Download Economic growth in Gilded Age

Economic Growth in
the Gilded Age
Monroe Doctrine… a policy of isolation?
 Senator Orville Platt (CT), 1893:
A policy of isolation did well enough
when we were an embryo nation. But
today things are different… We are 65
million people, the most advanced and
powerful on earth, and regard to our future
welfare demands an abandonment of the
doctrines of isolation.

Economic Output
US GDP: increases 400% between 18701900
 1/5 of the nation’s agricultural output
exported
 1880-1900: industrial share of total
exports increases from 15% to 30%

US Exports
Year
1875
1885
1895
1900
Value
$566,000,000
$724,000,000
$789,000,000
$1,335,000,000
US Foreign Investments, 1869-1908
Context
Scramble for Africa, 1884-1885
 Sino-Japanese War, 1894-1895
 Increased European interest in Latin
America
 The Panic of 1893… industrial strikes and
agrarian protests

Letter, Day to Gage

Read the document and complete an ADAPT
analysis

What does this document say about the
economic growth of the US?

What does this economic growth mean for the
future of the US?

What is Secretary Day arguing for?