Politics In The Gilded Age example essay topic

Gilded Age Politics: Even as post-Civil War America expanded and industrialized, political life in the Gilded Age was marked by ineptitude, stalemate, and corruption. Despite their similarity at the national level, the two parties competed fiercely for offices and spoils, while doling out "pork-barrel" benefits to veterans and other special interest groups. A. The serious issues of monetary and agrarian reform, labor, race, and economic fairness were largely swept under the rug by the political system, until revolting farmers and a major economic depression beginning in 1893 created a growing sense of crisis and demands for radical change. The Industrial Revolution America accomplished heavy industrialization in the post-Civil War era. Spurred by the transcontinental rail network, business grew and consolidated into giant corporate trusts, as epitomized by the oil and steel industries. A. Industrialization radically transformed the practices of labor and the condition of American working people.

But despite frequent industrial strife and the efforts of various reformers and unions, workers failed to develop effective labor organizations to match the corporate forms of business. Gilded Age Objectives A. Describe the political corruption of the Grant administration and the various efforts to clean up politics in the Gilded Age. B. Explain the intense political activity of the Gilded age, despite the low quality of political leadership and the agreement of the two parties on most issues. C. Indicate how the disputed Hayes-Tilden election of 1876 led to the Compromise of 1877 and the end of Reconstruction. D. Describe how the end of Reconstruction led to the loss of black rights and the imposition of the Jim Crow system of segregation in the South. E. Explain how the transcontinental railroad network provided the basis for the great post-Civil War industrial transformation. F. Identify the abuses in the railroad industry and discuss how these led to the first efforts at industrial regulation by the federal government. G. Describe how the economy came to be dominated by giant trusts, such as those headed by Carnegie and Rockefeller in the steel and oil industries. H. Discuss the growing class conflict caused by industrial growth and combination, and the early efforts to alleviate it. I Analyze the social changes brought by industrialization, particularly the altered position of working men and women. K. Explain the failures of the Knights of Labor and the modest success of the American Federation of Labor. MY THE GILDED AGE NOTES The word "gilded" refers to a coating, usually of gold, that covers a base material.

To decorate homes, for example, people will "gild" wood to make it look like gold. Mark Twain wrote a book entitled The Gilded Age to denote this period in American history. His point was that, on the outside things appeared "golden", but underneath America faced very serious, base problems. Throughout this topic you should be able to describe the good, bad, and ugly of the Gilded Age. There were, in fact, some real benefits to the Gilded Age, including: 1. An increase in employment opportunities 2.

Many more consumer goods 3. Better Transportation 4. A Rise in Wealth 5. General increase in American "power" On the other hand, the problems underlying the "gild" included: 1.

Oppression of Workers 2. Miserable working and living condition of workers, immigrants 3. Political Corruption 4. Unequal distribution of wealth For this topic, we will emphasize the following characteristics of the Gilded Age: 1.

Political Corruption 2. Continued Racial / Ethnic Problems 3. The Industrial Revolution 4. The Robber Barons (Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie) 5.

The Rise of Labor POLITICAL CORRUPTION The so-called Gilded Age is generally considered the most corrupt period in American History. The corruption in the south resulting from Reconstruction was only part of a larger, seemingly uncontrollable political corruption which reached the highest levels of the American government and, importantly, was often tied to "Big Business". Of course part of the problem was a man spectacularly unqualified to be president - Ulysses S. Grant. A. Why was political corruption so prevalent in this period? B. What was "Black Friday", and how was Fisk and Gould involved? C. Identify William Marcy Tweed". Tweed Profile William Marcy "Boss" Tweed (1823-1878) Tweed was the New York political boss whose grand-scale corruption symbolized the low political standards of the Gilded Age. He got his start in politics with volunteer fire companies, which were closely tied to Tammany Hall, and he soon learned tricky devices like running "dummy" candidates to divide the opposition. The City Council during his service was known as the "Forty Thieves".

Tweed offered $5 million to The New York Times if it would not print the information on his corruption and $500,000 to Nast if he would stop his anti-Tweed cartoons. Tweed was treated luxuriously in prison, even being allowed to take carriage rides. He escaped and fled to Cuba and Spain disguised as a sailor but was recognized and returned to harsher jail treatment. Always genial and friendly, Tweed held no personal grudges against Thomas Nast and others who brought him down. He said he was only surprised that they wouldn't take his bribes.

