Gilded: Covered thinly with gold paint...

to hide an inferior metal underneath.

(not everything is what it seems to be)

Gilded Age Module

America's 5 Values

Alexis de Tocqueville was from France and he came to America to find out what made our system of government different. He notes many things but he especially stated 5 things, Laissez-Faire, Individualism, Populism, Egalitarianism, and Liberty.

Of the 5 things, Laissez-Faire was noted because economics was one of the most important concerns of the founding fathers because freedom is most hindered by finances.

It is also the most tested out of the 5 on STAAR.

Transcontinental Railroad

This went from Omaha, Nebraska to Sacramento, California.

The Transcontinental Railroad helped to expand the west, gave reason to kill off buffalo and relocate Indians/Native Americans to new land. The railroad also helped to spur along colonization of the west by providing supplies that before were unable to be shipped.

Many were needed to build the railroad and so immigration went up. Many Chinese immigrants came to the US to build the railroad.

Gold Rush

The Gold Rush was one of the first reasons settling the west begun. Many people traveled to California and Alaska to get rich quick but many of them didn't. While some did strike it rich, most died or went home bankrupt.

Cattle Boom

The cattle boom was spurred along by the Transcontinental Railroad. Cattle were brought into the U.S. by the Spaniards and were domesticated by the Mexican vaqueros, who taught the American cowboys how to heard. Originally cattle were free range but when the west began to be settled more, fences went up to mark property lines and keep cattle in. Cattle were transported through the cattle drives, mostly done in Texas, and then shipped up towards Chicago to the meat packing industries.

Nativists

Before the term Nativist took off, the term native was used as a slur to reference the American Indian. At this point in history though a Nativist was a person who believed that immigrants shouldn't have the right to come to America, despite the fact most of them were only in America because of their ancestors who were immigrants themselves. Nativists were ethnocentric, meaning they didn't like other cultures, and this mentality helped to rise up members of the KKK to go after people who were immigrants.

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

One the Transcontinental Railroad was built many Chinese immigrants were without work and faced racism from American born in the U.S.. The U.S. will begin immigration policies that will start limiting immigration from certain countries. Chinese immigration was the most difficult to come from.

Ellis Island and Angel Island

Ellis Island handled immigration from Europe.

Angel Island handled immigration from Asia.

Both facilities were not great and didn't provide real humane living conditions for the immigrants. Many times people came over from Asia, even with the Chinese Exclusion Act by saying they were a child or spouse of someone already in the U.S. and because of this they were interrogated to see if the people were truly from the family they said they were.

Homestead Act 1862

This act provided 160 acres of land if the person claiming it worked the land and built a home on it to live in. The problem was that many people lacked the supplies to cultivate the land and continue to live despite Indian raids, wild animals, and diseases.

Homes were generally built of mud and sod or built underground as quick inexpensive shelters.

Indian Policies

Dawes Act of 1887

The Dawes Act of 1887 regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. It authorized the President of the United States to subdivide Native American tribal communal landholdings into allotments for Native American heads of families and individuals as a way to divide the tribal community and assimilate them into the European culture.

Urbanization

The explosion of factories and work in the north created a pull factor to move where the work was. With so many jobs available there was many people who went to the area for the work. This creates urbanization because people go and have to have houses built. Many people lived in Tenement housing because they were working for low wages but living in crowded cities. Tenements were shared with others or very small for families, they were also very unsanitary.

13th - 15th Amendments, 1865

13th- slavery unconstitutional unless you are in prison.

14th- Natural or Naturalized citizens were protected under the law.

15th- All men can vote regardless of race.

Robber Baron or Captain of the Industry

Robber Barons were people who made their money by Monopolies and paid their workers very low wages and allowed them to work in unsafe working conditions.

Captains of the Industry were very much the same people as Robber Barons, but they tended to participate in philanthropy, (using money to build up a city, country, or health industry to make a better country)

The 4 main ones are...

John Rockefeller- OIL

Cornelius Vanderbilt- Railroad

Andrew Carnegie-Steel (Mostly tested over)

J P Morgan-Banks

Steel Bessemer Process

New process at the time in which steel was made. This process made steel the new way to build, rather than just wood, and help modernize the United States and make Andrew Carnegie one of the richest men in the U.S.. He would go on to become a Philanthropist, but in his book The Gospel of Wealth, he would state that it was okay he came upon his money through monopolistic means as long as a person understood they had the responsibility to use their money to help others.

Light Bulb

1879

Increased labor because it made is possible for people to work at night since they could now see in the factory.

Telephone

1876, Alexander Graham Bell

Farmer Issues

Farmers couldn't make a living paying to farm because of many issues.

The banks would raise interest rates on the loans for land and then the railroad companies would price gouge the farmers for shipping. These two issues together would leave farmers loosing money to ship out of state and not making enough to both pay for their land and feed their family. This issue would lead to the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 and Third Party rise ups in the Progressive Era.

Labor Unions

Monopolies will mistreat their employees by forcing them to work for little wages and in unsafe working conditions, causing them to get unhappy and demand better. This will be done through labor unions and protests.

Interstate Commerce Act, 1887

The Railroad industry is now held to government regulations, and other large monopolies will also be held to regulations of the government from this point on.

Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 1890

Monopolies are illegal.

Political Machines

Immigrants couldn't get much help in getting jobs and having a place to live from the legitimate government of the U.S. and this gave room for someone to rise up and provide for that need. The people to raise up were Political Bosses, who ran Political Machines. The main boss was William Tweed of Tammany Hall in New York. These bosses provided clothes, food, jobs, and places to live to the immigrants in exchange for votes.

Child Labor

This was a real problem in the Gilded Age because many immigrants couldn't make it on the low wages they were paid, their children had to work as well to make ends meet, this led to children dying of breathing diseases and work accidents.

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