Essential Questions: What were the primary reasons for American economic growth in the last third of the 19th century? How did the middle class impact American culture?
I. Economic Growth
A. Railroads (important agents of economic growth)
1. Power wielded by the railroad companies inevitably aroused hostility
a. Charged less for long hauls than for short hauls in areas with
little or no competition
b. Companies formed pools, divided traffic, and fixed their rates
2. Farmers formed Patrons of Husbandry in 1867 to deal with abusive
railroad practices
a. Pushed for �Granger� laws to regulate freight rates and
warehouse charges
-Munn v. Illinois (1877) ruled that states could regulate
business as a public interest
3. Interstate Commerce Act (1877) was landmark legislation that
resulted from compromise
a. Outlawed pools, discriminatory rates, long-haul vs. short-haul
differentials, and rebates to favored shippers
B. Technology (1870-1890)
1. Technological advances had enormous impact on economic growth
a. Telephone, light bulb, typewriter, and combustible engine
II. The American Middle Class
A. Gilded Age cities
1. Cities grew at rapid pace in late 1880s and 1890
a. Both city populations and physical size increased dramatically
b. The very rich lived opulently, while the masses (immigrants)
inhabited cramped, stuffy tenements
B. The department store and mail order catalogs
1. As cities grew, stores that supplied city dwellers expanded their line of
goods
a. First department store in nation was John Wanamaker�s in
Philadelphia, which opened in 1876
C. African-American middle-class culture
1. African Americans built a middle-class culture all their own
2. Urban blacks in particular founded a plethora of businesses and
established sizable estates
D. The new woman
1. After the Civil War, women challenged the prevailing notion of
separate spheres and gained a new sense of independence
a. New educational opportunities were opened to women
b. Also, Women found employment opportunities as teachers,
telephone operators, clerks, and department store clerks
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Chapter 19: Economic Change and the Crisis of the 1890�s (sec 2)
Essential Question: How did post-Civil War economic changes affect working people? How did they respond?
III. Wealth and Inequality
A. Widening gap between rich and poor
1. Sharp inequalities of wages by skill, region, race, and gender
a. Perception of class inequality was even greater than the reality
B. The antitrust movement
1. Still, many Americans feared the power wielded by business tycoons
2. Monopoly or near-monopoly control seemed to violate ideal of fair
competition
a. Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) declared compacts in restraint of
trade to be illegal
IV. Labor Strife
A. Industrialization had consequences for workers
1. U.S. had world�s highest rate of industrial accidents
2. Mechanization eroded worker autonomy
3. Worker sold the product of his labor rather than the labor itself
4. Labor parties developed in several states
B. The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
1. Railroads became early focal point of labor strife
2. Labor cuts in 1877 led to worker strikes, violence, and widespread
property damage
C. The Knights of Labor
1. Principal labor organization to emerge in 1880s
a. Emerged as potent national federation of unions
b. Most members sought to improve workers� lot within the
existing system through collective bargaining for higher wages,
shorter hours, and better working conditions
D. Haymarket
1. Chicago anarchists supported a general strike on May 1, 1886, in favor
of an eight-hour day
a. Strike precipitated violent suppression by police,
b. After arrival of police, a bomb exploded at demonstration
c. Local authorities rounded up hundreds of labor leaders
E. The Pullman strike
1. Depression had led to wage cuts for workers at George Pullman�s
sleeping car company outside Chicago
a. Pullman controlled virtually every aspect of workers� lives,
including housing and everyday necessities
b. Rents and prices were not reduced to correspond to reduced
wages
c. When company refused to discuss situation, workers called a
strike
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Chapter 19: Economic Change and the Crisis of the 1890�s (sec 3)
Essential Question: What provoked the farmer protest movements in the last third of the 19th century?
V. Farmers� Movements
A. Credit and money
1. Farmers were not able to control the vagaries of weather or prices
world market
a. Due to competition abroad, agricultural prices declined
B. The greenback and silver movements
1. Many farmers supported the Greenback Party in 1876 and 1880
2. Even more popular with farmers was movement for �free silver�
a. Supply outstripped amount coined and inspired calls for coinage
of all silver made available for that purpose
b. Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890) increased amount of
silver coinage
C. The Farmers� Alliance
1. Farmers had more grievances than simply their complaints about the
monetary system
2. Also complained about problems of credit, railroad rates, and
exploitation of farmers and workers by the �money power�
3. Developed a comprehensive political agenda
a. Graduated income tax
b. Direct election of U.S. Senators
c. Free and unlimited coinage of silver at ratio of 16 to 1
d. Government control and, if necessary, ownership of railroad,
telegraph, and telephone companies
e. Establishment of subtreasuries for storage of surplus crops
4. Some Alliancemen worked to form own political party
a. People�s or �Populist� Party launched in Kansas in 1890
VI. The Rise and Fall of the People�s Party
A. Early successes of the Populists
1. Party was especially successful in the plains and mountain states
2. First nominating convention met in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1892
3. Endorsed broad reform program (see Farmer�s Alliance)
B. The silver issue
1. Dissident Democrats sought to take over party in 1896 by supporting
free silver
2. Raised possibility of fusion with Populists--and possibly Democratic
adoption of other components of Populist program as well
3. William Jennings Bryan became spokesman for free silver issue
among Democrats and won nomination
a. Bryan endorsed all aspects of the Populist program and won that
party�s nomination as well
-In effect the Democratic whale swallowed the Populist fish