APUSH PERIOD 6: THE GILDED AGE-“INDUSTRIALIZATION & URBANIZATION” (1865-1898)
KEY CONCEPTS/SFI OVERVIEW
Use the space provided to write down specific details that could be used to discuss the key concepts.
Key Concept 6.1
The student will understand that…
Technological advances, large-scale production methods, and the opening of new markets encouraged the
rise of industrial capitalism in the United States.
The student will know that…
I. Large-scale industrial production —
accompanied by massive technological
change, expanding international
communication networks, and pro-growth
government policies — generated rapid
economic development and business
consolidation.
(Annabelle Taylor)
A) Following the Civil War, government
subsidies
for transportation and
communication systems helped open
new markets in North America.
B) Businesses made use of technological
innovations, greater access to natural
resources, redesigned financial and
management structures, advances in
marketing, and a growing labor force to
dramatically increase the production of
goods.
C) As the price of many goods decreased,
workers’ real wages increased,
providing new access to a variety of
goods and services; many Americans’
standards of living improved, while the
gap between rich and poor grew.
D) Many business leaders sought increased
profits by consolidating corporations
into large trusts and holding companies,
which further concentrated wealth.
E) Businesses and foreign policymakers
increasingly looked outside U.S. borders
Specific Factual Information (SFI)
(individuals, events, topics, or sources for students to examine the
key concept in depth)
Post Civil War, the government helped private companies to make
more railroads with loans and land grants.
railroads played a role in time efficiency by founding time zone which
helped in making normal schedules.
The south and the west were the biggest beneficiaries
Government given patents protected communications
development such as the telephone and telegraph
Allowing railroads into the West opened up opportunities and more
access to natural resources and major minerals.
Women were hired rp do smaller jobs such as secretaries due to it
being cheaper labor than hiring men.
Advertisements became more inventive by new techniques using
electricity and the expansion of technology.
Many things became increasingly cheaper due to excess production
which constantly increased efficiency
Integration being both vertical and horizontal of many industries and
corporations,made the potential of more money stronger and also
lowered the control of various people in those industries.
Even as the rich became richer the standard of living continued to
greatly increase
Income increased majorly after the Civil war, nearly $300 difference
from 1870 to 1900.
-Andrew Carnegie said, “the poor enjoy what the rich could not before
afford. What were the luxuries have become the necessaries of life.”
Corporate mergers which were allowed by trusts and holding
companies gave increasingly more power to many less people.
Rockefeller forced out the competition for his oil business, he used
integration to make pricing, this took out contenders and increased
profits. 95% of the oil industry was controlled by him when 1890
came around.
In 1901 U.S. became the first billion dollar company
Gaining of American empired derived from the desire for markets.
Production glut was mainly the cause of the Panic of 1873 and
 in an effort to gain greater influence and
control 
over markets and natural
resources in the Pacific Rim, Asia, and
Latin America.
Students will know that…
II. A variety of perspectives on the economy
and labor developed during a time of
financial panics and downturns.
(Natalie Williams)
A) Some argued that laissez-faire policies
and competition promoted economic
growth in the long run, and they
opposed government intervention
during economic downturns.
B) The industrial workforce expanded and
became more diverse through internal
and international migration; child labor
also increased.
C) Labor and management battled over
wages and working conditions, with
workers organizing local and national
unions and/ or directly confronting
business leaders.
brought a new need for markets.
The want to access of markets in China led to the Open Door Policy of
1899
William Seward’s purchase of Alaska and his longing for expanding
westward came back towards the end of the 1800s
Specific Factual Information (SFI)
(individuals, events, topics, or sources for students to examine the
key concept in depth)
The liberal republicans and the democrats supported a laissez-faire
government. Laissez-faire democrats were in favor of free trade and
did no support high protective tariffs. The Populists and the
Greenback Party called for free silver and the printing of more paper
money to stop the Panic of 1893. The government did not try to
intervene in the economy during the Panic of 1893. President Grover
Cleveland vetoed attempts to increase money supply, even as he used
troops to crush the Pullman strike of 1894. The laissez-faire
democrats did not support the use of Civil War veterans and widow
pensions like the Republicans did. Most of the arguments occurred
because of disagreements involving high tariffs, free silver, inflation,
imperialism, government subsidies, and patronage.
