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Working Labor During The Gilded Age

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Harsh working conditions, the labor movement, impact of industrialization.

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6.7 Labor in the Gilded Age

7 min read • january 26, 2023

Ashley Rossi

Mixed AP Review

Endless stimulus-based MCQs for all units

As industrialization boomed during the Gilded Age , the gap between the rich and the poor expanded significantly. Industrialization led to the growth of large factories and the rise of big business , which concentrated wealth and power in the hands of a small group of industrialists and business leaders. This led to a significant increase in economic inequality .

Workers during this time often worked long hours in unsafe and unhealthy conditions for very low pay. Many of these workers were immigrants or members of minority groups who faced discrimination and were often paid even less than other workers. Children were also commonly employed in these harsh conditions, often working long hours and performing dangerous tasks with no legal protections or compensation for injuries.

This led to the rise of labor unions and the labor movement , as workers sought to improve their working conditions, wages, and rights. However, as discussed earlier, management often used various tactics to suppress these movements and maintain the status quo.

Anti-Union Techniques

During the Gilded Age , management often held a significant advantage over organized labor in terms of resources and power. With a surplus of cheap labor, management had the ability to replace striking workers with strikebreakers or scabs, who were unemployed persons desperate for jobs. This made it difficult for strikes to be successful and weakened the power of labor unions .

In addition to using strikebreakers, management also used a variety of tactics to defeat unions and suppress labor movements.

These tactics include:

Lockout : closing a factory or workplace to prevent workers from going to work and breaking a labor movement before it could get organized.

Blacklists : names of pro-union workers circulated among employers, making it difficult for those workers to find employment.

Yellow-dog contracts : workers being told, as a condition for employment, that they must sign an agreement not to join a union.

Calling in private guards or state militia to put down strikes.

Obtaining court injunctions : court orders to stop a strike, making it illegal for workers to continue their strike action.

These tactics were commonly used by management during the Gilded Age to suppress labor movements and weaken unions, and were a significant factor in the struggle between management and labor during that time period.

During the Gilded Age (approximately 1870s to 1900), there were several examples of management using these tactics against organized labor in the United States:

The 1877 Great Railroad Strike, which began as a strike by railroad workers, was put down by state militias and federal troops, with many strikers being arrested and some killed.

The 1894 Pullman Strike, where the Pullman Palace Car Company used a lockout against its workers in an effort to break the strike, which ultimately led to a nationwide railroad strike.

The 1892 Homestead Strike, where the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers went on strike against the Carnegie Steel Company, resulting in the company bringing in strikebreakers and calling in the state militia to put down the strike.

The 1901 Coal Strike in Pennsylvania, where the United Mine Workers of America went on strike and the state militia was called in to put down the strike.

The 1894 Ludlow Massacre, where the National Guard was called in to put down a strike by coal miners, leading to the deaths of more than 20 people, including women and children.

Early Unions

In an effort to protect their rights and improve their working conditions, workers began forming labor unions . The National Labor Union (NLU) was one of the first of these groups, formed in 1866, it sought to improve the rights and working conditions of all workers, regardless of their trade or skill level. They fought for an eight-hour workday, greater equality in the workplace, and the right to organize. However, the economic Panic of 1873 led to decreased membership for the National Labor Union, and it eventually dissolved in 1876.

Another early labor union was the Knights of Labor , which formed in 1869. The Knights of Labor was more inclusive than the NLU and accepted all workers regardless of their skill, race, or gender. They also advocated for the eight-hour workday and the right to organize, but in addition, they aimed for the abolishment of child labor and monopolistic trusts. The Knights of Labor was one of the most influential labor unions in the late 19th century, but it was also impacted by the economic downturns and internal conflicts, which led to a decline in membership.

These unions were the first steps in the labor movement and set the foundation for future labor unions to advocate for workers' rights and improve their working conditions.

Haymarket Riot

Image Courtesy of Wikimedia

The Haymarket Riot of 1886 in Chicago was a significant event in the history of labor unions in the United States. The riot occurred during a labor protest in support of workers striking for an eight-hour workday, and it turned violent when someone threw a bomb at the police, killing eight people.

While the identity of the person who threw the bomb is still unknown, it led to a backlash against labor unions and the labor movement as a whole. Many people began to view labor unions as radical and anarchist organizations, which was further fueled by the growing Nativist sentiment of the time (Nativism is the political position of promoting the interests of native inhabitants against those of immigrants ).

This incident had a major impact on the Knights of Labor , one of the most influential labor unions of the time. The Knights of Labor , which had already been struggling with declining membership and internal conflicts, was further weakened by the negative public perception of labor unions following the Haymarket Riot . The public opinion of the unions was damaged and the organization was unable to recover from the blow.

The Haymarket Riot had a significant impact on the labor movement , as it led to increased government repression of labor unions and further weakened the power of organized labor during the Gilded Age .

American Federation of Laborers

The American Federation of Labor (AFL), led by Samuel Gompers , was one of the most influential labor unions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The AFL focused on narrower goals, such as better wages and better working conditions, rather than the more broad and ambitious goals of earlier labor unions like the National Labor Union and the Knights of Labor .

The AFL grew to become the largest labor union by 1901, and it had a significant impact on the labor movement during that time period. However, the AFL's initial success was limited, as many workers were still struggling to improve their working conditions and wages. The AFL and other labor unions would sometimes organize their efforts in strikes, but more often than not, the federal government supported big business and in some instances, forcefully ended workers’ efforts.

During the Gilded Age , the government often sided with business owners, who were seen as the backbone of the American economy, over workers. This led to a number of anti-union laws and court decisions that weakened the power of labor unions . For example, the courts issued injunctions against strikes, which made it illegal for workers to continue their strike action. The government also used force to break up strikes, and many states passed anti-union legislation.

Despite the challenges they faced, labor unions continued to advocate for workers' rights and improve their working conditions throughout the 20th century. The AFL played a key role in the labor movement , but it was not the only one, other unions like the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) also had a strong presence.

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and the Pullman Strike of 1894 are notable examples of the federal government's intervention to end strikes and suppress labor unions .

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was a nationwide strike by railroad workers, who were protesting wage cuts and poor working conditions. The strike quickly spread to other industries and became one of the largest labor strikes in American history. The federal government, however, intervened and sent federal troops to break up the strikes, which led to violent clashes and the deaths of several workers. The strike was ultimately put down, but it marked a turning point in the relationship between labor and the government, with the government taking a more aggressive stance towards labor unions .

