The Gilded Age: The ‘High’ Point in America’s History

this video is brought to you by captivating history the gilded age is often seen as a high point in america's history characterized by the rise of the industrialized economy after the civil war it was a time when american business took off on a grand scale making several notable business people extremely wealthy however although the gilded age is remembered as a time of great affluence it was also a time of great inequality and corruption even the phrase the gilded age was taken from a satirical novel by mark twain published in 1873 it is supposed to imply that something that appears golden on the surface may be corrupt underneath shortly after the end of the american civil war in 1865 the u.s underwent an enormous burst of economic activity brought about by a wave of industrialization during the renewed peace the gilded age normally refers to this prosperous period between 1870 and 1900 which overlaps with the latter part of the reconstruction while the civil war had some devastating effects on the us it also inaugurated important changes including the spread of the telegraph and a major expansion of the railways within a few years of the end of the war america also began to experience a period of major economic growth while the industrial period had begun in great britain in the 18th century america experienced its most intense period of industrial development during the late 19th century in many ways america had been long destined for the spectacular spurt of economic growth blessed with a continent of valuable resources including coal and oil and many useful agricultural products in fact after the war many european investors saw the us as a good bed for business and soon a wave of money poured in from abroad as well as attracting investors america also went through one of its biggest ever waves of migration which more than doubled the u.s population up to this point most americans had roots in england scotland and wales but the late 19th century saw many more immigrants arrive from the rest of the world producing a much more diverse nation as more visitors arrived and more industries expanded the us became much more urban and many more towns and cities sprawled across the nation this was the era of the world's first skyscrapers when skylines began to climb higher and higher in particular the east coast blossomed due to its many trading ports and the great lakes region became the beating heart of the industrial boom chicago was one of the great cities of the age becoming both a major railroad hub and a truly international city that attracted visitors worldwide cities grew off the back of new industries and the gilded age is often remembered for some of its most important businessmen many of whom became extremely wealthy at this time the late 19th century was the age of capital a time when private corporations rose to prominence as wealthy men invested in large-scale industries and reaped great dividends the american colonies themselves had been partially founded by private enterprises who raised capital from their investors giving the u.s a strong capitalist instinct quite early in its history the american government continued to push a pro-business stance in the 19th century allowing private companies to develop the major infrastructure projects the nation needed the gilded age presidents are often said to be remarkably unmemorable as they by and large took a hands-off approach to governance as industrialization produced many more opportunities for these kinds of private businesses america ballooned into the world's foremost capitalist power the downside of this economic boom was that the few people who had enough money to invest in large-scale business enterprises tended to buy up most of their competition soon multiple large monopolies had formed undermining the spirit of healthy competition the most well-remembered and notorious of these large monopolies with a rockefeller oil monopoly the vanderbilt railroad monopoly and the carnegie steel monopoly carnegie steel later became the jp morgan steel monopoly after the well-known banker which bought carnegie out for 480 million dollars jp morgan in particular was also one of the gilded ages most famous money men one of the wealthy bankers who made new york exceedingly rich by investing in businesses across the us while these grand businessmen are often still remembered as great american heroes or captains of industry others describe these business moguls in less flattering terms dubbing them the robber barons of the gilded age while some of these tycoons such as andrew carnegie spent millions on philanthropic projects most robber barons were infamously ruthless and corrupt for example the wall street and railroad mogul james fisk was famously involved in several shady practices from extortion to bribery to risky market manipulation although by 1890 the sherman anti-trust act was passed in an attempt to make the dangerous monopolies these men accrued illegal the act would have little effect on the monopolies that already existed it wasn't until the election of teddy roosevelt at the end of the gilded age in 1901 that at least some of the robber baron's power was broken among the most famous of the great tycoons was cornelius vanderbilt a man widely disliked in his lifetime for his cunning business practices vanderbilt is important because he was one of the major figures behind the enormous expansion of the railroads in the u.s the gilded age was the golden age of the railway as trains remained the fastest way to move goods across large areas in the u.s the transcontinental railroad was revolutionary as it linked the atlantic to the pacific for the first time when vanderbilt entered the railroad industry he was already very wealthy but he sold his previous businesses to buy up as much rail track as he could the railroads were particularly vulnerable to being taken over by monopolies because there was a very limited amount of train tracks in any given region soon vanderbilt could charge his customers extortionate rates confident that they had no