+ The Gilded Age & Progressive Era Review Project By: Darius, Chase, Liz, Jaime, Sarah.

+

The Gilded Age & Progressive Era Review Project

By: Darius, Chase, Liz, Jaime, Sarah

+Background Information – What are these two era’s? Gilded Age – 1870’s – 1900’s

- Rapid economic growth generated vast wealth during the Gilded Age-New products and technologies improved middle-class quality of life-Industrial workers and farmers did not share in the new prosperity, working long hours in dangerous conditions for low pay-Gilded Age politicians were largely corrupt and ineffective-Most Americans during the Gilded Age wanted political and social reforms, but they disagreed strongly on what kind of reform

Progressive Age – (1890 – 1920)

- By the beginning of the twentieth century, muckraking journalists were calling attention to the:- exploitation of child labor, - corruption in city governments, - ruthless business practices employed

by businessmen like John D. Rockefeller.

At the local level, many Progressives sought to suppress red-light districts, expand high schools, construct playgrounds, and replace corrupt urban political machines with more efficient system of municipal government.

At the state level, Progressives enacted minimum wage laws for women workers, instituted industrial accident insurance, restricted child labor, and improved factory regulation.

+Presidents of era – Gilded Age Andrew Johnson

-1865-1869 (17th president)-He was president Lincoln’s vice president and took office after he was assassinated.-Democrat-Congress passed 14th amendment but Johnson southern states not to ratify it.-He was the first president to be impeached

+Presidents of era – Gilded Age

Ulysses S. Grant-1869-1877 (18th)-Republican-Worked hard to ensure passage of 15th amendment which gave black men the right to vote. His cabinet was filled with corruption and scandals, although he himself was honest.


Rutherford B. Hayes-1877-1881 (19th)-Republican-Won the presidency 185 to 184 in the most disputed election in American history.-Hayes confronted two issues regarding the currency, the first of which was the coinage of silver, and its relation to gold. In 1873, the Coinage Act of 1873 stopped the coinage of silver for all coins worth a dollar or more, effectively tying the dollar to the value of gold.


James A. Garfield-1881 (20th)-Republican-against corruption and strengthened federal authority over New York Customs House. -July 2, 1881 Garfield was shot in a railroad station and in September he died from infection and an internal hemorrhage from the wound.


Chester Arthur-1881-1885 (21st)-Republican-Signed Tariff Act of 1883 which lowered taxes.


Grover Cleveland-1885-1889 (22nd)-First democratic president elected after the Civil War and only president to serve two terms not consecutively.-signed the Interstate Commerce Act, the first law attempting Federal regulation of the railroads.

+Presidents of era – Progressive Era

Benjamin Harrison-1889-1893 (23rd)-Republican-First Pan American Conference was held in Washington in 1889 as a result of his vigorous foreign policy.-Signed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act which protected trade and commerce from unlawful monopolies


Grover Cleveland-1893-1897 (24th)-Democrat-Was against any bill or act that would give special favors to any economic group because he didn’t want people feeling entitled to government parenting.


William McKinley-1897-1901 (25th)-Republican-Entered the United States in the 100 Days War against Spain for the liberation of Cuba.-Annexed Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico.-September 1901 he was assassinated


Theodore Roosevelt-1901-1909 (26th)-Republican-Ensured construction of the Panama Canal-Won the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the Russo-Japanese War-Known as the “trust buster”

+Wars

INDIAN WARS

- Sioux wars of 1875 in Dakota Territory

- Nez Perce War of 1877

- Battle of Wounded Knee (“massacre”)

- Battle of Little Bighorn

- Sand Creek Massacre

+The Indian Wars – More Information

1864- Union troops killed hundreds of women/children at the Sand Creek Massacre

- Sioux Wars - 1860s/70s

- General George Armstrong Custer’s 264 troops fell to Chief Sitting Bull

-Battle of Wounded Knee - this was the last major conflict between the Sioux and the United States

- On December 29, the U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry surrounded a band of Ghost Dancers under Big Foot, a

Lakota Sioux chief, near Wounded Knee Creek and demanded they surrender their weapons.

