InQuizitive: Chapter 16: America's Gilded Age, 1870—1890

Read and analyze the "Voices of Freedom" document from the chapter titled "Letter by Saum Song Bo, American Missionary (October 1885)." Click here to read the full excerpt from the textbook. In this letter, what arguments did Saum Song Bo make about the treatment of his people and the applications of liberty?

Correct: The French violated liberties and freedoms of the Chinese. The Chinese were not welcomed into the United States.

Andrew Carnegie was an industrial giant of the Gilded Age. Identify the statements that describe Carnegie.

He leveraged vertical integration to create the largest and most technologically advanced steel factories in the world. Carnegie distributed much of his wealth to various philanthropies.

Identify the statements that describe the political scene in the United States during the Gilded Age.

Americans during the Gilded Age saw the country as an island of democracy in a world dominated by undemocratic governments. Powerful new corporations raised disturbing questions about the American understanding of political freedom and self-government.

Identify the statements that describe the economic changes that occurred between 1870 and 1920.

Between 1870 and 1920, the percentage of people employed in agriculture decreased significantly.The GNP per capita between 1870 and 1920 more than doubled.Between 1870 and 1920, the percentage of people employed in industry grew significantly.

Identify the statements that describe the relationship between Native Americans and white America during this period.

In 1871, Congress eliminated the treaty system that dated back to the revolutionary era, by which the federal government negotiated agreements with Indians as if they were foreign nations. The Bureau of Indian Affairs established boarding schools where Indian children were sent to become "more American."

Between the end of the Civil War and the early twentieth century, the United States experienced stagnant economic growth and the loss of international markets.

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Read and analyze the "Voices of Freedom" document from the chapter titled "Speech of Chief Joseph of the Nez Percé Indians, in Washington, D.C. (1879)." Click here to read the full excerpt from the textbook. What arguments does Chief Joseph make about the treatment and conditions of his fellow Nez Percé?

All people, whites and Native Americans alike, should be treated equally. The Nez Percé would also have to change and adapt.

During the Gilded Age, the federal government sought to define the place of Native Americans in society and address questions of indigenous citizenship. Place the following events in chronological order.

Congress eliminated the treaty system with native tribes. the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Elk v. Wilkins that citizenship did not apply to Native Americans. The Dawes Act was passed, dividing tribal land into parcels of land open for white settlement. Congress extended citizenship to all Native Americans.

From the 1850s onward, settler encroachment on Plains Indians land sparked conflict with the U.S. government. Match each term to the correct description.

Dawes Act:broke up the land of nearly all the western tribes Wounded Knee Massacre:U.S. soldiers opened fire on unarmed Ghost Dancers, killing 150 to 200 of them out of fear of an uprising. Battle of Little Big Horn:Native American victory over the U.S. army in June of 1876

On the map below, select the cities that served as important railroad junctions in the late nineteenth century. These are typically identifiable as cities where more than one rail line converge.

Denver, Omaha, Chicago, Atlanta

During this period of time, how did the workers' ideas of freedom differ from those held by the owners and managers of the industry, and how did the courts construe freedom?

Laborers looked to the government to protect their rights and ensure fair working conditions. Owners did not want the government to regulate business or interfere in the economy. The courts overturned numerous laws that controlled aspects of economic activity.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn was an example of how the Indians occasionally managed to defeat army units as they sought to defend their tribal lands.

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Identify the statements that describe working conditions and policies during the Gilded Age in America.

"The miner's freedom" consisted of work rules that left skilled miners free of managerial supervision on the job.Many industrial workers labored with no pensions, compensation for injuries, or protections against unemployment.

Watch the following video with author Eric Foner on the treatment of Native Americans in the nineteenth century. Then, complete the following statement.

In settler societies such as the United States and -Australia-, white settlers coveted indigenous- land-, resulting in the-destruction- of the indigenous population.

Identify the statements that describe American westward expansion.

In the twentieth century, the American West became the focus of many federally funded public works projects.Western states used land donated by the federal government to establish public universities.

Analyze the political cartoon from an 1883 edition of the magazine Puck, and then complete the following statement.

In this image, -robber barons- like Cornelius Vanderbilt sit safely perched on their millions of dollars, made from the labor of -workers-, who stand in a sea of -hard times-.

Identify the statements that describe "robber barons."

Ironically, many of the "robber barons" rose from modest backgrounds and seemed examples of how creative genius and business sense enabled Americans to seize success. John D. Rockefeller was considered by many to be the worst of the robber barons.

Despite promises in promotional pamphlets, farming on the Great Plains was not an easy task. Identify the statements that describe farming on the Great Plains.

The Homestead Act led to thousands of families moving westward to farm. Wheat and corn were primary crops grown on the Great Plains for the national and international markets.

Identify the statements that describe the Knights of Labor.

The Knights of Labor included women in its membership.

Identify the events and conditions that led to the second industrial revolution that took place between the Civil War and the early twentieth century.

The federal government enacted tariffs that protected American industry from foreign competition. There was money available for investment. The country had a growing supply of labor and an expanding market for manufactured goods.

As the United States matured into an industrial economy, Americans struggled to make sense of a new social order that included "better classes," "respectable classes," and "dangerous classes." Identify the statements that describe the nation's social problems during the Gilded Age.

There was a growing permanent factory population living on the edge of poverty alongside a growing class of millionaires, which posed a sharp challenge to traditional definitions of freedom.Throughout the United States, state and local governments set up investigative committees to inquire into the relations between labor and capital in the face of increasing unrest.

Identify the statements that describe the Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee massacre.

U.S. troops opened fire on Ghost Dancers, killing 150 to 200 of them.Fearful of a general uprising on the reservations, the U.S. government sent troops in response to the Ghost Dance.

Analyze the cartoon below titled "The Greatest Department Store on Earth," from Puck magazine (November 29, 1899).How does this artist depict the American economy during the Gilded Age?

Uncle Sam sold its manufactured products throughout the globe. The American economy was diversified, not reliant on just one product.

In 1879, the United States went off the gold standard to help debt-ridden farmers.

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In 1893, the historian Frederick Jackson Turner gave a celebrated lecture, "The Insignificance of the Frontier in American History," in which he argued the West had acted as a destabilizing and chaotic force in American history.

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Most of the farms on the Great Plains were bonanza farms that covered thousands of acres and employed large numbers of agricultural wage workers.

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The conquest of the American West was a unique phenomenon in global history, whereby settlers moved boldly into the interior of regions of a great continent with a temperate climate, bringing their families, crops, and livestock, and establishing mining and other industries.

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The task of social science according to iron manufacturer Abram Hewitt was to devise ways to redistribute wealth "... in a fair and humane manner to the benefit of the health of the nation."

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The Social Gospel movement originated as an effort to reform Protestant churches by expanding their appeal in poor urban neighborhoods and making them more attentive to the era's social ills.

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Read the excerpt from the Speech of Chief Joseph of the Nez Percé Indians, in Washington, D.C. (1879). I have heard talk and talk, but nothing is done. Good words do not last long unless they amount to something. Words do not pay for my dead people. They do not pay for my country, now overrun by white men. . . . Good words will not get my people a home where they can live in peace and take care of themselves. I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the . . . broken promises. . . .If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace. There need be no trouble. Treat all men alike. Give them the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. What are Chief Joseph's complaints about the treatment of his people?

Despite his view that all men are brothers, the white men do not treat Indians as equals. The white men do not keep their word to his men.