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The Gilded Age: The ‘High’ Point in America’s History - YouTube
Channel: Captivating History
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the gilded age is often seen as a high
[6]
point in america's history
[8]
characterized by the rise of the
[10]
industrialized economy
[11]
after the civil war it was a time when
[14]
american business
[15]
took off on a grand scale making several
[18]
notable business people
[19]
extremely wealthy however although the
[22]
gilded age is remembered as a time of
[24]
great affluence
[25]
it was also a time of great inequality
[28]
and corruption even the phrase the
[30]
gilded age
[31]
was taken from a satirical novel by mark
[34]
twain published in 1873
[36]
it is supposed to imply that something
[38]
that appears golden on the surface
[41]
may be corrupt underneath shortly after
[44]
the end of the american civil war in
[46]
1865
[47]
the u.s underwent an enormous burst of
[50]
economic activity
[51]
brought about by a wave of
[52]
industrialization during the renewed
[54]
peace
[55]
the gilded age normally refers to this
[57]
prosperous period
[58]
between 1870 and 1900 which overlaps
[62]
with the latter part of the
[63]
reconstruction
[65]
while the civil war had some devastating
[67]
effects on the us
[68]
it also inaugurated important changes
[71]
including the spread of the telegraph
[73]
and a major expansion of the railways
[75]
within a few years of the end of the war
[78]
america
[79]
also began to experience a period of
[81]
major economic growth
[83]
while the industrial period had begun in
[85]
great britain in the 18th century
[87]
america experienced its most intense
[90]
period of industrial development
[91]
during the late 19th century in many
[94]
ways
[95]
america had been long destined for the
[97]
spectacular spurt of economic growth
[99]
blessed with a continent of valuable
[101]
resources including
[102]
coal and oil and many useful
[104]
agricultural products
[106]
in fact after the war many european
[109]
investors saw the us
[110]
as a good bed for business and soon a
[113]
wave of money poured in from abroad
[116]
as well as attracting investors america
[118]
also went through one of its biggest
[120]
ever waves of migration
[122]
which more than doubled the u.s
[123]
population
[125]
up to this point most americans had
[127]
roots in england
[128]
scotland and wales but the late 19th
[130]
century saw many more
[132]
immigrants arrive from the rest of the
[134]
world producing a much more diverse
[136]
nation
[137]
as more visitors arrived and more
[139]
industries expanded
[141]
the us became much more urban and many
[143]
more towns and cities
[145]
sprawled across the nation this was the
[147]
era of the world's first skyscrapers
[150]
when skylines began to climb higher and
[152]
higher
[153]
in particular the east coast blossomed
[155]
due to its many trading ports
[157]
and the great lakes region became the
[159]
beating heart of the industrial boom
[162]
chicago was one of the great cities of
[164]
the age becoming both a major railroad
[166]
hub
[167]
and a truly international city that
[169]
attracted visitors worldwide
[171]
cities grew off the back of new
[173]
industries and the gilded age is often
[176]
remembered for some of its most
[177]
important businessmen
[179]
many of whom became extremely wealthy at
[181]
this time
[182]
the late 19th century was the age of
[185]
capital
[186]
a time when private corporations rose to
[188]
prominence
[189]
as wealthy men invested in large-scale
[191]
industries
[192]
and reaped great dividends the american
[195]
colonies themselves had been partially
[197]
founded by private enterprises
[199]
who raised capital from their investors
[201]
giving the u.s a strong capitalist
[203]
instinct
[204]
quite early in its history the american
[206]
government continued to push a
[208]
pro-business stance in the 19th century
[210]
allowing private companies to develop
[212]
the major infrastructure projects the
[214]
nation needed
[216]
the gilded age presidents are often said
[218]
to be remarkably
[219]
unmemorable as they by and large took a
[222]
hands-off approach to governance
[224]
as industrialization produced many more
[227]
opportunities for these kinds of private
[229]
businesses
[230]
america ballooned into the world's
[232]
foremost capitalist power
[234]
the downside of this economic boom was
[236]
that the few people who had enough money
[238]
to invest in large-scale business
[240]
enterprises
[241]
tended to buy up most of their
[243]
competition
[244]
soon multiple large monopolies had
[246]
formed undermining the spirit of healthy
[249]
