THE GILDED AGE

THE GILDED AGE

• 1870-1900

• Cities grew and urbanization expanded

• Gilded: covered with gold on the outside, but made of cheaper material on the inside

• Critics point to corruption, poverty, crime, and great differences between the poor and rich.

THE IDEA OF INDIVIDUALISM

• No matter the country of origin, people could rise as far as they want based on talents and commitments

• Horatio Alger

• Wrote 100 rags to riches novel

• Stories about people that moved to the city and gained wealth

SOCIAL DARWINISM

• Reinforced the idea of individualism

• Herbert Spencer

• Societies have evolved based on competition and natural selection

• Survival of the fittest

• Natural law works out who succeeds and who fails

SOCIAL DARWINISM

• Darwin upset church members with his Theory of Evolution

• Theory of evolution went against creationism

• Some ministers think that evolution was a way that God created the world

• Became Christian Evolutionist

CARNEGIE’S GOSPEL OF WEALTH

• Wealthy Americans should engage in philanthropy

• Using their fortunes to help people learn more and gain the necessary information to be successful

• Andrew Carnegie-helped fund public libraries

• Building schools and hospitals allowed people to get help rather than a handout

CHANGING CULTURE

• Realism

• Art and literature made to express reality

• Mark Twain

• Wrote stories that reflected that language of the people that read his writings.

• Popular culture

• Saloons

• Amusement parks and sports

• Vaudeville and Ragtime

• Elected President in 1880

• Spoils of office

• Government jobs handed out following an election

• Shot on July 2, 1881

• A man seeking a job thought it would be better for Chester A. Arthur to be President

• Shot and killed President Garfield

THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD

POLITICS

• Civil Service Reform

• No more spoil system

• Jobs went to people through a written application

• The election of 1884

• Interstate Commerce Commission

• Regulated the charges that railroads made companies pay to send goods

• Debating Tariffs

• Wanting to lower taxes to lessen the price of goods

REPUBLICANS REGAIN POWER

• The McKinley Tariff

• Control of House and Senate

• Protected American products

• Angered people with the rise of products

• Caused the defeat of President Harrison

• The Sherman Antitrust Act

• No combination of companies or trusts across state lines

• Manufacturing was not interstate commerce

HELPING THE URBAN POOR

• The Social Gospel

• Charity and justice for better conditions

• Salvation Army and YMCA

• Helped in reform and working to aid the urban poor

• Settlement House Movement

• Community Center where classes were offered as well as medical care

• Jane Addams

• Hull House

• Public Education

• Needed Education for young people