Race, Labor, and Gender Issues during the Gilded Age
Racial Inequality Within the Country
Native Americans After pushing the Native Americans west, Americans still had the desire to expand.The government created treaties for the chiefs and tribe leaders to sign. These treaties made the natives move to reservations. This wasn't effective because sometimes the Americans desired land from the reservations, which caused the Native Americans to have to move again. The Americans treated the Natives poorly because they had no consideration for them, which was proved when they forced them to move over and over again. Some tribes, like the Sioux, sabotaged the railroads which were going into their land. Occasionally the US promised them resources and money for going to reservations, but a majority of the time they didn't follow through. The Native Americans ended up fighting some of the Americans because the Americans were willing to use force to get the land that they wanted. Later on the US passed the Dawes Act in 1887, it was designed to assimilate Native Americans into American society. They gave 160 acres of lands to Indian chiefs and the rest of the land would be open to whites. Although meant to help the Indians, it was counterproductive because they ended up with less land. |
Blacks
Racial Inequality was prominent during the Gilded Age. Several new development worsened Blacks' position in society. These came after reconstruction when the North stopped putting effort into protecting the rights of blacks. The Jim Crow laws enforced segregation between Blacks and Whites
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Antiforeignism and Nativism
Many people immigrated to the United States during this era. Most of them were from Southern and Eastern Europe and wanted to escape the harsh living conditions in their countries. There were also several Chinese immigrants. Americans were upset that immigrants were willing to come to their country and work for cheap wages, they felt that their jobs were being taken. Many Americans believed in Social Darwinism and they used this to justify why the thought they were superior to other races. In 1885, Congress prevented importation of foreign workers under contracts.
Chinese Immigrants Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. Most Americans in the West disliked the Chinese workers who came to their country. This act prohibited the Chinese from immigrating to America. Ten years later in 1892, they renewed the act, which made Chinese immigration illegal. The Americans expressed their dislike by asking other Americans to express their opinions against the Chinese. Americans also made a lot of propaganda against them. European Immigrants Many groups that immigrated from Europe had trouble fitting in to American society. Many of these groups flocked to the big cities and formed their own societies within them, such as Chinatown and Little Italy. Most of them believed in the "American Dream" and hoped that with hard work they could become wealthy. They contributed to political corruption because people wanted to use them to gain more votes. They struggled to join society, which resulted in them staying in small neighborhoods with people of their culture. There was a major culture clash between the Americans and the immigrants, which contributed to the rise of antiforeignism, where Americans carried the belief that they were inferior. In 1882, Congress made immigrant paupers, criminals, and convicts back to their home countries. |
Gender Issues During the Gilded Age
Women still had similar roles in society. They disliked alcohol and got very involved in trying to prohibit it. They went ahead and formed the Woman's Christian Temperance movement, which was an organization that fought for the prohibition of alcohol in America. Women assisted immigrants by starting settlement houses. This allowed immigrants to become educated and have an easier time adjusting to american society. In 1889, Jane Addams started the first settlement house, called Hull House. Jane Addams was credited with started the profession of social work, which allowed women to have a job helping people. This was different from other jobs, such as factory work. Many single women without college educations went to cities to try and find work. The lives of Southern women changed when slavery was abolished because the no longer had the responsibility of looking over the slaves. Other than these minor changes, women still maintained the same place in society. They were still treated similarly and were starting to get together, in order to protest because they believed that they were entitled to a larger role in society.
Labor Issues During the Gilded Age
"Strikers rolled a flaming freight train car at the barges. They tossed dynamite to sink the boats and pumped oil into the river and tried to set it on fire."
-The Homestead Strike During this time workers had to work in horrible conditions. Most of them worked long hours and received little pay. Since the workers were unhappy, they created labor unions, so they could join together in order try and improve their conditions. Employers disliked unions and tried to break them up. They weren't willing to compromise. There was an abundance of violence, which upset members of the middle class. The Great Railroad strike was an example of a strike that impacted many people. In 1877, workers started striking against dangerous railroad conditions. The companies only cared about making more money and eliminating the competition, which resulted in 15-hour workdays and low wages. The Baltimore and Ohio railroad company announced a pay cut, which lead to a widespread walkout Workers from other companies walked out too. The angry workers got together, burned trains, and teared up the tracks as a way to protest. In Pittsburgh, federal troops had to intervene and ended up killing 25 people because workers burned several buildings, cars and locomotives. Although the strikes were very violent, they caused more recognition for workers. |