Gilded Age Given name by Mark Twain Post-Civil War until
1890s
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The Gild Breakers of the Vanderbilt Family The Astor Family The
Boldt Castle The Mount of Edith Wharton Lockwood-Mathews
Mansion
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Monopolies Monopolyone company controls the entire market for a
certain good Allows to set price anywhere they want Stomps out all
competitors
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POLITICS IN THE GILDED AGE As cities grew in the late 19 th
century, so did political machines Political machines controlled
the activities of a political party in a city The head of the
Political machine was known as the Boss
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Political Corruption was considered to be widespread Voter
Fraud- used fake names and voted multiple times Patronage- granting
favors in return for political support Graft- bribes kick-backs -
Return of money in exchange for a business
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Civil Service Reform Patronage-appoint people you know to
government positions President Garfield assassinated as a result of
patronage
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ROLE OF THE POLITICAL BOSS The Boss controlled jobs, business
licenses, granting of contracts and influenced laws and courts
Political Machines helped immigrants with naturalization
(citizenship), jobs, and housing in exchange for votes Boss Tweed
ran NYC
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THE TWEED RING SCANDAL William M. Tweed, known as Boss Tweed,
became head of Tammany Hall, NYCs powerful Democratic political
machines Between 1869-1871, Tweed led the Tweed Ring, a group of
corrupt politicians, in defrauding the city Tweeds ring stole
between 40 and 200 million Tweed died in Jail Boss Tweed
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Essential Question Industrialization increased the standard of
living and the opportunities of most Americans, but at what
cost?
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Causes of Rapid Industrialization 1.Steam Revolution of the
1830s-1850s. 2.The Railroad fueled the growing US economy: First
big business in the US. A magnet for financial investment. The key
to opening the West. Aided the development of other
industries.
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Causes of Rapid Industrialization 3.Technological innovations.
Bessemer and open hearth processmake steel Refrigerated cars Edison
o light bulb, phonograph, motion pictures.
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4.Unskilled & semi-skilled labor in abundance. 5.Abundant
capital. 6.New, talented group of businessmen [entrepreneurs] and
advisors. 7.Market growing as US population increased. 8.Government
willing to help at all levels to stimulate economic growth.
9.Abundant natural resources. Causes of Rapid
Industrialization
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New Business Culture 1.Laissez Faire the ideology of the
Industrial Age. Individual as a moral and economic ideal.
Individuals should compete freely in the marketplace. The market
was not man-made or invented. No room for government in the
market!
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2. Social Darwinism British economist. Advocate of
laissez-faire. Adapted Darwins ideas from the Origin of Species to
humans. Notion of Survival of the Fittest. Herbert Spencer
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2. Social Darwinism in America William Graham SumnerFolkways
(1906) Individuals must have absolute freedom to struggle, succeed
or fail. Therefore, state intervention to reward society and the
economy is futile!
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New Business Culture: The American Dream? 3.Protestant
(Puritan) Work Ethic Horatio Alger [100+ novels] Is the idea of the
self-made man a MYTH??
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John D. Rockefeller Standard Oil Co.
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Tycoons JP Morganbanking
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Andrew Carnegiesteel
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Cornelius Vanderbilt railroads
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Iron & Steel Production
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% of Billionaires in 1900
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% of Billionaires in 1918
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The Protectors of Our Industries
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The Bosses of the Senate
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The Robber Barons of the Past
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Cornelius [Commodore] Vanderbilt Cant I do what I want with my
money?
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2010, TESCC * Rise of Mass Media New Technologies in printing
allowed newspapers to increase their circulation. The Muckrakers!
People who wrote to expose the evils in society and businesses.
2010, TESCC
Slide 36
* Thomas Nast As a political cartoonist for Harpers Weekly,
Nast attacked the Tammany Hall (Democratic) political machine that
ran New York City in 1870. Along the way, Nast created the
Democratic Donkey, Republican Elephant symbols (he did not like the
Democrats), the Tammany Tiger and even Santa Claus. 2010,
TESCC
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Thomas Nast 2010, TESCC *
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* Boss Tweed Picture from Boss Tweed Page
http://www.polaris.edu/iltli/Tchrpgs/Tweed.htm "Stop them darn
pictures. I don't care what the papers write about me. My
constituents can't read. But, darn it, they can see the pictures."
2010, TESCC
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Mulberry Street Bend, 1889
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5-Cent Lodgings
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Mens Lodgings
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Womens Lodgings
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Immigrant Family Lodgings
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Dumbbell Tenement Plan Tenement House Act of 1879, NYC
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Blind Beggar, 1888
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Italian Rag-Picker
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1890s Morgue Basement Saloon
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Black & Tan Saloon
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Bandits Roost
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Mullens Alley Gang
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The Street Was Their Playground
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Lower East Side Immigrant Family
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A Struggling Immigrant Family
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Another Struggling Immigrant Family
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Rosa Schneiderman, Garment Worker
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Child Labor
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Average Shirtwaist Workers Week 51 hours or less4,5545% 52-57
hours65,03379% 58-63 hours12,21115% Over 63 hours5621% Total
employees, men and women 82,360
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Womens Trade Union League
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Women Voting for a Strike!
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The Uprising of the Twenty Thousands (Dedicated to the
Waistmakers of 1909) In the black of the winter of nineteen nine,
When we froze and bled on the picket line, We showed the world that
women could fight And we rose and won with women's might.
Chorus:Hail the waistmakers of nineteen nine, Making their stand on
the picket line, Breaking the power of those who reign, Pointing
the way, smashing the chain. And we gave new courage to the men Who
carried on in nineteen ten And shoulder to shoulder we'll win
through, Led by the I.L.G.W.U.
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Local 25 with Socialist Paper, The Call
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Social and Political Activists Clara Lemlich, Labor Organizer
Carola Woerishoffer, Bryn Mawr Graduate
Alfred E. Smith Future NYC Mayor and Presidential
Candidate
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Future Senator Robert Wagner
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Out of the Ashes ILGWU membership surged. NYC created a Bureau
of Fire Prevention. New strict building codes were passed. Tougher
fire inspection of sweatshops. Growing momentum of support for
womens suffrage.
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The Foundations Were Laid for the New Deal Here in 1911 Al
Smith ran unsuccessfully in 1928 on many of the reform programs
that would be successful for another New Yorker 4 years later FDR.
In the 1930s, the federal government created OSHA [the Occupational
Safety & Health Administration]. The Wagner Act. Francis
Perkins first female Cabinet member [Secretary of Labor] in FDRs
administration.
Slide 98
History of the Needlecraft Industry by Ernest Feeney, 1938
