The Protectors of Our Industries-APPARTS ANALYSISThe Protectors of Our Industries-APPARTS ANALYSIS

Economic and Social Problems The Industrial Age (The Gilded Age)

What was the Gilded Age? the Industrial Age following the Civil War,

from the end of Reconstruction in 1877 to the turn of the twentieth century.

The term was coined by writers Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, satirizing what they believed to be an era of serious social problems hidden by a thin layer of gold.

1. Urban Decay Overcrowded cities, high crime, gang fights,

violence, drug addiction (cocaine) Cities not equipped to deal with overcrowding Not enough police, fire fighters, hospitals Poor housing- tenements decrepit No sewage or garbage removal Rats, disease, and roaches everywhere Polluted drinking water

Real Gangs of New York

TENEMENTS WERE APARTMENT BUILDINGS WITH MANY SMALL ROOMS WHERE WHOLE FAMILIES WOULD LIVE,

CROWDED TOGETHER WITHOUT ADEQUATE AIR, WATER OR SANITARY FACILITIES

““Dumbell” Tenement, NYCDumbell” Tenement, NYC

““Dumbell “ Dumbell “ TenementTenement

Jacob Jacob Riis: Riis:

How the How the

Other Half Other Half LivedLived(1890)(1890)

Video clip on Jacob Riis and Colonel Waring sanitation problems- (7:28-until Cities Part 3-4) photographer on tenement conditions

“5 CENTS A SPOT” THE PRICE FOR A BED FOR THE NIGHT by Jacob Riis

2. Corrupt Politicians Political machines-

controlled almost every major city

Politicians did favors and helped the poor in return for votes, accepted bribes

Elections were “fixed”, votes stolen, miscounted, false ballots, dead people “voting”

Tammany Hall- the most famous and corrupt political machine-led by the corrupt Boss William Tweed

The New York County Courthouse- “the house that Tweed built”

3. Business Corruption Business Mergers- several companies were

combining into single mega-companies to form monopolies ( 1 business with complete control over an industry)

Social Darwinism- big businesses believed it was OK for the larger businesses to crush the smaller businesses (survival of the fittest and strongest)

Social Darwinism Social Darwinism British economist. Advocate of

laissez-faire. Adapted Darwin’s

ideas from the “Origin of Species” to humans.

Notion of “Survival of the Fittest.”

British economist. Advocate of

laissez-faire. Adapted Darwin’s

ideas from the “Origin of Species” to humans.

Notion of “Survival of the Fittest.”

Herbert SpencerHerbert Spencer

Social Darwinism in AmericaSocial Darwinism in America

William Graham SumnerFolkways (1906)

William Graham SumnerFolkways (1906)

$ Individuals must have absolute freedom to struggle, succeed or fail.

$ Therefore, government intervention to reward society and the economy is futile!

$ Individuals must have absolute freedom to struggle, succeed or fail.

$ Therefore, government intervention to reward society and the economy is futile!

New Business Culture:“The American Dream?”New Business Culture:“The American Dream?”

Protestant (Puritan) “Work Ethic”

Horatio Alger [100+ novels]

Protestant (Puritan) “Work Ethic”

Horatio Alger [100+ novels]

Is the idea of the “self-made man” a MYTH??Is the idea of the “self-made man” a MYTH??

New Type of Business EntitiesNew Type of Business EntitiesTrusts- 2 types:

Horizontal Integration (more common- trying to gain control of the entire market by buying out competing companies) John D Rockefeller

Trusts- 2 types: Horizontal Integration (more common- trying

to gain control of the entire market by buying out competing companies) John D Rockefeller

Vertical Integration: (US STEEL controlling all aspects of production, the raw materials like buying out coal fields and iron mines)

o Gustavus Swift Meat-packing

o Andrew Carnegie U. S. Steel

Vertical Integration: (US STEEL controlling all aspects of production, the raw materials like buying out coal fields and iron mines)

o Gustavus Swift Meat-packing

o Andrew Carnegie U. S. Steel

Standard Oil Co.Standard Oil Co.

Robber Barons-many of the big business owners were called this by those who criticized them

Robber Barons-many of the big business owners were called this by those who criticized them

The Gospel of Wealth:Religion in the Era of Industrialization

The Gospel of Wealth:Religion in the Era of Industrialization

Russell H. ConwellRussell H. Conwell

$ Wealth no longer looked upon as bad.

$ Viewed as a sign of God’s approval.

$ Christian duty to accumulate wealth.

$ Government should not help the poor.

$ Wealth no longer looked upon as bad.

$ Viewed as a sign of God’s approval.

$ Christian duty to accumulate wealth.

$ Government should not help the poor.

“On Wealth”“On Wealth”

Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie

$ The Anglo-Saxon race is superior.

$ “Gospel of Wealth” (1901).

$ Inequality is inevitable and good.

$ Wealthy should act as “trustees” for their “poorer brethren.”

$ Carnegie gave away 90% of his fortune to help society

$ The Anglo-Saxon race is superior.

$ “Gospel of Wealth” (1901).

$ Inequality is inevitable and good.

$ Wealthy should act as “trustees” for their “poorer brethren.”

