1. GILDED AGE

2. Gilded = covered with gold on the outside but cheaper material inside
GILDED AGE, 1870 to 1900
Phrase penned by Mark Twain for the way America had become. It revealed the “best and worst” of America.
Gilded = covered with gold on the outside but cheaper material inside
Suggests that there was a glittering layer of prosperity that covered the poverty and corruption that existed in much of society

3. GILDED AGE, 1870 to 1900
Time of corruption, scandals in local, state and national government
Uneven distribution of wealth – created a growing gap between the few very rich and the many very poor

4. Homes of Rockefeller

5. The Biltmore House
The home of Cornelius Vanderbilt

6. Largest private home in America
OVERHEAD VIEW OF BILTMORE HOUSE in Asheville, N.C.
255 rooms / 35 guest rooms
125,000 acres (originally)
Largest private home in America
Took 5 years to build; completed in 1895

7. FOYER

8. SWIMMING POOL
BOWLING ALLEY

9. MR. V’S BEDROOM
MRS. V’S

10. GARDENS Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (who also designed
Central Park in NYC)

11. Homes of Andrew Carnegie

12. TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS
The wealthy lived extravagant lifestyles and considered themselves elitists
The common people resented their snobbish attitudes & wealth
1861 = 3 millionaires 1900 = 3,800
% of wealth controlled by 10% of population

13. Gilded Age
Pretty on the outside, but…

15. Beneath the surface…

16. Jacob Riis
How the Other Half Lives

19. Assignment Read the packets and complete your notes
Make sure you hole punch your note pages & put them in your Notes section
Binder check for unit notes on Friday!!!

20. Individualism
Belief that no matter what a person’s background is, he or she can become successful through effort
Horatio Alger – wrote over 100 “rags to riches” novels

21. Social Darwinism Herbert Spencer – “Survival of the Fittest”
Society evolved through competition
Paralleled laissez-faire capitalism

22. Social Darwinism People compete for success
Those who succeed are wealthy
Those who don’t remain poor
Govt. can’t control “survival of the fittest”
Only prevent the unfit from stealing from the wealthy

23. Who supported Social Darwinism?
Rockefeller & Carnegie (All Robber Barrons)
Large/multiple homes (Vanderbilt had 7 homes in 7 blocks on 5th Ave. worth 12M)
Outrageous parties

24. Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth
Wealthy Americans should give back - philanthropy
Build schools/colleges, hospitals, libraries, museums

25. Social Criticism
How to handle the problems from industrialization & urbanization?
Henry George Progress and Poverty
Challenged Social Darwinism “The gulf between the employed and the employer is growing wider; social contrasts are becoming sharper”
Lester Frank Ward Dynamic Sociology
Reform Darwinism – cooperation not competition to succeed
Edward Bellamy Looking Backward,
Socialism – government owns all industry

26. Naturalism in Literature
Idea that people fail in life due to circumstances they could not control
Impacts:
encouraged readers to look at social problems
discouraged people from taking action
encouraged envy & resentment
people wanted gov’t intervention

27. Helping the Urban Poor Reformers began to organize to help the poor
Social Gospel movement ( ) Believed Christians were called upon by God to perform acts of charity & goodness
Early leader – Washington Gladden (minister)
Later – Walter Rauschenbusch (minister) said competition caused problems
Churches try to help by offering gyms, social programs and daycare
Salvation Army offered aid and religious counseling to urban poor
Settlement House Movement community centers
Wanted to improve living conditions of the poor
Medical care, recreation programs, English classes, hot lunches
Jane Addams Hull House (Chicago)
Lillian Wald Henry Street (NYC)

28. Helping the Urban Poor
YMCA offered Bible studies, prayer meetings, citizenship training, and group activities for industrial workers and urban poor
Dwight L. Moody said the poor needed redemption for their souls, not services
Call for social reforms
End child labor, safer working conditions
Temperance movement (against alcohol)

29. Public Schools
A need for better-trained workers meant more schools and colleges were needed
Schools taught “Americanization” to immigrant children
Booker T. Washington started the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama (1881) for African Americans
George Washington Carver made growing peanuts profitable for poor farmers by developing many uses for them
Morrill Land Grant Act helped establish many colleges

30. Realism in Art Portrayed ordinary people doing ordinary things
Thomas Eakins (painter from Philadelphia)

31. Realism in Art
John Singer Sargent

32. Realism in Literature William Dean Howells – American life
Henry James – lives of the upper class
Edith Wharton – complicated lives of upper class
Mark Twain – “true American” novels

33. Popular Culture – more money to spend on recreation and entertainment
1869 – first salaried baseball team: Cincinnati Red Stockings
Coney Island – Amusement Park
first World Series Boston Americans & Pittsburgh Pirates
Late 1800s – football in colleges
1891 – basketball invented

34. Popular Culture
New York City – birth of the modern music industry -Tin Pan Alley
Vaudeville- Variety Acts
Ragtime