competition
[250]
the most well-remembered and notorious
[252]
of these large monopolies
[254]
with a rockefeller oil monopoly the
[256]
vanderbilt railroad monopoly
[258]
and the carnegie steel monopoly carnegie
[261]
steel
[262]
later became the jp morgan steel
[264]
monopoly after the well-known banker
[266]
which bought carnegie out for 480
[269]
million dollars
[270]
jp morgan in particular was also one of
[273]
the gilded ages most famous money men
[276]
one of the wealthy bankers who made new
[277]
york exceedingly rich
[279]
by investing in businesses across the us
[282]
while these grand businessmen are often
[284]
still remembered as great american
[286]
heroes or
[287]
captains of industry others describe
[290]
these business moguls in less flattering
[292]
terms
[292]
dubbing them the robber barons of the
[295]
gilded age
[296]
while some of these tycoons such as
[298]
andrew carnegie
[299]
spent millions on philanthropic projects
[302]
most robber barons were infamously
[304]
ruthless and corrupt for example the
[307]
wall street and railroad mogul james
[309]
fisk
[310]
was famously involved in several shady
[312]
practices
[313]
from extortion to bribery to risky
[315]
market manipulation
[317]
although by 1890 the sherman anti-trust
[320]
act was passed
[321]
in an attempt to make the dangerous
[322]
monopolies these men accrued
[324]
illegal the act would have little effect
[327]
on the monopolies that already existed
[330]
it wasn't until the election of teddy
[331]
roosevelt at the end of the gilded age
[333]
in 1901
[334]
that at least some of the robber baron's
[336]
power was broken
[338]
among the most famous of the great
[340]
tycoons was cornelius vanderbilt
[342]
a man widely disliked in his lifetime
[345]
for his cunning business practices
[347]
vanderbilt is important because he was
[349]
one of the major figures behind the
[351]
enormous expansion of the railroads in
[353]
the u.s
[355]
the gilded age was the golden age of the
[357]
railway as trains remained the fastest
[359]
way to move goods across large areas
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in the u.s the transcontinental railroad
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was revolutionary
[366]
as it linked the atlantic to the pacific
[368]
for the first time
[370]
when vanderbilt entered the railroad
[372]
industry he was already very wealthy
[374]
but he sold his previous businesses to
[376]
buy up as much rail track as he could
[379]
the railroads were particularly
[381]
vulnerable to being taken over by
[383]
monopolies
[384]
because there was a very limited amount
[386]
of train tracks in any given region
[388]
soon vanderbilt could charge his
[390]
customers extortionate rates
[392]
confident that they had no choice but to
[394]
use his businesses to transport their
[396]
goods
[398]
in response to the eye-watering high
[400]
fees charged by many railway companies
[402]
a collective of farmers known as the
[404]
granger movement
[405]
campaign for fairer prices the granger
[408]
union would go on to have a surprisingly
[411]
important afterlife
[412]
as they would inspire both the people's
[414]
party and the greenback party
[416]
important progressive political
[418]
movements which campaign for fairer
[420]
economic conditions
[421]
and more economic equality economic
[424]
equality was a hot topic in the gilded
[426]
age
[427]
the late 19th century saw progressive
[430]
workers movements spread across the
[432]
industrialized world
[433]
in a bid to give ordinary people fairer
[435]
hours
[436]
better pay and safer working conditions
[438]
in factories that often use dangerous
[440]
equipment
[442]
unfortunately many wealthy americans
[444]
increasingly believed in the theory
[446]
of social darwinism an ideology that
[449]
argues poor
[450]
people deserve to be poor because they
[452]
are naturally inferior
[454]
tycoons did little to help their workers
[456]
often demanding that they work harder
[458]
for longer to increase output and turn
[460]
more profit
[462]
in response to worsening conditions many
[464]
american workers unionized
[466]
and the american federation of labor
[468]
that organized these unions was founded
[470]
in 1886
[472]
other workers took a more radical path
[475]
joining more socialist groups
[476]
and even turning towards anarchism the
[479]
u.s government did little to help the
[481]
situation
[482]
repeatedly halting legislation meant to
[484]
improve working conditions
[487]
tensions between workers and bosses led
[489]
to several major disasters in the gilded
[491]
age
[492]
in 1886 the haymarket riot in chicago
[495]
led to a series of deaths when workers
[497]
peaceful protest