$ Carnegie gave away 90% of his fortune to help society

4. Poor Working Conditions Workers in the factories faced with 12-16 hour work

days, horrible and unsafe working conditions, little pay

Workers went on strike and even sometimes rioted for better working conditions

Workers formed Labor Unions to fight for more control over pay and working conditions

Child labor- little children worked long hours, under dangerous conditions, no child labor laws

Child working in a Clothing Factory around 1900

Children working the steel mills in Pittsburgh

Young Boys working in at a textile mill

Triangle Waistefactory Fire video clip (Cities episode 4-5; 7:18-

Triangle Shirtwaist FactoryAsch Building, 8th and 10th Floors

Triangle Shirtwaist FactoryAsch Building, 8th and 10th Floors

Typical NYC Sweatshop, 1910Typical NYC Sweatshop, 1910

Inside the Building After the FireInside the Building After the Fire

10th Floor After the Fire10th Floor After the Fire

Dead Bodies on the SidewalkDead Bodies on the Sidewalk

Scene at the MorgueScene at the Morgue

JOHN SPARGO-CHILD LABOR

John Spargo was a British reformer who moved to the United States in 1901. He became an influential

muckraker with the publishing of his book The Bitter Cry of the Children in 1906. The book detailed the plight of

working children.

“Work in the coal breakers is exceedingly hard and dangerous. Crouched over the chutes, the boys sit hour after hour, picking out the pieces of slate and other refuse from the coal as it rushes past to the washers. From the cramped position they have to assume, most of them become more or less deformed and bent-backed like old men… The coal is hard, and accidents to the hands, such as cut, broken, or crushed fingers, are common among the boys. Sometimes there is a worse accident: a terrified shriek is heard, and a boy is mangled and torn in the machinery, or disappears in the chute to be picked out later smothered and dead. Clouds of dust fill the breakers and are inhaled by the boys, laying the foundations for asthma and miners’ consumption.”

Big Business and Child Labor Cartoon

“Galley Labor”“Galley Labor”

5. Unsafe Food Upton Sinclair’s “The

Jungle” exposed unsanitary conditions (rats, roaches, maggots, etc.) in the meatpacking factories

Muckrakers- journalists who exposed society’s “muck” and corruption

THE MUCKRAKERS

Lincoln Steffens

Ida Tarbell

Upton Sinclair

Jacob Riis

UPTON SINCLAIR

HIS BOOK, THE JUNGLE DESCRIBED THE FILTHY CONDITIONS IN THE MEAT

PACKING INDUSTRY AND LED TO THE PASSAGE OF THE FEDERAL MEAT

INSPECTION ACT OF 1906

MOVIE MADE FROM THE

BOOK IN THE EARLY 1900’S

“…old sausage that had been rejected, and that was moldy and white – it would be dosed with borax and glycerin, and dumped into the hoppers, and made over again for home consumption. There would be meat that had tumbled out on the floor, in the dirt and sawdust, where the workers had tramped and spit uncounted billions of consumption germs. There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms; and the water from leaky roofs would drip over it, and thousands of rats would race about on it. It was too dark in these storage places to see well, but a man could run his hand over these piles of meat and sweep off handfuls of the dried dung of rats. These rats were nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out for them; they would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go into the hoppers together… the meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one – there were things that went into the sausage in comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit.”

EXCERPT FROM THE JUNGLE

6. Social and Economic Inequality The days of the Jim Crow Laws continued for blacks

especially in the south Wealth in the hands a few- in 1900, 1% of the US

population owned 90% of the country’s wealth Only 7% of the adult population had a high school

diploma in 1900. Only 25% of Americans owned a home Women still could not vote Women sought universal suffrage (the right to vote

for all)

Woman’s Suffrage Movement

STATES THAT GAVE WOMEN THE SUFFRAGE BEFORE THE 19TH AMENDMENT

THE STRUGGLE FOR WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE

NOT ALL WOMEN WERE IN FAVOR OF VOTING

AFRICAN AMERICANS FACED MANY AFRICAN AMERICANS FACED MANY HARDSHIPSHARDSHIPS

THE MAJORITY WERE POOR

THEY LIVED FOR THE MOST PART IN THE SOUTHERN STATES

THEY WORKED AS TENANT FARMERS AND HIRED HANDS ON SOMEONE ELSE'S LAND

JIM CROW LAWS SEVERELY RESTRICTED THEIR FREEDOM

DE JURE SEGREGATION WAS IN FORCE

PLESSEY V FERGUSON (“ SEPARATE BUT EQUAL”) WAS THE RULE

BLACK SCHOOLS WERE INFERIOR TO WHITE SCHOOLS

BLACKS HAD NO CONTROL OVER LOCAL POLITICS EVEN WHERE THEY WERE THE MAJORITY

The Progressive Response to Society’s Problems1890s-1918

Progressivism The progressives were people who sought to

solve all society’s problems during that time Lasted from the 1890s-1918 Worried about the effects of industrialism,

urbanization, political corruption, etc The progressives had differing opinions on

how to solve the problems “new” was the word as the century turned

Goals of the Progressives1. Increase the role of government to help

solve the societal/environmental problems2. Protect the innocent (children) and less

fortunate (poor)3. Voting rights for all (white and black, men

and women)4. Make the rich pay taxes5. Education for all

Progressive Reformers

President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt (The progressive President)

Mother Jones-labor reformer-fought for better conditions for workers

IDA TARBELL-muckraking journalist

Miss Tarbell, in her book, revealed after years of

diligent research the illegal means used by John D.

Rockefeller to monopolize the early oil industry.

Alice Paul-woman’s rights activist

William DuBois-African American Civil Rights leader

Reporters

Eugene Debs-believed socialism is the way to go

JD Rockefeller wealthy industrialist Social Darwinism is

his philosophy Called a greedy

“robber baron” by his critics

Andrew Carnegie and US Steel Drew’ went from rags to

riches to become another very rich dude

Carnegie’s Pittsburgh, PA-based company (US Steel) controlled over 80% of all steel production

Donated 90% of his fortune to help society

Called a greedy “Robber Baron” by his critics