African-Americans were not allowed to work most jobs. Many
immigrants came from Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, China,
Japan, Mexico, and sometimes Britain. Migrants were able to be
placed around the country due to an increase in railroads. Industries
that involved steam, coal, and electricity increased rural populations.
Because many chinese were blocked from immigrating due to the
Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, the Japanese immigrants replaced
them. During this time, 20% of children under 16 worked, mainly in
the South due to textile mills. Textile mills were in the South because
of the cheap labor and proximity to cotton. Children also worked in
coal mines often.
Skilled workers had more control in industry over unskilled workers.
Because of the advance of technology and mass production unskilled
workers and machines were replacing skilled workers. Frederick W.
Taylor was a big supporter of working without having to think.
Workers resisted Taylor’s liking of the workers being told exactly
what to do. Due to in increase in machinery workplace safety was a
major issue. And due to bad labor laws were workers were injured
they were fired. It was common for coal miners and steelworkers to
develop lung problems. Men were even more angered when
employers were hiring women and children rather than men in order
to save money. Political alliances such as the Knights of Labor,
Granges, Greenback Party, and the Populist party attempted to help
workers but eventually workers started to shift their focus more to
trade unions. The closest the US has ever came to a national workers’
revolution was the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. The Pennsylvania
militia was sent it and the National Guard was created to avoid future
strikes. Progress and Poverty written by Henry George suggested that
taxes should be imposed so the poor will not have to constantly be
living in poverty. The theory that since the workers made the wealth,
so they should enjoy the profits was called Producerism. The Knights

D) Despite the industrialization of some
segments of the Southern economy — a
change promoted by Southern leaders
who called for a “New South” —
agriculture based on sharecropping and
tenant farming continued to be the
primary economic activity in the South.
Students will know…
III. New systems of production and
transportation enabled consolidation within
agriculture, which, along with periods of
instability, spurred a variety of responses
from farmers.
A) Improvements in mechanization helped
agricultural production increase
substantially and contributed to declines
in food prices.
B) Many farmers responded to the
increasing consolidation in agricultural
markets and their dependence on the
evolving railroad system by creating
local and regional cooperative
organizations.
of Labor, the most famous reform movement, promoted a utopian
vision for workers, education, gender equality, government
regulation of corporations, a progressive income tax on the rich, no
child labor, right to organize in labor unions, and 8 hour workday.
The reputation of the Knights was ruined by their claimed
involvement with the 1886 Haymarket Square Riots. In 1892, the
Homestead Strike marked the defeat of the Pinkertons sent in by
Henry Clay Frick. The strike was finally ended when the National
Guard was sent in the ocean by the governor of PA. Pullman lowered
the workers wages without lowering their rents which resulted in the
Pullman Strike of 1893 led by Eugene V Debs. Trade unions always
pushed for closed shops, but blacklists became common. Yellow-dog
contracts got employees to promise to never join a union. Interstate
Commerce Commission formed to regulate railroads and people who
were angry about the railroads not being controlled.
The “New South” was an attempt to make the South more like the
North due to Reconstruction. They built more railroads and
essentially tried to copy the Industrial Revolution. Industries such as
textiles, coals, and iron increased in the South, but they still served as
raw materials in the North while manufacturing. Cotton was still
valued heavily in the South and so was sharecropping. The whites still
dominated over the blacks. The links to cotton in the South kept it
stuck in time and heavily segregated between the whites and the
blacks. Falling prices of cotton in the 1870s kept the cycle of poverty
in sharecropping continue to proceed.