- As that was happening, a fight broke out between an Indian and a U.S. soldier and a shot was fired, although it’s unclear from which side.

- A brutal massacre followed, in which it’s estimated 150 Indians were killed, nearly half of them women and children.

+Wars – Causes and Effects

The push of White settlers westward into Native Americans Lands drove them from their homes which caused REBELLION

These wars with the Native Americans were mainly caused because of white settlers wanting to expand which caused Native Americans to rebel, and in some instances they won some battles, but the Americans were far more than the Natives

+The Spanish American War

- The Spanish-American War: 1898

- Anti-Imperialist League forms - Tension between Spain and Cuba became more

extreme- Yellow Journalism makes things worse than it really was (it called for the American people to press Congress to declare war)- USS Maine explodes in Havana Harbor- Caused by Spain- McKinley asks congress to declare war on

Spain b/c he feared that the public would turn on him

- U.S. annexes Hawaii - overthrowing of Queen Liliuokalani - Congress passes Teller Amendment- Admiral George Dewey takes Philippines at Manila Bay-1899 - Emilio Aguinaldo leads Filipino Insurrection- He would later rebel against Americans

+Treaties – Gilded Age

The Treaty of Paris

- This ended the Spanish-American War.

- Spain granted U.S. Cuba, Guam, and Puerto Rico

- Pres. McKinley bought Philippines for $20 million

+Treaties – Progressive Era - Hay-Pauncefote

Treaty(1901-1902)

- Britain and U.S.

- Great Britain recognized the right of the US to build a canal across Panama or Nicaragua

- US backs Panamanian revolt against Colombia

- Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty created/signed

- Roosevelt negotiates peace to end Russo-Japanese war

- Treaty of Portsmouth signed

- It formally ended the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War. It was signed on September 5, 1905 after negotiations at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

- Root-Takahira Agreement

- signed on Nov. 30, 1908

- Japan/US agreed to respect each other’s possessions in the Pacific and also to uphold the Open Door Policy

+Social Ideologies – Gilded Age

Social Darwinism- It stated that only the strongest and the fittest would survive and flourish in society, while the weak and unfit should be allowed to die. Spencer is accredited for coining the phrase "survival of the fittest" and known for his social theory of cutthroat economic competition. The Social Darwinism ideology negatively impacted America by giving wealthier Americans a justification to ignore the poor, having them believe that lower class people were inferior and would weaken the human race. This philosophy cause an even deeper separation in the social rank.

Individualism (Horatio Alger) - Individualism was another common theory during the Gilded Age. Its main focus was on supporting the liberty, rights, and independent action of each individual. A prime advocate of individualism is Horatio Alger. Alger was a respected liberal author among working class Americans. His many "rags to riches" novels inspired many people to try to overcome their situation, despite how impossible it may seem.

The Gospel Wealth- Born a poor Scottish immigrant turned millionaire who represented the opportunity to change your social class, which many called the American Dream. Carnegie also wrote a book entitled The Gospel of Wealth which inspired many people. The book writes what Carnegie thinks are the responsibilities of wealthy people. He believes that wealthy people have the opportunity to help others who don’t have much opportunity.

Laissez - Faire-During the Gilded Age, laissez faire advocates argued that government involvement hindered economic development and distorted the natural and equitable forces of economic progress. Government intervention was considered tantamount to "class legislation"—an unjust and artificial reallocation of economic resources and power from one group to another.

+Social Ideologies – Progressive Era Progressivism – political philosophy based

on the Idea of Progress, which asserts that advances in science, technology, economic developments, and social organization can improve the human condition.

