Large scale industrialization and advances in technology gave rise to capitalism and the era of big business. Businessmen such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller amassed huge fortunes. Aggressive financial methods caused multiple economic downturns and financial panics.
Due to the rise of big business, many groups such as farmers and unions called for stronger governmental protections to regulate the economy and safeguard the rights of workers.
Migration increased, both to and within the United States. Cities became areas of economic growth that attracted African Americans and migrants from Asia and Europe. Multiple ethnic groups vied for control of the Western frontier, and cultural tensions continued nationwide.
New intellectual and cultural movements arose during this period, often dubbed the “Gilded Age.” One view, called Social Darwinism, attempted to justify a wealthy elite class as natural and inevitable. Another view, known as the Gospel of Wealth, urged the wealthy and big business to help the less fortunate.
Debates intensified over citizens’ rights, especially in relation to gender and race. The Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) marked a major setback for African Americans, as it upheld racial segregation and ended some of the progress made in the decades following the Civil War. African American reformers continued to strive for political and social equality in the face of escalating violence and discrimination.
Compare the objectives and the strategies of organized labor and the Populists for challenging the prevailing economic beliefs and practices of the Gilded Age.
Analyze and evaluate the ways both external and internal migration changed over time from 1830 to 1900.
Analyze and evaluate the ways in which Social Darwinism and the Gospel of Wealth are used to defend the dominant economic and social order after the Civil War to 1900.