...10th, 2024. Immigration during the Gilded Age and Its Impact on America’s Development. The period between 1870 and 1920, often referred to as the Gilded Age, was a transformative era in American history, marked by rapid industrialization, urbanization, and economic expansion. Central to this dynamic period was the massive influx of immigrants who arrived on American shores in search of better opportunities. These immigrants played a pivotal role in shaping the economic landscape of the United States, contributing significantly to its growth and development. They provided the labor force essential for the burgeoning industries, fueled innovation and entrepreneurship, and enriched the...
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...towards the beginning of the Gilded Age. Although the Gilded Age brought great economic improvement, many suffered. The economic development that this era brought to America was very appealing to immigrants, and America experienced a large influx of European immigrants towards the latter part of the 1800’s. Despite the technological and economic improvements of the Gilded Age, only a small percentage of the population in America reaped the benefits of this. Living and working conditions were abysmal, and tensions rose within the large, yet poverty ridden middle...
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...Social hierarchy has existed from the start of time it seems, as in the medieval ages you always have the royals and the peasants. In the United States of America there is a system in place showing the social hierchy which consist Elites at the top, only making up one percent of the population, use the government to extort the rest of the population by using the law in their favor against the middle class, immigrants, and those suffering from poverty. This form of hierarchy is supported by Social Darwinism; the idea that the wealthy are the fit, and the poor are the weak so they are not to be helped. Is society’s way of taking out the weaklings, and further validates the corruption during this time period, disappearing middle class, and the...
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...Questions - America’s Gilded Age: 1870-1890 1. The American economy thrived because of federal involvement, not the lack of it. How did the federal government actively promote industrial and agricultural development in this period? BE SPECIFIC. The federal government actively promoted industrial and agricultural development. It enacted high tariffs that protected American industry from foreign competition, granted land to railroad companies to encourage construction, and used the army to remove Indians form western land desired by farmers and mining companies. 2. Why were railroads so important to America’s second industrial revolution? What events demonstrate their influence on society, politics, and the economy? Spurred by private investment and massive grants of land and money by federal, state, and local governments, the number of miles of railroad track in the US tripped between 1860 and 1880 and tripled again by 1920, opening vast new areas to commercial farming and creating truly national market for manufactured goods. The growing population formed an ever-expanding market for the mass production, mass distribution, and mass marketing of goods, essential elements of a modern industrial economy. The railroads created 5 transcontinental lines and 4 times zones throughout the nation. 3. Why did organized efforts of farmers, workers, and local reformers largely fail to achieve substantive change in the Gilded Age? In order to achieve substantive change in the...
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...Major Change from 1865-1914 One major economic change between 1865 and 1914 was the rapid economic growth and prosperity in the U.S. which became to have the most dominant economic, industrial, and agricultural power during this time. The United States had accumulation of capital through a continuing series of investment that just soared dramatically. This economic soar was a turning point for American History and a relief for those who did not have jobs, it was an opportunity for those who did not have job to finally be able seek a better living and a decent job. Robert Higgs, a graduate student wrote a book of the American Economy during 1865-1914. In Robert Higgs book “The Transformation of the American Economy,” he states, “The Gilded Age, lasting from 1865 to World War I, was an era of economic growth never before seen in the history of the world. The standard of living of the modern age was born during this time of phenomenal transition. Lives lengthen. Wealth exploded. The middle class lived better than kings a century earlier” (Transformation of The American Economy). This statement in the book clearly speaks for itself. The economy during this time era was a tremendous upscale in history. The significance of the economic growth during this time meant no more living with the worry of not having a job or having to migrate from city to city just to find a job. This time period brought many people the chance to live a better life and with better pay so to say. Many companies...
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...riGild- to cover boring base metal with a nice precious metal “gilded age” credited to mark twain The great leap forward- the prosperous economic times @ end of gilded age. The great leap forward was mainly concentrated in the north. The main cause of the GLF was the industrialization Throughout the gilded age the north accounted for 80precent of the industrial advancements. Until the 1800’s the only 2 components of the American economy was agriculture and overseas commerce. Then during the war of 1812 that began to change. The north started to do more manufacturing. 3 industries at the core of GLF steel industry railroad industry coal industry steel industry- over 400 steel companies. But only produced 200,000 tons of steel In 1900 – fewer than 80 steel companies But they produce 10million tons of steel Railroad industry – customers of steel coal and timber industry Government realized that railroad was so important So they gave it a lot of land. Coal Industry – Saudi Arabia of coal More here than anyone in the world. The Working People of The Gilded Age. Category A workers – white collar people. Had higher status Doctors Lawyers Ministers Journalists Needed higher education. **category A&B =Middle Class Category B workers – Skilled workers Worked with hands Did not dress nicely to work Got paid very well due to their skills Sometimes more than category A’s Carpenters Plumbers ...
