The Gilded Age 1870 -1890 Gilded means

The Gilded Age 1870 -1890

Gilded means to cover something of poor quality with gold What does this imply about American Society?

• This was America during this time period (18701900) • On the outside, golden, shiny, beautiful: • Expanding economy, population growth • Extravagant displays of wealth by America’s upper class

• Hiding the rotten inside: – Political corruption, scandals, greed, child labor, materialism, racial discrimination, etc.

Life in the 1860 s Life in the 1900 s • No indoor electric lights No refrigeration • No indoor plumbing • Kerosene or wood to heat • Wood stoves to cook with Horse and buggy • In 1860, most mail from the East Coast took ten days to reach the Midwest and three • weeks to get to the West Coast. • • A letter from Europe to a person on the frontier could • take several months to reach its destination. • • US Govt issued 500, 000 patents—electricity Refrigerated railroad cars Sewer systems and sanitation Increased productivity made live easier and comfortable. Power stations, electricity for lamps, fans, printing presses, appliances, typewriters, etc. New York to San Francisco to 10 days using railroad. 1. 5 million telephones in use all over the country Western Union Telegraph was sending thousands of messages daily throughout the country.

Main Affects of The Gilded Age • • • Manifest Destiny Industrialization/Urbanization Political Corruption Immigration Populism Modernizing the USA

Manifest Destiny • The belief that the United States was destined by God to expand across the continent. • President Polk believed it was our manifest destiny, or “obvious fate” to settle land all the way to the Pacific Ocean in order to spread democracy.

What was the Mormon Trail? • Mormons were being threatened for their religious ideas and traveled to Utah from Missouri and Illinois from 18461868.

What was the Santa Fe Trail? • Route or road from Mexico City and the Mississippi River that went through Santa Fe, New Mexico.

What was the Oregon Trail? • Trail used from 1811 until the 1890’s. • Trail was from the Mississippi River to Oregon.

• May 10, 1869 at Promontory, Utah • “The Wedding of the Rails” • Central Pacific and Union Pacific

Industrialization • When an economy is transformed from primarily agricultural to one based on the manufacturing of goods. • Individual manual labor is often replaced by mechanized mass production, and craftsmen are replaced by assembly lines.

• Oil • Coal • Mining • Railroad • Steel • Meatpacking • Construction • Marketing

• Natural Resources • Capital (gold, silver and banking) • US Government support • Desire: Creative inventors and industrialists • Transportation System • Labor force (immigrants)

Middle Class and the Growth of Suburbs • commute to the city for jobs and shopping. • made possible by railroads, horse cars, and streetcars. • get away from poor immigrants • Quiet and healthier for family • Segregated Communities

Nouveau Riche • The New Rich • Conspicuous Consumptionspending money just to show off wealth

Conspicuous Display of Wealth, Millionaire’s Row, New York Carnegie Mansion Vanderbilt Chateau

How did the other half live?

The Shift to the City Urbanization- process in which an increasing proportion of a population lives in cities or suburbs of cities

MIGRATION FROM COUNTRY TO CITY • Immigration • improvements in farm technology meant less labor • Many rural people left for cities to find work

Tenement a rundown apartment used to house large numbers of low-income families.

“Home of an Italian Ragpicker, ” 1888

“One of Four Pedlars Who Slept in the Cellar of 11 Ludlow Street Rear, ” c. 1892

URBAN PROBLEMS • Overcrowded Housing • Sanitation: garbage was often not collected • Polluted air • Lack of clean water • Crime • Fire Harper’s Weekly image of Chicagoans fleeing the fire over the Randolph Street bridge in 1871

POLITICS IN THE GILDED AGE • As cities grew in the late 19 th century, so did political machines • Political machines controlled the activities of a political party in a city • The head of the Political machine was known as the “Boss”

ROLE OF THE POLITICAL BOSS • The “Boss” controlled jobs, business licenses, granting of contracts and influenced laws and courts • Political Machines helped immigrants with naturalization (citizenship), jobs, and housing in exchange for votes Boss Tweed ran NYC

Political Corruption was considered to be widespread • President Grant’s Administration • Voter Fraud- used fake names and voted multiple times • Patronage- granting favors in return for political support • Graft- bribes • kick-backs - Return of money in exchange for a business

Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall

THE TWEED RING SCANDAL • William M. Tweed, known as Boss Tweed, became head of Tammany Hall, NYC’s powerful Democratic political machines • Between 1869 -1871, Tweed led the Tweed Ring, a group of corrupt politicians, in defrauding the city • Tweed’s ring stole between 40 and 200 million • Tweed died in Jail Boss Tweed

Does History remember the Real Boss Tweed?

CIVIL SERVICE REPLACES PATRONAGE Applicants for federal jobs are required to take a Civil Service Exam • Nationally, some politicians pushed for reform in the hiring system • The system had been based on Patronage; giving jobs and favors to those who helped a candidate get elected • Reformers pushed for an adoption of a merit system of hiring the most qualified for jobs • The Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 authorized a bipartisan commission to make appointments for federal jobs based on performance