Specific Factual Information (SFI)
(individuals, events, topics, or sources for students to examine the
key concept in depth)
Julia Smith
Mechanization was shown in forms of new technology such as
mechanical reapers, sowers, and combines produced larger quantities
of food. Mechanization was expensive, and created the need for larger
farms to support the costs. McCormick's reaper continually improved
which allowed for more production with fewer workers. Barbed wire
wa invented by Joseph Glidden and allowed and helped fence the
Great Plains. Railroads allowed more access to world markets and
cattle drives. refrigerated cars allowed meat to be transported farther
distances. Farmers also increased productivity by lowered their
profits, the urban world benefited from lower food prices. Steam
engines created and implemented after the Civil War increased speed
and efficiency of reapers, threshers, and other farming mechanisms.
The populist party was a group of farmers who advocated for
government regulation of railroads, increased money in circulation,
and protective tariffs. The new industrial American economy was not
favorable to farmers. Farmers had to advocate for themselves.
Farmers began to see corporations, railroads, and banks as the
enemy, and attempted to organize to improve purchasing power,
effect political controls, and increase freedom of action High tariffs
seen as hurting their purchasing power, while not protecting farmers
from foreign agricultural competition. Government policies benefiting

C. Economic instability inspired
agrarian activists to create the People’s
(Populist) Party, which called for a
stronger governmental role in
regulating the American economic
system.
Key Concept 6.2:
Students will understand that…
The migrations that accompanied industrialization transformed both urban and rural areas of the United
States and caused dramatic social and cultural change.
Students will know that…
I. International and internal migration
increased urban populations and fostered the
growth of a new urban culture.
banks, corporations, railroads – but not them! Grants built railroads,
who then turned around and exploited farmers their conspiracy
theory was that railroads and banks constantly colluded to strip them
of their profits. The National Grange of Patrons of Husbandry was
organized in 1868 by Oliver H. Kelly primarily as a social and
educational organization for farmers and their families. Grange
movements formed to try and organize resistance, as well as provide
a sense of community to far-flung farmers and their families; granges
set up their own banks, insurance, storage
Farmers’ Alliance founded after Panic of 1873, growing to biggest
farmers’ group ever; organized cooperatives to buy supplies more
cheaply, sell their produce collectively, and provide loans to farmers;
they asked for government to set up a price support system, to store
their crops, issue loans, and then sell the crops when prices went up,
which would then repay loans.
Most immigrants lived in ethnic neighborhoods while others
assimilated. Urban populations increased due to more factory jobs,
while rural populations decreased. When both Republicans and
Democrats across the country generally ignored the demands of the
Farmers’ Alliances, the farmers organized a political party: The
People’s Party, better known as the Populists; working with Knights
of Labor, they captured Kansas, then organized into a national party
in Omaha in 1892, and nominating James Weaver, who got a million
votes and took four Western states; they called for the government to
step in and enact reforms. Populists called for government to take
over railroads, telephones, and telegraphs; protect land from foreign
and corporate takeovers; expand money supply to help those in debt
graduated income tax; direct election of senators; eight-hour
workday; civil service reform. The Panic of 1893 drove more people
to suffering and despair and to the Populists so did the Homestead
strike and the Pullman Strike. Republicans benefitted from the Panic
of 1893, since Cleveland was a Democrat they took over Congress in
1894, defeating both Populists and Democrats.
Specific Factual Information (SFI)
(individuals, events, topics, or sources for students to examine the
key concept in depth)
Amanda McQuade
A) As cities became areas of economic
growth featuring new factories and
businesses, they attracted immigrants
from Asia and from southern and
eastern Europe, as well as African
American migrants within and out of the
South. Many migrants moved to escape
poverty, religious persecution, and
limited opportunities for social mobility
in their home countries or regions.
B) Urban neighborhoods based on
particular ethnicities, races, and classes
provided new cultural opportunities for
city dwellers.
C) Increasing public debates over
assimilation and Americanization
accompanied the growth of international
migration. Many immigrants negotiated
compromises between the cultures they
brought and the culture they found in the
United States.
D) In an urban atmosphere where the access
to power was unequally distributed,
political machines thrived, in part by
providing immigrants and the poor with
social services.
