Following the Civil War, the United States experienced a technological, economic, and demographic revolution. The country transitioned from the agrarian age to the industrial while millions of immigrants flooded to Ellis Island and other destinations. The new Americans generally ended up living in squalor while industrialists made millions. Mark Twain poked fun at the opulence when he coined the term “Gilded Age” to describe the era. However, the Gilded Age was more than simple unrestrained capitalism. The period also included great technological advances, increased urbanization, and a political realignment. Although the period fit Twain’s sarcastic description, it also provided a transition to the modern world.
The Second Industrial Revolution marked a turning point in world history. People could now work for a wage as opposed to living off the land. As a result, millions flocked to cities to find factory work. The process accelerated as immigrants flocked to American shores. By the first third of the twentieth century, more people lived in cities than in the country for the first time.
Factory work could be hazardous. The political realm tends to lag behind innovation and late nineteenth century factories lacked many safety precautions. The work maimed, sickened, or killed many. At the same time, increased innovation within the factories led to specialization. By 1900, a factory would employ not only unskilled laborers, but also engineers and other professionals leading to the rise of a white-collar work force. These changes helped lead to the creation of a strong and large middle class. Meanwhile, the rich poured their wealth into philanthropic ventures ranging from museums to hospitals.
The so-called “Robber Barons” benefited from the greatest economic expansion in history. The new economy’s rise led to unprecedented economic growth. The U.S. grew at nearly 7% in the seventies. The following decade unveiled a 4% growth rate and a doubling of GDP. At the same time, wages increased dramatically.
Despite the increase in wages, many laborers remained unsatisfied with their station. Working conditions remained poor, hours long, and wages low compared to corporate profits. Unions organized to rectify some of the perceived inequities. However, the government sided with management and resisted strikers. Federal, state, and local authorities ended the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and the Pullman Strike. At the same time, anarchism and other radical ideologies infiltrated the labor movement resulting in violence. However, certain union leaders learned and began asking for more reasonable concessions such as a 10-hour workday as opposed to eight. At the same time, governments became more sensitive to workers’ needs. However, that did not occur until the next century.
Immigrants made up the rank-and-file of many of the early labor unions. Around 10 million people migrated to the U.S. between 1865 and 1900. These newer immigrants did not resemble the old. Prior to the Civil War, most new peoples arrived from Northeastern Europe. The post-war immigrants mostly hailed from Southwestern Europe. Most of the immigrants hoped to find a better economic or political life in the United States. Eventually, the government established Ellis Island to accommodate the influx.
Many of the new Americans arrived at Ellis Island in poverty. Native-born Americans believed the newcomers lacked resources because of the Social Darwinist ideal of “survival of the fittest.” According to this belief, which drew social parallels to Darwin’s biological work, rich people were wealthy because they were better suited to their environment. This argument justified the gap between rich and poor and discrimination against the new wave of immigrants and African-Americans.
While Social Darwinism took root, the country experienced the Third Great Awakening. This religious revival began before the Civil War and led to reformist movements. The movement preached the “Social Gospel” which is now called “social justice.” The revivalists took on poverty, war, crime, and other major issues of the day. This led to the YMCA, Salvation Army, and Hull House.
The awakening’s reform efforts often targeted cities. Businessmen located their factories in and near major cities leading to a dramatic influx of people. Many city dwellers lived in extreme poverty. As a result, slums formed, crime increased, and poor sanitation ruled the streets.
The Democratic Party moved quickly to assimilate urban dwellers and immigrants. They generally attacked the “black Republicans” to appeal to white pride and divide the lower orders. If a lower class white person felt superior to a black person, then they were not at the bottom of the social ladder. Democratic politicians tapped into this underlying fear and racism to create a formidable urban organization that still exists in many cities today. When necessary, the lower classes served to intimidate voters and protect fraudulent voting practices. This system helped Democrats dominate most big cities for over a century.
Despite eventual Democratic successes in the cities, the Republicans dominated the national political scene. Between 1860 and 1912, only one Democrat, Grover Cleveland, won a presidential election. Voters blamed the Democrats for the Civil War. Over time, the Republicans built in political firewalls to ensure continued electoral success. It did not always succeed, but overall served them well.
Republican administrations supported railroad expansion. As money flowed from government coffers and spending increased, scandal proved inevitable. Several high profile scandals rocked the country as a direct result of government attempts to stimulate technological and economic growth. The result was nepotism, bribery, inefficiency, waste, incompetence, and outright corruption.
Despite the corruption and economic inequities created by the new factory system, railroads, and government policy, the period included dramatic technological innovations. In addition to improvements in factories and trains, American inventors created the light bulb, the telephone, the phonograph, motion pictures, and other amazing contraptions. Americans came to believe they lived in an amazing age. At one point, the U.S. Patent Office proclaimed there was nothing left to invent.
As a result of the technological advances, Americans believed they lived in an amazing age and would eventually conquer the worst social problems. However, the optimism diminished when the Panic of 1893 wiped out many economic advances. The depression lasted four years and resulted in the collapse of the Bourbon Democrats and a political realignment.
The Progressive Movement adopted inflationary policies, supported farmers’ rights, and attacked banks and big business. They garnered 9% of the national vote and 22 Electoral Votes in the 1892 presidential election. Four years later, the Democrats absorbed them into the party and nominated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency. This signaled the end of the old free market Democrats and the rise of the left. Jennings’ economic policies served as a basis for Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, and Barack Obama.
Jennings never became president. The country thought his policies too extreme and elected William McKinley instead. McKinley supported the gold standard over bimetallism, industrial growth, and began the process to disrupt corporate monopolies. The Panic of 1893 began with the Democrat Cleveland in the White House, thus damaging Bryan’s chances, and ended as McKinley assumed office. The Gilded Age itself transitioned to the Progressive Era under President McKinley.
Most view the Gilded Age as a glum period in American history. According to the narrative, robber barons oppressed the working class into slavery as they polluted the planet. Although there is some truth to this, it ignores the dynamism of the period. The post-Civil War era witnessed demographic, political, economic, and technological revolutions, which made the twentieth century.
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