1. THE GILDED AGE 1876-1900 Notes by R. Horner and J. Rosenzweig PPT translation by N. Miller & T. Zigler

2. Presidents of the Gilded Age 19. Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877-1881 20. James A Garfield, March 4 to September 19, 1881 21. Chester A. Arthur, 1881-1885 22. Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889 23. Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893 24. Grover Cleveland, 1893-1897 25. William McKinley, 1897-1901

3. Industry’s Rise -Government promotes business interests -Corporations appear on the landscape -Laissez-faire arguments are numerous and loud -The economy booms, for the most part -Labor unions form, and major strikes begin to occur -The Supreme Court interferes primarily on behalf of rich men and their corporations, against the unions and striking workers

4. Government Effects on Industry -Imposition of tariffs -Land grants to railroads -Open lands to the west (Homestead Act of 1862) -Loose immigration policy -Low taxes for businesses Important "Robber Barons" - Andrew Carnegie (U. S. Steel) - John D. Rockefeller (Standard Oil) -William Vanderbilt (railroads) -J. P. Morgan (investment banking) http://www.canbyhistoricalsociety.org/railroad/railroadmapof1890.bmp

5. Federal Land Grants to Railroads

6. The Pro-Capitalism Argument Social Darwinism (William Graham Sumner) -Rags-to-riches (Horatio Alger) -Russell Conwell's "Acres of Diamonds" -Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth"

7. Labor Unions - National Labor Union = Founded 1866 – dissolved in 1872 - - 1 st national union - Knights of Labor (radical objectives): Haymarket Riot of 1886 -AFL (moderate): Samuel Gompers, skilled workers only -IWW (socialist/anarchist): "Big Bill" Haywood --Railroad Strike of 1877 --Haymarket Square riot of 1886 --Homestead Strike of 1892 --Pullman Strike of 1894

8. Politics in the Gilded Age Corruption in the Grant administration (Credit Mobilier & Whiskey Ring) means presidents are largely ineffective. Congress rises in power. Money supply is under debate: Specie Resumption Act of 1875 begins the debate. The Bland-Allison Act of 1878 attempts to compromise. The "Billion Dollar Congress" is more active: -McKinley Tariff of 1890 -Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 -Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 -Wilson-Gorman Act of 1894 (higher tariff)

9. Agrarian Activists Farmers organize (the Grange) and get results in the courts Railroads Co. and Banks are the “enemy” Peik v. C&NW Railway (1876) States can regulate interstate commerce if the federal government isn't Munn v. Illinois (1877) Local government wins right to restrict railroad price-gouging Illinois v. Wabash (1886) Peik is overturned, but as a result Congress passes the Interstate Commerce Act to regulate big business

10. Populists Populism rises in 1890s: reforms: -Secret ballot, initiative, referendum, recall -Direct election of Senators -Free coinage of silver -Progressive income tax

11. Policies toward Native Americans Sioux in the Black Hills (Custer and Little Big Horn 1876) – Gold in them hills -Ghost Dancers (Wounded Knee 1890) -Assimilation (Carlisle Indian School in PA) -Dawes-Severalty Act ("civilizes" the tribes) “Kill the Indian, save the man” Imperialism and its justifications: -Alfred T. Mahan's "The Influence of Sea Power" -Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis -Religious beliefs (tying into "Manifest Destiny") -Social Darwinism

12. Spanish-American War -Yellow journalism pumps up the public -Sympathy for revolutionary Cubans -Sinking of the Maine -Cuba wins independence (sort of: see Platt Amendment) -We take Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines (for $20 million) We enter the new century having learned the benefits of imperialism, and having seen the political and social effects of war.