There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold gold…THE GILDED AGE OF AMERICAN HISTORYTHE GILDED AGE OF AMERICAN HISTORY
chapter 8chapter 8sections 1 & 2sections 1 & 2
When is the When is the GILDED AGEGILDED AGE??
• End of the Civil War until end of centuryEnd of the Civil War until end of century– 1865-1900 GILDED AGE– 1900-1917 Progressive Era– 1917-1918* WWI– 1920s Roaring ’20s– 1930s Great Depression– 1941-1945* WWII– 1945-1989 Cold War
What is the What is the GILDED AGEGILDED AGE??
• Time of growth in AmericaTime of growth in America– 2nd Industrial Revolution– Cumulative wealth increases
• Visible only on the surface
• Beneath the surfaceBeneath the surface– Unstable economic infrastructure– Immigration issues
• Poverty & crime
– Corruption
GILDED EconomicsGILDED Economics
• Unhindered capitalismUnhindered capitalism– Social Darwinism– Laissez-faire
• Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations• Free marketplace
• Government involvementGovernment involvement– Subsidies for key industries– Corruption
• Credit Mobilier scandal
Credit Mobilier ScandalCredit Mobilier Scandal
• Government loans given to Union Government loans given to Union Pacific for TCRRPacific for TCRR– Union Pac hires out Credit Mobilier company
• CM overcharges Union Pac, then bribes CM overcharges Union Pac, then bribes key congressmen tokey congressmen tokeep funds comingkeep funds coming– Not investigated
until 1872
GILDED PoliticsGILDED Politics
• Spoils systemSpoils system– Rutherford B. Hayes bucks the trend– James A. Garfield gets shot– Pendleton Civil Service Act
• Other reformOther reform– Railroad rebates– Interstate
CommerceCommission
Economic Depression, 1893Economic Depression, 1893
• Part of business cyclePart of business cycle
• Laissez-faireLaissez-faire policies policies
• Coxey’s ArmyCoxey’s Army
IMMIGRANTIMMIGRANTS!S!
chapter 8, section 2chapter 8, section 2
Where did America’s workers Where did America’s workers come from during this time of come from during this time of unusual industrial growth?unusual industrial growth?
• Former Former farmers moving to the cities to moving to the cities to escape the poor working conditions in escape the poor working conditions in rural America, and…rural America, and…
• IMMIGRANTS!
Why did they come?Why did they come?
• PUSHPUSH– Crop failures
– Land shortages
– Unemployment
– Rising taxes
– Political persecution
– Religious persecution
• 1890s pogroms against Russian Jews
• PULLPULL– Free land
• Homestead Act
– Personal freedoms
– Educational opps
– Not forced to serve long years in Army
– Participation in democratic gov’t
Who was coming to America?Who was coming to America?
• 1865-18901865-1890– 10 million from central & NW Europe
• 3 million from Germany• 3 million from British Isles
– Looked white,mostly Protestant,blended well
Who was coming to America?Who was coming to America?
• 1890-19201890-1920– 10 million from southern & eastern Europe
• 4 million Italians• 3 million Jews (mostly Russia)• Greeks, Slavs, Armenians
– Darker skin,different religions,did not blend in as well
Their JourneyTheir Journey
• 1-3 weeks across Atlantic1-3 weeks across Atlantic– Steerage
• 70% came thru NYC70% came thru NYC
• Physical exams upon entrancePhysical exams upon entrance
• Find familiesFind families– Ghettos
• Westward migration
Non-EuropeansNon-Europeans
• ChineseChinese– Mid-1800s recruitment
to railroads– Separate communities– Lowered wages, conflict– Chinese Exclusion Act
• 1882, 1892, 1902,1882, 1892, 1902,permanent until 1943permanent until 1943
• JapaneseJapanese
• MexicanMexican
Non-EuropeansNon-Europeans
• ChineseChinese
• JapaneseJapanese– Later than Chinese– 1894 treaty
granting free entry– 200,000 by 1920
• MexicanMexican
Non-EuropeansNon-Europeans
• ChineseChinese
• JapaneseJapanese
• MexicanMexican– Early 20th century– New irrigation in SW,
labor needed– 1910 Mexican Revolution– Immigration Restriction Act of 1921
• Did not apply to North Americans