Most were of very short duration. In the horse-drawn era, streets were unpaved and covered with dirt or gravel. Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies . Some created homes for destitute immigrants while others pushed a temperance agenda, believing the source of poverty and most family troubles was alcohol. Biltmore Estate History. The Panic of 1893 lasted four years and left lower and even middle-class Americans fed up with political corruption and social inequality. Even so, the working class continued to unite and press their cause and often won at least some of their demands. Kerosene replaced whale oil and candles for lighting homes. [39] Rural America became one giant market, as wholesalers bought the consumer products produced by the factories in the East and shipped them to local merchants in small stores nationwide. Scholastic. Railroads were the major growth industry, with the factory system, mining, and finance increasing in importance. [58] As the shift towards wage labor gained momentum, working class organizations became more militant in their efforts to "strike down the whole system of wages for labor. Larger incomes and increased leisure time among middle- class workers fostered a culture of consumption and popular amusements in American cities. . The mayor, the police and even the National Guard couldnt stop the strike. [198], This article is about the period in social and economic history. Farming the plains was indeed more difficult than back east. Political cartoon from the Chicago Labor Newspaper in 1894 criticizing the Pullman Company. Spurred by the Panic of 1873, the Grange soon grew to 20,000 chapters and 1.5million members. During the 19th century, immigration steadily increased, causing New York City's population to double every decade read more, Propelled by a Second Industrial Revolution, the United States arose from the ashes of the Civil War to become one of the worlds leading economic powers by the turn of the 20th century. Crime and Punishment in Industrial Britain, African Americans in the Revolutionary War, Civil War Military Strategies of North and South, Native Americans in the Revolutionary War. Publication Date 1-8-2016 Keywords Urbanization and technological creativity led to many engineering advances such as bridges and canals, elevators and skyscrapers, trolley lines and subways. The State Historical Society of Missouri: Historic Missourians. She was also a strong voice for the suffrage movement. This new concept justified the stratification of the wealthy and poor, and it was in this proposal that Spencer coined the term "survival of the fittest". Cities became overcrowded and plagued by crime and disease. As drought and depression struck rural America, farmers in the westwho vilified railroad tycoons and wanted a political voiceorganized and played a key role in forming the Populist Party. [79], This period saw several financial crises and economic recessionscalled "panics", notably the Panic of 1873 and the Panic of 1893. [65] In 1889, railroads employed 704,000 men, of whom 20,000 were injured and 1,972 were killed on the job. The Gilded Age is the term used to describe the tumultuous years between the Civil War and the turn of the twentieth century. [148], In the Gilded Age West, few single men attempted to operate a farm. They also had time for leisure activities as they were not spending every waking moment at a factory. A few Midwestern states passed "Granger Laws", limiting railroad and warehouse fees. To log in and use all the features of Khan Academy, please enable JavaScript in your browser. Catholics, Lutherans, and Episcopalians set up religious schools, and the larger of those set up numerous colleges, hospitals, and charities. For example, in Wisconsin the Republicans tried to close down German-language Catholic and Lutheran parochial schools, and were defeated in 1890 when the Bennett Law was put to the test. Middle-class African-American women combined the bourgeois ideologies of the separate sphere and the cult of true womanhood with other qualities prized by the African-American community: intelligence . Much of the violence, however, was between the workers themselves as they struggled to agree on what they were fighting for. In the Gilded Age the advancement of new technology was a key factor in new industry. The European Americans strongly disliked the Chinese for their alien life-styles and threat of low wages. [1] [2] [when?] The main goal was control of working conditions and settling which rival union was in control. Although the term American Dream had not been coined yet, the middle class was certainly chasing it. In 1869, the First transcontinental railroad opened up the far-west mining and ranching regions. [126], The first organized effort to address general agricultural problems was the Grange movement. The growth of the middle class changed society by increasing consumer culture and expanding suburbia. The value of farms soared from $8.0billion in 1860 to $30billion in 1906. This term was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, published in 1873. Its 100% free. After the end of Reconstruction in 1877, competition in the South took place mainly inside the Democratic Party. The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today was a famous satirical novel by Mark Twain set in the late 1800s, and was its namesake. [142] Cotton became even more important than before, as poor White people needed the cash that cotton would