Gilded Age Notes

• By the 1880s, the American economy was growing at an annual rate of 3.8% and their GDP almost doubled
• Robber Barons


  Big businessmen who were not regulated by the government, and so were free to do whatever to make the most money
• Laissez-faire


  Advocates in favour of self-interest and competition, whilst opposing taxation and regulation - limited state intervention into the economy
• Social Darwinism


  Adapted from Darwin's 'survival of the fittest'. American businessmen began to believe that they had to become rich because they were literally superior human beings compared to the poorer classes - it opposed state aid to the poor and disapproved of tariffs as the wealthy thrived
• Vertical integration


  When a company expands its business into areas that are at different points on the same production path, such as when a manufacturer owns its supplier
• The Bessemer process was the process to make steel in 15 minutes instead of 24 hours. That is 96 times faster.
• The development of commercial electricity by the close of the century, to complement the steam engines that already existed in many larger factories, permitted more industries to concentrate in cities, away from the previously essential water power.
• From 1880 to 1920, the number of industrial workers in the nation quadrupled from 2.5 million to over 10 million, while over the same period urban populations doubled, to reach one-half of the country's total population.
• Railroads completely transformed the United States socially, politically, and economically during the Gilded Age. Literally the engine of the new industrialized economy, they facilitated the speedy transportation of raw materials and finished goods from coast to coast.
• The National Railroad Strike of 1877 demonstrated that workers in the future needed to be organised to protect themselves against high-profile businessmen and the federal government unregulation.
• Knights of Labor


  An organisation founded in 1869 which sought to build a comprehensive organisation uniting workers of all races, gender, etc.
• American Federation of Labor

  The union that played a central role in the labor movement, set up by Samuel Gompers in 1885. It only admitted skilled, white men workers however had more than a quarter of a million members by 1892.
• During the Gilded Age, approximately 10 million immigrants came to the United States in what is known as 'new immigration' - most of them were poor looking to change their lives in the advertised prosperity of the USA.
• Pull factors for immigration

  • Advertisements in the media which described the advantages of life in America such as the economic opportunities that happened
  • Steamship was the main form of travel to America, and prices were cheap due to the laissez-faire mindset of the federal government
  • The development of the railroads also was massively influential to the promotion of immigration overseas
• Push factors for immigration

  • Industrial and agricultural revolutions which transformed European society, and made some immigrants want to leave as they were not accustomed to it
  • Agricultural depression in lots of areas around Europe due to droughts
• 56% of labour forces were of foreign birth.
• The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prohibited Chinese immigrants from entering the USA, and only admitted students and businessmen on a temporary basis.
• Native Plutocracy


  Wealthy, white Americans who controlled the American government
• Nativism


  The policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants
• By the 1890s, there were four other transcontinental railway lines which were all funded by generous land grants from the federal government - about 70 million acres of land in total.
• The Department of Labor calculated that whereas it took 35 hours of labour in 1840 to produce 15 bushels of wheat, it took only fifteen hours in 1900.
• In the years 1865-85, there were around 40,000 cowboys roaming the plains, living on a wage of only $25-30 a month.
• The Turner Essay


  A paper written by Frederick Jackson Turner claiming that the existence of an area of free land acted as a safety valve against societal discord and violence, and that the harshness of the frontier created self-reliant individuals, who were invaluable in a nation like the USA
• The US government became interested in the Hawaiian Islands as a way station and provisioning point for shippers, sailors and whalers when trading with Asian Nations.
• In 1887, there was a new treaty securing a Pearl Harbour on the island of Oahu to establish a US naval base in the Pacific.
• Monroe Doctrine


  US policy was to avoid becoming involved in European wars unless American interests were involved, the 'American continents' were not to be colonised by European powers, and any such attempts at colonisation would be regarded as 'unfriendly' acts
• The US purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million, because its harbours provided a gateway to northern Asia where American ships could fuel and make provisions for the long journey across the Pacific Ocean, it would expand the Pacific coastline of the USA, spread US influence and keep the British out, and would be a good attempt at maintaining good relations with Russia.