Chapter+19+The+Gilded+Age

__ Abstract __ Throughout the Gilded Age, industrialization, immigration, urbanization and politics were few of the emerging issues. Major industrialists such as Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan brought business and opportunity to the U.S. economy by improving the steel, oil and banking industries. Americans argued over whether these figures were captains of industries or robber barons because of their influences on society. As businesses grew and more job opportunities were available to the American people, immigrants flooded United States cities to obtain employment. As a result of this influx of immigration, urbanization occurred. Mass amounts of immigrants who traveled to the United States in hope of a new life met poor living conditions. Sanitation, spread of diseases, lack of money and a lack of education were few of the problems that ensued. Because these conditions were such problems for the immigrants, they turned to organizations such as Tammany Hall to help them adjust. However, Boss Tweed and other machine politicians took advantage of people for their vote in government. It was clear that without immigration, such corrupt political officials would not have a role in government. Overall, the Gilded Age was a time of corrupt government officials and rapid industrial growth in the United States. __ ID’s __ 1. Alexander Graham Bell: a Scottish inventor (engineer, innovator, scientist) who is accredited with creating the telephone 2. Thomas Alex Edison: a American inventor who created many devices that greatly influenced the world: light bulb, phonograph, motion picture camera 3. Menlo Park: where Thomas Edison was situated and created most of his inventions. 4. Montgomery Ward: a mail-order catalogue from retailers to the farmers. The farmers would receive their purchases by railroads. He had a catalogue of 100 pages. 5. Vertical Integration: a style of management control through a common owner. Each member of the supply chain produces a different product or service, and the products combine to satisfy a common need. Example: Carnegie Steel Company 6. United Fruit Company: created in 1899 a United States corporation that traded in tropical fruit grown on third world plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. It competed with the standard fruit company over banana trade. 7. Standard Oil Trust: largest oil refining company in the world, 1870 in Ohio. American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. 8. John D. Rockefeller: a man in the oil trade. He created the standard oil company in 1870. He revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy. 9. Sherman Anti-Trust Act: requires the United States Federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of violating the act. It was the first federal statue to limit cartels and monopolies, and today still forms the basis for most antitrust litigation by the United States federal government. 10. Acres of Diamonds: book by Russell H. Conwell in 1915. Sided with Rockefeller and social Darwinism. To build a fortune was a profound was a profound Christian duty, to follow GOD. 11. Jay Gould: an American financer who became a leader in the development of railroads. 12. Andrew Carnegie: a Scottish-American businessman who developed the steel industry in America. He is the most successful, richest man in history. Took part in railroads, steel factory, building schools and libraries, donating $ and creating peace foundations. He believed in philanthropy. 13. The Gospel of Wealth: an essay written by Andrew Carnegie in 1889. It explained the role of philanthropy in the upper class. 14. Social Darwinism: term used in the nineteenth century for survival of the fittest. Example: Andrew Carnegie. Struggle and fight to get to the top of the others. 15. Herbert Spencer: An English philosopher who developed the term evolution. Created the “survival of the fittest,” helped by Charles Darwin. 16. William Graham Sumner: an American professor at Yale University. A polymath who had many essays and books on American history. Introduced the term ethnocentrism used to intend justification in his book Folkways. Taught sociology. Brought Social Darwinism to America. 17. Horatio Alger: 19th-centuryAmerican author, most famous for his novels following the adventures of bootblacks, newsboys, peddlers, buskers, and other impoverished children in their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of respectable middle-class security and comfort. His novels about boys who succeed under the tutelage of older mentors were hugely popular in their day. Entered Harvard at 16 and was able to achieve the American dream. Wrote novels about poor everyday people and how to succeed. “Rags to Riches” was a novel how to create the American dream. 18. Chinese Exclusion Act: a federal law enacted by Chester A. Arthur in 1882. The United States banned Chinese immigrants for ten years. 19. Fredrick Winslow Taylor: American mechanical engineer who industrialized scientific management, one of the first management consultants. Had a big part in the progressive era. Changed skilled jobs into unskilled jobs so more workers could have an opportunity. 20. National Labor Union (NLU): the first national labor federation in the United States. Founded in 1866 and taken away in 1873. Discovered the knights of labor and the American federation of labor. NLU contained 500,000 people. 21. Knights of Labor: largest American labor organization. Promoted the cultural and social uplift for the working men, rejected socialism and radicalism. Created the eight hour day, and promoted republicanism. A disadvantage was that it was never well organized but it did contain 700,000 people. 22. Terence Powderly: the most prominent leader of the Knights of Labor 23. Haymarket Square Riot: Tuesday May 4, 1886 in Chicago. A strike for public workers but turned into a massacre short after an unknown person threw a bomb at a police officer. 8 police were left dead as well as an unknown number of civilians. Overall it destroyed the Knights of Labor and 7 people were hanged the rest left in jail. 24. American Federation of Labor (AFL): founded in 1886 by the alliance of craft unions. Were most influential in industrial cities. A group of skilled workers and it was successful because they could not be replaced easily, they obtained skills for a certain job any average person did not. 25. Collective Bargaining: tactic used by the AFL. All groups striked, and no work was completed until each group was taken care of. Example: Railroad workers, welders and carpenters all striked till every group was attended to their needs. 