The Pullman Strike of 1894 was a strike by railroad workers in the Pullman Palace Car Company, which manufactured sleeping cars for trains. The workers, who were protesting wage cuts and poor working conditions, were joined by other railroad workers and the strike quickly spread nationwide. The federal government, under the leadership of President Cleveland, intervened and obtained a court injunction against the strike, which made it illegal for the workers to continue their strike action. Federal troops were also sent to break up the strike, which resulted in several deaths and injuries.

Image Courtesy of The Gilded age

In the Homestead Strike of 1892, Henry Clay Frick (manager of Carnegie’s Homestead Steel mill) incited resistance by reducing workers’ wages. The workers went on strike and Frick responded by locking the workers out of the plant. The workers surrounded it and Frick hired a small private army, the Pinkertons , to drive them off. Workers spotted the Pinkertons and pinned them down with gunfire and forced them to surrender. The Pennsylvania governor ordered the militia to impose peace at Homestead.

🎥 Watch: AP US History - Industrialization and Gilded Age

Key Terms to Review ( 30 )

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

Big Business

Child Labor

Coal Strike in Pennsylvania, 1901

Court Injunctions

Economic Inequality

Government Intervention in Strikes

Great Railroad Strike of 1877

Homestead Strike of 1892

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

Industrialization

Knights of Labor

Labor Movement

Labor Unions

Ludlow Massacre, 1894

Minority Groups

National Labor Union (NLU)

Private Guards

Pullman Strike of 1894

Samuel Gompers

State Militia

Strikebreakers (Scabs)

Yellow-dog Contracts

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By: History.com Editors

Updated: June 13, 2023 | Original: February 13, 2018

“The Gilded Age” is the term used to describe the tumultuous years between the Civil War and the turn of the 20th century. The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today was a famous satirical novel by Mark Twain set in the late 1800s, and was its namesake. During this era, America became more prosperous and saw unprecedented growth in industry and technology. But the Gilded Age had a more sinister side: It was a period where greedy, corrupt industrialists, bankers and politicians enjoyed extraordinary wealth and opulence at the expense of the working class. In fact, it was wealthy tycoons, not politicians, who inconspicuously held the most political power during the Gilded Age.

Transcontinental Railroad

Before the Civil War , rail travel was dangerous and difficult, but after the war, George Westinghouse invented the air brake, which made braking systems more dependable and safe.

Soon, the development of Pullman sleeping cars and dining cars made rail travel comfortable and more enjoyable for passengers. It wasn’t long before trains overtook other forms of long-distance travel such as the stagecoach and riding horseback.

In 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad was finished and led to rapid settlement of the western United States. It also made it much easier to transport goods over long distances from one part of the country to another.

This enormous railroad expansion resulted in rail companies and their executives receiving lavish amounts of money and land—up to 200 million acres, by some estimates—from the United States government. In many cases, politicians cut shady backroom deals and helped create railroad and shipping tycoons such as Cornelius Vanderbilt and Jay Gould . Meanwhile, thousands of African American—many of them former slaves—were hired as Pullman porters and paid a pittance to cater to riders’ every need.

Robber Barons

Railroad tycoons were just one of many types of so-called robber barons that emerged in the Gilded Age.

These men used union busting, fraud, intimidation, violence and their extensive political connections to gain an advantage over any competitors. Robber barons were relentless in their efforts to amass wealth while exploiting workers and ignoring standard business rules—and in many cases, the law itself.

They soon accumulated vast amounts of money and dominated every major industry including the railroad, oil, banking, timber, sugar, liquor, meatpacking, steel, mining, tobacco and textile industries.

Some wealthy entrepreneurs such as Andrew Carnegie , John D. Rockefeller and Henry Frick are often referred to as robber barons but may not exactly fit the mold. While it’s true they built huge monopolies, often by crushing any small business or competitor in their way, they were also generous philanthropists who didn’t always rely on political ploys to build their empires.

Some tried to improve life for their employees, donated millions to charities and nonprofits and supported their communities by providing funding for everything from libraries and hospitals to universities, public parks and zoos.

Industrial Revolution

The Gilded Age was in many ways the culmination of the Industrial Revolution , when America and much of Europe shifted from an agricultural society to an industrial one.

Millions of immigrants and struggling farmers arrived in cities such as New York , Boston , Philadelphia, St. Louis and Chicago , looking for work and hastening the urbanization of America. By 1900, about 40 percent of Americans lived in major cities.

Most cities were unprepared for rapid population growth. Housing was limited, and tenements and slums sprung up nationwide. Heating, lighting, sanitation and medical care were poor or nonexistent, and millions died from preventable disease.

Many immigrants were unskilled and willing to work long hours for little pay. Gilded Age plutocrats considered them the perfect employees for their sweatshops, where working conditions were dangerous and workers endured long periods of unemployment, wage cuts and no benefits.

Gilded Age Homes

Homes of the Gilded Age elite were nothing short of spectacular. The wealthy considered themselves America’s royalty and settled for nothing less than estates worthy of that distinction. Some of America’s most famous mansions were built during the Gilded Age such as:

Biltmore , located in Asheville, North Carolina , was the family estate of George and Edith Vanderbilt. Construction started on the 250-room chateau in 1889, prior to the couple’s marriage, and continued for six years. The home had 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, a dairy, a horse barn and beautiful formal and informal gardens.

The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island , is another Vanderbilt mansion. It was the summer home of railroad mogul Cornelius Vanderbilt. The Italian-Renaissance style home has 70 rooms, a stable and a carriage house.

Rosecliff , also in Newport, was completed in 1902. The oceanfront home was contracted by Theresa Fair Oelrichs and built to resemble the Grand Trianon of Versailles. Today, it’s best known as the backdrop for movie scenes in The Great Gatsby , High Society , 27 Dresses and True Lies .

Whitehall , located in Palm Beach, Florida , was the neoclassical winter retreat of oil tycoon Henry Flagler and his wife Mary. The 100,000 square foot, 75-room mansion was completed in 1902 and is now a popular museum.

Income Inequality in the Gilded Age

The industrialists of the Gilded Age lived high on the hog, but most of the working class lived below poverty level. As time went on, the income inequality between wealthy and poor became more and more glaring.

While the wealthy lived in opulent homes, dined on succulent food and showered their children with gifts, the poor were crammed into filthy tenement apartments, struggled to put a loaf of bread on the table and often accompanied their children to a sweatshop each morning where they faced a 12-hour (or longer) workday.

Some moguls used Social Darwinism to justify the inequality between the classes. The theory presumes that the fittest humans are the most successful and poor people are destitute because they’re weak and lack the skills to be prosperous.