Anarchism: a political theory holding all forms of governmental authority to be unnecessary and undesirable and advocating a society based on voluntary cooperation and free association of individuals and groups (was used within the labor movement as well)

Socialism: a way of organizing a society in which major industries are owned and controlled by the government rather than by individual people and companies

**both new types of ideology were seen as “dangerous” movements and were often over exaggerated; these ideas were also more embraced in Europe than in the US

+Supreme Court Decisions – Gilded Age

- Slaughterhouse Cases (1873)

- Louisiana gave a monopoly to one slaughterhouse in the city of New Orleans

- Private and smaller slaughterhouses sued the state - believed it violated their right to the 14th Amendment

- Wabash, St. Louis, & Pacific Railway Co. V. Illinois (1886)

- The state of Illinois was emboldened and decided to take on the railroad trust by passing a law setting the maximum rates that could be charged by the railroads.

- Railroad companies sued the state on the grounds that the state did not have the power to regulate rail business.

- Interstate Commerce Act (1886)

- created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

- first federal regulatory agency to regulate business

- Civil Rights Cases (1883)

- Passed Civil Rights Act of 1875

- - outlawed racial discrimination in public areas

- several Southern states disregarded the law

- African-Americans brought suits against segregation laws on grounds of their equal protection under the law,” 14th Amendment were being violated.

- Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

- State of Louisiana passed a law requiring the segregation of all railway cars

- Homer Plessy, who was ⅛ black, was arrested for sitting in a White rail car and refused to move

- Brought suit on the grounds of the state violating his rights to the 14th Amendment

- Supreme Court established the “separate but equal” doctrine, which said segregation was deemed constitutional as long as it affirmed the idea of “separate but equal”

- court’s decision upheld Jim Crow segregation throughout the South

+Supreme Court Decisions – Progressive Era

- Muller v. Oregon (1908)

-The Court upheld the Oregon law that barred women from certain factory and laundry work.

-The Court took into account the physical differences between men and women, based on the brief submitted by Louis D. Brandeis stating that “women’s physical structure and the function she performs…justify special legislation restricting the conditions under which she should be permitted to toil.”

- it improved working conditions for women

- U.S. v. Standard Oil (1911)

– restores “rule of reason” as guide in antitrust cases. Courts once again could distinguish good v. bad trusts

+Supreme Court Decisions – Progressive Era - Elkins Act of 1903

- Congress passes the Elkins Act, which is intended to strengthen the Interstate Commerce Act. The Elkins Act makes it a crime for railroads to grant freight rates other than those which they have published.

-Railroad companies themselves have lobbied for this regulation because most are tired of the rebating practice. With rebates, some rail lines—especially the larger ones—grant off-the-books discounts to important customers.

- These special customers are usually trusts who demand special treatment or else threaten to take their extremely valuable business elsewhere.

- The Northern Securities Co. V. United States (1904)

- The Supreme Court ruled that the Northern Securities Company, which controlled three railroads and monopolized rail transit for 1/4 of the United States was in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. This was the first real usage of the law to break down monopolies.

+Foreign Policy issues and ideology GILDED AGE = Laisezz Faire type of government, protective tariffs as well to reduce market competition from other countries

PROGRESSIVE ERA =

-Spanish American War- In 1898, a conflict between the United States and Spain, in which the U.S. supported the Cubans' fight for independence

-Philippine American War-The conflict that arose when the US tried to annex this Pacific Island chain

-TRs big stick diplomacy-Diplomatic policy developed by TR that emphasizes US power and TR's readiness to use military force if necessary. It is a way of intimidating countries without actually harming them and was the basis of U.S. imperialistic foreign policy

- Spheres of Influence-areas in which countries have some political and economic control but do not govern directly (ex. Europe and U.S. in China during Open Door era)

-Open Door Policy-A policy that asked powerful and influential countries to respect Chinese rights and promote fair trade with low tariffs. This policy was accepted by other countries and prevented any country from creating a monopoly on Chinese trade.

