Gilded Age1865-1918

Izzy London, Molly Christensen, Megan Larsen

What was it?

• Gilded: Means to cover with or as if with a thin layer of gold. Disguising the real problems of the day.. Sugar coating the bad

• A time of great growth and development in cities and jobs and people (especially in the North and West)

• It was also a time of enormous poverty and struggle and child labor

Urban Opportunities

• Immigrants settle in cities:– The cities were less expensive to live in– Americanization movement: Designed to

assimilate people of wide ranging cultures into the dominant culture

• Migration from country to city– African American people moved from the country

to the city for better work conditions and better treatment

Urban Problems

• Housing– Tenements: Multi-family home often over crowded

and unsanitary• Transportation– Mass transit: Transportation systems designed to

move large numbers of people along fixed routes, enabled workers to go to and from jobs more easily.

• Water– Problems supplying safe drinking water

Urban Problems Continued

• Sanitation– It was hard to keep clean– Horse manure piled the streets– Sewage flowed through the gutters– Factories spewed foul smoke into the air

• Crime– Pickpockets and thieves flourished

• Fire– They didn’t have enough water so it was hard to put

out fires

Reformers Mobilize

• Settlement House Movement– Social gospel movements: preached salvation

through service to the poor– Settlement houses: Community centers in slum

neighborhoods that provided assistance to many people in the area

– Jane Adams: One of the most influential members of the movement

Emergence of Political Machines

• Political Machine: Offered services to voters and business In exchange for political or financial support

• The role of the political boss– Controlled access to municipal jobs and business

licenses, and influenced the courts and other municipal agencies

• The role of the political boss– Many precinct captain and political bosses were first

and second generation immigrants

Municipal Graft and Scandal

• Election Fraud and Graft– When the loyalty of voters was not enough to carry

an election, some political machines turned into fraud

– Graft: The illegal use of political influence for personal gain

• The Tweed Ring Scandal– Boss Tweed (William M. Tweed): Head of Tammany

Hall, he led the Tweed Ring, a group of corrupt politicians in defrauding the city

QUIZ !!!!1. What does Gilded mean?___________2. Immigrants settle in cities because?________3. Migration from country to city was?______4. one urban problem was?

A.Water B.Transpiration C.Housing D.All above

5. Political Machine offered services to? A.Voters and businesses B. slaves C. factories

6. Jane Adams was?A.Influential B. did nothing C. was a failer

matching

7. Political Machine8. The role of the political boss9. The role of the political boss10. CrimeA. Controlled access to municipal jobs and business licenses, and influenced the courts and other municipal agenciesB. Pickpockets and thieves flourished

C. Offered services to voters and business In exchange for political or financial supportD. Many precinct captain and political bosses were first and second generation immigrants