Depth: Gilded Age - 1875 - 95 Flashcards
Overall extent of progress in the period for AAs?
Although there was some progress made for AAs in the Gilded age, ultimately it remained a period of violent, systematic suppression enabled by the Federal Govt which engendered the ‘Progressive age’
Political situation for AAs - negative examples
1877 Hayes-Tilden compromise - allowed South to return to racist notions/free from restrictions
1896 - Plessy v. Fergusson = SC recognised ‘separate but equal’ segregation as constitutional
- Many states (esp. in the South) used a variety of legal mechanisms to erode Black CR i.e poll taxes, literacy tests, Grandfather Clauses, Jim Crow laws
- JC laws enabled the legal disenfranchisement of AAs
Political situation for AAs - positives
Gilded age arg. a period of Black political mobilisation.
- Washerwoman’s strike 1881 mobilised 3000+
- KOL, Colored Farmer’s alliance & Black populist movement in the 1880s - 90s which acc won several key elections (although violently dismantled)
- Increased political involvement, many black men became lawmen i.e Bass Revees a US Deputy Marhsall or Hiram Revels the 1st Black senator
Socially - lack of progression
- Whites still violently resisting attempts at integration, many AA communities faced violent attacks e.g. Wilmington riot in 1898 & Leflore County, Mississippi 1889.
Socially - progression
- 1865 only 1 in 20 AAs could read, by 1900 = 1 in 2 could read
- Growth of AA education with the estab. of Black universities like Tuskegee (1881) & Howard (1867)
- Strengthening of Black communities through Churches & the creation of all-black towns like Allensworth, Cali.
Economic - lack of progression
- Many AAs esp. in the South were financially trapped in the pernicious sharecropping system
- Most job opps = v. low paid
- Debt peonage ravaged rural communities = 90% of AA population, huge econ. disparity
Economic - progression for AAs
Still had some economic leverage
- 4 AA banks
- Approx. 42,000 AAs with professional jobs i.e lawyers, teachers.
- Many black owned businesses started to emerge i.e. B.T. Washington’s Tuskegee institute which received backing from Whites/the state of Alabama
Recognition of right to exist - positive
- Union membership skyrocketed with the KOL growing from 20,00 in 1881 to 700,000 by 1886
- the establishment of the AFL which sought to link all TUS and was the 1st successful national labour federation.
- 1914 Clayton anti-trust act protected labour unions from anti-trust prosecution,
Overall judgement concerning whether or not the Gilded age was a period of progress for Trade Unions
Whilst there were some improvements in terms of beneficial legislation, these were sporadic at best as a result of the Federal Government’s constant adoption of a laissez faire approach to unions and unions themselves, despite their growth in membership were largely unable to have much of an impact due to the FG’s constant employment of violent action to crush union strike action.
Although it could be argued that this violent climate triggered society as a whole to dramatically rethink attitudes towards unions - concluding that for the next period/century a more progressive FG attitude towards unions was necessary.
Recognition of right to exist - negative
- 1895 Adair v. US allowed employers to fire employees at will. = deterring union membership
- yellow dog contracts constantly used to limit union membership
Recognition of right to strike - positive
- Great Railroad strike 1877 demonstrated an emerging collective awareness of workers that they shared a common plight, triggering workers to form LARGE labour unions post-1877.
- Success of Wabash rail strike 1885 by KOL, demonstrating that unions now had some negotiating power.
- 1914 Clayton anti-trust act protected labour unions from anti-trust prosecution,
Recognition of right to strike - negative
- Strike actions were often met with violence with federal troops being sent to crush strikes:
- Great Railroad Strike 1877 in which 25 were killed
- Homestead 1892
- Haymarket 1886 in which at least 8 people were killed
- Pullman Strike 1894.
SC also sided with large businesses, introducing injunctions to crush strikes:
-1895 In re Debs which convicted Debs for inciting the Pullman strike
- 1890 Sherman Anti-trust act used to justify the quelling of strikes -1895 Adair v. US allowed employers to fire employees at will. = discrimination against unions enshrined in law!
improved working conditions - positive
- SC did uphold some beneficial laws for workers i.e. Muller v. Oregon 1908 upholding limits on women’s working hours.
- 1916 Adamson act = 8 hr workday.
- The Interstate Commerce Act 1887- regulated railways, helps workers by using price caps.
- The Sherman Anti-Trust Act 1890- ensured fair competition.
- Wages, esp. for skilled workers, rose dramatically by around 60%.
working conditions - negative
- All in all, workers still majorly lacked rights, working long hours in dangerous conditions; 2000 rail workers died in accidents in 1889 & more than 35,000 in total in late 19th c.
- Huge inequalities between unskilled and skilled workers as unskilled workers earned only 30% of what skilled workers earned & their position was far more secure than unskilled as their skills meant they were indispensable. = had leverage to negotiate w/ employers for better pay & join labour unions.
- Pullman Town illustrated the rife exploitation of workers = gave employer almost absolute control over workers lives as required to live there if they wanted to work there & rents 25% higher than typical.
