Morgan, Vanderbilt, and an Engineer from Dearborn: The Gilded Age Honors U.S. History

What does Gilded mean? Gilded – An expensive and usually beautiful covering of something raw or cheap Meant to represent poverty covered by the wealth of a few

A Growing Economy Post-Civil War American economy growing –Much more national and international Most of the wealth concentrated at the top The top – “Robber Barons” –Reference to their mentality of “gain at any costs” Including government

Vertical vs. Horizontal Integration Vertical – Andrew Carnegie Steel Control everything about its production from start to finish Mining – Transporting – Processing - Distribution Horizontal – John D. Rockefeller Oil Control of all the companies in the same business Forming of “Trusts” –All the company heads working together and not against each other

Laissez-Faire French for “let it be” or “let go” Doing business with little government interference Darwin’s “Survival of the Fittest” applied –Justified why the wealthy were wealthy –Discouraged reforms

Socialists and Anarchists Those looking to eliminate capitalism in favor of a more balanced system Consider extremely radical –Never as popular here as in Europe Need for reforms to help lower class necessary

Labor Unions Workers have grievances –Low wages –Machines are taking their jobs –Dangerous working conditions –Inability to control the pace of work –Lost sense of autonomy Labor Unions formed to gain back rights through collective bargaining

Strikes and Violence Great Railroad Strike (1877) – Between 100,000 and 500,000 workers strike after a ten percent wage cut Haymarket Square (1886) – Bomb attack against police results in open fire against striking workers Homestead Strike (1892) – Carnegie closes Penn. Plant to union workers on strike

Rockefeller