The gilded age context Flashcards
1
Q
What were the industrial and technological advances?
A
- Railroads
- Economic growth
2
Q
Railroads
A
- In 1969, first transcontenential railroad opened for West mining and ranching regions
- Linked formally isolated areas with larger markets and allowed for the rise of American farming, ranching and mining
- Opened carrer paths for young men and room for progression
3
Q
Economic growth
A
- Robber Barons: fortunes were made at the expense of the working class
- Andrew Carnegie, John D Rockerfeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, J.P Morgan
- Mnay business leaders influenced by Herbert Spencer’s theory of Social Darwinism
4
Q
Rise of labour unions
A
- Increased as gap between rich and poor widened
- 37,000 stikes from 1881-1905
- Panic of 1873/1893 - high urban unemployment and low incomes for farmers
5
Q
Immigration
A
Increased in cities such as Chicago and New York
- Inreasing demand for unskilled workers
- Poverty also increased, low cost housing were quickly overridden with notorious gangs
- Overcrowding spread germs, deat rates exceeded those in the countryside
6
Q
Old immgrants
A
- Britain, Ireland, Scandanavia
- Due to great famine in Ireland when starvation killed millions
- Extreme poverty, crime and violence
7
Q
New immigrants
A
- Poorer and rural from Southern and Eastern Europe
- Economic opportunity good inexpensive farmland jobs
8
Q
Literary context:
A
Mark Twain coined the term “The Gilded Age” -> “The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today” (1873)