Overall judgement concerning whether or not this was a period of progress for Native Americans?
Native Americans did not significantly benefit during the Gilded Age, and in many ways, they suffered further dispossession, violence, and forced assimilation at the hands of the Federal Government which was never concerned with improving NA rights as it was more concerned with the concepts of ‘Westward expansion’ and ‘Manifest destiny’ which diametrically opposed the movement for the empowerment of Natives. However, there were some limited exceptions, such as the increased activism of NAs in the face of the harsh FG.
Land - positive
Daws Act 1887:
Granted individual land parcels to some Native Americans who were willing to assimilate. In rare cases e.g. the Cherokee nation, these individuals were able to succeed economically, particularly in agriculture, by using the land allotted to them.
Land - negative
- Dawes Act 1887 = FG legally broke up tribal land into individual plots which undermined their sovereignty. – lost 90 million acres of land, 2/3 of their territory
- Curtis Act in 1898 which extended the policies of Dawes to the 5 civilised tribes & Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock SC court case in 1903 which essentially enshrined in law the FG’s ability to break treaties w/ NAs and seize NA land without their consent.
- Pacific Railway Act & Westward expansion = led to increase in white settlers on NA land & decimation of Buffalo.
Sovereignty - positive
- Some legal victories, such as Standing Bear’s case (1879), demonstrated that Native Americans could assert their rights in court. Although such cases were rare, they marked the beginning of a legal fight for Native American civil rights that would continue into the 20th century.
- The Dawes Act 1887 = after a period of time NAs could become US citizens which meant that they could possibly gain the right to vote.
Sovereignty - negative
- Curtis act dismantled the political structures of Native American nations, imposing individual land allotments and dissolving tribal governments. These moves stripped tribes of their ability to organize politically, making them more susceptible to economic exploitation.
Dawes Act 1887 = FG legally pursued ways & means of dismantling NA culture & sovereignty. This broke up tribal land into individual plots which undermined their sovereignty.
Culture - positive
- In the late 1880s and early 1890s, the Ghost Dance Movement emerged as a spiritual response to the despair caused by U.S. policies.
- Native American leaders like the Sioux chief Red Cloud and others sought to record their history and culture through writing, oral history, and even engaging with American anthropologists. This allowed for some preservation of cultural practices that might have been at risk of disappearing due to forced assimilation.
Culture - negative
- Creation of boarding schools i.e. Carlisle (1879) which forced NAs to adopt Western lifestyles, forcing them to abandon their languages, customs, and traditions to ‘Kill the Native & Save the man.’
- NA attempts to preserve culture through advocacy curbed through violence: In the late 1880s and early 1890s, the Ghost Dance Movement curbed by the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, where U.S. soldiers killed hundreds of Lakota Sioux.
U.S. settlers and hunters, often encouraged by the government, slaughtered buffalo herds for sport and economic gain. By the 1880s, the buffalo population was nearly wiped out (around 100 left by 1884), decimating the Native American tribes that relied on them for sustenance, clothing, and tools. This left many tribes, such as the Sioux and Cheyenne, without their primary means of survival.
Overall judgement concerning whether or not this was a period of progress for Women?
The Gilded Age/Industrialisation ultimately had a rather limited impact on women as although job opportunities slightly increased & women became more prominent in the public sphere, these gains were very short-term, with the Federal Government failing to address and resolve issues of sexism and gender discrimination.
Economic - positive
- By 1900, women = 17% of the workforce, increasing their experience outside of the domestic role.
- Rise of consumer economy = new employment opportunities for women, National Consumers League & Florence Kelley = attempted to mobilise power of working women to force employers to increase wages.
Economic - negative
- Many working class women had ALWAYS been working before the gilded age, so this was no new experience for them.
- Female dom. industries received minimal wage increases compared to traditionally male industries.
- Segregated job opportunities - women worked in lower ranking roles & treated worse than their male counterparts = low wages, inadequate conditions.
Social - positive
- More women began to pursue education & obtain degrees, moving away from trad. expectations of the ‘wife’ BUT limited to white middleclass.
- Women entering workforce = overturning (though only to a degree) the ‘Angel of the Hearth’ stereotype w/ some women acting as the main breadwinners. (Mostly for URBAN families).
Social - negative
- Industrialisation intensified ‘separate spheres’ ideology, confining, majority of women to domestic roles.
- Many married women still did not have access to increased rights i.e. the right to own property, sign legal documents or even earn a salary.
Political - positive
- State level victories in terms of voting, Wyoming as the 1st state to allow women to vote in 1869 = result of NWSA & AWSA campaigning
- Growing traction of political organisations i.e. WTCU, NWSA & AWSA gave women experience in the public sphere, laying foundation for future endeavours bc had experience of lobbying.
- Disunity w/in campaigning groups somewhat resolved by 1890 with NWSA & AWSA uniting as NAWSA
Political - negative
- By the end of the gilded age, women were still disenfranchised bc did not fully have the right to vote = limited to individual states.
- Suffrage movement DIVIDED between libs & conservatives & over their visions for the future = minimising their ability to effectively pressurise the FG.