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...Eccentricity vs. Personality disorder While researching strong female women in New York City history, I found myself drawn to the character of Mrs. Henrietta Howland Robinson (Hetty Green). The more I researched the life of Hetty the more questioned her mental health or lack of it. Why was it so hard for her to spend money? How had money become her the must imported thing in her life. What made her need to kept her fortune so close and what keep her from enjoying the basic comforts of life she could have easy afforded? Was Hetty Green just an eccentric old rich lady or could she have been suffering from a mental illness or a personality disorder? Hetty Green was one of the first female financiers to handle her own fortune and investments in the 1800s. Hetty Green was known as “The richest woman in America” (Slack, 2004) as well as earning herself the nickname of “The Witch of Wall Street.” (Sparkes, Boyden.1936) The origin is on clear of the nick name of “Witch of Wall Street” One source stated that is it come from the book written in 1936 by Boyden Sparkes and Samuel Taylor Moore titled “The Witch of Wall Street, Hetty Green.” Here is a quote from authors “When, however, Mrs. Green next appeared in New York she was wearing her mourning and for years thereafter she was never seen on the street except with a heavy swathing of black veil. It was this garment, perhaps, as much as anything that caused her to be spoken of as the Witch of Wall Street.” (Sparkes, Boyden...
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...Theodore Roosevelt’s interesting life often tempts biographers to write about him with the history left out. His story offers plenty of drama. Born in 1858 to a wealthy family in New York City he waged a life and death struggle against childhood asthma. Books about brave warriors and explorers comforted the boy when he was sick. His father, Theodore Senior, believed that nature and outdoor exercise could build boys’ bodies and characters, and he put pressure on his son to throw off his invalidism by embracing exercise. In his teens, young Theodore rose to his father’s challenge and strengthened his body by exercising and going hunting. He remained a forever-restless seeker after adventure and knowledge, a man who embraced many identities in...
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...English 123 II – 2.2 Final Project Milestone One: Annotation Bibliography By Vincent Berry WHAT IS YOUR RESEARCH QUESTION? Are record labels racism and political in the music industry? What impact does racism and politics have on the artist and fan base? SUMMORIZE SOURCE INFORMATION FOR EACH ANNOTATION Suisman, David. "Co Workers in the Kingdom of Culture: Black Swan Records and the Political Economy of African American Music." Teaching the Journal of American History Vol. 90, No. 4.March 2004 (2004): 1295-1324. Web. 1 Mar. 2004. African American owned Record Company, which produced records for African American consumers, was faced with attempts by a large record corporation to force them into bankruptcy. Why would a large company do this for such a small African American owned company? How would it merit attention from African American people in this medium when you have more important subjects like voting rights and lynching? Moreover, why would it merit any attention at all, not to mention, selling records to black consumers. This article answers these questions and investigates the rise and fall of the small record company and explores the political economy in which it operated. Black Swan Records created by Henry H. Pace, who saw a way to respond to a hostile environment that African American people faced with, both in the entertainment industry and in American society. The protégé of W.E.B Du Bois, also saw that African Americans were not equally even when they...
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...evidence of prosperity distributed equally among the social classes: speedboats, Corvette Stingrays, waterbeds, snowmobiles, motorcycles, hunting rifles, RVs, CB radios. I’ve always believed that the ’70s are remembered as the Decade That Taste Forgot because they were a time when people without culture or education had the money to not only indulge their passions, but flaunt them in front of the entire nation. It was an era, to use the title of a 1975 sociological study of a Wisconsin tavern, of blue-collar aristocrats. That all began to change in the 1980s. The recession at the beginning of that decade – America’s first Great Recession – was the beginning of the end for the bourgeois proletariat. Steelworkers showed up for first shift to find padlocks on mill gates. Autoworkers were laid off for years. The lucky ones were transferred to plants far from home. The unlucky never built another car. When I was growing up, it was assumed that America’s shared prosperity was the natural endpoint of our economy’s development, that capitalism had produced the workers paradise to which Communism unsuccessfully...
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...Chapter 21: The Roaring Life of the 1920s Section 1: Changing Ways of Life I. Rural and Urban Differences A. Between 1922 and 1929, migration to the cities accelerated, with nearly 2 million people leaving farms and towns each year (small town values change) 1. City dwellers judged one another by their accomplishments more often than their background a. City dwellers tolerated drinking, gambling, and casual dating (shocking and sinful in small towns) 2. Cities could be impersonal and frightening b. Life was fast paced and neighbors were not as neighborly B. Prohibition: the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages were legally prohibited 3. 18th Amendment: ratified Jan, 1919 and repealed by the 21st Amendment in Dec, 1933 C. Positive Opinions/Results of Prohibition: 4. Progressives wanted it banned to stop family violence, crime, and poverty c. Support for prohibition was found in the rural native-Protestant dominated West and South d. The church-affiliated Anti-Saloon League led the drive to pass Prohibition e. Woman’s Christian Temperance Union considered drinking a sin 5. WW I reformers advocated prohibition as a war measure f. People were concerned that many German Americans owned many of the brewers g. Drinking reduced the efficiency of soldiers and workers 6. Learned we must...
