the gilded age. background what does “gilded” mean? – thin gold coating – term coined by...
TRANSCRIPT
THE GILDED AGE
Background• What does “gilded” mean?–Thin gold coating–Term coined by Mark Twain–U.S. Society/Politics looked shiny
on the outside, but underneath were dirty & corrupt
Background• What was happening in
the U.S.?–Reconstruction was ending– Industrialization booming–Economy growing• Division between classes
was wide–Rich = Extremely Wealthy,
Poor = Working Class
Background• Immigration Wave– Peaked between 1880-1920– Many from Germany, Ireland, and Eastern
Europe– Lived in tenement housing and worked in
factories• Made very little money• Poor living conditions
Row of tenement housing in Johnstown, PA
Tenement Apartment in NY
WEALTHY BUSINESSMEN• Andrew Carnegie – Steel industry, Gave most of
his money to charities
• John D. Rockefeller– Oil industry, “richest
person in history”
• Andrew Mellon– Banking and Industry
WEALTHY BUSINESSMEN• Viewed as “robber barons”– Exploited workers in order to gain wealth• Unsafe working conditions• Long hours• Little pay
• Eliminated competition by forming monopolies
WORKERS CALL FOR CHANGE
• Rise of Labor Unions– Knights of Labor, American Federation of Labor
• Protests and Strikes– Often violent (bombs, riots, deaths)– Railroad Strikes, Pullman Strike– Homestead Strike
• Pittsburgh, PA (1892), slashed wages, locked out workers, strike
• Violent – gunfire; state militia called in• Union leaders blacklisted, unions eliminated from
Homestead
HAYMARKET SQUARE RIOT• Chicago, 1886• Prior Day – 4 laborers killed
at strike• Laborers, Anarchists, and
Socialists gathered to protest
• Bomb thrown at police, riot begins, shots fired
• 7 police officers and 1 civilian killed
• 8 men arrested and tried in relation to the riot