Muckrakers is a term used to describe reporters who exposed corruption among politicians and the elite. They used investigative journalism and the print revolution to dig through “the muck” of the Gilded Age and report scandal and injustice.

In 1890, reporter and photographer Jacob Riis brought the horrors of New York slum life to light in his book, How the Other Half Lives , prompting New York politicians to pass legislation to improve tenement conditions.

In 1902, McClure Magazine journalist Lincoln Steffens took on city corruption when he penned the article, “Tweed Days in St. Louis.” The article, which is widely considered the first muckracking magazine article, exposed how city officials deceitfully made deals with crooked businessmen to maintain power.

Another journalist, Ida Tarbell , spent years investigating the underhanded rise of oilman John D. Rockefeller. Her 19-part series, also published in McClure in 1902, led to the breakup of Rockefeller’s monopoly, the Standard Oil Company.

In 1906, activist journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle to expose horrendous working conditions in the meatpacking industry. The book and ensuing public outcry led to the passing of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act.

Labor Unions Rise

It soon became obvious that the huge disparity between the wealthy and poor couldn’t last, and the working class would have to organize to improve their working and living conditions. It was also obvious this wouldn’t happen without some degree of violence.

Much of the violence, however, was between the workers themselves as they struggled to agree on what they were fighting for. Some simply wanted increased wages and a better working environment, while others also wanted to keep women, immigrants and blacks out of the workforce.

Although the first labor unions occurred around the turn of the nineteenth century, they gained momentum during the Gilded Age, thanks to the increased number of unskilled and unsatisfied factory workers.

Railroad Strikes

On July 16, 1877, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company announced a 10-percent pay cut on its railroad workers in Martinsburg, West Virginia , the second cut in less than eight months.

Infuriated and fed up, the workers—with the support of the locals—announced they’d prevent all trains from leaving the roundhouse until their pay was restored.

The mayor, the police and even the National Guard couldn’t stop the strike. It wasn’t until Federal troops arrived that one train finally left the station.

The strike spread among other railroads, sparking violence across America between the working class and local and federal authorities. At its peak, over 100,000 railroad workers were on strike. Many of the Robber Barons feared an aggressive, all-out revolution against their way of life.

Instead, the strike—later known as the Great Upheaval—ended abruptly and was labeled a dismal failure. Yet it showed America’s tycoons there was strength in numbers and that organized labor had the potential to shut down entire industries and inflict major economic and political damage.

As the working class continued to use strikes and boycotts to fight for higher wages and improved working conditions, their bosses staged lock-outs and brought in replacement workers known as scabs.

They also created blacklists to prevent active union workers from becoming employed elsewhere. Even so, the working class continued to unite and press their cause and often won at least some of their demands.

Gilded Age Cities

Innovations of the Gilded Age helped usher in modern America. Urbanization and technological creativity led to many engineering advances such as bridges and canals, elevators and skyscrapers, trolley lines and subways.

The invention of electricity brought illumination to homes and businesses and created an unprecedented, thriving night life. Art and literature flourished, and the rich filled their lavish homes with expensive works of art and elaborate décor.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone and made the world a much smaller place for both individuals and businesses. Advances in sanitation and housing, and the availability of better quality food and material goods, improved quality of life for the middle  class.

But while the middle and upper classes enjoyed the allure of city life, little changed for the poor. Most still faced horrific living conditions, high crime rates and a pitiable existence.

Many escaped their drudgery by watching a vaudeville show or a spectator sport such as boxing, baseball or football, all of which enjoyed a surge during the Gilded Age.

Women in the Gilded Age

Upper-class women of the Gilded Age have been compared to dolls on display dressed in resplendent finery. They flaunted their wealth and endeavored to improve their status in society while poor and middle-class women both envied and mimicked them.

Some wealthy Gilded Age women were much more than eye candy, though, and often traded domestic life for social activism and charitable work. They felt a new degree of empowerment and fought for equality, including the right to vote through women’s suffrage groups.

Some created homes for destitute immigrants while others pushed a temperance agenda, believing the source of poverty and most family troubles was alcohol. Wealthy women philanthropists of the Gilded Age include:

Louise Whitfield Carnegie , wife of Andrew Carnegie, who created Carnegie Hall and donated to the Red Cross, the Y.W.C.A., and other charities.

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller , wife of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who helped create hotels for women and solicited funds to create the New York Museum of Modern Art.

Margaret Olivia Sage , wife of Russell Sage, who after the death of her miserly husband gave away $45 million of her $75 million inheritance to support women’s causes, educational institutions and the creation of the Russell Sage Foundation for Social Betterment, which directly helped poor people.

Many women during the Gilded Age sought higher education. Others postponed marriage and took jobs such as typists or telephone switchboard operators.

Thanks to a print revolution and the accessibility of newspapers, magazines and books, women became increasingly knowledgeable, cultured, well-informed and a political force to be reckoned with.

Jane Addams

Jane Addams is arguably the best-known philanthropist of the Gilded Age. In 1889, she and Ellen Gates Star established a secular settlement house in Chicago known as Hull-House .

The neighborhood was a melting pot of struggling immigrants, and Hull-House provided everything from midwife services and basic medical care to kindergarten, day care and housing for abused women. It also offered English and citizenship classes. Addams received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.

Carrie Nation

Temperance leader Carrie Nation gained notoriety during the Gilded Age for smashing up saloons with a hatchet to bring attention to her sobriety agenda. She was also a strong voice for the suffrage movement.

Nation’s belief that alcohol was the root of all evil was partially due to her difficult first marriage to an alcoholic, and her work with women and children displaced or abused by over-imbibing husbands.

Convinced God had instructed her to use whatever means necessary to close bars throughout Kansas , she was often beaten, mocked and jailed but ultimately helped pave the way for the 18th Amendment (prohibiting the sale of alcohol) and the 19th Amendment (giving women the right to vote).

Limits to Power

Many other pivotal events happened during the Gilded Age which changed America’s course and culture. As muckrakers exposed corrupt robber barons and politicians, labor unions and reformist politicians enacted laws to limit their power.

The western frontier saw violent conflicts between white settlers and the United States Army against Native Americans. The Native Americans were eventually forced off their land and onto reservations with often disastrous results. In 1890, the western frontier was declared closed.

Populist Party

As drought and depression struck rural America, farmers in the west—who vilified railroad tycoons and wanted a political voice—organized and played a key role in forming the Populist Party.

The Populists had a democratic agenda that aimed to give power back to the people and paved the way for the progressive movement, which still fights to close the gap between the wealthy and poor and champion the needy and disenfranchised.