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...Syllabus College of Humanities HIS/125 U.S. History 1865 to 1945 Professor Jewell gjjewell@email.phoenix.edu 843-863-0102 Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2007 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Course Description This course provides an overview of the social, political, economic, and global events affecting U.S. history from the Civil War through World War II. Policies Faculty and students will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality. Course Materials Schultz, K. M. (2012). HIST2, volume 2 (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. All electronic materials are available on the student website. Week One: Reconstruction and the New South Details Objectives 1.1 Evaluate the outcomes of Reconstruction. 1.2 Summarize the economic, political, and social characteristics of the New South. 1.3 Explain the populist response to late 19th-century developments. Read the course description and objectives. Read the instructor’s biography and post your own. Read Ch. 16 of HIST2, Volume 2. Read pp. 318–325 in Ch. 19 of HIST2...
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...corporations, business owners predominantly personally managed most private economic operations. These small-scale operations had little influence outside their regional realm. Eventually, American capitalism evolved from a proprietary-competitive stage to a corporate-administered stage as a result of numerous factors. Economies of scale became more applicable with innovations in transportation, communication, production, management, distribution, and marketing. As a result, America transformed into a global economic power. From 1870 to 1913, the United States’ distribution of the world’s industrial production rose from 23 percent to 36 percent (Chandler, 4). Comparing this substantial growth to other industrious countries of the time exemplifies America’s dominance. In the same time span Great Britain fell from 32 percent to 14 percent, Germany rose from 13 percent to 16 percent, France dropped from 10 percent to 6 percent, Russia rose from 4 percent to 6 percent, Japan rose from 0 percent to 1 percent, and the rest of the world rose from 17 percent to 21 percent (Chandler, 4). Capital intensive, mass production industries that rose during the 2nd half of the 19th century distinguished American business from economic institutions in other cultures and set the foundations of what is now known as the American corporation. Standard Oil An industry that was a pioneer in changing the early business landscape was the petroleum sector. In 1859, the first successful commercial drilling of oil...
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...Stephen Mennell HISTORY, NATIONAL CHARACTER AND AMERICAN CIVILISATION America is a land of familiar paradoxes. An agreeable civility habitually prevails in most everyday relations among people in America – yet the United States is factually a socially highly unequal society. In most parts of America, the laws and social customs strongly restrain people from doing harm to themselves and others by smoking – yet the laws and social customs only weakly restrain people from doing harm to themselves and others by the use of guns, and the murder rate is about four times as high per capita as in Western Europe. The usa is the world’s remaining super-power – yet internally the American state is in some ways strikingly weak. The usa has ‘saved the world for democracy’ on more than one occasion – but has itself become an aggressive militaristic society. And there appears to be an increasing divergence between how a large proportion of Americans view themselves and their country and how they are perceived by a large proportion of the 95 per cent of the world’s population who are not Americans. Hunting down myths It has been said that sociologists must be ‘myth-hunters’, tracking down popular beliefs that are ill founded (Elias 1978: 50-70). Whether simply exposing such beliefs to contrary evidence deployed by academics is sufficient to kill off myths and bring them home for mounting on the walls of our university departments is highly debateable. Nevertheless, we have a duty to call...
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...History 477 (The Gilded Age) Associated professor of American studies at Yale University and author of the book called Barbarian virtues: the United States encounters foreign peoples at home and abroad, 1876-1917, Matthew Frye Jacobson, wrote about how Americans in the last part of the 19th century have actually formulated the values of being barbaric against immigrants and foreigners that are both found inside and outside the country. It is from this book that wide and open reflections can be done as to how America have been influenced enough to its formation of the immigration laws in the ways that they applied racial discriminations and superiority against other races. These attitudes of the 19th century America is considered to be the primary factors that led to the formation of the American laws regarding immigration and its country’s history. In fact, this can be the considered turning point of the American society as to how they have actually regarded themselves more powerful than the rest of the other races. This should hold true in the ways that America allowed immigrants to work in the country and thus leading to the economic boom of the country. This, in turn, allowed the creation of the Centennial Exhibition and political stability through immigrant children. Outside interaction of the Americans would apply the same concepts of the American superiority. In the discussion that follows, we consider the particular relations of the Americans to foreigners and how...
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