E) Corporations’ need for managers and for
male and female clerical workers as
well as
increased access to educational institutions,
fostered the growth of a distinctive middle
class. A growing amount of leisure time also
helped expand consumer culture.
New immigration between 1880-1920s caused more people from
more places around the world to accumulate into eastern urban
neighborhoods. By the 1920s, more people began living in urban
cities because of better paying jobs and cultural experiences, and for
new forms of transportation such as ocean liners and Railroads.
These people who immigrated to urban areas included more
demographics of people coming from more places. These migrants
included African Americans, Chinese immigrants, and people coming
from Southwestern Europe, such as Poles and Italians. All of these
migrants came for similar reasons, the most common being
opportunities. However, most of these new immigrants faced many
problems, as Nativism increased, wages were low, and Anti-
Immigration groups such as the English American Protective
Association and the Immigration Restriction League wanted to stop
immigration, and were largely anti-Catholic. Wanting these new
immigrants to Assimilate, they often faced Exclusion, such as with the
Chinese Exclusion Act.
Immigrants often moved into cities that were commonly of their
ethnicity (e.g Chinatown). They often lived in crowded cities and poor
conditions, especially in slum houses. While immigrants came to
America for new economic and social opportunities into eastern
urban cities, they were able to find work. However, these jobs they
were working were very low paying. Job opportunities working for
oil wells and manufacturing lines were needed, but alike the rest of
the working class, Immigrants were often unable to work these jobs
due to increasing Nativist views.
This process of Assimilating immigrants was at first difficult for first
wave immigrants. However, the process of Americanization was
better suited for 2nd Wave immigrants. Assimilation groups such as
the English American Protective Association and the Immigration
Restriction Lead began the process of Assimilation immigrant
populations. The English American Protective Association was an
Anti-Catholic group that wanted to stop immigration. The
Immigration Restriction Lead began for similar reasons. Despite these
groups, immigrants began creating compromises within Tenement
Houses with other cultures. Once again, re-ignites the “Melting Pot” of
the Urban East.
Political machines promised to provide jobs and assistance to other
constituents and provide services to those less fortunate than them.
These included to Grafts; honest Graft, who buyed land before the
government did and sold it at higher prices, and had the inside scoop
on Government. The dishonest Graft cheated and stole from buyers.
However, the best example of a political machine would be William
“Boss” Tweed. Tweed controlled elections and stole hundreds of
dollars worth of food. Because many were poor and unemployed,
they often put their faith in these political machines who promised
better social services for them.
The textile, paper, and laundry industries grew due to inventions
such as the sewing machine that caused a rise in wages, therefore
giving to the rise of the middle class. Due to the new ways of buying
goods, small business was taken over by large corporations and
women advocated for better working conditions. Also during this
period, Amusement Parks, Baseball, Movies, and Horse racing became
leisure activities that the middle class could afford, leading to an
increase in the consumer culture. As wages increased, consumer

Students will know that…
II. Larger numbers of migrants moved to the
West in search of land and economic
opportunity, frequently provoking
competition and violent conflict.
Richie Pearcy
A. The building of transcontinental
railroads, the discovery of mineral
resources, and government policies
promoted economic growth and created
new communities and centers of
commercial activity.
B. In hopes of achieving ideals of self-
sufficiency and independence, migrants
moved to both rural and boomtown areas of
the West for opportunities, such as building
the railroads, mining, farming, and ranching.
C. As migrant populations increased in
number and the American bison population
was decimated, competition for land and
resources in the West among white settlers,
American Indians, and Mexican Americans
led to an increase in violent conflict.
D. The U.S. government violated treaties
with American Indians and responded to
resistance with military force, eventually
confining American Indians to reservations
and denying tribal sovereignty.
E. Many American Indians preserved their
cultures and tribal identities despite
government policies promoting
assimilation, and they attempted to develop
self-sustaining economic practices.
culture increased.