Quote: (When asked how his ring had managed to keep the scandals hidden for so long): "Well, we used money wherever we could". (1869) A. What did the Credit Mobilier Scandal involve? The "Whiskey Ring?" B. Who was George Washington Plunkitt? C. Explain, thoroughly, the "Compromise of 1877". CONTINUED RACIAL PROBLEMS A. How did the "Compromise of 1877" lead to continued racial problems? B. Explain in detail the case of Plassey vs. Ferguson (Article Assigned) C. How did the southern states (and some in the north) circumvent the fifteenth amendment? INDUSTRY COMES OF AGE The railways, which networked America in the late nineteenth century, was perhaps the leading industry during America's Industrial Revolution.

Remember, however, Twain's injunction that while things were "golden" on the outside, they were base underneath. A. How and why was the Federal Government involved in building the railroads? (Rail Routes) B. Who were the leading railroad magnates? C. Identify Cornelius Vanderbilt and his son William. D. Describe the "dark side" of rail building, underneath the gold gild. E. How did the Government try to control railroads? THE ROBBER BARONS The text calls these man the "Trust Titans", but most historians know the better as the Robber Barons (Bill Gates has often been called a modern Robber Baron). They were the great Captains of Industry, controlling the manufacture and purse strings of the Industrial Revolution.

They also subscribed to a so-called "Gospel of Wealth". What was that? CORNELIUS VANDERBILT: "THE COMMODORE" A. How did Vanderbilt become one of the richest men in America? B. How is he representative of the Gilded Age? John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) Rockefeller was the industrialist who organized the Standard Oil Company and became the leading symbol of American capitalism. His mother was harsh, austere, and religious, and Rockefeller inherited these qualities from her. He was generally frugal and humorless.

As a young man, he taught Sunday school and always remained a committed member of the Baptist church. Rockefeller avoided serving in the Civil War to devote himself to business. He began his career by working with a Cleveland merchant and bought his first refinery for $72,000. He retired from active control of Standard Oil in 1897. By the 1920's his net worth was probably a billion dollars. Quote: "In speaking of the real beginnings of the Standard Oil Company, it should be remembered that it was not so much the consolidation of the firms in which we had a personal interest, but the coming together of the men who had the combined brainpower to do the work...

It is not merely capital and plans and the strictly material things that make up a business, but the character of the men behind these things... ". (1909) A. Rockefeller is often called the "King of the Trusts". What does that mean? B. What industry did Rockefeller control? How did he control it? Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) Carnegie was a Scottish immigrant who became the leading industrialist of the American steel industry and a prominent philanthropist.

His parents, Scottish hand-loom weavers, were well informed and very interested in education. The family came to the United States when Carnegie's father was thrown out of work by the new textile mills. Carnegie's boyhood dream was to dress his mother in silks, and she lived long enough for him to shower her with expensive gifts. While Carnegie was responsible for oppressing steel workers, he was also one of America's great philanthropists, i.e. a man who contributed great sums to charity, in his case more than $350,000, 00. He built museums, colleges, hospitals and, of course, Carnegie Hall. This is another reason why the late nineteenth century is called the "Gilded Age".

On the outside, the Robber Barons industrialized American at a great rate, and Rockefeller, Morgan and the others made tremendous contributions to the country (Vanderbilt University, Rockefeller Center among others). Underneath, however, the critics would say that the money they contributed was earned by the blood and sweat of laborers, and America was in fact built upon the back of oppressed workers. Quote: "Thirty-three, and an income of $50,000 per annum... Beyond this never earn-make no effort to increase fortune, but spend the surplus each year for benevolent purposes...

". (Memo to himself, 1868) A. Why industry did Carnegie lead? B. Describe his methods. Key Point: While the Industrial Revolution centers on the "great industries" like steel, oil, and railroads, there were of course many other "small barons" who helped to build America. For example, Gustavus Swift and Philip Armour built the meatpacking industry (Armour hot dogs! Swift Premium 44); Richard Sears, R.H. Macy, and J.C. Penny creating great retailing chains of stores. INDUSTRIAL IMPACT AND LABOR The Chapter talks a little bit about the impact of industrialization upon women.

