Westward Expansion & The "New South"
This business became the largest and most powerful in the country, largely as a result of expansion through the west.
BONUS: How did the federal government support this industry?
Railroads
This was the prevailing attitude of the federal government towards regulating the economy during the Gilded Age.
BONUS: Where did this idea originate?
Conservative Economics: Hands off/Laissez-faire
This was the major difference between the so-called "old" and "new" immigrant groups.
Origin in Europe:
Old: Northern/Western (Scandinavia, Germany, UK, Ireland)
New: Central/Eastern/Southern (Russia, Italy, Spain, Poland)
This new political party formed as a response to the challenges facing western farmers, and became a national party by the 1890s.
BONUS: Describe their platform
Populists
These were TWO social impacts of westward expansion after the Civil War
- Displacement & forced assimilation of the Native Americans
- New opportunities for farming, development
- Mining & cattle towns/ghost towns
- Faster, safer, easier migration (RR)
- Farmers organization (Grangers, Populists)
These were TWO technologies besides the railroad that revolutionized industry in the period after the Civil War.
BONUS: Describe how these technologies supported industrial/economic expansion
Bessemer Process/steel
Power plants/power grid
Telegraph/telephone
Camera/radio
These were TWO effects of the massive influx of migrants from Europe.
- Immigrant communities/ethnic neighborhoods
- Overcrowding of cities
- Reform & assimilation: Settlement House movement
- Exclusionary legislation and quotas
- Growth of the workforce = expansion of industrial output
These were TWO similarities between the Democratic and Republican parties in the Gilded Age
- Widespread corruption
- Inaction/inertia - inability to deal with substantial policy issues
- Support for business/industry
- Hands-off economic policy
- Cycle of poverty due to sharecropping/tenant farming and labor contracts
- Mob violence, lynchings, intimidation (KKK)
- Mass migration to the west and north
- Plessy vs. Ferguson (legalized segregation)
- Formation of black organizations and resistance (Wells, DuBois, Washington)
These were three challenges that workers faced during the Gilded Age.
BONUS: How did they respond to these challenges?
- Dangerous conditions (pollution, chemical exposure, machinery)
- No right to organize/unionize
- No safety protections
- Low wages
These were THREE examples of reform efforts that expanded and/or developed in the Gilded Age.
- Urban renewal & reform
- Social gospel
- Women's suffrage
- Temperance
- Anti-corruption
These were THREE of the major political issues at stake in the election of 1896
BONUS: Who won the election, and why?
- Immigration
- Agrarian interests - Populist party
- Tariffs
- Support for industry vs. agriculture
- Political corruption