bring. The group may include highly paid white-collar professionals such as engineers, lawyers, accountants, doctors, politicians, business executives, venture capitalists, CEOs . One factor explaining the development of this distinctive middle class is the need of corporations and factory owners for "managers." Another factor the need of corporations and factory owners for "clerical help." In other words, the Gilded Age didn't only produce misery . the rise of brand names and brand loyalty. With leaders like Susan B. Anthony, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was formed to secure the right of women to vote. She worked from home to handle banking business. [20], Petroleum launched a new industry beginning with the Pennsylvania oil fields in the 1860s. . The bloody labor strikes of the 19th century - like one in 1892 at Carnegie's Homestead, Pa., steel works in which 12 people were killed . White southerners showed a reluctance to move north, or to move to cities, so the number of small farms proliferated, and they became smaller as the population grew. Local governments across the North and West built public schools chiefly at the elementary level; public high schools started to emerge. As industrialization took hold, however, these pockets of poverty grew in size. They generated political unrest. Gilded Age Reform. Black people who violated the color line were liable to expulsion or lynching. Schools for Black people were far fewer and poorly supported by taxpayers, although Northern philanthropies and churches kept open dozens of academies and small colleges. Such corruption was so commonplace that in 1868 the New York state legislature legalized such bribery. [135] In 1890, a third of Chicago's 2000 miles of streets were paved, chiefly with wooden blocks, which gave better traction than mud. [48] For instance, Andrew Carnegie donated over 90% of his wealth and said that philanthropy was their dutythe "Gospel of Wealth". 8. The Native Americans were eventually forced off their land and onto reservations with often disastrous results. [87] Former President Ulysses S. Grant was the most famous victim of scoundrels and con-men, of whom he most trusted Ferdinand Ward. Robber barons were relentless in their efforts to amass wealth while exploiting workers and ignoring standard business rulesand in many cases, the law itself. The Italian-Renaissance style home has 70 rooms, a stable and a carriage house. Millions of workers became teachers, accountants, and managers. The western frontier saw violent conflicts between white settlers and the United States Army against Native Americans. Each denomination supported active missionary societies, and made the role of missionary one of high prestige. The Populists had a democratic agenda that aimed to give power back to the people and paved the way for the progressive movement, which still fights to close the gap between the wealthy and poor and champion the needy and disenfranchised. Students from the growing middle class undertook studies in agricultural sciences and engineering starting in the 1860s and 1870s. American steel production rose to surpass the combined totals of Britain, Germany, and France. Historian William Cronon concludes: During the 1870s and 1880s, the U.S. economy rose at the fastest rate in its history, with real wages, wealth, GDP, and capital formation all increasing rapidly. [162] The Gilded Age was pivotal in establishing the New York art world in the international art market. [159], Some well-known painters of the Gilded Age include: Jules Breton, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, William Merritt Chase, John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Childe Hassam, John Henry Twachtman and Maurice Prendergast. Furthermore, a majority of natives responded to intense missionary activity by converting to Christianity. Employers reinforced this distinction by paying their professional employees far better and treating them with much more respect. [114], The first generation typically lived in ethnic enclaves with a common language, food, religion, and connections through the old village. [121], The federal government issued 160-acre (65ha) tracts virtually free to settlers under the Homestead Act of 1862. Few immigrants went to the poverty-stricken South, though. In 1893, both the overextended Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and the National Cordage Company failed, which set off an economic depression unlike any seen before in America. Leaders such as Josiah Strong advocated a muscular Christianity with systematic outreach to the unchurched in America and around the globe. Who created assembly line style of house construction? Some tried to improve life for their employees, donated millions to charities and nonprofits and supported their communities by providing funding for everything from libraries and hospitals to universities, public parks and zoos. [56] According to historian Steve Fraser, workers generally earned less than $800 a year, which kept them mired in poverty. New York, Philadelphia, and especially Chicago saw rapid growth. [179], Career women were few. With London and Paris as models, Washington laid 400,000 square yards of asphalt paving by 1882, and served as a model for Buffalo, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. The expansion of industry and the creation of new, higher-paying jobs led to the rise of the middle class. 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