End of the Gilded Age

In 1893, both the overextended Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and the National Cordage Company failed, which set off an economic depression unlike any seen before in America.

Banks and other businesses folded, and the stock market plunged, leaving millions unemployed, homeless and hungry. In some states, unemployment rose to almost 50 percent.

The Panic of 1893 lasted four years and left lower and even middle-class Americans fed up with political corruption and social inequality. Their frustration gave rise to the Progressive Movement which took hold when President Theodore Roosevelt took office in 1901.

Although Roosevelt supported corporate America, he also felt there should be federal controls in place to keep excessive corporate greed in check and prevent individuals from making obscene amounts of money off the backs of immigrants and the lower class.

Helped by the muckrackers and the White House , the Progressive Era ushered in many reforms that helped shift away power from robber barons, such as:

• trust busting
• labor reform
• women’s suffrage
• birth control
• formation of trade unions
• increased conservation efforts
• food and medicine regulations
• civil rights
• election reform
• fair labor standards

By 1916, America’s cities were cleaner and healthier, factories safer, governments less corrupt and many people had better housing, working hours and wages. Fewer monopolies meant more people could pursue the American Dream and start their own businesses.

When America entered World War I in 1917, the Progressive Era and any remnants of the Gilded Age effectively ended as the country’s focus shifted to the realities of war. Most robber barons and their families, however, remained wealthy for generations.

Even so, many bequeathed much of their wealth, land and homes to charity and historical societies. And progressives continued their mission to close the gap between the wealthy and poor and champion the needy and disenfranchised.

HISTORY Vault: The Astors

A look at five generations of the colorful and wealthy family. Follows their story from its 18th-century beginnings, when fur trader John Jacob Astor became the richest man in the world.

Chicago Workers During the Long Gilded Age. The Newberry. Gilded Age Reform. University of Virginia. The Doll House: Wealth and Women in the Gilded Age. Journeys Into the Past: An Online Journal of Miami University’s History Department . The Gilded Age. Scholastic. About Jane Addams. Jane Addams Hull-House Museum . Carrie A. Nation (1846-1911). The State Historical Society of Missouri: Historic Missourians . Lincoln Steffens Exposes “Tweed Days in St. Louis.” History Matters . The Breakers. The Preservation Society of Newport County . The Progressive Era (1890-1920). The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project . Biltmore Estate History. Biltmore . Margaret Olivia Sage. Philanthropy Roundtable .

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Course: US history   >   Unit 6

• Introduction to the Gilded Age
• The Gilded Age and the Second Industrial Revolution
• What was the Gilded Age?
• Social Darwinism in the Gilded Age
• Misunderstanding evolution: a biologist's perspective on Social Darwinism
• Misunderstanding evolution: a historian's perspective on Social Darwinism
• America moves to the city
• Development of the middle class

Politics in the Gilded Age

• Gilded Age politics: patronage
• Laissez-faire policies in the Gilded Age
• The Knights of Labor
• Labor battles in the Gilded Age
• The Populists
• Immigration and migration in the Gilded Age
• Continuity and change in the Gilded Age
• The Gilded Age
• Politics in the Gilded Age were characterized by scandal and corruption, but voter turnout reached an all-time high.
• The Republican Party supported business and industry with a protective tariff and hard money policies.
• The Democratic Party opposed the tariff and eventually adopted the free silver platform.
• The People's (Populist) Party emerged in the 1890s to champion the interests of farmers. The party endorsed the coinage of silver to improve the financial situation of debtors.

Comparing political parties in the Gilded Age

The republican party, the democratic party, the people’s party (the populists), what do you think, want to join the conversation.

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What Was the Gilded Age?

Economic and industrial developments, social stratification and inequality, economic impact and legacy, are there gilded age mansions left, what was the worst scandal of the gilded age, when did the gilded age start and end, the bottom line.

• Government & Policy

The Gilded Age Explained: An Era of Wealth and Inequality

Katie Miller is a consumer financial services expert. She worked for almost two decades as an executive, leading multi-billion dollar mortgage, credit card, and savings portfolios with operations worldwide and a unique focus on the consumer. Her mortgage expertise was honed post-2008 crisis as she implemented the significant changes resulting from Dodd-Frank required regulations.

Investopedia / Mira Norian

The Gilded Age, which roughly spanned the late 1870s to the early 1900s, was a time of rapid industrialization , economic growth, and prosperity for the wealthy. It was also a time of exploitation and extreme poverty for the working class.

Reconstruction preceded the Gilded Age, when factories built as part of the North’s Civil War effort were converted to domestic manufacturing . Agriculture, which had once dominated the economy, was replaced by industry. Ultimately, the Gilded Age was supplanted by early 20th-century progressivism after populism failed.

The term “gilded age” was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in a book titled The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today . Published in 1873, the book satirized the thin “gilding” of economic well-being that overlaid the widespread poverty, corruption, and labor exploitation that characterized the period.

Key Takeaways

• The Gilded Age lasted from the late 1800s to the early 1900s and was characterized by economic growth for the wealthy and extreme poverty for the working classes.
• A societal shift from agriculture to industry resulted in a movement to the cities for some and westward migration for others.
• The beginning of organized labor, investigative journalism, and progressive ideologies began to spell the end of the Gilded Age and its rigid class structure.
• The Gilded Age marked the beginning of industrialization in America—a time of innovation, transportation growth, and full employment. It was also a time of economic devastation and dangerous working conditions for labor.

As the United States began to shift from agriculture to industry as a means of economic growth, people began to move from farms to urban areas. Railroads expanded, industry began to mechanize, communication improved, and corruption became widespread.

Railroad Expansion

Railroads expanded dramatically in the U.S. in the 1870s. From 1871 to 1900, 170,000 miles of track were laid in the United States, most of it for constructing the transcontinental railway system. It began with the passage of the Pacific Railway Act in 1862 , which authorized the first of five transcontinental railroads.

Mechanization of Industries

The late 19th century saw an unprecedented expansion of industry and production, much of it by machines. Machines replaced skilled workers, reducing labor costs and the ultimate selling price of goods and services. Instead of skilled workers seeing a product through from start to finish, jobs were often limited to one task repeated endlessly. The pace of work increased, with many laborers forced to work longer hours.

Communications Networks

Technological advancements, including the phonograph and the telephone, came into existence during the Gilded Age. So did the advent of mass-circulation newspapers and magazines. Professional entertainers quickly adopted these new forms of communication, making listening and reading news new leisure activities.

