HIST-UA 180 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Gilded Age, Conspicuous Consumption, Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
31 Aug 2016
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= creating a monopoly in order to stabilize the economy. How did american society change during the gilded age: the gilded age (1870 1900, excesses and corruption good on outside but rotten under surface. Laissez faire government did not regulate economic growth monopolies developed. Concentration of power wealthy business men controlled the money and therefore controlled the country: gilded age politics, republicans. Dominant in north, protestants, native born whites, and middle class, immigration restriction, temperance, high tariffs: democrats. Dominant in south + northern cities, composed of catholics, immigrants and workers, dedicated to white supremacy + assistance of workers: republican party divided over winning elections + distributing government jobs. Stalwarts = traditional machine politics + spoils system. Half-breeds = weakly supported reform of patronage system. Pendleton act (1883) = weakened spoils system job applicants had to take exams to demonstrate abilities: socioeconomic change, unbalanced accumulation of wealth 1% had all the wealth.
