Railroads
Increased amounts of railroad tracks made it possible to ship more luxury goods like fancy furniture and exotic fruits across the country for those who could afford them. It also made more common goods more affordable when they were shipped in mass.
The Pullman Car Company made sleeper cars and more comfortable accommodations for long travel for those who had the money to travel.
Suffrage
- 1890 National American Woman Suffrage Association founded
- Maternal Commonwealth extended out of home
- Settlement House Movement - 1889 Hull House founded by Jane Addams
- Woman's Christian Temperance Union - women sticking up for themselves
- advances in Gilded Age set up for Progressive Era
Fashion in the Gilded Age
Transportation
http://www.examiner.com/article/newport-s-gilded-age-mansions-provide-narrative-to-women-s-rights-movement
http://www.chicagohs.org/history/pullman/pul1.html
http://publications.newberry.org/pullman/exhibits/show/pullman-landmarks-2011/in-the-town
Communication
- Victorian Style popular late 1800s
- corsets promoted tiny waists
- 1890s transition from Victorian to Edwardian Directoire
- fashion took on luxuriousness + extravagance
- new S-curve corset - forced hips back + bust forward
- basic selling point of fashion to show wealth
Streetcars- first electric streetcars invented by Andrew Hallidie prior to the Gilded Age, but were integrated into major cities during it
First Subway System in America made in Boston
Automobiles- Henry Ford begins to appear with the foundation of his company 1903
Previous automobiles were just a toy of the rich
Telephone
- Invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876
- Revolutionized communication
- Bell Telephone Company founded in 1877 to bring telephones to the masses
- Revolutionized communication methods across America and changed how people could talk to each other
Middle Class
- not educated
- took jobs in cities
- most single
Upper-Middle Class
http://hist346gildedage.homestead.com/20110927.html
- educated, white
- wanted to put degrees to use
- 1/2 married 1/2 single
- advocated maternal commonwealth
http://doloresmonet.hubpages.com/hub/FashionHistoryEdwardianFashionTrends1890s1914
http://hubpages.com/hub/Fashion-History-Victorian-Costume-and-Design-Trends-1837-1900-With-Pictures
Technology
http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Graham_Bell
http://raisethehammer.org/article/289/the_right_side_of_the_tracks_pa
Work Cited
The Gilded Age 1877-Early 1900s
"Fashion History - Edwardian Fashion Designs of Late 1890's - 1914 With Pictures." HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
"Popular Culture in the 20th Century." Which One Is Higher: Automobile or Home? N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
"Women and Fashions of the Victorian Era: From Hoop Skirts to Bustles - 1837 - 1900." HubPages. HubPages, n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
"Womens Suffrage from the Gilded Age through the Progressive Era." The History Major. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
"39c. Women in the Gilded Age." USHistory.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
http://mylusciouslife.com/historical-books-reading-list-british-american-social-history/
Sources
Lower Class
- most married
- wives of immigrants
- took tenants into houses
- did domestic work for middle class
Other Innovations
"36. The Gilded Age." The Gilded Age [ushistory.org]. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.
<http://www.ushistory.org/us/36.asp>.
"The History of Streetcars - Cable Cars." About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.
<http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blstreetcars.htm>.
"Inventor of the Week: Archive." Lemels-ONMIT. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.
<http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/graham_bell.html>.
"Nations First Subway Opens in Boston." Mass Moments. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept.
2013. <http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=254>.
"Telegraph Timeline." NADCOMM Papers and Writings. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.
<http://www.nadcomm.com/timeline.htm>.
http://users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/hist111/industrial.html
Society, Culture and Arts
Many things we take for granted now were invented during the Gilded Age. These and several other inventions prior to the Gilded Age allowed for some of the extravagant lifestyles of the wealthy. The ability to purchase some of these luxuries separated the classes even more. The innovations also influence society today.
By Hannah, Elizabeth, Lizzy and Max H
Coca-Cola
Dishwashers
Contact Lenses
Crayons
Vaccuum Cleaners
Motion Film
Air Conditioning
Zipper
Escalator
Paper Strip Photograph FIlm
Typewriters
Roller Coasters
- Extremely wealthy business tycoons began to emerge.