choice but to use his businesses to transport their goods in response to the eye-watering high fees charged by many railway companies a collective of farmers known as the granger movement campaign for fairer prices the granger union would go on to have a surprisingly important afterlife as they would inspire both the people's party and the greenback party important progressive political movements which campaign for fairer economic conditions and more economic equality economic equality was a hot topic in the gilded age the late 19th century saw progressive workers movements spread across the industrialized world in a bid to give ordinary people fairer hours better pay and safer working conditions in factories that often use dangerous equipment unfortunately many wealthy americans increasingly believed in the theory of social darwinism an ideology that argues poor people deserve to be poor because they are naturally inferior tycoons did little to help their workers often demanding that they work harder for longer to increase output and turn more profit in response to worsening conditions many american workers unionized and the american federation of labor that organized these unions was founded in 1886 other workers took a more radical path joining more socialist groups and even turning towards anarchism the u.s government did little to help the situation repeatedly halting legislation meant to improve working conditions tensions between workers and bosses led to several major disasters in the gilded age in 1886 the haymarket riot in chicago led to a series of deaths when workers peaceful protest turned violent an unidentified assailant threw a stick of dynamite into the crowd during the gathering in an attempt to hit a police officer shooting broke out resulting in the deaths of many police officers and civilians a few years later a similar incident occurred in pittsburgh in 1892 the so-called homestead strike saw a clash between a crowd of carnegie steel workers and a group of private militiamen from the pinkerton agency who had been hired to police the crowds during the violence henry frick a hated industrialist who violently opposed the unions was almost assassinated by a disgruntled anarchist economic inequality was not the only major social issue of the gilded age it was also a terrible time for race relations the native americans suffered greatly during this period during the dakota gold rush in 1876 a war broke out between the u.s government and the sioux nation resulting in the biggest campaign against the native americans in u.s history ten years later in 1886 the last major native american resistance force led by geronimo of the apache was finally defeated the gilded age was also a dark time for african americans after federal troops withdrew from the south in 1877 the african-american population lost its much-needed government protection lynching soon became common with angry mobs of white southerners accusing african americans of any manner of crimes with little to no evidence and proceeding to carry out extrajudicial executions to make matters worse during the reconstruction era the first segregation laws or jim crow were passed making black americans in the south second class citizens although the 1875 civil rights act had put some protections to prevent discrimination the act was abolished in 1883 during this period the enormous wave of immigration also led to a wave of nativism a form of resentment against migrant workers italian and irish immigrants were particularly picked upon and in 1882 the chinese exclusion act banned chinese immigration altogether while these workers contributed greatly to america's economic boom many americans feared losing out to foreign arrivals many immigrants in this era inevitably turned towards a growing and corrupt political phenomena the political machine these corrupt organizations were typically found in major cities and bought votes in exchange for favors the most famous of these political machines was tammany hall in new york city founded in 1786 it would become notorious for corruption by the late 19th century political machines thrived during the gilded age because they provided opportunities for poorer people and vulnerable migrants local politicians would find jobs for newcomers in their wards in exchange for their votes political machine bosses often helped immigrants gain their citizenship papers faster and the jobs they created often provided better living conditions for the people living in their area come election day these faithful patrons would vote sometimes multiple times for their valued protectors securing them political power for years at a time although corruption poor working conditions and rampant prejudice were all rife during the gilded age it is also a time of great opportunity ultimately the problems of the gilded age would lead to another great era in american history the age of progressive politics in which reforms rolled back the worst excesses of this grand age of wealth and expansion to learn more about the gilded age check out our book the gilded age a captivating guide to an era in american history that overlaps the reconstruction era and coincides with parts of the victorian era in britain along with the bella park in france it's available as an e-book paperback and audiobook also grab your free mythology bundle ebook while still available all links are in the description if you enjoyed the video please hit the like button and subscribe for more videos like this

Channel: Captivating History

Views: 561,540

Keywords: The Gilded Age, Gilded Age, History of America, History of USA, US History, American History, History of United States, Reconstruction Era, late 19th century, 1870, rapid economic growth, European immigrants, industrialization, 1860, 1890, Railroads, Panic of 1873, Panic of 1893, Civil War, American Civil War, 1877, Mark Twain, Victorian Era, Belle Époque, Progressive Era, golden age, Theodore Roosevelt, economic growth, coal mining, mining, History of the USA, USA, US, America

Id: jMpztX2c29I

Length: 12min 28sec (748 seconds)

Published: Tue May 25 2021