Gilded Age Flashcards
Agricultural Revolution
Advancements in technology and methods
Fueled by migration of workers from country to cities
Industrial Revolution
A period of economic transformation
Advancements:
Materials - Iron & Steel
New Energy - Coal, Electricity, Steam Engine, etc.
Rise of factories & cities
Transportation & Communication - Cars, telegraph, etc.
The Factory System
Manufacturing in factories with machinery and division of labor
Mass production of goods by unskilled labor
Gilded Age America
Too place between Civil War and the start of the 20th century
It appeared to have many successes and advancements of industrialization and a booming economy
There was a lot of corruption, abuse, and racism
Transcontinental Railroad
Railroad that connected the west coast to the east coast
Difficult and hazardous construction and made westward expansion easier
Golden Spike Ceremony
Ceremony where they put a golden Spike when they finished building the transcontinental railroad
Homestead Act of 1862
Designed to promote westward expansion
Citizens could claim 160 acres of land
Must farm land for 5 years, build home, and pay $1.25 per acre
Provided opportunities for women and African Americans
Heightened tensions with Indigenous tribes
Urbanization
Factories led to larger cities
Shift from farming to business
Rapid growth of cities=unsanitary and unsafe conditions
Dangers of Factories
Long days and low wages
Dangerous Conditions
Triangle Shirtwaist Company-146 workers died bc there was no escape due to neglecting safety protocals
Jacob Riis
Muckracker
Author of How the Other Half Lives
Upton Sinclair & “The Jungle”
Wrote “The Jungle” to illustrate poor quality of factories on their workers and their products
Patents
Legal document that gives an inventory exclusive rights to produce and sell their inventions
Lasts 20 years
Age of the Entrepreneur
Small groups of businessmen amassed great wealth while workers struggled
Risked capital to invest and solidify their place in the market
Robber Baron vs Captain of Industry
RB-entrepreneur who made excessive amounts of money, at expenses of their workers
CI-entrepreneur characterizes by leadership and innovation often participated in philanthropy
Monopoly
Large companies that controlled entire industry which allows them to set prices and to not have competition
The Homestead Strike
Contract expired with factory
While they were strikes, Pinkerton, independent police force, attacked strikers
The 1886 Haymarket Affair
Protest against police brutality against protesting workers
Rising tensions between Unions and workers and surrounding immigrants
Sherman Antitrust Act
First measure to ban monopolistic business
Trying to restore competiton
Overturned later
Formation & Purpose of Unions
Unions are formed between workers of the company or who perform the safe job
Strength in #s, job security, could strike
Nativism
Believe that “Native-Born” Americans’ interests should be prioritized over those immigrants
Chinese Exclusion Acts
Chinese workers were essential to the transcontinental railroad but were forced to work less than whites
Villanizing Chinatown
So banned immigration of Chinese immigrants
Immigration Act of 1924
Cap on immigration to the US based on 2% of total # of people of each nationality in the US of the 1890 census
Excluded immigrants from Asia
Goal of presenting the ideal of an American identity
Bison Genocide
Natives dependent on bison
They were an obstacle to Westward expansion
Killed 30-60 million bison
“Peace Policy” of 1869“
Ulysses S. Grant wanted to assimilate Natives
Placing Natives on reservations
Christian missionaries spread religion