Specific Factual Information (SFI)
(individuals, events, topics, or sources for students to examine the
key concept in depth)
During the 19th century and during and after the time of the
American Civil War, the American government introduced and passed
numerous acts that promoted vast economic growth and the building
of transcontinental railroads such as the Homestead Act and the
Pacific Railway Act that led to the creation of the first
transcontinental railroad in American history. The discovery of
minerals out west in places such as the Comstock Lode and out in
California led to the formation of new communities such as in Carson
City and other places where minerals were said to be abundant.
Migrants from various nations such as China and nations from Europe
such as the Irish and German moved to areas out west for new
opportunities. For many Chinese, this opportunity was being
employed in helping to build the first transcontinental railroad and
helping build railroad tracks. Due to American resentment toward the
Chinese population growing and getting jobs or “taking jobs” from
Americans, the Chinese Exclusion Act would ban any more
immigrants from China from moving to the US. For other foreigners,
this meant ranching and moving up cattle along pathways such as the
Chisholm Trail and mining for minerals in places where they were
said to be abundant, such as near the Comstock Lode.
For years, buffalo were hunted by native indians and by tribes such as
the Sioux of the midwest, but as the giving of land away due to the
Homestead Act and the building of more and more railroads came to
be, more and more buffalo were being killed and decimated, and with
less land to be shared amongst American Indians, Mexican Americans,
and white western settlers. This led to conflicts including the Range
Wars over disputes over land that would be used for ranching and/or
farming. With more whites and foreigners moving out west, the
Rancheros who had been established out west in areas for a while
gradually lost more of their power.
As more of the US population moved out west and the American
government handed out land that included Indian land, Indian tribes
such as the Sioux resisted the policies of the American government
who would respond to this resistance with force in battles such as the
Battle of the Little Bighorn where the U.S. army and General George
Custer suffered a complete defeat and led to events such as the Sand
Creek Massacre and Wounded Knee where innocent Native
Americans were harmed and killed. Eventually, with the help of the
Dawes Severalty Act passed by the government, the American
government eventually forced American Indians to live on
reservations split up by America.
Despite the American government trying to assimilate Native
Americans through passed laws such as the Dawes Severalty Act, and
forcing them to move onto reservations through the Concentration
Policy, the Sioux and other Indian tribes resisted these government
policies and still kept their cultures and religion and tried to self-

Key Concept 6.3:
Students will understand that…
The Gilded Age produced new cultural and intellectual movements, public reform efforts, and political
debates over economic and social policies.
I. New cultural and intellectual movements
both buttressed and challenged the social
order of the Gilded Age.
Nicole Raikin-Mejias
A. Social commentators advocated theories
later described as Social Darwinism to
justify the success of those at the top of the
socioeconomic structure as both
appropriate and inevitable.
B. Some business leaders argued that the
wealthy had a moral obligation to help the
less fortunate and improve society, as
articulated in the idea known as the Gospel
of Wealth, and they made philanthropic
contributions that enhanced educational
opportunities and urban environments.
C. A number of artists and critics, including
agrarians, utopians, socialists, and
advocates of the Social Gospel, championed
alternative visions for the economy and U.S.
society.
Students will know that…
II. Dramatic social changes in the period
inspired political debates over citizenship,
corruption, and the proper relationship
between business and government.
Nicole Raikin-Mejias
A. The major political parties appealed to
lingering divisions from the Civil War and
contended over tariffs and currency issues,
even as reformers argued that economic
greed and self-interest had corrupted all
sustain themselves economically with the help of Indian tribe leaders
such as Chief Joseph.
Specific Factual Information (SFI)
(individuals, events, topics, or sources for students to examine the
key concept in depth)
English philosopher, Herbert Spencer, argued that society benefited
from the elimination of the unfit and the success of the talented.
Spencer published a series of books throughout the 1870s and 1880s,
and his views received the attention of American intellectuals, such as
William Graham Sumner, who agreed that individuals must have
freedom to struggle, compete, succeed or to fail. John D. Rockefeller
used Social Darwinism as way to explain his success. He felt that his
wealth was given to him by God, and thus he deserved it.
