The Gilded Age “It could be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinct Native American criminal class except Congress” ~Mark Twain

Gilded Age Presidents Ulysess S. Grant James Garfield Rutherford B. Hayes James Garfield Chester A. Arthur Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison William McKinley

Gilded Age Problems Government President Grant Budgeted Cost $250,000 Government Politics were corrupt Nationally and Locally Political Machine Tammany Hall William Boss Tweed $2 for $1 President Grant Actual Cost $13,000,000

Gilded Age Problems Labor Issues Events Child Labor Low Wages, Long Hours Unsafe Working Conditions Mostly Immigrant Workers Events Triangle Shirtwaist Factor Fire 1911 Factory Fire in NYC, in 18mins 146 people killed. Owners of the Factory put on trial…….. Labor Strikes Haymaker Riot 1888 8 people killed by police Pullman Strike 1894 Strike was violently put down by federal troops Homestead Strike 1889 Violence between security force and Union Members resulted in hundreds dead

Gilded Age Problems Immigrants Women African Americans Irish, Italian largest immigrant groups Labor force of the country Lived in urban areas Gilded Age Wages $8.00 per week (1900) Job shortages led to Organized Crime Women Mad less money than men Could not vote or own property in some places African Americans Jim Crow Laws in the South Move north to escape Jim Crow South

Gilded Age Problems Economic Issues Less %3 of the population controlled 80% of the countries wealth. Monopoly: Exclusive control of a Commodity. Problems with a Monopoly. No choices High Prices Low wages No innovation Andrew Carnegie: Carnegie Steel Company John D. Rockefeller: Standard Oil Company Union Pacific Railroad