Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow By Mr. Caudill ; LCMHS

October 01, 2024

Samual Clemmons, better known by his Nom De Plum, Mark Twain, is not only famous for his epic novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer among other articles, stories, and spoken tales, but he is also credited with giving a name to the era from the Mid-1870s to the Mid-1890s known as the Gilded Age. It was a time of incredible economic growth and opportunity, but also greed and corruption. It looked like a golden time. Twain saw it as shiny gold-plated tin.

The Civil War had caused the Union States to build railroads and factories at an unprecedented pace to support the war effort. With millions of immigrants seeking a better life arriving on American shores annually, there was also no workforce shortage.

This was an era after the Civil War and Reconstruction when immigrants flowing from

Ireland and Germany and 4.5 million freed slaves fleeing from discrimination in the South were now competing for jobs. The Potato Famine resulted in over 800,000

Irishmen migrating to America in 1845, and the trend continued until the 1930s. It is estimated during this time 4.5 million Irishmen made America home. Germans were the largest group vying for citizenship, with 6 million arriving between 1820 and 1914. The largest German group immigrated in 1848 fleeing revolutions in the German States of Europe. So many arrived on American shores they were called “The 48ers”.

This wave of workers filled factories that were constantly growing. This, along with the natural resources of timber, coal, oil, gold, silver, and food of this great continent, which could be transported on one of the hundreds of rivers, canals, or via a transcontinental

railroad; made America the industrial giant of the age.

Another immigrant group that made huge contributions to America’s growth, particularly

the railroad industry was Chinese Immigrants who provided 90% of the labor for the transcontinental railroad leg that was started in California. Poverty and wars in China drove many to seek a better life in America.

The Discovery of gold in 1848 created a surge in Chinese immigration leading to fear and discrimination against Chinese. This surge also led to the first anti-immigration law in America. With the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which did not allow Chinese to immigrate here and forbade Chinese living already here from becoming citizens. The act was initiated for ten years but was renewed until 1943. Chinese were not allowed to testify in court, like Indigenous people and Blacks. This discrimination and persecution by the government led to the formation of Chinese towns in large urban areas to protect themselves, which still exist today.

During this economic boom, Titans of Industry, Captains of Industry, or Robber Barons (they were called many things) emerged to gain great wealth. JP Morgan, in banking; John D. Rockefeller, in oil; Andrew Carnegie, in steel; and Cornelius Vanderbilt, in railroads, dominated the era through innovation, shrewd business practices, political corruption, and monopolies. To their credit, many of their philanthropies still exist today as hospitals, colleges, museums, performance halls, and libraries.

Technology also led to massive changes as steel, thanks to the Bessemer Process, was able to be mass-produced, driving down the cost. The first skyscrapers were born, along with the elevator. Alexander Graham Bell came up with the telephone.

Thomas Edison created an affordable, longer-life light bulb, which extended the workday as electricity spread across the nation.

America was growing from coast to coast as it fulfilled its “Manifest Destiny”. With the

passage of the Homestead Act of 1862, which lasted until 1934, 10 % of American lands were offered in 160-acre parcels free to any household head 21 or older who

didn’t take arms against the United States during the Civil War.

America was seen as a land of opportunity by millions who came to our shores seeking a better life. Europeans still saw us as country bumpkins but bought our goods. It wouldn’t be until the six-month Spanish-American War of 1898 that the United States would start on a path of becoming an empire, but the Gilded Age was anything but

quiet.

Chuck Caudill is a recovering politician and military retiree. He has dabbled in the performing arts, journalism, and service industry. Currently a Social Studies and History teacher at Lee County Middle High School, he is writing this column to keep students and parents engaged in discussions that will prepare students to be the Shepards