The Gilded Age

    The industrial revolution

1. Pre-requisites
   
   1. Natural resources
      
      1. Raw material, land, agriculture
         
   2. Capital
      
      1. Investments, industry, investors
         
   3. Policy
      
      1. Corporation, limited liability, "laissez faire" (hands off), trusts, subsidies
         
   4. Technology
      

      RR, factories, inventions, communications
      

   5. Labor
      
      1. Immigrants, migration, cities, xenophobia
         
2. Impact of I.R.
   
   1. Farms
      
      1. Over production, falling prices, debt
         
   2. Cities
      
      1. Xenophobia, corruption, sanitation, overcrowding,
         

       
       

                                        History

Transcontinental RR                                 15th Oct.

    • 1865 began Construction

        Ogden Utah

Sacramento Omaha

Central Pacific Union Pacific

            Promonterey Point

            May, 1869

 

Wealth and Corruption

1) RR tycoons

        A) ''Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt

        b) Jones Hill-the "Great norther railway"

        c) Jay Gould, Gained Control of rail roads (4)

        - 10, 000 miles of RR 1/4th of nation's tracks

        b) Consolidation 4500 miles from NY

            • Great lakes

            • Went coast

    2) Credit Mobiler

        d) Construction company from Union Pacific

        b) Overcharge for work

            1. Cost to 0, s. government

        e) Stock given to senators

        f) Exposed in NY So, 1874

            - Rocketed 23 million

    3) Common forms of corruption

        e) Stock Watering

            l. Artificially inflating values

        d) Rebates

            - Partially refunded total price of goods