Industrial America: The Gilded Age

TOP: "Rise of Labor Unions," New York police attack unemployed workers in Tompkins Square Park, 1874. Courtesy ofWikipedia. MIDDLE: Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer in his field uniform on May 23, 1865. Courtesy ofWikipedia. BOTTOM: Drawing of frenzied stockbrokers on May 5, 1893. Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.

Just like any good story, the Gilded Age is filled with compelling characters. Theseincluded a ruling class who bribed government officials and squeezed as much aspossible from its workers. Then there were multi-ethnic, angry workers,frequently in search of jobs. There was a free, but still dependent, blackpopulation striving for independence. And, there was an elite class, eager to helpthe United States have prominence in the world. These figures were involved inthe making of modern America.

The Gilded Age, which was from 1890 to about 1900, can be characterized as anintroduction to our own time. Patterns of tension that we have today — black andwhite, money and labor, science and religion, public good and private gain — canbe traced to the Gilded Age.

By T. Jackson Lears, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, adapted by Newsela staff on 12.07.16 Word Count 847 Level 1080L

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The similarities between then and now are strong, and there is talk today that welive in a "new gilded age" of dishonest business practices and privateextravagance, though the differences between then and now are equally striking.The Gilded Age offers a mix of strangeness and familiarity. American society wasclose to major transformations, including economic and religious ones. None ofthese changes was fully underway until after 1900, but their foundations hadfallen into place beginning in about the 1870s.

Money became a big motivation

In 1877, Reconstruction ended and militarypride paved the road to a reunion betweenthe North and South. Enthusiasm for themilitary during the Gilded Age was part of abroader redefinition of manhood in bodilyrather than moral or religious terms. A newfocus on "muscular Christianity" washedover the Protestant culture during theseyears.

Meanwhile, money had always been avehicle for magical thinking, but it becamean especially powerful focus in Gilded AgeAmerica. Dreams of overnight wealth anddramatic self-transformation proliferated inthe popular imagination. Money was everywhere, yet invisible. It increased anddecreased mysteriously in worth and sometimes it disappeared altogether withoutwarning. But, those who could manage it successfully created powerfulbusinesses.

Working-class folks were not impressed. They knew that pulling yourself up byyour bootstraps was more difficult, which was why they believed in unifying,rather than competing as individuals. They bonded together in the form of laborunions that miners, railroad laborers, and other skilled workers had organized toprotect themselves. The unions knew of their employers' tireless drive to squeezeas much work out of their workers for as little pay as possible.

Unhappiness with unfair business practices to make money spread through thecountryside as well as the cities. Southern farmers, black and white, struggled.The national Farmers' Alliance was formed and became the Populist Party in 1891.

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The Populists demanded that the money supply be managed for the public good.This was a plan that could appeal across races. However, white elites used racismto divide and conquer the Populists. Then, as now, talking about race was a way ofnot talking about class.

A key moment for racism

The Gilded Age marked a key moment in the rise of American racism — a shiftfrom a relatively fluid mixing of the races to rigid segregation. By 1900,separation of the races had been sanctified by the U.S. Supreme Court andwritten into state constitutions across the South.

White supremacy erupted, and lynchings of blacks spread in the 1890s andpeaked around the turn of the century. Despite the protests of FrederickDouglass, Ida Wells, and other black leaders, the fortunes of their people reacheda low point in American public life during the Gilded Age.

African-Americans were the not the only targets of racist ideology. Those whobelieved in white supremacy singled out Anglo-Saxons for special praise. Thisfostered suspicion of Italians, Jews, and other non-Anglo immigrants, and laid thegroundwork for immigration restrictions. Meanwhile, American Indians wereconfined to reservations and Asians were excluded altogether. By 1900, the word"Caucasian" was well on the way to becoming synonymous with "American."

Effects on the economy

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The stock market crash of May 1893touched off four years of the worst economicdepression the United States had ever seen.Prolonged mass unemployment produced adesperate search to stay alive among hugeportions of the population. Starvationspread. Unions fought layoffs, but theirefforts fell victim to the familiar combinationof state power in the service of capital.

Eventually, large sums of money werepoured into the stock market, driving shareprices to new heights and allowing bigcompanies to buy one another and groweven bigger. At the same time, the UnitedStates fought what then-Secretary of StateJohn Hay called a "splendid little war" withSpain, winning territory from the Caribbeanto the Pacific. Its hour upon the world stagehad arrived. By 1900, the reunited nation of1877 had become an empire in its own right.

T. Jackson Lears is a Board of Governors Professor of History at RutgersUniversity. His publications include "Rebirth of a Nation: The Making of ModernAmerica, 1877–1920" (2009) and "No Place of Grace: Antimodernism and theTransformation of American Culture, 1880–1920" (1981).

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Quiz

1 Which of the following answer choices describes two MAIN ideas of the article?

(A) The Gilded Age began at the end of the Civil War. Another war with Spainadded to the widespread success of the population at that time.

(B) The Gilded Age marked the rise of modern racism in America. It also markedthe rise of workers' unions and the Populist Party.

(C) The Gilded Age was characterized mostly by an unpredictable economy. Thestock market crash of 1893 caused many people to starve.

(D) The Gilded Age was a time of great change for America. The desire for moneyand power had important effects on American society.

2 How does the paragraph below support a central idea of the article?

Unhappiness with unfair business practices to make money spreadthrough the countryside as well as the cities. Southern farmers, black andwhite, struggled. The national Farmers’ Alliance was formed and becamethe Populist Party in 1891. The Populists demanded that the moneysupply be managed for the public good. This was a plan that could appealacross races. However, white elites used racism to divide and conquerthe Populists. Then, as now, talking about race was a way of not talkingabout class.

(A) It demonstrates the important role of the Farmers' Alliance and how it becamethe Populist Party.

(B) It demonstrates the attempts of groups to unite and the efforts of white elites tostop them.

(C) It explains the differences between race and class and how they were used toconfuse unions.

(D) It explains the founding idea of managing money for the public and creatingmodern banks.

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3 What is the MOST likely reason why the author included information about the redefinition ofmanhood in the article?

(A) It emphasizes the focus on strength over morality or equality at the time.

(B) It shows how important physical strength was to those who served in themilitary.

(C) It explains why physical laborers were treated badly by their employers.

(D) It suggests that there is a similarity to these definitions in modern America.

4 Finish the sentence.

The author MAINLY explains the importance of power in the Gilded Age by ........

(A) describing the pride in the military that united the North and South after the CivilWar.

(B) outlining the methods by which those who had power kept other groups fromgetting it.

(C) explaining the opportunities for power that were open to various groups ofpeople.

(D) suggesting that small groups were effectively able to organize and gain morepower.

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