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The Gilded Age
1869 - 1896
Gilded: “Having a pleasing or showy
appearance that conceals something
of little worth.”
Mark Twain coined the term
“gilded age” and wrote a book of
the same name that ridiculed the
political and business leaders of
the day.
The Gilded Age was a period of major growth in
population in the U.S. and wasteful displays of wealth
and excessive opulence of America's upper-class.
The Gilded Age was rooted in industrialization, especially
heavy industry like factories, railroads and coalmines. During
the Gilded Age, American manufacturing production
surpassed the combined total of Great Britain, France, and
Germany.
Railroad mileage tripled between 1860 and 1880, and
tripled again by 1920, opening new areas to commercial
farming, creating a truly national marketplace and
inspiring a boom in coal mining and steel production.
Americans' sense of civic virtue was shocked by the scandals associated with
the Reconstruction era, including corrupt state governments, massive fraud in
cities controlled by political machines, political payoffs to secure government
contracts, such the Credit Mobilier scandal regarding the financing of the
transcontinental RR, and widespread evidence of corruption during the Grant
administration.
In politics, the two parties engaged in very elaborate get-out-the vote
campaigns that succeeded in pushing turnout to rates of 80 to 90%. The
parties engaged in the spoils system” whereby the winning party
distributed most local, state and national government jobs, and many
government contracts, to its loyal supporters.
Large cities were dominated by political machines in which constituents
supported a candidate in exchange for anticipated patronage, or favors back
from the government, once that candidate was elected, and candidates were
selected based on their willingness to play along. The best known example of
a political machine from this time period was Tammany Hall in New York
City, led by Boss Tweed.
Mudslinging became an increasingly popular way of gaining
advantage at the polls, and Republicans employed an election
tactic known as “waving the bloody shirt, the practice of
politicians referencing the blood of martyrs or heroes to
inspire support or avoid criticism.
Candidates, especially when combating corruption charges, would
remind voters that the Republican Party had saved the nation in the
Civil War. During the 1870s, voters were repeatedly reminded that the
Democrats had been responsible for the bloody upheaval, an appeal
that attracted many Union veterans to the Republican camp.
During the Gilded Age, approximately 10 million immigrants came to
the United States, many in search of religious freedom and greater
prosperity. The population surge in major U.S. cities as a result of
immigration gave cities an even stronger impact on government,
attracting power-hungry politicians and entrepreneurs.
Pressuring voters or falsifying ballots was commonplace for politicians,
who often sought
power only to exploit their constituents. To accommodate
the influx of people into the U.S., the federal government built Ellis Islan
in 1892.
The construction of the Central Pacific RR was handled largely
by Chinese laborers. In the 1870 census there were 58 Chinese
men and 4 women in the entire country; these numbers grew to
100,000 men and 40,000 women in the 1880 census.
Congress banned further Chinese immigration
through the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882; the
act prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the
United States, but some students and
businessmen were allowed in.
Modern labor unions emerged during the Civil War era. One of the
earlier attempts at a national union was the National Labor Union
formed in Baltimore in 1866. The Knights of Labor had success in the
late 1880s but then collapsed. The American Federation of Labor (AFL),
a coalition of trades unions, became dominant in the 1890s, under
Samuel Gompers
Changes in industrialization and urbanization led to debates over how
Americans should handle societal problems. Reformers in the Social
Gospel movement used ideas of charity and justice to help the urban
poor; Social Darwinists applied the theory of evolution to society,
“Some were meant to be workers, some owners. The fittest would thrive
while the unfit” would not.