IV.Early Reforms in a Gilded Age (1870 – 1900)

In 1873, Mark Twain and Charles Warner co-authored a novel about American politics & society titled The Gilded Age. A time of tremendous change, where old ideas of society & culture no longer seemed to apply.  The Gilded Age – novel by Mark Twain and Charles Warner (1873), later used the term for era between 1870 to  The term originates in Shakespeare's King John (1595): "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily... is wasteful and ridiculous excess."  It was a period with showy displays of wealth and excessive opulence. Writer and humorist, Mark Twain, wrote the novel The Gilded Age ridiculing Washington D.C. and many leading figures of the day.

"What is the chief end of man?--to get rich. In what way?--dishonestly if we can; honestly if we must.“ -- Mark Twain-1871  The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, Mark Twain (1884) – great American novel.  Increased entertainment and recreation due to industrialization and less physical strenuous work. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) by Mark Twain is commonly accounted as one of the first Great American Novels. It was also one of the first major American novels ever written using Local Color Realism or the vernacular, or common speech, being told in the first person by the eponymous Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, best friend of Tom Sawyer. Mark Twain

A.The Gilded Age ( ) – Covered with gold on the outside, but made of cheaper material inside.  Gilded Age might appear to sparkle, but beneath it lays crime, corruption, and disparities between rich & poor.  The pressing problems of the urban poor in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s stimulated attempts to reform industrial society.

1.Individualism – Person could rise in society and go as far as their talents and commitments would take them.

2.Social Darwinism – From Charles Darwin’s 1859 book On the Origin of Species, Philosopher Herbert Spencer applied theory of evolution & natural selection to human society = “Survival of the fittest.”  Darwin argued that plant and animal life evolve over years by process of natural selection, and those species that can not adapt to their environment will die out.  Spencer used the theory to argue that human society also evolves through competition and natural selection.  “Survival of the fittest” was the catchphrase of Social Darwinism. Herbert Spencer

B.Rebirth of Reform. 1.Social Gospel – improve city conditions along ideals of charity & justice. 2.Settlement Houses – Late 1800’s, Jane Addams established them in poor neighborhoods to help w/ medical care, hot lunches, & English classes. Jane Addams’ Hull House in Chicago, IL. Still occupied by Mrs. Hull today??  Jane Addams is the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

3.Susan B. Anthony – Arrested in 1872 for trying to vote (Rochester, NY).  Said the 14th and 15th Amendments applied to women.

4.Booker T. Washington – Formed the Tuskegee Institute (Alabama), an agricultural & industrial school for African Americans in U.S. postage stamp. “It is at the bottom of life that we must begin, not at the top.” -- Booker T. Washington Educator, Author, and African American Civil Rights Leader. History class at Tuskegee,  He was freed from slavery as a child.

5.George Washington Carver – Helped sharecroppers by inventing 300+ industrial uses for peanuts (inks, oils, dyes, stains, soap, cosmetics, etc.); made peanut the South’s 2nd most lucrative crop (after cotton). GWC’s second U.S. postage stamp (1948 & 1998).  A freed slave, had a big heart and loved nature.  Peanut for: paints, plastics, gasoline biodiesel, motor oil, face/shaving cream, shoe polish, crayons, & nitroglycerin.  Over 100 food recipes that included peanuts (soups, etc.).  100 uses for soy bean (ink, plastics); sweet potato (WWI bread)  In 1941, "Time" magazine dubbed him a "Black Leonardo," a reference to the white polymath Leonardo da Vinci. His rubbing oil helped Polio patients like FDR. He did not invent peanut butter