gilded egg gilded age 1850-1920 is it all about the benjamins ($)? big idea: bittersweet
TRANSCRIPT
Gilded Egg
Gilded Age1850-1920
Is it all about the Benjamins ($)?
Big Idea: Bittersweet
Greed is Good
•Is what he talks about true? –Is greed good?–Why or why not?
•What are the goals of his corporation?
Transforming AmericaWhat does this mean?I. Industry1) Railroads
- 1890: Were making twice as much as the government
Unites the U.S.
0
100,000,000
200,000,000
300,000,000
400,000,000
500,000,000
600,000,000
700,000,000
800,000,000
900,000,000
1,000,000,000
Railroads U.S. Government
2) Steel- Lots of resources- Quick steel
making processwas invented making steel cheaper to produce
3) Oil- Drilling for oil waseasier and it was becoming a useful product
How would these industries change the U.S.? Ex. of each
How have these impacted your life?
II. Big Business1) “Robber Barons” or
“Captains of Industry”
- Cornelius William Vanderbilt
- Andrew Carnegie- John D. Rockefeller
“Captain of Industry” or “Robber Baron” Why?
- It’s OK to be a Robber Baron.- Robber Barons are good for
society.
2) 1859 – 1899 (U.S.)- Manufactured product
value up 622% a) $1.8 billion - $13
billion3) Who do you trust?
- What is a trust?
Different business trustees
Bob’s Oil
Jen’sOil
Spike’sOil
Anna’sOil
StocksMoney
Business owners
•Are these businesses competing against each other?
•What is going to happen?•Why might/should this be illegal?
- Vertical Integrationa) the process of buying
out suppliers and distributorsex. Buying a tire factory because we make cars
- Horizontal Integrationa) the process of buying
out competitorsex. A hot dog vender who starts selling hamburgers
•Show some examples of vertical integration and horizontal integration.–Diagram, act out, something!!–What are some examples in the world today?
4) Gospel of WealthIf you’re rich what do you do with all the money?
- Make sure the money is put to good use
- The rich are superior humans, God gave the rich the money
Can the poor have the money? Why or why not?
- The poor make poor decisions and therefore shouldn’t have themoney
5) Social Darwinism - Reading, Notes over the
reading- Definition
How is the Gospel of Wealth similar to Social Darwinism?
6) Government InvolvementWhat do you think?How much should the
gov’t be involved? - Laissez-faire – “let do” gov’t not involved- People wanted the gov’t
to fix economic and societal problems
- Sherman Anti-Trust Acta) No more trusts
(monopolies) - Federal Trade
Commissiona) Keep business
competition free and fair
IV. Labor movement 1) Workers weren’t exactly treated
well - Used the working class - Eliminated competition, supply
went down- Cheap labor ($8-12/week)- 12-14 hour days, 6-7 days/week- Accidents were plentiful
Work Wages JobsChildren Start
at age 10
30% of what men make
Factories NewsiesUnskilled labor
Women All women work
50% of what men make
Factories
•What does immigration have to do with this?
What is the message of this cartoon?How does it fit today?
2) “We’re Not Gonna Take It!!”
- Workers decided they had rights
- Labor unions are an organization of workers who want to improve status
•What/Who are these?–strikes–Samuel Gompers–Haymarket–Mother Jones–Industrial Workers of the World–Eugene Debs
What to do?
- Reword the song- Draw a picture that represents the song- Write a paragraph about how the song represents this period
•Students will be divided into groups:
(1) lower class workers requesting higher wages (2) barons of industry (3) a group of concerned citizens that feel threatened by immigrants coming into American.
V. Populist Movement- Farmers weren’t happy- Wages were high and imports were expensive- Formed the Populist party
a) Wanted gov’t ownership of all railroads
b) Election reformc) Free silver
•shamrag.blogspot.com/.../last-day-of-year.html
•www.yousephtanha.com/blog/category/transformers/
•www.simpsonstrivia.com.ar/superman-picture.htm
•http://amhist.ist.unomaha.edu/module_files/Iron,%20Steel%20and%20Coal%20Production.bmp
•http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/Econ_Articles/carnegie/delong_moscow_paper2.html