railroadmapof1890.bmp

Federal Land Grants to Railroads

The Pro-Capitalism Argument

Social Darwinism (William Graham Sumner)

-Rags-to-riches (Horatio Alger)-Russell Conwell's "Acres of

Diamonds"-Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth"

Labor Unions -

National Labor Union = Founded 1866 – dissolved in 1872 - - 1st national union

-Knights of Labor (radical objectives): Haymarket Riot of 1886

-AFL (moderate): Samuel Gompers, skilled workers only

-IWW (socialist/anarchist): "Big Bill" Haywood

--Railroad Strike of 1877 --Haymarket Square riot of 1886 --Homestead Strike of 1892 --Pullman Strike of 1894

Politics in the Gilded Age

Corruption in the Grant administration (Credit Mobilier & Whiskey Ring) means presidents are largely ineffective. Congress rises in power.

Money supply is under debate: Specie Resumption Act of 1875 begins the debate. The Bland-Allison Act of 1878 attempts to compromise.

The "Billion Dollar Congress" is more active: -McKinley Tariff of 1890 -Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 -Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 -Wilson-Gorman Act of 1894 (higher tariff)

Agrarian Activists

Farmers organize (the Grange) and get results in the courts Railroads Co. and Banks are the “enemy”

Peik v. C&NW Railway (1876) States can regulate interstate commerce if the federal government isn't

Munn v. Illinois (1877) Local government wins right to restrict railroad price-gouging

Illinois v. Wabash (1886) Peik is overturned, but as a result Congress passes the Interstate Commerce Act to regulate big business

Populists

Populism rises in 1890s: reforms: -Secret ballot, initiative, referendum,

recall-Direct election of Senators-Free coinage of silver-Progressive income tax

Policies toward Native Americans

Sioux in the Black Hills (Custer and Little Big Horn 1876) – Gold in them hills

-Ghost Dancers (Wounded Knee 1890) -Assimilation (Carlisle Indian School in PA) -Dawes-Severalty Act ("civilizes" the tribes)

“Kill the Indian, save the man”

Imperialism and its justifications: -Alfred T. Mahan's "The Influence of Sea Power" -Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis -Religious beliefs (tying into "Manifest Destiny") -Social Darwinism

Spanish-American War

-Yellow journalism pumps up the public -Sympathy for revolutionary Cubans -Sinking of the Maine

-Cuba wins independence (sort of: see Platt Amendment)

-We take Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines (for $20 million)

We enter the new century having learned the benefits of imperialism, and having seen the political and social effects of war.