Monopolies and Robber Barons

During the Gilded Age, many businessmen became wealthy by gaining control of entire industries. Controlling an entire sector of the economy is known as having a monopoly . The most prominent figures with monopolies were J.P. Morgan (banking), John D. Rockefeller (oil), Cornelius Vanderbilt (railroads), and Andrew Carnegie (steel).

Because of the way they exploited workers with low wages, long hours, and dangerous working conditions, these wealthy tycoons were often referred to as robber barons , a pejorative term used to describe the accumulation of wealth through that exploitation.

Rural Life and Urban Life—Gilded Age Homes

Homes during the Gilded Age reflected the lifestyle and wealth of the homeowner. While the wealthy built magnificent mansions with stately names like Vanderbilt Mansion, Peacock Point, and Castle Rock, many of the less fortunate lived in tenement buildings in cities, where they flocked for jobs, or in the West, in claim shanties—small shacks built to fulfill Homestead Act regulations.

The Gilded Age saw rapid growth in the economic disparities between workers and business owners. The wealthy lived lavishly, while the working class endured low wages and horrid conditions.

Real Wage Increases

The technological changes brought about by industrialization are thought to be largely responsible for the fact that real wages of unskilled labor grew 1.43% per year during the Gilded Age vs. 0.56% per year during the Progressive Era and just 0.44% per year from 1990 to 2005.

By those measures and comparisons, the Gilded Age would seem to be a success. In 1880, for example, the average earnings of an American worker were $347 per year. That grew to $445 in 1890, an increase of more than 28%.

Abject Poverty

“While the rich wore diamonds, many wore rags.” This summarizes the income and lifestyle disparity that characterized the Gilded Age. In 1890, 11 million of the nation’s 12 million families (92%) lived below the poverty line. Tenements teemed with an unlikely combination of rural families and immigrants who came into urban areas, took low-paying jobs, and lived in abject poverty.

Though wages rose during the Gilded Age, they were deficient initially. As noted above, in 1880, the average wages of an American worker were $347 per year ($10,399 today, as of this writing) but had risen to $445 by 1890 ($14,949 in today’s dollars). Given today’s federal poverty level (FPL) , which is $30,000 for a family of four, most Gilded Age Americans were excessively poor despite the impressive wage growth of the time.

Labor Unions

The rise of labor unions was neither sudden nor without struggle. Business owners used intimidation and violence to suppress workers, even though they had a right to organize. By 1866, there were nearly 200,000 workers in local unions across the United States. William Sylvis took advantage of these numbers to establish the first nationwide labor organization, named the National Labor Union (NLU).

Unfortunately, Sylvis and the NLU tried to represent too many constituencies, causing the group to disband following the Panic of 1873 when it couldn’t serve all those competing groups. The NLU was replaced by the Knights of Labor, started by Uriah Stephens in 1869. Stephens admitted all wage earners, including women and Black people.

The Knights of Labor lost members and eventually dissolved for two reasons. First, Stephens, an old-style industrial capitalist, refused to adjust to the changing needs of workers. Second, a bomb thrown into a crowd at a rally in Chicago’s Haymarket Square on May 4, 1886, was blamed on the union, driving even more members away.

By December 1886, labor leader Samuel Gompers took advantage of the vacuum left by the demise of the Knights and created a new union based on the simple premise that American workers wanted just two things: higher wages and better working conditions. Thus was born the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

Corruption and Scandals—Muckrakers

Another product of the Gilded Age was investigative journalism. Reporters who exposed corruption among politicians in the wealthy class were known as muckrakers for their ability to dig through the “muck” of the Gilded Age to uncover scandal and thievery.

Notable muckrakers included Jacob Rils, who in 1890 exposed the horrors of New York City slum life. In 1902, Lincoln Steffens brought city corruption to light with a magazine article titled “Tweed Days in St. Louis.” Ida Tarbell put her energy into exposing the antics of John D. Rockefeller; her reporting led to the breakup of Standard Oil Co. In 1906, Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle to expose conditions in the meatpacking industry. This led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act.

Immigration

Many immigrants came to North America during the Gilded Age, with 11.7 million of them landing in the United States. Of those, 10.6 million came from Europe, making up 90% of the immigrant population. Immigrants made it possible for the U.S. economy to grow since they were willing to take jobs that native-born Americans wouldn’t .

While factory owners welcomed these newcomers, who were willing to accept low wages and dangerous working conditions, not all Americans did. So-called nativists lobbied to restrict certain immigrant populations, and in 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act passed Congress. But millions came despite the obstacles. The Statue of Liberty beckoned, and the “huddled masses” responded. The children of immigrants began to assimilate, despite their parents’ objections. Another hallmark of the Gilded Age was born, as America became a true melting pot.

Women in the Workforce

Industrialization created jobs outside the home for women. By 1900, one in seven women were employed. The typical female worker was young, urban, single, and either an immigrant or the daughter of immigrants. Her work was temporary—just until she married. The job she was most likely to hold was that of a domestic servant.

The Gilded Age also saw an increase in college-educated women. Colleges, including Bryn Mawr, Radcliffe, and Mount Holyoke, opened their doors to women in the post-bellum years. This did not happen without some incredible chauvinism. Scientists of the era warned that women’s brains were too small to handle college work without compromising their reproductive systems. Many, it turned out, took that risk. The predominant fields held by female college graduates were nursing and teaching.

The Black Experience

As reconstruction ended on a state-by-state basis, Black people could migrate away from plantations and into cities in search of economic opportunity, or to move west or south in search of land that they could work for themselves. From 1870 to 1900, the South’s Black population went from 4.4 million to 7.9 million. People found jobs in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas, working on railroads and in mines, lumber, factories, and farms. For some, however, sharecropping replaced slavery, keeping Black workers tied to the land without ownership.

For a small set of others, this period led to the foundation of what’s known as the Black elite or “the colored aristocracy,” as was noted by Willard B. Gatewood in Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite, 1880–1920 . Among this group were members such as Blanche Bruce, a Republican senator from Mississippi; Josephine Beall Willson Bruce, a women’s rights activist in Washington, D.C., and the wife of Blanche Bruce; and Timothy Thomas Fortune, economist and editor of The New York Age , the nation’s leading Black newspaper at the time.

The Gilded Age saw the transformation of the American economy from agrarian to industrial. It saw the development of a national transportation and communication network. Women began to enter the workforce as never before. Millions of immigrants took root in a new land. Enterprising industrialists became titans and wealthy beyond measure.

