+

Gilded Age and the

West

Gilded Age Origin:

Something

is Gilded when it is
golden (beautiful) on the surface,
but is really cheap and worthless
underneath.

America

appeared
to
be
prosperous and booming, but
many people struggled during
this time period.

Abuses

and corruption in business

and government caused problems
for immigrants, laborers, and
farmers.

Term

Gilded Age comes from a

book written by Mark Twain and
Charles Dudley Warner in 1873.

The Rising Steel Industry:

The Bessemer Process was

developed around 1850.

It involved injecting air

into molten iron to remove
impurities, making steel.

Steel was lighter and more

rust resistant than other
metals. It is used in
railroads, farm equipment,
and canned goods.

Engineers use steel to

create skyscrapers and
longer bridges (Brooklyn
Bridge).

The Rise of Big Business:

Andrew

Carnegie

Industrialist

and
philanthropist
Steel industry
Gave away around
$350 million
John

D. Rockefeller

Industrialist
Oil

refining industry
Owned U.S. Standard
Oil

The Rise of Big Business:

J.P.

Morgan

Industrialist
Started U.S. Steel,
which became the first
billion dollar
corporation
Bailed out the U.S.
economy on more than
one occasion

The Rise of Big Business:

Social

Carnegie Library

Darwinism

Used Darwins Theory of

Evolution to explain the
nature of business
Natural Selection, Survival
of the Fittest
Government should not
interfere
Promoted the continuation
of Laissez-faire policies

Laissez-faire a policy of
letting things take their
own course, without
interfering

Captains

of Industry

A positive idea that

industrial leaders worked
hard and deserved their
wealth

Carnegie Hall

Vanderbilt University

The Rise of Big Business:

Gospel

of Wealth

Belief that the wealthy are

chosen by God to be
successful
Wealthy are responsible to
look out for the well being
of those less fortunate
Many industrialists shared
wealth, but rarely through
direct welfare
Started museums,
foundations, etc.

Monopoly

Complete control of a
product or service

The Rise of Big Business:

Sherman

Anti-Trust Act

(1890)
Law

outlawing a
combination of companies
that restrained interstate
trade or commerce
Designed to prevent
monopolies.
Not enforced properly in
early years.

Benjamin Harrison

What can I do when both Parties insist on kicking?

Poor Working Conditions:

Most

factory workers
worked 12 hour days, 6
days a week

Steel

mills often
demanded 7 days a week

No

vacations, sick leave,

unemployment money,
or worker compensation
for injuries on the job

Children

as young as 5
years of age often
worked 12-14 hour days
for as little as 27 a day.

The New Immigrants

New

Immigrants

Between 1870 and 1920,

20 million immigrants
came to America
These New Immigrants
were mostly from
Southern and Eastern
Europe
Hundreds of thousands
more came from Mexico,
the Caribbean, and China

Looked

and sounded
different than natives

Nativism

- Movement to
ensure that native-born
Americans received
better treatment than
immigrants

The New Immigrants

Ellis

Island - In
New York harbor
where most
European
immigrants came
to get processed

Angel

Island - In
San Francisco
where most
Asians entered US

Effects:
Culture

Shock
Melting Pot

The New Immigrants

1882

- Chinese Exclusion

Act
Prohibited Chinese
laborers from entering the
country.
Was not lifted until 1943.

1907

- Gentlemens
Agreement Was reached
between U.S. and Japan in
which Japan agreed to
restrict immigration to the
U.S.

Problems with Rapid

Urbanization
Urbanization - growth
of cities

main reasons cities

grew in late 1800s
and early 1900s:

New immigrants arrived

in cities for work
As farm machines
replaced farmers they
left home and moved to
the cities
African Americans left
South after Civil War
and came to Northern
cities.