-Dollar Diplomacy-Taft, encourage and protect trade with Latin America and Asia

-Intervention in Latin America (Mexican revolution, Haiti, Dominican Republic ww1-usa joined in 1917

-the Treaty of Versailles- treaty after ww1, included lon but usa did not sign it

-Return to Normalcy- Warren G Harding wants to return to isolationism

-the 1898 Treaty of Paris- get Spain out of Cuba

-Annexation of Hawaii-(1898) intended to extend US territory into the Pacific & highlighted resulted from economic integration & rise of US as a Pacific power. Key provision spot for Ame whaling ships, fertile ground from Ame protestant missionaries and a new source of sugar cane production

-Roosevelt Corollary,-Roosevelt's 1904 extension of the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the United States has the right to protect its economic interests in South And Central America by using military force

-Treaty of New Hampshire 1905- ended Russo Japanese War

-Wilsons 14 point address- his fourteen points going into ww1, lon was his biggest goal

+Political Platforms – Gilded Age

1868-Democrats- The Democrats nominated New York governor Horatio Seymour, who ran on a platform calling for the repayment of the war debt in greenbacks.

-Republicans- The party platform pledged a continuation of radical reconstruction, an issue on which Grant was a moderate.

1872- Democratic, Liberal Republican- Horace Greely- ran on platform of civil

service reform and an end to reconstruction

-Republicans- Grant- Civil service reform and protection for rights of ex-slaves

1876-Republicans- Rutherford B. Hayes- focused on change and reform and conservative rule in south

-Democrats- Samuel J Tilden- focused on change and reform and conservative rule in south

+Political Platforms – Gilded Age

1880-Democrats- Winfield Hancock- civil service reform, pensions for veterans, exclusion of Chinese immigrants

-Republicans- James Garfield- civil service reform, pensions for veterans, exclusion of Chinese immigrants

1884- Rep- James Blaine-protective tariffs and reform

-Dem- Grover Cleveland- reform

1888- republicans- Benjamin Harrison- high tariffs

-Democrats- Cleveland- The Democratic professional politicians who opposed civil service reform-Union war veterans, represented by the G.A.R., who resented the veto of pension legislation-Industrial leaders who opposed the president's call for tariff reduction-Farmers and debtors who disliked Cleveland's adherence to the gold standard.

+Political Platforms – Gilded Age 1892- Cleveland (democrat)-

wanted to lower tariffs, supported gold standard, opposed Force Bill

-Harrison (rep) - republicans want high tariff-Populists- James weaver- campaigned on a platform of unlimited, cheap silver money pegged at a rate of sixteen ounces of silver to one ounce of gold. Populists also campaigned for government ownership of all railroad and telephone companies, a graduated income

tax, direct election of U.S. senators, one-term limits for presidents, immigration restrictions, shorter workdays, and a referendum.-Prohibition-John Bidwell- Wanted Prohibition 1896- Republican- William McKinley-

High protective tariffs and gold standard

Populist and Democrats- William Jennings Bryan-get off gold standard, cross of gold speech

+Political Platforms – Progressive Era

1900- Republican- Mckinley- Praised President McKinley’s record: improved business conditions, won Spanish-American War; defended postwar expansionism; established department of commerce; condemned Jim Crow, southern laws that blocked African-Americans voting; raised child labor age limit; constructed a canal in Panama.

Democrat-William Jennings Bryan- anti-imperialism platform; denounced colonial policies; condemned post-war expansionism; included free silver

1904- - Republican Party- Theodore Roosevelt- Maintain protective tariff, increase foreign trade, respect gold standard, expand the merchant marine, build strong navy; Praised Roosevelt’s foreign and domestic policy

- Democrats- Omitted the currency issue (Alton Parker’s telegram supported the gold standard); reduce government spending; wanted congressional investigation of the executive departments; end government contracts with companies violating antitrust laws; endorsed: independence for the Philippines; eight-hour work day; construction of a Panama Canal; direct election of senators, western territories statehood; and extermination of polygamy, reciprocal trade agreements, army cuts; civil service laws enforcement condemned monopolies, the protective tariff, imperialism; Condemned the Roosevelt administration as “spasmodic, erratic, sensational, spectacular, and arbitrary”


1908- Republicans- Taft- Endorsed: employer

liability laws; safety appliance statutes, shorter work days; workman’s compensation for injuries; public works; eight-hour work day; equal justice, enforcement of the 13th, 14th 15th amendments of the Constitution.

