Politics in the Gilded Age

Gilded Age Politics

By Kyle Windahl

Multiple Choice

What does "gilded" mean?

• Completely made of gold

• Covered thinly with a layer of gold

• A thick layer of gold covering a solid structure underneath

• A gold alloy that includes other metals like lead

Gilded Age

This period in U.S. politics and social history is often called the "Gilded Age" because of its opulence and high levels of income inequality and political/business corruption​, hidden by a veneer of extragance and wealth.

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Combating Corruption

Because of the business and political corruption that emerged during the Indistrial Revolution, a new political movement was founded to fight corruption: The Progressive Movement. ​

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One of the key weapons to combat corruption was the use of newspapers and journalists to investigate and report on these activities.​

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Multiple Choice

What is this image illustrating?

• Yellow journalism

• Honest journalism

• Fake News Journalism

• Muckraking journalism

Multiple Choice

Which kind of journalism used sensation primarily to sell newspapers and sway public opinion?

• Yellow Journalism

• Muckracking Journalism

• Tabloid Journalism

• Bad Journalism

Change in American Politics

This period of history also saw some tremendous changes in the structure and practice of American politics.

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For the first time ever, corporations made large contributions to U.S. elections to push for industrial interests​.

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This era also sees a fundamental change in the way elections are financed​, and shows how money can influence elections.

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Multiple Choice

What is the name of the kind of political organizions that played key roles in U.S. elections during this period?

• Political Action Committees (PACs)

• Political machines

• Super PACs

• Grassroots political parties

Multiple Choice

What was the name of the powerful New York City political machine of the mid-late 19th Century?

• Lincoln Hall

• Roosevelt Center

• Tammany Hall

• Rockefeller Hall

Multiple Choice

What is it called when a single person or corporation controls all or most of an industry?

• Trust

• Anti-Monopoly

• Anti-Trust

• Monopoly

Multiple Choice

What law sought to breakup and prevent monopolies?

• Roosevelt Anti-Monopoly Act

• McKinley Trusts Act

• Grant Anti-Monopolies provision

• Clayton Anti-Trust Act

Multiple Choice

Who was the corrupt NYC political boss that shaped politics in NYC and the state of New York?

• William "Boss" Tweed

• William "the Crusher" Tweed

• William McKinley

• Andrew Carnegie

Multiple Choice

What U.S. president was elected largely through the massive funding by a small handful of Wealthy industrialists in the election of 1896?

• Howard Taft

• Theordore Roosevelt

• William McKinley

• William Jennings Bryant

Progressives Respond

Responding to all the political and social corrupt was the job of a new political movement called "The Progressives"

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This new political movement had some very significant successes throughout the era, but they also held some beliefs about the future of the country that many today find questionable.​

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Multiple Choice

Which of these beliefs dis the Progressives NOT support?

• End to segregation

• Women's suffrage

• Eugenics

• Use of technology and science to advance the human condition

Multiple Choice

What political stance is being referenced in this political cartoon?

• Open immigration

• Limited immigration

• A longer process to become a naturalized U.S. citizen

• How the Progressives believed anyone should be allowed into the U.S.

Multiple Choice

What was perhaps one of the most significant achievements of the Progressive movement?

• Women's Right to Vote

• Women's Property Rights

• Repeal of the Women's Right to Vote

• Extension of Women's rights

Multiple Choice

Who was the first "progressive" president (meaning someone who was part of the Progressive movement in U.S. politics)?

• William McKinley

• Theodore Roosevelt

• Howard Taft

• Woodrow Wilson

Multiple Choice

What was the nickname of the Progressive Party that broke away from the Republicans in 1912?

• Wildcatter

• Bear

• Bull Headed

• Bull Moose

Multiple Choice

What movement was the major accomplishment pictured in the cartoon part of?

• Labor Movement

• Child Labor Movement

• Fair Wages Movement

• We Need Sleep Movement

Multiple Choice

What is "nativism?"

• The belief that all immigrants should be immediately nationalized to become Americans

• The belief that only certain immigrants should become Americans

• The belief in looking out for interests and needs of the native-born population

• The belief in standing up for the rights of Native American peoples

Multiple Choice

Which scienctific belief did the Progressives NOT believe in

• Scientology

• Eugenics

• Phrenology

• Race Science

Were the Progressive?

People of any time in history are complex, with often competing or contradictory beliefs, the Progressives were no different

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Though some of their beliefs may not resonate as progressive today, at the time they were viewed as radical and revolutionary by many in America​

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Accomplishments

Though some of their beliefs left questionable and problematic legacies, the Progressives also accomplished numerous things that still have a positive impact today:

• Women's right to vote

• End to child labor

• Establishment of the 8-hour work day

• ​Increased work safety, food safety, and sanitation conditions

• Combatted business and political corruption, especially monopolies and trusts

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Poll

Based on what you have learned so far about the Progressive Movement, would you say they are actually progressive or no?

• Yes

• A little of both

• No