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Background• What does “gilded” mean?–Thin gold coating–Term coined by Mark Twain–U.S. Society/Politics looked shiny
on the outside, but underneath were dirty & corrupt
Background• What was happening in
the U.S.?–Reconstruction was ending– Industrialization booming–Economy growing• Division between classes
was wide–Rich = Extremely Wealthy,
Poor = Working Class
Background• Immigration Wave– Peaked between 1880-1920– Many from Germany, Ireland, and Eastern
Europe– Lived in tenement housing and worked in
factories• Made very little money• Poor living conditions
WEALTHY BUSINESSMEN• Andrew Carnegie – Steel industry, Gave most of
his money to charities
• John D. Rockefeller– Oil industry, “richest
person in history”
• Andrew Mellon– Banking and Industry
WEALTHY BUSINESSMEN• Viewed as “robber barons”– Exploited workers in order to gain wealth• Unsafe working conditions• Long hours• Little pay
• Eliminated competition by forming monopolies
WORKERS CALL FOR CHANGE
• Rise of Labor Unions– Knights of Labor, American Federation of Labor
• Protests and Strikes– Often violent (bombs, riots, deaths)– Railroad Strikes, Pullman Strike– Homestead Strike
• Pittsburgh, PA (1892), slashed wages, locked out workers, strike
• Violent – gunfire; state militia called in• Union leaders blacklisted, unions eliminated from
Homestead