Production and per capita income rose sharply, albeit with great disparity among wealth classes. Earlier legislation, like the Homestead Act, motivated the movement westward of millions of people to lay claim to land that would give them a new start and a chance at the American dream. As America became more prosperous, some of its citizens fell victim to greed, corruption, and political vice. This combination of extraordinary wealth and unimaginable poverty was the ultimate juxtaposition of capitalism and government intervention. The debate continues today.

You can still see and even visit some of the most opulent examples of Gilded Age domicile excess today. In New York City, for example, you can drive past the Vanderbilts’ Plant House, the Carnegie Mansion, the Morgan House, and others, if you know where to look.

The Gilded Age gave birth to enough scandals to create competition for the worst of the lot, but many historians agree that the transcontinental railroad scandal was the cream of the crop, so to speak.

The federal government, in deciding to underwrite a transcontinental railroad, created an opportunity for corruption that it did not anticipate. As builder of the railroad, the Union Pacific company engaged in price fixing and bribery that affected members of the Ulysses S. Grant presidential administration. The corruption was uncovered by investigators, bringing the scheme to an end.

The Gilded Age in America refers to the period from the end of Reconstruction to the turn of the century (1870 to 1901). Some extend the period into the early 1900s, but most agree that the beginning of the Progressive Era in the early 1900s is the ultimate ending point.

The Gilded Age was critical to the growth of the United States by introducing industrialization and technological advances. It was also a time of political turmoil, greed, and extreme income inequality. The U.S. became the most economically powerful country in the world due to the era. It was a time of unprecedented progress and unimaginable poverty.

The wealth gap between the Rockefellers, Carnegies, Morgans, and Vanderbilts and the rest of the country was palpable. With wealth came greed. With innovation came corruption. Muckrakers, the first investigative journalists, helped uncover the graft, and unions helped labor even the playing field. Ultimately, this “best and worst” of times became another important chapter in the American saga.

American History: From Pre-Columbian to the New Millennium. “ The Gilded Age .”

American History: From Pre-Columbian to the New Millennium. “ The Growth of Populism .”

American History: From Pre-Columbian to the New Millennium. “ Progressivism Sweeps the Nation .”

History. “ Gilded Age .”

Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, via Google Books. “ The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today .” Penguin Publishing Group, 2001 (originally published in 1873).

Library of Congress. “ Railroads in the Late 19th Century .”

Library of Congress. “ Work in the Late 19th Century .”

Digital History, University of Houston. “ An Age of Innovation .”

Dupont Castle. “ Castle Rock .”

Preservation Long Island, via ArcGIS StoryMaps. “ Peacock Point .”

South Dakota State University. “ South Dakota Claim Shanty .”

Hugh Rockoff, via National Bureau of Economic Research. “ Great Fortunes of the Gilded Age .” National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 14555, December 2008, Page 32.

Clarence D. Long, via National Bureau of Economic Research. “ Wages and Earnings in the United States, 1860–1890: Chapter 3, Annual Earnings .” Princeton University Press, 1960, Page 41 (Page 4 of PDF).

PBS. “ American Experience: The Gilded Age .”

CPI Inflation Calculator. “ $347 in 1880 Is Worth $10,399.49 Today .”

CPI Inflation Calculator. “ $445 in 1890 Is Worth $14,948.63 Today .”

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. “ Federal Poverty Guidelines .”

Khan Academy. “ Labor Battles in the Gilded Age .”

American History: From Pre-Columbian to the New Millennium. “ Early National Organizations .”

American History: From Pre-Columbian to the New Millennium. “ American Federation of Labor .”

Washington State University Libraries, Digital Exhibits. “ Immigrant Factory Workers .”

American History: From Pre-Columbian to the New Millennium. “ The Rush of Immigrants .”

Stacy A. Cordery (editor: Charles William Calhoun), via Google Books. “ The Gilded Age: Perspectives on the Origins of Modern America ,” Chapter 6: Women in Industrializing America, Pages 119–121. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007.

Leslie H. Fishel Jr. (editor: Charles William Calhoun, via Google Books. “ The Gilded Age: Perspectives on the Origins of Modern America ,” Chapter 7: The African-American Experience in the Gilded Age, Page 144. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007.

Willard B. Gatewood, via Google Books. “ Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite 1880–1920 (p) .” University of Arkansas Press, 1990.

Town and Country. “ 10 Gilded Age Landmarks in New York City Still Standing Today .”

History. “ Crédit Mobilier .”

The History Junkie. “ The Gilded Age Facts and History .”

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The Gilded Age Essay

Gilded Age is a period between 1870 and 1890. This is a very complicated period in the life of American citizens as during these years corruption flourished, social life in the country was supported with constant scandals and the gap between poor and rich was extremely big.

This period is characterized by enormous wealth, however, the philanthropy was also on a high level. Democrats and Republicans were two major parties which fought for power, and having received it they tried to make sure that the more people are put on the leading positions in the local and national government. Reading different sources of information, it is possible to create a personal opinion about the Gilded Age and the political issues which were spread there.

There are different points of view about political system which was during the Gilded Age. Cash ruled human decisions, and therefore, the politics was based on those people who had more money (Flehinger 159). Such state of affairs is inappropriate. It is impossible to run the country without the desire to make it better.

Those who got power by means of money were sure to have the goal to get more money from people to return what they spent and to earn more. In this case politics for people becomes simple source of money, not the desire to improve human life and to change something for better.

Buder said that “the Gilded Age was, of course, the time when the United States experienced profound demographic and economic growth” (Buder 873). It is impossible to contradict this opinion, however, it is also impossible to agree that all people experiences economic growth.

The political contradiction and the division of power negatively affected simple people. The lower layers of population were not really satisfied with what was going on. I am sure that the economical growth of the country was a successful issue, however, the benefit from such growth was available just for rich and wealthy people while simple employees remained with their personal income.

Among various disadvantages and negative effect of the Gilded Age in the American politics, Gage points to the radical violence (Gage 107). The violent acts flew through the whole country. People suffered from those but the government could do nothing to protect them. The question whether they wanted to do it raise here. Moreover, it is essential to understand that the accidents of violence could be useful for the government who could satisfy their interests while people suffered from violent acts.

Giroux is sure that the Gilded Age was even more antidemocratic than the previous period even though democracy was proclaimed as the political regime in the country. Looking at the illegal actions of the powered people and their lack of desire to maintain order in the country, It is impossible to disagree with the author of the article as proclaiming democratic regime in the country, people did not have any rights to govern the country. Only money solved all the problems and was the source of the decisions in the USA (Giroux 587).