- Business men like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller monopolized their industries and made billions.
- Many of there newly made millionaires wanted to add material beauty to their lives.
- Art flourished, painters like Winslow Homer became famous.
- The middle class was able to partake activities and products that were once only enjoyed by the wealthy
- People had more money to spend on material items.
Activities and Leisure time
African Americans
- Sports like tennis, baseball, football and golf became popular on a professional and college level.
- Amusement parks with there mechanical rides and exotic side shows became popular.
- Fairs like the World Colombian exposition in Chicago (1893) were very popular and widely attended.
- Holidays were created and observed, for example Arbor Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, and Labor Day.
- Work week reduced from 66 hours in the 1860's to 60 hours in the 1890's.
- People had more time and money to enjoy leisure and entertainment.
- Sports became very popular.
- Baseball became a national pass time, the first national league was formed in 1876.
- People enjoyed dancing and going to the theater.
- One form of entertainment called Vaudeville became very popular.
- Vaudeville was was a verity show that could involve acts like singing, dancing, stand-up comedy and acrobatics.
- Benjamin Franklin Keith was known as the father of Vaudeville.
During the Civil war there was a push for expansion in industry in order to supply the war. After the war the factories were converted to make everyday products causing the industrial revolution. Items that were once luxury items were now more common and affordable There was a boom in wealth, the upper class and middle class grew substantially. The work hours decreased and people had more expendable money. People were willing to spend money on entertainment and this created an expansion in the market of activities and leisure.
After the war these people realized they wouldn't get the freedom and equality they were promised.
They often served as scabs.
1896- Plessy vs Ferguson ruled blacks separate, but equal
Black culture began to develop, ragtime music was an important development.
African Americans and other minorities tended to receive poor educations.
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/blogs-and-comment/why-the-growing-wealth-inequality-matters/
http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/appendix/composers/J/ScottJoplin.html
Underside of the Gilded Age
Education
- While the upper and middle prospered, this was just a fantasy for the lower class.
- The lower class consisted mostly of uneducated immigrants.
- They were packed into mass housing where disease spread quickly.
- Poverty often breeds violence.
- These slums were full of crime, alcoholism and prostitution.
- It was very difficult to escape poverty.
Conclusion
The Gilded Age was a prosperous time for the middle and upper class. Mass amounts of wealth were created for a select few during this time. With increases in wealth comes leisurely items and activities. Large corporations during these times built or funded research facilities to create new technologies to protect their monopolies.
Of course this wasn't a good time for the lower class, especially immigrants, and blacks who faced dangerous work conditions, and low wages.
The Compulsory education acts in the 1860's passed individually by state dramatically increased enrollment rates to public schools. This also created a massive expansion in public education
Enrollment rates for males and females were roughly similar.
Illiteracy rate in 1870 20%
Illiteracy rate in 1900 10.7%
Number of colleges during the Civil War: Roughly 500
Number of colleges in 1900: 1000
Work Cited
- "Best of History Web Sites." Gilded Age. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
- "What Did Liesure Activities Reveal During The Gilded Age Essays and Term Papers." What Did Liesure Activities Reveal During The Gilded Age Free Research Papers. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
- "Digital History." Digital History. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
- Google Images
- PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
- "Commodifying Leisure." Commodifying Leisure. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
- "The Gilded Age." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2013
http://thepopulist.net/2009/04/06/the-third-depression-3/
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newsouth/5.0
Sources
http://www.library.uni.edu/collections/special-collections/uni-classrooms-late-1800s-early-1900s
"National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) - 120 Years of Literacy." National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) - 120 Years of Literacy. National Center For Education Statistics, n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
Boyer, Paul S., and Paul S. Boyer. Holt American Nation. Austin: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2003. Print.
"UNI Classrooms from the Late 1800s to the Early 1900s." Rod Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
"36. The Gilded Age." The Gilded Age [ushistory.org]. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.
"Scott Joplin." Scott Joplin. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.
"Illinois During the Gilded Age: Race and Ethnicity." Illinois During the Gilded Age: Race and Ethnicity. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.
"5 Life in the Gilded Age." Life in the Gilded Age. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.
"The Third Depression." THE POPULIST. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.