Democrats- endorses: Progressive reforms; social justice agenda; material prosperity; charitable programs; “necessary” taxation, nationalization of the railroads, Philippines’ independence; Denounced U.S. imperialism

Socialists- Debs- stirred the campaign with a 350-city whistle-stop tour on the “Red Special” addressing about

800,000 people but received a smaller percentage of the vote than in 1904

1912- Progressives- Roosevelt- “The New

Nationalism” reforms federal regulation over: the economy, corporations; overruling judicial decisions that contradicted progressive reforms;

Republican- Taft- Increase Judicial power over elected officials

Democrats- Woodrow Wilson- “New Freedom” Individualism; moderate progressive measures: single six-year presidential term, direct election of Senators, national income tax, presidential primaries


1916--Democrats- Woodrow Wilson- Peace and neutrality: military preparedness; progressive reforms (tariffs, banking, labor, agriculture) women’s suffrage (voted from the floor: minority plank wanted to leave the decision to individual states, defeated 888 ½ to 181 ½.)- Republican Party- Hughes- Women’s suffrage (decision of individual states); Equal rights for women (separate plank); stronger national defense, tariff commission; natural resources conservation. Condemned the Wilson administration’s interference in Mexico.-Progressives- TR left and decided to support Hughes as progressives fell apart

1920-

-Republicans-Warren G Harding- Return to Normalcy after the world war, End to lynching; women’s suffrage amendment ratification; foreign policy

-Democrats- James M. Cox- Membership in League of Nation, Pro- Women’s suffrage, prohibition, Volstead act, progressive reforms, labor; Government regulations of: Industry, transportation, natural resources, immigration 1924--Democrats- John Davis- Intense battle over the platform; need national referendum to decide entry to the League of Nations; affirm importance of religious liberties; motion to condemn the (anti-Catholic, racist) Ku Klux Klan in the platform blocked-Republicans- Coolidge- Reduce taxes; participate in World Court; establish Cabinet-level departments of education and relief; aid farmers; broaden export markets; encourage commercial aviation; need for federal anti-lynching law-Progressives- Lafollette(“fighting Bob”)- Hoping to serve as a spoiler, prevent a majority, throw the election to the House of Representatives, then win as a compromise

+Amendments – Gilded Age 1868: July 28- The 14th Amendment grants

citizenship to anyone born in the US and guarantees due process and equal protection of the laws.

1870: March 30- The 15th Amendment guarantees the right to vote regardless “of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

1875: March 1- Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to guarantee equal use of public accommodations and places of public amusement. It also forbids the exclusion of African Americans from jury duty.

1882: May 6- Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act, barring Chinese immigration for 10 years

1883: October 15- The Supreme Court rules that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 only forbids state-imposed discrimination, not that by individuals or corporations

1887: Feb. 8: The Dawes Severalty Act subdivides Indian reservations into individual plots of land of 160 to 320 acres. "Surplus" lands are sold to white settlers.

1890: July 2- Congress passes the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

+Amendments – Progressive Era

National Reclamation Act (1902) - Provided for federal irrigation projects by using money from the sale of public lands

Elkins Act (1903) - Imposed fines on railroads that gave special rates to favored shippers.

Hepburn Act (1906) - Authorized the federal government to regulate railroad rates and set maximum prices for ferries, bridge tolls, and oil pipelines.

Meat inspection Act (1906) - Allowed the federal government to inspect meat sold across state lines and required inspections of meat processing plants

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) - Outlawed monopolies and practices that restrained trade, such as price fixing

Pure Food and Drug act (1906) - Allowed federal inspection of food and medicine and banned the shipment and sale of impure food and the mislabeling of food and medicine.

Sixteenth Amendment (1913) - gave congress the power to collect taxes on people's income.

