This period also witnessed the creation of a modern industrial economy. A national transportation and communication network was created, the corporation became the dominant form of business organization, and a managerial revolution transformed business operations. By the beginning of the twentieth century, per capita income and industrial production in the United States exceeded that of any other country except Britain. Long hours and hazardous working conditions, led many workers to attempt to form labor unions despite strong opposition from industrialists and the courts.
An era of intense political partisanship, the Gilded Age was also an era of reform. The Civil Service Act sought to curb government corruption by requiring applicants for certain governmental jobs to take a competitive examination. The Interstate Commerce Act sought to end discrimination by railroads against small shippers and the Sherman Antitrust Act outlawed business monopolies.
These years also saw the rise of the Populist crusade. Burdened by heavy debts and falling farm prices, many farmers joined the Populist party, which called for an increase in the amount of money in circulation, government assistance to help farmers repay loans, tariff reductions, and a graduated income tax.
Mark
Twain called the late nineteenth century the "Gilded Age."
By this, he meant that the period was glittering on the surface but
corrupt underneath. In the popular view, the late nineteenth century
was a period of greed and guile: of rapacious Robber Barons, unscrupulous
speculators, and corporate buccaneers, of shady business practices,
scandal-plagued politics, and vulgar display.
It is easy to caricature the Gilded Age as an era of corruption, conspicuous
consumption, and unfettered capitalism. But it is more useful to think
of this as modern America’s formative period, when an agrarian
society of small producers was transformed into an urban society dominated
by industrial corporations.
David L. Phillips: "What California Railroads Have Done"
Maps:
Map of territorial growth, 1880.
Legend for maps of territorial growth.
Images:
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Map of the Presidential Election of 1896. |
| image 2 | text about image 2 |
| image 3 | text about image 3 |
Timelines:
Click here for a gilded age timeline.
Fact sheets and lesson plans:
Fact sheets:
African Americans After Slavery Indian Policy Changing Status of Women Farmers' Revolt Responses to Industrialization Recommended lesson plan:
Gilded Age Lesson Plans from the Illinois Historical Digitization Projects
http://dig.lib.niu.edu/teachers/gilded.html
Fact checks:
Recommended readings:
Leon Fink, Ed., Major Problems in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era: Documents and Essays.
Recommended
film{maybe an s} :
Molly Maguires
This historical film tells the story of late nineteenth century Irish coal miners in Pennsylvania who are accused of using terrorist tactics to win better working conditions and higher wages.
http://history.acusd.edu/gen/filmnotes/mollymaguires.html
Learn more:
learn more film
Recommended
Web site:
1896: The Presidential Campaign
http://iberia.vassar.edu/1896/1896home.html
Extensive resources on the pivotal presidential election of 1896.Cartoons of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
http://history.osu.edu/projects/uscartoons/GAPECartoons.htm
Political cartoons from the late 19th and early 20th century.
This site was updated on 03-Jul-09.