“The Gilded Age celebrated two kinds of virtues: those of the soldier and those of the entrepreneur” (“The Loss of Public Principles and Public in Interest” 147) and this phrase reflects the real estate of affairs during the Gilded Age. Simple people had nothing, neither the power to govern the country, nor the opportunities to change anything. Just leading the lives they had to survive. Of course, the economical growth of the country affected their well-being, however, it was not that great at the well-being of the powerful people.

White says that “Gilded Age financial corruption consisted of quotidian faults—lying, deception, and dishonesty—played out largely on paper and along telegraph lines, but on a national and international scale” (White 21).

Much has already been said about corruption, however, White tried to measure the affect of corrupted government on simple population. Dwelling upon the reasons of the corruption which was provoked by the decisions proclaimed by the government, White is sure that the situation could be changed and I agree with the statement.

Cherny’s review of the book From Bloody Shirt to Full Dinner Pail: The Transformation of Politics and Governance in the Gilded Age by Charles W. Calhoun is a great opportunity to consider the presidents and the would-be presidents of the country during the mentioned period.

Having considered the presidents, their thought and reforms it is possible to draw personal conclusions about the reasons of the high economic and low political development of the country during the Gilded Age. The author points to the highest level of human participation in politics, however, the reasons and the real mechanism of that participation is not covered which is a great limitation of that study (Cherny 215).

Reuter dwells upon the place of the business in politics. He is sure that those who got more money could control the legislation in the country during the Gilded Age. This is correct and money run business in America during that period (Reuter 55).

Considering the Gilded Age, I become more and more assured that the present situation in the USA is similar to that one which happened in America in 1870-1890s. However, during 1876 and 1892 none of the candidates managed to get the priority in votes, that is why the power was constantly shared between two parties, Democrats and Republicans (Miller 51).

Cashman’s work America in the Gilded Age is the fullest edition which presents the political situation in the country. Having read this piece of writing I understood that even though the economical situation improved, the political issues were distant from being called perfect.

Two parties managed to run the country without giving an opportunity for others to interfere into the political process, however, these two parties were too opposite to agree on the manner how the country should be governed. “Government’s primary role during the nineteenth century was to distribute resources and privileges to identifiable groups” (Miller 59) rather than consider the problems of people and solve them on the political level.

Therefore, it may be concluded that the Gilded Age was a very controversial age. Being economically flourishing, it just promoted rich people, however, the charity was also developed. The political system might be characterized by the Democratic-Republican duopoly, democratic regime and corruption.

It is impossible to say for sure whether that period was good or bad as it contained both positive and negative issues. As for me, the political regime of the Gilded Age should be characterized as the negative one due to the reasons discussed above.

Works Cited

Buder, Stanley. “James T. Wall. Wall Street and the Fruited Plain: Money, Expansion and Politics in the Gilded Age.” Enterprise & Society 10.4 (2009): 873-874. Print.

Cashman, Sean. America in the Gilded Age: Third Edition . New York University Press, 1993. Print.

Cherny, Robert W. “From Bloody Shirt to Full Dinner Pail: The Transformation of Politics and Governance in the Gilded Age.” Journal of American History 98.1 (2011): 214- 215. Print.

Flehinger, Brett. “Party Games: Getting, Keeping, and Using Power in Gilded Age Politics.” Canadian Journal of History 41.1 (2006): 159-160. Print.

Gage, Beverly. “Why Violence Matters: Radicalism, Politics, and Class War in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.” Journal for the Study of Radicalism 1.1 (2007): 99-109. Print.

Giroux, Henry A. “Beyond the biopolitics of disposability: rethinking neoliberalism in the New Gilded Age.” Social Identities 14.5 (2008): 587-620. Print.

Miller, Worth Robert. “The Lost World of Gilded Age Politics.” Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 1.1 (2002): 49-67. Print.

Reuter, William C. “Business journals and Gilded Age politics.” Historian 56.1 (1993): 55. Print.

“The Loss of Public Principles and Public in Interest: Gilded Age Rhetoric, 1872-1896.” Language of Democracy: Political Rhetoric in the United States & Britain, 1790-1900 , (2005): 146-163. Print.

White, Richard. “Information, Markets, and Corruption: Transcontinental Railroads in the Gilded Age.” Journal of American History 90.1 (2003): 19-43. Print.

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Bibliography

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• US History Since 1877
• The Gilded Age as an Important Political Turning Point in American History
• The Origin of the Term "The Gilded Age" and the Appropriateness of the Metaphor for the United States in the Late 1800s
• The Gilded Age by Mark Twain and Charles Warner
• Empire and Homogenization in Gilded Age
• The Rise of Mass Society
• "The United States: A Brief Narrative History" by L. Hullar and S. Nelson
• “The Freedom of the Streets: Work, Citizenship, and Sexuality in a Gilded Age City” by Sharon Wood
• How the Federal Bureaucracy Expanded During WWI?
• Gilded Age and Progressive Era Freedom Challenges
• Lynching in America between 1890 and 1930
• Compare and contrast the Virginia and New Jersey plans presented at the Constitutional Convention
• The Vision of America: Hamilton v. Jefferson
• Reforms in the Gilded Age
• Critical Analysis of Document 28-1 President Lyndon B. Johnson Describes the Great Society and Document 30-4 President Ronald Reagan Defends American Morality

Industry and Immigration in the Gilded Age

Use this Lesson with

• Students will analyze excerpts from primary sources of the Gilded Age to trace relationships between industry and immigration during the period.
• Students will review letters from immigrants in the United States to see how they evaluated the success of their venture.

Expand Materials Materials

• Laptops or tablets
• Handout A: Background Essay: Immigrants and Industry
• Handout B:  Nevada  Manifest
• Handout C: Letters from Polish Immigrants to Their Families in Poland
• Handout D: Debate over Immigration Laws 1896–1897

Students will need access to laptops or tablets, at least for analysis of  Handout B:  Nevada  Manifest . This activity requires close analysis of a document available at  www.docsteach.org  National Archives Identifier: 5753086 Full Citation: Passenger Arrival Manifest for the Ship  Nevada ; 1/2/1892. Students should have access to laptops, at least sufficient for work in pairs, so they can analyze and comment on the Passenger Arrival Manifest for the Ship Nevada ( https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/manifest-nevada ) either as a whole-class guided exercise or as a self-directed activity.

Expand More Information More Information

Have students read  Handout A: Background Essay: Immigrants and Industry  to set the stage for this lesson. Before class begins, write the following on the board: (Choose between Driving Question A and Driving Question B.)

