Unit 6: The Gilded Age Flashcards
Causes of Industrialization - Natural
resources like land, water, oil, ore, coal, wood = used to produce + transport goods
influx of immigrants = labor + consumer base
Causes of Industrialization - Tech
transportation systems improved (railroads, mainly, but also ships/canals, roads)
telegraph, telephone = communication revolution
typewriters, sewing machines =»_space; women, immigrants in office/sweatshops (worked for less pay than white men)
electricity (» urb growth) → dynamos (motors) = diverse biz location +»_space; efficiency, cheaper production (economies of scale)
Transcontinental Railroad
moved ppl + goods fast so led to ag transport, spread of immigrants, transfer of raw mats, and western expansion BUT expensive to build, poor working conditions, corruption (big biz lobbying gov)
most work was done by immigrants (Chinese) after civil war (1865). construction included big risks, big competition, and constant setbacks
completed in May 1869 (golden spike uniting east and west). catalyst for US transition to urban econ.
Role of Government in Transcontinental Railroad
b/f civil war, sectionalism prevented, BUT Pacific Railway Act (1862) authorized 2 companies (Union + Central Pacific) to build – went west from Omaha (NE) and east from Sacramento to Sierra NV
congress gave more $ to the quickest finisher - led to cutting corners which amplified risks + setbacks
Captains of Industry vs. Robber Barons
same people; captains = positive. barons = negative
“captains of industry” = business tycoons who paved the way for the post war econ boom
“robber barons” = big business free market capitalists who had lots of econ control and tried to eliminate competition
“Philanthropy”
big billionaires like carnegie and rockefeller gave a lot of money back - built schools, churches, etc.
often used to cover up how they got their wealth (exploiting the poor)
John D. Rockefeller (Standard Oil)
established Standard Oil Company in Ohio 1870 b/c ez RR access
after biz grew to be biggest in USA, wanted to eliminate “distractions” (competition) to get $$
Rockefeller: Horizontal Integration and Vertical Integration
horizontal: a process in which a dominator corporation buys or forces out most of its competitors
vertical: process by which corporation gains control of all aspects of the resources+processes needed to produce/sell a product (no middle man)
rockefeller used these to try to get a monopoly on oil (even though 90% mkt already = him)
Rockefeller: Trusts
after state legis tried to block monopoly (no owning stocks in competitors!), responded through trusts – biz arrangements that give person/corporation legal power to manage another person’s $ / co. without owning it outright
instead of owning competitors, stockholders transferred shares “in trust” to him
Rockefeller: Holding Company
in response to the Sherman Antitrust Act, established huge corporation that produces nothing itself but controls other companies by owning chunks of stock in them
Andrew Carnegie
Scottish born Philadelphian who created largest steel company in the world: Carnegie Steel
Bessemer Converter
squo steel could only be made with wrought iron in small quantities (expensive) BUT Bessemer Converter (1850s) blasted oxygen through a furnace to produce steel quicker
» steel accessibility = RR industry expansion, steel frame buildings (urb)
Carnegie biz practices
used vertical integration and trusts, justifying them as “natural end” of capitalism
treated workers badly (long hours, dangerous conditions, pay cuts)
“The Gospel of Wealth”
Carnegie’s essay applying the law of human competition to business → the newly rich are wealthy because they are naturally blessed to do so, but with their God-given power comes a responsibility to donate money to the “less capable” poor
Laissez-faire
USFG policy of not regulating or taxing big biz AND not meaningfully overseeing working ops
justified symbiotic relationship between politicians and big biz (lobbying)
role of USFG during gilded age
lobbying (buying influence) was done by corporations
ex: Morrill Tariff (corporations could artificially inflate prices bc foreign prices»_space;) continued after civil war even though bad for consumers + farmers
Sherman Antitrust Act
1890 act intending to outlaw monopolistic biz practices
BUT actually used to make it SEEM like congress gave a shit – the bill passed with no fuss and left loopholes in language (+ was rarely enforced due to vague defs)
Middle Class
while rich displayed “conspicuous consumption”, MC (mostly white collars like accounts, engineers, or clerical positions) emerged in 1830s-70s with the rise of big corporations. displayed “contentment without excess”
Role of Women in Middle Class
> women’s colleges after civ war = > wmn in higher edu = > women in MC workforce + fighting for liberation from societal pressures (staying in home, etc)
AND more urb MC women = stay at home wives + mothers
neurasthenia: male physicians’ diagnosis of women with fatigue + hysteria disorder, mainly to force women back into cult of domesticity – argued that female higher edu was to blame
