The Gilded Age

Politics

The period included two mostly uneventful presidencies by Cleveland and Harrison.
The rise of “political machines” cemented political grip of certain groups in urban areas.

Industrialization

The Transatlantic Railroad is completed in 1869.
Starting during the Civil War, the North build many factories and railroads to support the war effort. Great industrialist make vast fortunes. For example:

• Andrew Carnegie, steel magnate
• John D. Rockfeller, oil magnate
• Cornelius Vandebilt, transport Tycoon
• JP Morgan, banker

These very wealthy individuals wield amazing power and influence. They are called “Captains of Industry” and later called “Robber Barons” due to their often unethical business practices.

Congress starts to regulate businesses with the 1887 Interstate Commerce Act and the 1890 Sherman Anti-Trust Act. However they were mostly ineffective due to massive loopholes.

The labor movement

In 1866, the National Labor Union is created followed by the Knights of Labor in 1869 and the American Federation of Labor in 1886. Their goal is to defend worker’s rights.

The 1873 economic crisis plunges millions of workers into unemployment. The period sees massive strike in mines, railroads, and steel plants. The strikes are often ended through military intervention.

Gilded Age society

The period sees an increase in the wealth gap with very harsh working conditions. Nativism appeared and marginalized non-European immigrants.

The West

In 1862, Congress passes the Homestead Act that granted land to pioneers in the newly acquired territories.
In 1876, the Battle of Little Bighorn is a major defeat for the US army against a coalition of Native American tribes.
In 1890, the battle of Wounded Knee ends the Indian Wars.

Populism

Populism started with the McKinley Tariff of 1890, a protectionist measure that hurt Southern farmers.
After electoral defeats, Populist Party eventually merged with the Democratic party.

The Spanish-American War

The Cuban war of independence is in full swing. The USS Maine is dispatched to ensure safety of American citizens. The boat sinks in Havana harbor and Spain is blamed. This leads to a ten-week war which ends with the USA acquiring Spanish possessions such as the Philippines.

The Roosevelt Presidency

Theodore Roosevelt was elected vice-president along McKinley. After McKinley’s assassination, he became the 26th president of the USA.
“Big stick Diplomacy” is the idea that the USA has to have a sufficient military force to pursue aggressive foreign policy goals.
Progressives think that capitalism and the urbanization require more government intervention. Roosevelt successfully managed to get trusts to be split, such as the Northern Securities Railroad Company.
Roosevelt also develops conservation efforts, creating new national parks.

The Taft presidency

William Howard Taft abandons progressive measures by advocating tariffs such as the Payne-Aldrich Tariff in 1909. He used the “Dollar policy” in the foreign affairs. This leads to splitting the Republican party with Roosevelt creating the Progressive Republican Party. They both lose to Woodrow Wilson and his “New Freedom” program in 1912.