Problems in Cities

1. Housing shortages Tenements crowded

apartment building with
poor standards of
sanitation, safety, and
comfort

2. Transportation struggled
to keep up with growth

3. Clean water was

difficult to produce and
transport

4. Waste and garbage removal was a challenge and

often neglected

5. Fires - were very common

Great Chicago Fire -1871
San Francisco Earthquake
-1906

6. Crime - rose with

urbanization

Early Reforms to Fix the

Problems of Urbanization:
Settlement

Community center
organized to provide
various services to
urban poor

Hull

House

House 1889

Most famous settlement

house established by
Jane Addams and Ellen
Gates Starr

Social

Gospel
Movement

Social reform
movement that sought
to fix social problems in
the name of Jesus

The Rise of Political Machines

Political Machines
An organized group of
people that controlled the
activities of a political
party
By giving voters services
they needed, the machine
won their vote and
controlled city government

City Boss - was head of

Political Machines
Controlled:
Jobs in police, fire, and
sanitation departments
Agencies that granted
licenses to businesses
Money to fund large
construction projects

All Politics center around the

Boss

The Rise of Political Machines

Political

machines loved
immigrantsWHY?

Never voted, tried to sway

votes by bribery, intimidation,
and other means

Political

machines used
power to:

Rig elections
Become wealthy from
kickbacks - illegal payments
in exchange for contracts or
assistance
Control police force to stay
out of trouble

The American
West

Dawes Act (1887)

Sought to Americanize Native

Americans.
The law was intended to help Native
Americans, but it often has the opposite
effect.
Abolished tribal rights to lands.
Rather than communal ownership, it
allotted tribal lands to individuals, who
often sold them for a profit to non-Indians.

American Indian
Citizenship Act (1924)

Granted US Citizenship to all Native

Americans born in the United States.

Homestead Act (1862)

President Abraham Lincoln signed the

Homestead Act in 1862.
The act stated that any citizen could
occupy up to 160 acres of government
land. If the settler improved the land by
building a home and raising crops, after
five years he would own the property.
Almost 1.4 million homesteads were
eventually granted under the act.

Indian Wars

After the Civil War, soldiers were

stationed along the frontier in forts.
They defeated several Great Plains
and Southwestern tribes in a series
of battles known as the Indian Wars.
Defeated tribes were moved onto
reservations.

Reservations

Once a particular tribe had submitted

to government authority, its members
were settled on a reservation.
Reservation lands were usually
smaller than the lands the tribe was
removed from and less desirable.
This conflicted with tribal customs, as
most tribes in the Great Plains region
were nomadic hunters.

4 main economic
opportunities
in the West
Farming
Ranching
Mining
Railroad construction

Land Grants to Railroads

Farming
What does a successful farmer need?

Land with tillable soil

Adequate rainfall or irrigation
Access to machinery and supplies
A way to transport goods to market
A market for the goods

Opportunities

Available Land
Sources: Homestead Act (from
govt)
Sales (from other land
owners)

Hardship

Thick sod
Lack of rainfall/water
Social isolation
Debt
Low crop prices
High freight charges
Extreme weather
Crop-eating Insects

Ranching

Opportunities

Ranching is possible in places that

couldnt support other types of
farming
Markets existed for beef, wool, etc.

Hardships

Livestock susceptible to disease

Farmers opposed open range, put up
fences

Mining

Opportunities

The chance to get rich

Hardships

Few got rich

Large corporations began to
takeover the mining business

Railroad Work

Opportunities

Jobs

Hardships

Dangerous, exhausting work

Competition for jobs kept wages low

The Impact of Railroads

Brought settlers west

Allowed westerners to trade with the east
Largest landowner in the west
Responsible for the creation of many towns
Encouraged slaughter of buffalo
Accelerated conflict with Native Americans
often ran through tribal lands

Indian Wars: A Shift in

Policy

When expansion into the American west

accelerated, the U.S. government changed
its policy to "concentration." This meant
moving Indians onto reservations.
Some tribes peacefully signed treaties
with the US government giving up their
lands in exchange for promises of food
and other payments. Other tribes fought
for their lands.
Life on reservations was worsened by
corrupt Indian agents.

Indian Wars

Beginning in 1862, the U.S. army

began a series of violent conflicts
with various Native American tribes.
Together, these conflicts are known
as the "Indian Wars." The goal of
U.S. policy was to force
uncooperative tribes onto
reservations and to secure western
lands for white owners.

NATIVE AMERICAN
TERRITORY IN THE WEST,
1890

The End Results

All tribes were forced onto

Reservations
Traditional ways of life for Native
Americans were endangered
Settlers gained access to the best
Western lands