In 1901, Andrew Carnegie published The Gospel of Wealth in which he
argued that the wealthy should use all excess funds as an opportunity
to do charity work. He, like other industrialists, used their wealth to
build libraries and schools in order for the poor to receive a chance to
become wealthy themselves.
Lester Frank Ward was sociologist who published the book, Dynamic
Sociology. In this book, he argues that civilization was run by human
intelligence, not natural selection. Thus, he believed that humans
were able to manipulate society how they wished. Another critic of
capitalism was Henry George. He published the book, Progress and
Poverty, in 1879, and in it he argued that poverty was caused by the
monopolies in the United States. Also, he believed that landowners do
nothing to make its property worth more, it is the society around the
land that determines its value. George proposed that there be a single
tax to replace other taxes, and all the increment to be give back to the
people. The tax could destroy monopolies, distribute the wealth more
evenly, and destroy poverty. Edward Bellamy also used his utopian
novel, Looking Back, to spread his alternative ideas. In this book, he
envisioned a society where the government had control over
businesses and the wealth was divided evenly among the people.
Instead of competition, the world lived in fraternal cooperation.
Specific Factual Information (SFI)
(individuals, events, topics, or sources for students to examine the
key concept in depth)
The biggest currency issue of the time was the issue over gold
standard or free silver. Those in favor of the gold standard
(Republicans) felt that it was essential in determining the stability of
the nation, while those opposed to the gold standard (Democrats) felt
that it represented tyranny. During the Democratic convention of
levels of government.
B. Many women sought greater equality
with men, often joining voluntary
organizations, going to college, promoting
social and political reform, and, like Jane and they taught immigrants how to create a middle-class lifestyle for
Addams, working in settlement houses to
help immigrants adapt to U.S. language and
customs.
C. The Supreme Court decision in Plessy v.
Ferguson that upheld racial segregation
helped to mark the end of most of the
political gains African Americans made
during Reconstruction. Facing increased
violence, discrimination, and scientific
theories of race, African American reformers People (NAACP) , and within a decade they had begun to win many
continued to fight for political and social civil rights cases. For example in Buchanan v Warley (1917), The
equality.
1896, the Southern and western delegates wanted to seize control of
the party from conservative easterners and encourage the idea of free
silver. William Jennings Bryan defended free-silver with his powerful
“Cross of Gold” speech, allowing the Democrats to adopt a pro-silver
platform as well as nominating him for president. After William
McKinley won the election, however, he created the Dingley Tariff
and the Gold Standard Act of 1900. The Dingley Tariff raised duties to
its highest price in American history, and the Gold Standard Act
confirmed the nation's commitment to the gold standard by requiring
all currency issued by the United States to be raised to a specific value
of gold.
Opened in 1889, Jane Addams’ Hull House allowed from immigrant
families to adapt to the language and customs of the United States.
Young college women kept these houses clean and well maintained,
themselves. These settlement houses led to the creation of a new
progressive reform: social work. Many women went to
predominantly male dominated institutions, such as the University of
Chicago, MIT, and Columbia in order to receive degrees in fields such
as nursing and teaching. After receiving educations, many women
rejected marriage and became involved members in their community.
For example, in 1892, women created the General Federation of
Women's Clubs to focus on bettering those around them. They also
formed the Women’s Trade Union League in 1903 to support female
workers, marches on picket lines, strikes and bailing women out of
jail. During the early years of the twentieth century, women began to
form a new suffrage movement. The National American Woman
Suffrage Association grew to over 2 million followers by 1917. They
argued that if immigrants and other minorities could vote, educated
women should too. By 1919, thirty-nine states finally granted women
the right to vote.
W. E. B. Du Bois was an African American Harvard graduate who
advocated for black rights. He believed that they should all be able to
receive a college education, and that they should accept nothing less.
He attacked Booker T. Washington with his 1903 book, The Souls of
Black Folk, in which he accused him of encouraging segregation. De
Bois formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
Supreme Court struck down a law in Louisville, Kentucky that
required residential segregation. Ida Wells Bennett was also a
tremendous influence to gain black rights. She fought against
lynchings as well as challenged the ideas of segregation.