Period 6: 1865-1898

This is the Gilded Age, where America was bright and shiny on the outside (industrial growth, wealth, railroads, big cities, population growth) and dark and grimy underneath (terrible living and working conditions for many others, nativism, racism, corporate as well as political corruption).

KEY CONCEPTS:

1. Technological advances, large-scale production methods, and the opening of new markets encouraged the rise of industrial capitalism in the United States.

   1. • Industrialization, mass production, assembly line, Bessemer process for steel, railroads, oil boom

      • Monopolization in major industries- trusts, rise of the "robber barons"

      • Labor- child labor. unions, and protests

      • Open Door Policy, acquisition of Hawaii, Spanish-American War

2. The migrations that accompanied industrialization transformed both urban and rural areas of the United States and caused dramatic social and cultural change.

   1. • Urbanization

      • Immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe

      • Immigration from Asia- Chinese Exclusion Act, Gentleman's Agreement

      • Native American relations- reservations and forced assimilation

      • The "New " South- sharecropping, industrialization of the south, mill villages

        • Perspectives on African-American advancement from Booker T. Washington and WEB DuBois

3. The Gilded Age produced new cultural and intellectual movements, public reform efforts, and political debates over economic and social policies.

   1. • Gilded Age politics- political machines, influence of corporations on politics, corruption, Pendleton Civil Service Act

      • Populism

      • Gospel of Wealth

Review Videos for Period 6 Test

Step 1: Watch the big overview videos and those aligned with the CB's Key Concepts.