26. Samuel Gompers: president of the American federation of labor. 27. “Dumbbell tenements”: old law tenements built in New York City. Called dumbbell for the shape of the tenements: the air shaft gives each tenement the narrow-waisted shape of a dumbbell, wide facing the street and backyard, narrowed in between to create the air corridor. 28. Frederick Law Olmstead: American journalist, landscape architecture. Designed Central Park and Prospect Park in New York City. 29. Louis Sullivan: American architect, father of modernism. Developed the skyscraper, a critic in Chicago schools. 30. John Roebling: a German born civil engineer. He developed the wire-rope suspension bridge, and created the Brooklyn Bridge. 31. The “New South”: New south democracy or new south creed. A term used to show in contrast the old south of the agriculture on plantations and the antebellum system. 32. “Conspicuous Consumption”: a term used to describe the lavish spending of goods and services. Used to show the wealth and income of a person. If a person is Conspicuous Consumption they contain social status in society. 33. “Diamond Jim” Brady: James Buchanan Brady was an American businessman, financier and philanthropist of the Gilded Age. A model for conspicuous consumption. 34. Horizontal Immigration: the acquisition of additional business activities at the same level of the value chain. Expands into upstream or downstream activities. Example: Standard Oil Company and its 40 refineries. __ Notes __ Industrialization · Industrialists vs. Workers/Unions · “Do the industrialists deserve our respect?” Immigration · “New” Immigrants 1880-1920 · Led to urbanization (growth of cities) · Machine Politics like Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall in NYC Andrew Carnegie- Steel Henry Clay Frick- Coal/Coke John D. Rockefeller- Oil; richest of industrialists Cornelius Vanderbilt- Railroads J. Gould- Railroads J.P. Morgan- Banking/Financing George Pullman- Railroad luxury cars Sears & Roebuck and Montgomery Ward- Mail order catalogue Thomas Edison- famous inventor Swift & Armor- Meat packing industry Labor Unions · Purpose: work of people who come together to advocate workers’ benefits · Necessary because: they were being taken advantage of. There was conflict between workers and bosses and everyone wanted money · Every 12 hours (1 shift), they got paid $1 o Didn’t want to pay them because it cut out of their profit National Labor Union · Wasn’t too successful, but paved the way for future unions · 300,000 - 500,000 people · Cuts down on work day 1842 Commonwealth v. Hunt (Massachusetts) · Legalized unions Knights of Labor · Very successful · 8 hour day from J. Gould · Terrence Powerly was the leader · 700,000 people · Protest against McCormick Paper · Haymarket Square Riot 1886 o Someone throws a bomb at the protesting workers o Thrown by anarchist o 8 police officers killed o Workers pay for it   o Hang 7 of 8 leaders of Knights of Labor o Government supports workmen, not unions= o Overall, destroys Knights of Labor and membership plummets. American Federation of Labors · Samuel Gompers is the leader o Comes from cigar company · Only accepts skilled craftsmen · Only represents 3% of working force · Use collective bargaining o When one side strikes, they all strike o No work gets done unless everyone’s happy o Can’t just hire new work force because they have to be skilled · Frederick Winslow Taylor o Scientific Management o Take craft skills and turn it into unskilled jobs o Machines for unskilled people o Create more efficiency in factories o AFL fought against him American Railway Union and International Workers of the World · Fought for unskilled workers · Linked to big strikes and radical leadership o Extremists, communists, anarchists · Eugene Debs o Leads ARU in strike against Pullman (1892) o Gets arrested and loses strike · ARU is faulted for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act 1892 Andrew Carnegie’s Homestead Strike · Economy is down, so Frick cuts wages by 30% · Carnegie and Frick say strike is not allowed · Carnegie and Frick lock out the employees planning to strike · Pinkertons (hired thugs) capture Homestead works and defend Homestead works o Like a war between Pinkertons and workers o Government send militia to arrest workers · A worker stabbed Frick and almost killed him · Carnegie returns from Scotland and blamed everything on Frick · Loss for workers 1896 Grover Cleveland creates Labor Day · 5 deaths a day in factories Immigration Act of 1921 and 1924 · Quotas (restrictions on # of immigrants) · Census continues to decrease Nativism- Racism against people from another country Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882- did not allow Chinese to enter the United States Palmers Raids occurred against suspected communists Anarchists like union because they go against authority 1887 Interstate Commerce Act · Relates to farmers’ rights · Makes them give reasonable rates for railroads 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act · Rockefeller escaped it   · Tried to ban monopolies · Doesn’t work- too many loopholes · Ends up hurting unions rather than helping 1914 Clayton Antitrust Act · Defines what a trust is   · Bans unions from being labeled as a trust Machine Politics · Political organization like Tammany Hall. “Boss” Tweed is the leader · Controlled the votes of the people · Helped people in order to get votes · If you don’t vote for them, they take away your job and house · “Honest bribery/gaft”- help each other out · If they didn’t have immigrants, they wouldn’t work because immigrants were who they attracted- people who needed jobs and houses Russell Conwell “Acres of Diamonds” · To build a fortune was a profound Christian duty · Pays workers low wages · Just like Carnegie and Rockefeller Old South vs. New South · “New” South was becoming more industrialized · Only 27% of wealth in country · Still had cotton industry and sharecropping · Didn’t really change much
 * Gilded Age Wiki Notes **