We shall address that issue, and other feminist issues, in a later topic. A. Many Americans became "wage earners" for the first time. What were the ramifications of that position? B. What advantages / disadvantages did workers face during this period? C. What was America's general attitude toward unions in the late 19th century? D. Who were the "Knights of Labor?" E. How did the Knights of Labor differ from the National Labor Union? Samuel Gompers Profile Samuel Gompers (1850-1924) Gompers was the American labor leader who organized the American Federation of Labor and promoted the strategy of conservative craft organization. Almost entirely self-educated, Gompers gained much of his knowledge by reading and attending lectures in New York City. He was very well acquainted with European socialist thinkers and even learned German so he could read Karl Marx in the original.

But he always believed the Marxists and socialists were wrong and worked to develop arguments against them. Gompers loved drama and pageantry but kept the "secret brotherhood" approach out of the AF of L unions. He disliked reformers and intellectuals, calling them "industrially impossible". Although strongly patriotic, after World War I Gompers and the AF of L were often accused of being "un-American" for promoting labor organization and strikes. Quote: "The trusts are our employers, and the employer who is fair to us, whether an individual or a collection of individuals in the form of a corporation or a trust, matters little to us as long as we obtain fair wages". (1912) F. Was Industrialization a "Boon or Blight?" Gilded age summary GILDED AGE POLITICAL SUMMARY: After the soaring ideals and tremendous sacrifices of the Civil War, the post-Civil War era was generally one of disillusionment.

Politicians from the White House to the courthouse were often surrounded by corruption and scandal, while the actual problems afflicting industrializing America festered beneath the surface. The popular war hero Grant was a poor politician and his administration was rife with corruption. Despite occasional futile reform efforts, politics in the Gilded Age was monopolized by the two patronage-fattened parties, which competed vigorously for spoils while essentially agreeing on most national policies. Cultural differences, different constituencies, and deeply felt local issues fueled intense party competition and unprecedented voter participation. Periodic complaints by "Mugwump" reformers and "soft-money" advocates failed to make much of a dent on politics. The deadlocked contested 1876 election led to the sectional Compromise of 1877, which put an end to Reconstruction.

An oppressive system of tenant farming and racial supremacy and segregation was thereafter fastened on the South, enforced by sometimes lethal violence. Racial prejudice against Chinese immigrants was also linked with labor unrest in the 1870's and 1880's. Garfield's assassination by a disappointed office seeker spurred the beginnings of civil-service reform, which made politics more dependent on big business. Cleveland, the first Democratic president since the Civil War, made a lower tariff the first real issue in national politics for some time. But his mild reform efforts were eclipsed by a major economic depression that began in 1893, a crisis that deepened the growing outcry from suffering farmers and workers against a government and economic system that seemed biased toward big business and the wealthy. GILDED AGE INDUSTRIAL SUMMARY: Aided by government subsidies and loans, the first transcontinental rail line was completed in 1869, soon followed by others.

This rail network opened vast new markets and prompted industrial growth. The power and corruption of the railroads led to public demands for regulation, which was only minimally begun. New technology and forms of business organization led to the growth of huge corporate trusts. Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller led the way in the steel and oil industries. Initially, the oil industry supplied kerosene for lamps; it eventually expanded by providing gasoline to fuel automobiles. Cheap steel transformed industries from construction to rail building, and the powerful railroads dominated the economy and reshaped American society.

The benefits of industrialization were unevenly distributed. The South remained in underdeveloped dependence, while the industrial working class struggled at the bottom of the growing class divisions of American society. Increasingly transformed from independent producers and farmers to dependent wage earners, America's workers became vulnerable to illness, industrial accidents, and unemployment. Workers' attempts at labor organization were generally ineffective.

The Knights of Labor disappeared after the Haymarket bombing. Gompers founded the AF of L to organize skilled craft laborers but ignored most industrial workers, women, and blacks. Aided by government subsidies and loans, the first transcontinental rail line was completed in 1869, soon followed by others.