today we're looking at the gilded age
hello and welcome to the daily bell ringer please don't forget to subscribe and take a look at the
questions down in the description also don't forget to check out dailybelringer.com for
resources that go with many of the bellringer videos the gilded age was a period of enormous
economic growth in america that basically began in the wake of the civil war in the late 1860s and
lasted for the next 30 years until the late 1890s the title gilded age was taken from the mark twain
novel the gilded age of tale of today and during this time period the economy of the united states
doubled in size although the industrial revolution might have had a brief pause with the civil war
breaking out in 1861 the growth of factories and the use of new manufacturing technology
continued after the war the gilded age saw a major shift in the workforce of america
as before the civil war most americans worked for themselves whereas by 1900 most americans
worked for an employer the massive growth in the u.s economy drew millions of immigrants to move to
america during the gilded age it's estimated that over 11 and a half million immigrants came to
america with most moving to america from european countries the completion of the transcontinental
railroad in 1869 connected the east and west and now products and resources could be more
easily shipped across the nation it also led to a rapid settlement of the western part of
the united states cities continued to grow as people flocked to urban centers to work in these
growing factories by the turn of the century nearly 40 percent of americans lived in cities
but american cities were not ready for this rapid growth tenement housing began popping up in larger
cities tenements were poorly constructed apartment buildings with several stories they were built
virtually on top of each other and people lived in incredibly cramped conditions these close quarters
were unsanitary and led to disease spreading quickly throughout these tenements as wealth grew
so too did the concentration of wealth in america the elite accumulated enormous amounts of wealth
many of these elite were termed robber barons robber barons were the heads of companies who were
ruthless in their pursuit of more wealth they use political tactics corruption and even violence to
make sure they beat the competition they attempted to create monopolies of different industries
which a monopoly is when one company controls all of the supply and trade within a certain industry
corruption in government was rampant or widespread as wealthy industrialists worked diligently to
make sure the government did not interfere with their business or attempt to put any regulations
on them again these industrialists amassed amazing fortunes which was evident by the homes they
built george vanderbilt who made his fortune with railroads built the biltmore mansion in asheville
north carolina the biltmore has more than 170 000 square feet 35 bedrooms 43 bathrooms an indoor
pool and even a bowling alley some of the more well-known industrialists were andrew carnegie
who made millions in the steel industry and john d rockefeller who controlled the oil industry
although both carnegie and rockefeller were ruthless businessmen they also were known for
being philanthropists or their philanthropy as carnegie established libraries across the united
states and rockefeller gave away nearly half of his wealth to churches and hospitals as wealthy
industrialists built their fortunes they did so based on the labor of the working class workers
were required to work 12-hour days and many times work six days a week working in unsafe conditions
eventually the working class began to recognize how they were being taken advantage of
and the huge gap between their wages and the ridiculous income being collected
by the company owners workers began to organize and form unions to argue for
their rights many workers went on strike or refused to work until their demands were met
many times employers would bring in replacement workers or use violence to attempt to break
up strikes one of the largest strikes was the pullman strike in 1894 that brought railroads in
america to a halt and required the intervention of president grover cleveland to end the strike and
interestingly would lead to the holiday of labor day being established the gilded age basically
came to an end with the panic of 1893 that led to a four-year economic depression until 1897.
this would then usher in what was known as the progressive era in america in which they
people attempted to correct some of the social and political errors which had occurred during
the gilded age so with that hopefully you learned something and thanks for watching
you