Gilded Age, Industrialization & Economics

Gilded Age and Industrialization

• Tycoons of the Gilded Age can be seen as Captains of Industry or Robber Barons
• Andrew Carnegie was a steel industry leader who used vertical integration
• Carnegie wrote the Gospel of Wealth
• John D. Rockefeller led Standard Oil Company and used horizontal integration
• Cornelius Vanderbilt was a railroad and shipping tycoon
• J.P. Morgan was a banking giant who financed and consolidated industries
• Social Darwinism justified monopolies and inequality, believing the rich are naturally superior

Unfair Railroad Practices

• Rebates were secret discounts to favored customers
• Pools were agreements between companies to divide business and set prices
• Monopolies involve one company controlling an entire industry, eliminating competition

Economics Terms

• Capitalism is an economic system where businesses are privately owned
• Vertical Integration involves controlling every step of production, from raw materials to the finished product
• Horizontal Integration involves buying out competitors to control the market
• The Bessemer Process revolutionized the steel industry by making steel faster and cheaper

Key Inventions/Inventors

• Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone
• Thomas Edison invented electric power (light bulb), and George Westinghouse the electric grid
• Elisha Otis invented elevators, which were essential for skyscrapers

Corruption and Politics

• Boss Tweed was the corrupt political boss of Tammany Hall (NYC political machine)
• Thomas Nast exposed Tweed's corruption as a political cartoonist
• Political machines were organized groups that controlled city politics and were often corrupt
• Tammany Hall was an infamous NYC political machine led by Tweed

Immigration

• There were Old and New waves of Immigrants
• Old Immigrants came before 1880, mostly from Northern/Western Europe (England, Ireland, Germany)
• New Immigrants came after 1880, mostly from Southern/Eastern Europe (Italy, Russia, Poland)

Push and Pull Factors

• Push factors are reasons immigrants left their home countries, such as poverty, persecution, and war
• Pull factors are reasons immigrants came to America, such as jobs, freedom, and opportunity

Key Immigration Landmarks

• Ellis Island was the main processing center for European immigrants (East Coast)
• The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom and opportunity for immigrants
• Angel Island was the processing center for Asian immigrants (West Coast)

Anti-Immigrant Sentiment

• Nativism favored native-born Americans over immigrants, leading to discrimination
• The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) banned Chinese labor immigration
• The Gentlemen's Agreement (1907) between the U.S. and Japan limited Japanese immigration

Immigrant Living Conditions

• Tenements were overcrowded, unsafe apartment buildings where many immigrants lived

Labor Unions/Early Progressive Era

• Rise of Organized Labor/Unions
• The Haymarket Square Riot (1886) was a violent labor protest in Chicago that hurt the labor movement's reputation
• Terrence Powderly was the leader of the Knights of Labor, advocating broad reform and open to all workers
• Samuel Gompers was the leader of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), focusing on better wages, hours, and conditions for skilled workers
• The Pullman Strike (1894) was a major railroad strike where federal troops were called in, highlighting tensions between labor and government

Major Unions

• The Knights of Labor were open to all workers and wanted broad reform
• The American Federation of Labor (AFL) focused on skilled workers and practical goals, such as wages and hours

Working Conditions

• Included long hours, low wages, dangerous conditions, child labor, and a lack of safety regulations

Key Documents

• Puck Cartoons were political cartoons that exposed corruption and supported reform
• The Gospel of Wealth (1889) was Andrew Carnegie's essay arguing that the rich have a duty to help society
• The New Colossus (1883) is a poem by Emma Lazarus on the Statue of Liberty
• "How the Other Half Lives" (1890) - Jacob Riis' book shows the terrible living conditions of immigrants in tenements
• Twenty Years at Hull House (1900) was Jane Addams' memoir about her work helping immigrants
• "I Seen My Opportunities and I Took 'Em" (1905) is a quote from George Washington Plunkitt, explaining how political machines operated