• Driving Question A: How did the increase in industrialization during the period 1865–1898 fuel immigration to the United States and what was the result?
• Driving Question B: What was the impact of large-scale immigration on industrial development in the United States during the late nineteenth century?
• Lesson Thesis: Immigrants came for the promise of escaping poverty and oppression. They did not always find a warm welcome and the transition was difficult, but for many people, immigration to the United States led to improved opportunity for themselves and/or for their descendants over time.
• American Identity: How did immigration and industry contribute to American identity in the Gilded Age? How were immigrants themselves shaped by American ideals?

Expand Warmup Warmup

Handout B: Nevada Manifest (Students should have access to laptops.)

• If desired, provide Handout B: Nevada Manifest as a printed document to use in conjunction with the online document. Otherwise, students will access the Nevada Manifest at https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/manifest-nevada and provide this introduction : In this manifest of January 2, 1892, the first officer of the ship Nevada declares “that the following List or Manifest. . . delivered to the Collector of Customs for New York City is a full and perfect list of all the passengers taken on board” in Europe and “on said list is truly designated the age, the sex, and the calling of each of said passengers. . . the country of citizenship of each, and also the destination or location intended by each.” Also included is a column recording how long the passenger intends to stay in America: “a protracted sojourn [lengthy stay]” or a transient stay.
• Give students a few minutes to preview the document online, perhaps in pairs. Instruct them to determine the source, audience, and purpose of this document.
• How many passengers total are listed on this page?
• How many of the passengers do not appear to be traveling with a family unit? How can you tell?
• Notice the ages of the passengers: Oldest? Youngest? Additional details?
• Do any children appear to be traveling without a parent? What scenarios might have resulted in these children being sent without an adult?
• It appears that for four mothers who are traveling with their children, no father is listed. At a time when women’s roles and rights were limited in the United States and elsewhere, why might these mothers have moved to America with their children?
• What was the most common citizenship listed?
• What was the most common destination?
• What were the most common callings [occupations]?
• Summarize the Read/Write column under “Intended Destination or Location.”
• Note the number of pieces of luggage for the passengers and how long they intended to stay in the United States.
• What characteristics did all of these passengers have in common?
• What other questions do the data inspire?

Conclude the discussion by asking students to either speculate or, time permitting, do additional research regarding one or more of the following questions.

• Pick a passenger or a family listed on the manifest and develop a hypothesis about push/pull factors that may have contributed to their decision to come to America.
• What clues can you deduce regarding changes in American identity as nearly 9 million immigrants made their way to American farms and cities during the period 1880-1900?
• How might these people’s experiences have affected their own personal and family identities?

There are many possibilities for extension activities involving additional research related to these people and their family histories.

Expand Activities Activities

1. Distribute Handout C: Letters from Polish Immigrants to Their Families in Poland and assign students to read the three letters provided. Assign the readings as best fits your teaching situation (e.g., small groups, jigsaw). Note the directions, which require students to answer the Comprehension and Reflection Questions as well as analyze the letters, identifying similarities among them and using them to understand how the increase in industrialization fueled immigration and what the result was.

2. Wrap up with a whole-class discussion based on some or all of the Comprehension and Reflection Questions for the letters.

The lesson’s driving question is  How did the increase in industrialization during the period 1865–1898 fuel immigration to the United States and what was the result?

3. To get a sense of the “what was the result” part of the question, have students read and respond to the questions on the two documents in Handout D: Debate Over Immigration Law 1896–1897 .

4. You may wish to briefly correct any misunderstandings students have regarding these documents before the next step, conducting a Socratic Practice dialogue. Divide the class into two groups, and designate them as Group A Inner Circle and Group B Outer Circle.

5. The inner circle serves as the conversation panel, working from the list of discussion topics ( Driving Question, Lesson Thesis, American Identity ) on the board. Add questions or topics as needed for your students.

6. The outer circle observes and moves the conversation along by asking follow-up questions as needed on the basis of the inner circle’s participation.

7. All interactions must be courteous, with no one hogging the conversation. Ideally, the students are speaking to one another, making space for every student to participate, with no prompting from the teacher.

8. Students are required to support any comment or assertion by linking it to one or more of the primary sources used in the lesson.

9. The teacher’s role is to observe and keep notes about the quality of the conversation.

10. Halfway through the time allowed for this step, inner and outer circle students will trade places, and the conversation will continue with the new discussion panel. Students should avoid repeating comments and observations that have been previously mentioned.

11. Have students place their desks in two concentric circles facing the center of the room. The inner circle will be the first discussion panel. The outer circle will ask questions as needed to move the discussion along but cannot answer questions in the first round.

12. Students may refer to the list of questions on the board to serve as a roadmap for the conversation. You may wish to have students work in the order the questions are listed the first time or two that you use this strategy. Later, students should be able to develop their own order of questions as the conversation flows in a more organic manner. As students become more familiar with the strategy, they will take more ownership of the conversation and need less coaching. Also, it is useful for the teacher to keep notes on which students were in Group A, and make those students Group B next time, so everyone has an equal opportunity to be in the first discussion panel.

Expand Wrap Up Wrap Up

Summarize the inner and outer circle conversation by asking the following:

• How would you define American ideals? To what extent were they demonstrated in the Gilded Age?
• To what extent did the new influx of immigrants after 1880 contribute to the changing makeup of the United States? How were immigrants, in turn, shaped by American ideals?
• How did native-born Americans respond to the immigrants and their diverse cultures?

Expand Extensions Extensions

The following essential questions could be used for classroom discussions or as essay prompts:

(a) To what extent were the promises of freedom and prosperity in the United States fulfilled by its immigrants?

(b) To what extent has immigration contributed to U.S. economic development and success?

Related Resources

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63 pages • 2 hours read

The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

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Chapters 1-11

Chapters 12-23

Chapters 24-37

Chapters 38-51

Chapters 52-63

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Authorial Context: Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner

Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner coauthored The Gilded Age . Both men drew inspiration from their own lives in writing what many consider the first major American work of fiction to satirize the politics of Washington, DC, and the epidemic of speculation schemes following the Civil War.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), better known as Mark Twain, was born and raised in Missouri. His home state would become the main setting of several of his novels, including The Gilded Age . Twain was an early pioneer of literature’s Realism movement. His focus on middle- and lower-class characters in his writing was innovative for his time, helping to create an American style of literature distinct from the high culture of English novels.

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The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg

The Mysterious Stranger

The Prince and the Pauper

The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson

The War Prayer

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Challenging Authority

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Historical Fiction

Politics & Government