Unit 6: Topic 10 - Development of the Middle Class Flashcards
How did the Gilded Age change the way big businesses were run?
With the growth and rise of big businesses came the abundance of many unskilled workers. To combat this, companies changed their structure into a 3 tier system: (Bottom) Laborers, Managers, Executives (Top).
This structure allowed for productivity to be at its highest through the newly organized and efficient system.
Managers observed, analyzed, and timed the workers; They provided the tools, training, incentives, and determined the most efficient way of working for the workers. The workers themselves did the manual labor, increasing the productivity the more laborers there were.
Essentially, the managers kept the day-to-day operations of the company going.
Who were the white-collar workers?
“White-Collared Workers” referred to middle class workers who worked management or clerical jobs, created from the change in business structures during the Gilded Age.
They worked in fields such as accounting, legal services, health care, and many other kinds of clerical work.
How did women get introduced into the Workforce?
The Morrill Land Grant Act (1862) opened up higher educational opportunities for new groups of people beyond the elite and upper classes. States were given land and resources to create “land-grant universities” to “benefit the agricultural and mechanical arts”. Women in particular benefited from this legislation.
Many educated women entered the workforce and took on clerical jobs, like operating typewriters or telephone switchboards.
They were paid significantly less than men, only making a third to half of what men were being paid.
How did the Middle Class compare to the Lower and Upper classes?
Workers in the middle class, including women, made enough money to not be a part of the lower class, but not enough money to be a part of the elite upper class.
Compared to the lower working class, the middle class had higher rising wages and worked less hours.
List examples of leisure time activities that were popular amoungst the middle class during the Gilded Age.
Amusement parks, circuses, spectator sports, etc.
Amusement parks, like Coney Island, were built in the 1829. This attraction brought in a lot of people because it was the largest amusement park at that time.
P.T. Barnum’s circuses were very popular; amature spectator sports like baseball and American football grew in popularity as well.
What was the Gospel of Wealth?
“The Gospel of Wealth” was an idea and book written by Andrew Carnegie in the June of 1889.
Carnegie believed that the extraordinarily wealthy should not hold onto their wealth and pass it on to their children, but rather invest their money into society in order to produce a more just and equitable future for everyone.
The ultimate goal was to reduce the societal distance between the rich and the poor. As a result, much of Carnegie’s charity went towards establishing libraries and schools across the country.
What did Andrew Carnegie believe about the middle class?
Carnegie believed that hard work led to wealth. He wasn’t interested in providing handouts to the poor, instead using his money to create opportunities for the poor to better themselves. He thought that reinvesting his money into society to provide more opportunities for the less fortunate, provided an occasion for the lower class to have a chance at a more comfortable, middle-class life.
How did philanthropy contribute to equalizing society in the late 1800s?
Philanthropists, like Andrew Carnegie and Phoebe Apperson Hearst, donated sums of money towards free educational and cultural institutions that would provide the middle and lower classes with opportunities only accessible to the elite upper class at that time.
Some of these free educational institutions include public libraries and universities. Other cultural institutions included concert halls and museums.
