Timeline of Gilded Age Unions and Strikes• National Labor Union (1866) – first attempt of a national

union of all workers Higher wages, 8-hour day (won for federal employees) Women and black equality, monetary reform, cooperatives

• Knights of Labor (1881) Members included women and African-Americans Cooperatives, end child labor, anti-trusts Preferred method of arbitration over strikes

Timeline of Gilded Age Unions and Strikes

• Haymarket Bombing (May 4, 1888) May Day celebration coupled with strike in Chicago led to police

killing 4 people Commemoration on May 4 led to bombing killing police officers and

to a police riot 8 innocent anarchists tried and convicted in show trial and hanged

• American Federation of Labor (AFL) (1886) Samuel Gompers and walkouts for collective bargaining

Dumbbell Tenement Plan

Tenement House Act of 1879, NYC

Another Struggling Immigrant Family

Child Labor

Average Shirtwaist Worker’s Week

51 hours or less 4,554 5%52-57 hours 65,033 79%58-63 hours 12,211 15%Over 63 hours 562 1%

Total employees, men and women 82,360

Womens’ Trade Union League

Women Voting for a Strike!

Triangle Shirtwaist FactoryAsch Building, 8th and 10th Floors

Typical NYC Sweatshop, 1910

Typical NYC Sweatshop, 1910

Typical NYC Sweatshop, 1910

Typical NYC Sweatshop, 1910

Typical NYC Sweatshop, 1910

Typical NYC Sweatshop, 1910

Inside the Building After the Fire

Most Doors Were Locked

Crumpled Fire Escape, 26 Died

10th Floor After the Fire

Civil Service Reform

• Patronage-appoint people you know to government positions

• President Garfield assassinated as a result of patronage

• Pendleton Act (1881) Civil Service Commission Exams and campaign contributions

Monopolies

• Monopoly—one company controls the entire market for a certain good

• Allows to set price anywhere they want

• Stomps out all competitors

Pendleton Act (1883)Pendleton Act (1883)

Civil Service Act.

The “Magna Carta” of civil service reform.

1883 14,000 out of117,000 federal govt.jobs became civilservice exam positions.

1900 100,000 out of

200,000 civil service federal govt. jobs.

Gilded Age Women

• 20% of American women worked as wage earners Most single women; 5% married Low-income families required women in workplace

• Female-based Jobs Typical home-associated industries: textiles, foods New types of jobs: secretaries, bookkeepers, typists,

communication operators

• Women and feminized jobs considered low status and low salaries

Railroads Drive the Expansion

• 35,000 miles in 1865 to 193,000 in 1900• Gauge standards connecting various local and

national lines• Connection of rails to cities, water ports, market

centers, Atlantic to Pacific First Transcontinental Railroad (1869)

• Federal land grants and subsidies• Overexpansion and corruption led to

consolidation by business moguls

The Gild

Breakers of the Vanderbilt Family

The Astor Family

The Boldt Castle

The Mount of Edith WhartonLockwood-Mathews Mansion

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Thomas Nast

• As a political cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly, Nast attacked the Tammany Hall (Democratic) political machine that ran New York City in 1870 .

• Along the way, Nast created the Democratic Donkey, Republican Elephant symbols (he did not like the Democrats), the Tammany Tiger and even Santa Claus.

©2010, TESCC

Thomas Nast

©2010, TESCC

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©2010, TESCC

©2010, TESCC

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Boss Tweed

Picture from Boss Tweed Pagehttp://www.polaris.edu/iltli/Tchrpgs/Tweed.htm

"Stop them darn pictures. I don't care what the papers write about me. My constituents can't read. But, darn it, they can see the pictures."

©2010, TESCC

POLITICS IN THE GILDED AGE

• As cities grew in the late 19th century, so did political machines

• Political machines controlled the activities of a political party in a city

• The head of the Political machine was known as the “Boss”

ROLE OF THE POLITICAL BOSS• The “Boss” controlled

jobs, business licenses, granting of contracts and influenced laws and courts

• Political Machines helped immigrants with naturalization (citizenship), jobs, and housing in exchange for votes Boss Tweed ran NYC

Political Corruption was considered to be widespread

• Voter Fraud- used fake names and voted multiple times

• Patronage- granting favors in return for political support

• Graft- bribes• kick-backs - Return of money in exchange for a

business

Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall

THE TWEED RING SCANDAL• William M. Tweed, known as

Boss Tweed, became head of Tammany Hall, NYC’s powerful Democratic political machines

• Between 1869-1871, Tweed led the Tweed Ring, a group of corrupt politicians, in defrauding the city

• Tweed’s ring stole between 40 and 200 million

• Tweed died in Jail

Boss Tweed

Industry and the Workers• Working Conditions:• Dangerous: People lose fingers, limbs, become physically handicapped,

stooped over, and other health problems.• Long Hours- 12 -14 hour workdays, 6 days a week.• Women and children paid less• Sexual Harassment• Poor Ventilation• Beatings• Abuse• No Breaks• Machines forced workers to work faster• Monotonous work, or doing the same job all the time.

New ImmigrantsSecond Wave of Immigration 1870-1914, 25 million European Immigrants by 1920, 40%

of pop-foreign born

• 1870- 1 in 7 were Irish Immigrants (New York)

• Southern and Eastern Europe• Italians 3.6 million come.• Greeks• Russian (Jews)• Turks• Polish• Serbian• In the West- Chinese and then

Japanese

• 1880- 457,000 Immigrants landed in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans

• Most were unskilled:• Worked in Factories• Construction• Docks• Warehouses• Domestic Servants

ImmigrationPush Factors

• Factors that pushed immigrants out of their native lands to America:

• Poverty-• Lack of Economic Opportunity• Political Repression - No

freedom• Ethnic conflict-• War- conscription • No jobs• No hope of a future• Famine/ starvation/drought

Pull Factors• Factors that pulled immigrants

out of their native lands to America:

• Economic Opportunity• Jobs/ workers were needed• Land• $• A future of land ownership• Peace and stability• Freedom to make a better life

How did/do people react to immigrants coming to America?

• Whenever a new group enters into an established community tension is caused and a pattern of development can be seen.

• Examples:• When the Irish came in the 1840’s

the established groups of British and Germans did not like the new Irish.

• Irish where different: • Language- Irish• Religion Roman Catholic• Culture different from British• Lifestyles-

• They were looked down upon and discriminated against. See cartoons.

• Xenophobia- anti foreigner attitudes

• Nativism- The idea of blaming immigrants for problems.

• Established groups blamed the new groups for problems:

• Taking Jobs, Lazy -Famous Slogan: “No Irish Need Apply”

• People said they were responsible for: Crime

• Immorality- alcohol abuse• Catholics- not loyal to America• Dirty- • Inferior, Damaging to the United

States