Chapter 16-17

• Gilded Age


  Time period between Reconstruction and the 20th century, marked by tremendous economic growth
• Reasons for economic growth during Gilded Age

  • Plentiful natural resources
  • Growing population and supply of labor
  • Expanding market for manufactured goods
  • Availability of capital for investment
  • High tariffs protected American industries
  • Emphasis on railroad construction
  • Westward expansion led to farming and mining
• Capitalism


  Economic system in which property, business, and the means of production are owned by private individuals, not government forces
• Capitalism


  • Relies on law of supply and demand
  • Relies on law of competition
• Monopoly


  A single business maintains control over an entire industry or sector of the economy (eliminates competition)
• Trust


  An organization of several businesses in the same industry or sector of the economy that controls production or distribution of a product or service (reduces the influence of competition)
• Prominent industrialists


  • Cornelius Vanderbilt (Railroads, Steamships)
  • Andrew Carnegie (Carnegie Steel Corporation)
  • J.P. Morgan (Financier and banker, U.S. Steel Corporation)
  • John D. Rockefeller (Standard Oil Company)
• Transcontinental Railroad construction


  1. Central Pacific built from West to East (10,000+ Chinese immigrants)

  2. Union Pacific built from East to West (8,000+ Irish and German immigrants)

  3. Met at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869 after nearly 6 years
• Railway Acts of 1862 & 1864


  Provided government bonds and land grants to fund the Central Pacific and Union Pacific contracts for a transcontinental railway (and telegraph system)
• Railroad expansion


  Led to increased demand for iron, coal, lumber and steel
• Railroad expansion


  Towns popped up along the railway, cities became more accessible and grew in size
• The major railroad companies adopted time zones in 1883 (Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific)
• Safety Valve Theory


  In tough times, go west = opportunity for wealth
• Homestead Act of 1862


  Offered 160 acres of free land for a 5-year commitment to improve & work the land, nearly 270 million acres or 10% of U.S. land was claimed, 1.6 million out of 4 million homesteaders successfully claimed their deeds
• Bonanza farms


  Single-crop farms that employed many agricultural wage workers over thousands of acres (rare)
• Labor Union


  Organization of workers to protect and further their rights and interests
• Collective Bargaining


  Small group of representatives negotiate on behalf of the larger group (for better wages, hours, working conditions, etc.)
• Boycotts


  Refusal to buy goods or services
• Strikes


  Refusal to work, intended to place economic pressure on employers to consider negotiations
• Labor unions


  • Knights of Labor (inclusive, diverse, focused on political change)
  • American Federation of Labor (exclusive, skilled labor, focused on economic change)
• Major labor conflicts


  • The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
  • Haymarket Square Riot (1886)
  • Homestead Strike (1892)
  • Pullman Palace Strike (1894)
• Grange Movement


  Farmers' organization that called for state laws to ensure fair prices and commissions to regulate railroad practices
• Munn v. Illinois


  Court ruled in favor of a state board that set maximum RR fees and prevented discriminatory business deals
• Wabash v. Illinois


  Court ruled that only the federal government, not the states, could regulate railroad industry
• Interstate Commerce Commission (1887)


  Created by Congress to ensure "reasonable" railroad rates and fees, could only sue RR companies, not actually set rates/fees
• Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)


  Banned all practices that restrained free trade
• The national government was used to regulate the economy to promote the public good
• Political machines


  • William "Boss" Tweed (New York City)
• Social Gospel Movement


  Tried to apply Christian principles to social problems by improving housing, raising wages, and supporting public health measures
• Gilded Age views on industrial capitalism

  • In support: Laissez-Faire, Social Darwinism
  • In opposition: Henry George's Progress and Poverty, Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward
• Major inventions


  • Typewriter (1867), Telephone (1876), Airplane (1903), Automobile (1886), Transatlantic Telegraph Cable
• James Garfield (R) won the election over Winfield Hancock (D)


  1880
• Stalwarts


  Republican supporters who favored the "political machines" of the era, rather than those who wanted reforms to the "spoils system"
• Charles Guiteau, a Stalwart, shot President Garfield after being denied a government position, and Garfield died nearly 3 months later due to infection</b>
• Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)

  Passed by Congress to eliminate the "spoils system", made federal government jobs merit-based, created civil service exams, prohibited firing or demotion for political reasons
• Grover Cleveland (D) won the election over James Blaine (R)


  1884
• Cleveland vetoed 414 bills, aimed to "clean up" government, and signed the Interstate Commerce Act (1887)
• Benjamin Harrison (R) won the election over Grover Cleveland (D)


  1888
• Grover Cleveland (D) won the election over Benjamin Harrison (R) and the People's Party candidate, James Weaver


  1892
• Cleveland faced an economic depression (Panic of 1893) due to a stock market crash and overbuilding of the railroad