Overview of important events and themes from 1865 to 1898.
Shoutouts to various high school classes and teachers.
The Gilded Age
Term coined by Mark Twain.
Appeared prosperous but had underlying issues: social, economic, and political.
Government subsidies encouraged westward expansion, especially railroads.
Emergence of monopolies for business power.
Social Darwinism justified wealth disparity: "survival of the fittest."
Growing gap between rich (conspicuous consumption) and poor.
Workforce Changes
Farmers moved to cities, leading to lower wages and increased child labor.
Emergence of unions:
Knights of Labor: Skilled and unskilled workers; declined after Haymarket Riot.
American Federation of Labor (AFL): Skilled workers; more successful.
The New South
Attempt to industrialize the South; limited success due to persistent sharecropping and tenant farming.
Natural Resources and Land Conflicts
Corporations vs. conservationists; emergence of environmental movements (e.g., Sierra Club).
Farmers' struggles with mechanization and railroads led to formations like The Grange and the Populist Party (led by William Jennings Bryan).
Urbanization
New immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe; settled in ethnic communities (e.g., Little Italy, Chinatowns).
Discrimination by groups like the American Protective Agency (APA).
Political machines (e.g., Tammany Hall) provided services for votes.
Settlement houses (e.g., Jane Addams' Hull House) helped immigrants and women.
Westward Expansion
Driven by economic opportunities and government policies (e.g., Homestead Act).
Treaties with Native Americans often violated, leading to conflict.
Significant battles: Custer's Last Stand, Battle of Wounded Knee.
Assimilation efforts (e.g., Dawes Act) to change Native identities.
Politics of the Gilded Age
Focus on economic issues: tariffs, gold vs. silver debate.
Laissez-faire policies; government corruption spurred reform movements.
Rise in nativism and racism (e.g., Plessy vs. Ferguson and the Chinese Exclusion Act).
Intellectual Movements
Gospel of Wealth (Andrew Carnegie): Wealthy should donate to society.
Social Darwinism: Rich deserve to be rich.
Social Gospel Movement: Improve cities and lives of the poor.
Increasing activism among women and African Americans:
Booker T. Washington: Vocational training.
Ida B. Wells: Critic of lynching.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Women's suffrage.
Recap
Understand the emergence of monopolies, social Darwinism, migration reasons, "New South," new immigration, labor unions, The Grange, populist movements, westward expansion impacts, and Plessy vs. Ferguson.
Conclusion
Encouragement to subscribe and view additional review videos.