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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