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American Gilded Age & Progressive Era

60 cards · 🇺🇸 English

Industrialization, robber barons and Progressive-era reforms.

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When was the Gilded Age?

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1When was the Gilded Age?
From the late 1870s to the late 1890s, between the Reconstruction era and Progressive Era
2Why is it called the Gilded Age?
Named after Mark Twain's 1873 novel 'The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today', portraying social problems masked by economic expansion
3What was the real wage growth from 1860-1890?
40% growth, spreading across the expanding labor force
4What was the average industrial wage in 1880 vs 1890?
$380 in 1880 to $584 in 1890, a rise of 54%
5What event completed the first transcontinental railroad?
Celebrated on May 10, 1869, opening far-west mining and ranching regions
6How much faster was cross-country travel after the transcontinental railroad?
Reduced from six months to six days from New York to San Francisco
7How much did railroad track mileage grow?
Tripled from 1860 to 1880, then doubled again by 1920
8Who were the robber barons?
Wealthy industrialists like Rockefeller, Carnegie, Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan whose critics argued they made fortunes at the expense of the working class
9Who was John D. Rockefeller?
Founder of Standard Oil who monopolized the oil industry and donated over $500 million to charities
10Who was Andrew Carnegie?
Scottish immigrant who led the enormous expansion of American steel industry and donated over 90% of his wealth
11What was the Gospel of Wealth?
Andrew Carnegie's philosophy that philanthropy was the duty of the wealthy
12What was Standard Oil?
Rockefeller's monopoly that dominated markets by keeping prices low when competitors appeared
13What were trusts?
A few large corporations that dominated industries like steel, oil, sugar, meat through vertical integration
14What was vertical integration?
Controlling each aspect of production to maximize profits, minimize prices, and prevent competition
15From 1865-1898, how much did wheat output increase?
256%
16From 1865-1898, how much did coal output increase?
800%
17From 1865-1898, how much did railway track increase?
567%
18How many patents were issued from 1860-1890?
500,000 patents for new inventions—over ten times the previous seventy years
19Who invented air brakes for trains?
George Westinghouse, making trains safer and faster
20Who developed the elevator?
Elisha Otis, allowing construction of skyscrapers
21What did Thomas Edison establish?
The first electrical lighting utility based on direct current and efficient incandescent lamps
22What replaced whale oil for lighting?
Kerosene from petroleum
23What were the two major economic panics?
Panic of 1873 and Panic of 1893, causing brief interruptions and violent labor strife
24What was the Nadir of American race relations?
The period when African Americans endured the worst treatment, stripped of political power and voting rights with Jim Crow laws
25What was railroad financing's total in 1860 vs 1897?
$1.8 billion in 1860 to $10.6 billion in 1897
26What percentage of railroad funding came from the federal government?
About 10%, mainly through land grants
27What was the U.S. per capita income in 1914?
$377, far above Britain ($244), Germany ($184), France ($153), Italy ($108)
28What was the Great Railroad Strike of 1877?
The largest strike in the world in the 19th century, involving 80,000 railroad workers during economic depression
29How long did the Great Railroad Strike last?
45 days, resulting in hundreds of deaths, injuries, and millions in railroad property damages
30Who intervened in the Great Railroad Strike?
President Rutherford B. Hayes with federal troops