[498]
turned violent an unidentified assailant
[501]
threw a stick of dynamite into the crowd
[503]
during the gathering
[504]
in an attempt to hit a police officer
[507]
shooting broke out
[508]
resulting in the deaths of many police
[510]
officers and civilians
[512]
a few years later a similar incident
[514]
occurred in pittsburgh in 1892
[517]
the so-called homestead strike saw a
[519]
clash between a crowd of carnegie steel
[521]
workers
[522]
and a group of private militiamen from
[524]
the pinkerton agency
[525]
who had been hired to police the crowds
[528]
during the violence
[529]
henry frick a hated industrialist who
[532]
violently opposed the unions was almost
[534]
assassinated by a disgruntled anarchist
[537]
economic inequality was not the only
[540]
major social issue of the gilded age
[542]
it was also a terrible time for race
[544]
relations
[546]
the native americans suffered greatly
[548]
during this period
[549]
during the dakota gold rush in 1876 a
[552]
war broke out between the u.s government
[554]
and the sioux nation
[556]
resulting in the biggest campaign
[557]
against the native americans in u.s
[559]
history
[561]
ten years later in 1886 the last major
[564]
native american resistance force
[566]
led by geronimo of the apache was
[568]
finally defeated
[570]
the gilded age was also a dark time for
[572]
african americans
[573]
after federal troops withdrew from the
[575]
south in 1877
[577]
the african-american population lost its
[579]
much-needed government protection
[582]
lynching soon became common with angry
[584]
mobs of white southerners accusing
[586]
african americans of any manner of
[588]
crimes
[589]
with little to no evidence and
[591]
proceeding to carry out
[592]
extrajudicial executions to make matters
[595]
worse
[596]
during the reconstruction era the first
[598]
segregation laws or
[599]
jim crow were passed making black
[602]
americans in the south
[603]
second class citizens although the 1875
[606]
civil rights act had put some
[608]
protections to prevent discrimination
[610]
the act was abolished in 1883 during
[613]
this period
[614]
the enormous wave of immigration also
[616]
led to a wave of nativism
[618]
a form of resentment against migrant
[620]
workers
[621]
italian and irish immigrants were
[623]
particularly picked upon
[625]
and in 1882 the chinese exclusion act
[628]
banned chinese immigration altogether
[630]
while these workers contributed greatly
[632]
to america's economic boom
[634]
many americans feared losing out to
[636]
foreign arrivals
[638]
many immigrants in this era inevitably
[640]
turned towards a growing and corrupt
[642]
political phenomena
[644]
the political machine these corrupt
[646]
organizations were typically found in
[648]
major cities
[649]
and bought votes in exchange for favors
[652]
the most famous of these political
[654]
machines was tammany hall in new york
[656]
city
[656]
founded in 1786 it would become
[659]
notorious for corruption by the late
[661]
19th century
[663]
political machines thrived during the
[665]
gilded age because they provided
[666]
opportunities for poorer people
[668]
and vulnerable migrants local
[670]
politicians would find jobs for
[672]
newcomers in their wards
[674]
in exchange for their votes political
[676]
machine bosses often helped immigrants
[678]
gain their citizenship papers faster
[681]
and the jobs they created often provided
[683]
better living conditions for the people
[684]
living in their area
[686]
come election day these faithful patrons
[688]
would vote sometimes multiple times
[691]
for their valued protectors securing
[693]
them political power
[694]
for years at a time although corruption
[697]
poor working conditions and rampant
[699]
prejudice were all rife during the
[701]
gilded
[702]
age it is also a time of great
[704]
opportunity
[705]
ultimately the problems of the gilded
[707]
age would lead to another great era in
[709]
american history
[710]
the age of progressive politics in which
[713]
reforms rolled back the worst excesses
[715]
of this grand age of
[716]
wealth and expansion to learn more about
[719]
the gilded age
[720]
check out our book the gilded age a
[723]
captivating guide to an era in american
[725]
history
[725]
that overlaps the reconstruction era and
[728]
coincides with parts of the victorian
[730]
era in britain
[730]
along with the bella park in france it's
[733]
available as an e-book
[735]
paperback and audiobook also grab your
[737]
free mythology bundle ebook while still
[739]
available
[740]
all links are in the description if you
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enjoyed the video
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