The Gilded Age (1880-1890)

• The Oklahoma Landrush, 1889

  • First land rush into 'unassigned' land
  • The land was former Native American land
• Gilded Age: A period or rapid economic growth, gross materialism and blatant political corruption in America
• The Gilded Age got its name from the novel Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner wrote
• The rapid industrialisation led to rapid wage growth. The average annual wage per industrial worker rose by 48%
• Railways, mining, and finance were the major growth industries
• The West boomed off farming, ranching, and mining
• Labour Unions then became increasingly important in the rapidly growing industrial cities
• Two nation-wide depressiosn interupted the growth, causing social and political unrest across America
• The Panic of 1873:

  A financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America
• The Panic of 1893:

  An economic depression in the US that affected the whole economy and produced political issues leading to a change in policies for President William McKinley
• The South remained economically devastated after the Civil War as its economy struggles due to the dependability of commodities, cotton and tobacco production, all of which suffered from low prices
• American steel production rose
• There were multiple monopolies in this era -> J.P. Morgan Steel
• Railways were the main industrial focus during the Gilded Age
• The Gilded Age was however also an era of poverty and inequality due to millions of immigrants from impoverished regions pouring into America after seeing the wealth on offer
• Catholicism was growing
• With rapid growth of small businesses, a social middle class formed especially in the North
• The top 10% of wealthiest American families owned roughly 3/4 of the nation's wealth
• The bottom 40% of American's had no wealth at all
• Due to the increase in immigration and industry, the US became a lot more urban
• With the end of the Reconstruction Era in 1877, African American people in the South were stripped of political power and voting rights
• Election turnout was at an all-time high despite the corruption
• Third-party system:

  • A period of profound developments in issues regarding American nationalism, modernisation, and race
• US presidents serving during the time:

  • James Garfield (1881-81)
  • Chester Arthur (1881-85)
  • Grover Cleveland (1885-89)
• Political corruption was high with business leaders paying off the government to ensure they did not regulate the company's activities
• Political Machine - poor gaining votes for those in elections in exchange for favours
• During the Gilded Age over 20 million immigrants came to the States, doubling the US population
• Many immigrants were poor and looking for the 'American Dream'