Section 3-The Gilded Age Click the Speaker button to listen to the audio again

Section 3-The Gilded Age

Section 3-The Gilded Age

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Chapter ObjectivesSection 3: The Gilded Age

• I can evaluate the doctrine of Social Darwinism and the impact it had on American industry.

• I can explain how industrialization promoted leisure time and encouraged new forms of entertainment.

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A Changing Culture


• In 1873 Mark Twain and Charles Warner co-wrote the novel, The Gilded Age.

• Historians use this term to refer to the time between 1870 and 1900.

• The term “gilded” refers to something being gold on the outside while the inside is made of cheaper material.

• The authors tried to point out that although this was a time of growth, beneath the surface were corruption, poverty, and a huge difference between rich and poor.

• Industrialization and urbanization caused Americans to look at society in a different way.

• This gave way to new values, art, and forms of entertainment.

• A strong belief during the Gilded Age was the idea of individualism.

• This is the belief that regardless of your background, you could still rise in society.

A Changing Culture (cont.)


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• Horatio Alger, a minister from Massachusetts, left the clergy and moved to New York where he wrote over 100 novels about rags-to-riches stories.

A Changing Culture (cont.)

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Social Darwinism


• Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher, first proposed the idea of Social Darwinism.

• Spencer took Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection and applied it to human society.

• Like Darwin’s theory–that a species that cannot adapt to the environment will eventually die out–Spencer felt that human society evolved through competition.

• He concluded that society progressed and became better because only the fittest people survived.

• Industrial leaders agreed with Social Darwinism.

• Social Darwinism paralleled laissez-faire, an economic doctrine that was opposed to government interference with business.


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• Many devout Christians and some leading scientists opposed the idea of Darwin’s conclusions about the origin of new species.

• They rejected the theory of evolution because it went against the Bible’s account of creation.


Social Darwinism (cont.)

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• Andrew Carnegie, a wealthy business leader, believed in Social Darwinism and laissez-faire.

• However, he also felt those who profited from society should give something back, so he softened Social Darwinism with his Gospel of Wealth.

• This philosophy stated that wealthy Americans were responsible and should engage in philanthropy, using great fortunes to further social progress.


Social Darwinism (cont.)

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Realism


• A new movement in art and literature, called realism, portrayed people in realistic situations instead of idealizing them as the romantic artists had done.

• Thomas Eakins, a painter from Philadelphia, observed and painted day-to-day living in a realistic fashion.

• He used realistic detail and precise lighting.

• Writer and literary critic William Dean Howells wrote realistically about American life.

• He also recognized talent in several writers of this time, including Mark Twain, who wrote Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1884.

• Twain is thought to have written the first true American novel.

• Henry James, an English writer, portrayed the lives of the upper class in his 1881 novel, Portrait of a Lady.

Realism (cont.)


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• Edith Wharton won a Pulitzer Prize for the novel The Age of Innocence, which portrayed the complicated lives of the upper-class in New York in the 1870s.

Realism (cont.)

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Popular Culture


• Popular culture changed in the late 1800s.

• People had more money to spend on entertainment and recreation.

• Work became separate from home. • People looked to have fun by “going out” to public

entertainment. • During the 1800s, the saloon acted like a

community and political center for male workers. • It offered free toilets, water for horses, free

newspapers, and free lunches.

• Coney Island in New York was an amusement park that attracted working class families and single adults.

• It offered amusements such as water slides and railroad rides.

• Watching sports became very popular in the late 1800s.

• Baseball began to appear in the United States in the early 1800s.

Popular Culture (cont.)


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• In 1869 the first salaried team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, was formed.

• Football and basketball also became popular during this time.

• In the early 1880s, vaudeville became popular.

• It was adapted from the French theater and combined animal acts, acrobats, gymnasts, and dancers in its performance.



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• During this time, people began enjoying ragtime music.

• The most famous African American ragtime composer was Scott Joplin, who became known as the King of Ragtime.



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Section 3-The Gilded Age Click the Speaker button to listen to the audio again