+Amendments – Progressive Era Seventeenth Amendment (1913) -

instituted the direct election of senators by the people of each state.

Underwood Tariff Act (1913) - lowered tariffs on imported goods and established a graduated income tax.

Federal Reserve Act (1913) - created the Federal Reserve Board to oversee banks and manage reserve funds

Federal Trade Commission Act (1914) - Established the Federal Trace commission to monitor business practice, false advertising, and dishonest labeling.

Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) - Strengthened the Sherman Anti-trust act by selling out specific activities businesses could not do.

Eighteenth Amendment (1919) - Banned the making, selling, and transporting of alcoholic beverages in the US

Nineteenth Amendment (1920 - gave women the right to vote in all elections

+Famous Publications The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today is an 1873

novel by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner that satirizes greed and political corruption in post-Civil War America

Ida Tarbell- one of the most famous muckrakers of the progressive era, she wrote for many magazines and a book called The History of the standard Oil Company which depicted Rockefeller as money-grabbing and viciously effective at monopolizing the oil trade

Upton Sinclair, The Jungle- A muckraker who published this book that described the conditions in the Chicago stockyards of the meatpacking industry that caused public outcry. The publication of the book also caused Congress to enact two laws in 1906: the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.

+Famous People Grover Cleveland - He was the first

Democratic president elected after the Civil War and the only person ever to be elected to non-consecutive terms in office.

Eugene Debs - He led the drive for one big union embracing all rail workers. In his early twenties, he had become an official of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, a bastion of crafts separatism.

Jacob Riis - Early 1900's muckraker who exposed social and political evils in the U.S. with his novel "How The Other Half Lives"; exposed the poor conditions of the poor tenements in NYC and Hell's Kitchen

Thomas Edison - Invented the phonograph and the light blub

Jay Gould - He was the prototype for the "Robber Baron" and the corrupt railroad king.

J.P. Morgan - Business man -refinanced railroads during depression of 1893 - built intersystem alliance by buying stock in competing railroads - marketed US government securities on large scale

Boss Tweed - To many late nineteenth century Americans, he personified public corruption. In the late 1860s, William M. Tweed was the New York City's political boss.

Booker T. Washington - former slave who promoted industrial education and economic opportunity but not social equality for blacks

John d. Rockefeller- American businessman, founder of the standard oil company (major monopoly) - Andrew Carnegie- steel king; integrated every phase of his steel-making operation. Ships, railroads, etc. pioneered "Vertical Integration" ; his goal was to improve efficiency by making supplies more reliable controlling the quality of the product at all stages of production

Jane Addams- middle-class woman dedicated to uplifting the urban masses; college educated (one of first generation); established the Hull House in Chicago in 1889 (most prominent American settlement house, mostly for immigrants); condemned war and poverty; won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931

+Some terms to know Wabash Case - An 1886 Supreme Court

ruling that declared that only the federal government could regulate interstate commerce. The case prompted Congress to pass the Interstate Commerce Act a year later.

Square Deal - The collective term for Theodore Roosevelt’s set of progressive domestic policies, which aimed to regulate big business, help organized labor, protect consumers, and conserve the country’s dwindling natural resources.

Vertical Integration - A business strategy, often used by Gilded Age tycoons, that attempts to insulate a company from competition by integrating every aspect of production into a single company, thus eliminating middlemen.

Muckrakers - Exposé writers who

informed the public about many corporate evils and social injustices in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Many muckraker articles and books, such as Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle , pushed the U.S. government to launch reform campaigns and contributed to the Progressive movement.

Hull House - A social settlement founded by Jane Addams in the slums of Chicago in 1889. Hull House attempted to improve life for the city’s impoverished immigrants by offering them classes, counseling, and day-care services.

Gospel of Wealth - A social doctrine espoused by many wealthy businessmen during the Gilded Age that justified the growing income gap between rich and poor by arguing that God blessed the industrious with riches.

+ The Gilded Age & Progressive Era Review Project By: Darius, Chase, Liz, Jaime, Sarah.

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