Gilded Age

Use the handout with the reading about The Gilded Age,

and

your textbook, (pages 139, 140, and top paragraph of 141).

• There are two things I should have open while I do this Quizizz.

• I should do this Quizizz without looking at any sources.

Something that is gilded is covered in a thin layer of gold. If you scratch the gold, you see whatever is underneath it, possibly very ugly.

Why is "The Gilded Age" a good name for the period of rapid industrialization in America?

• It was like there was gold everywhere, because so many people were gaining wealth.

• It seemed like there were a lot of riches. But underneath, there were serious issues, sometimes ugly ones.

Which of these statements was true during the Gilded Age?

• The working class and poor became wealthier and moved into the middle and upper class.

• Big businesses broke up, and competition kept any one business owner from becoming too powerful.

• Political power and wealth were not shared equally, but were controlled by political machines and robber barons.

• The government passed strict laws to end corruption in the economy and politics.

Who/what ruled America for 20 or so years?

• Industrialists who used their businesses to squash competition and control the market and even people's votes.

• the government's lax economic policies, ensuring that every American had

• individual voters, who established machines and distributed jobs to all who needed them.

"...corruption, dirty-deals, and the working poor that lay below the surface of society" weren't always noticed when people thought of America.

Instead, their attention was on

• the super-rich, like John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan

• the evils of child labor

• rebuilding the South after the Civil War

Select the TWO that are true.

• The government closely controlled growing businesses, such as the oil industry

• Rockefeller's business grew by buying smaller rival companies, and using bribery, sabotage, and secret deals with railroads.

• Although government laws prevented monopolies, Rockefeller found a loophole and ended up owning nearly all of America's oil.

Standard Oil was a trust. This explains why it

• was formed by a young bookkeeper who used deception to get rich.

• legally controlled most of the nation’s oil refineries.

• depended on bribery.

• was based in Cleveland.

Which of the following details best shows that J.P. Morgan was a very successful banker?

• His friends owned almost half of America’s track mileage.

• He loaned $62 million in gold to the US government.

• He dodged the draft by paying $300.

• He bought rifles from the government, refitted them and then sold them back.

Which is NOT true?

• Andrew Carnegie went from "rags to riches". This was common. Many other robber barons rose out of poverty to become rich, too.

• Many people believed that a person could go from "rags to riches" if they worked hard enough.

• The "Gospel of Success" was promoted in story books.

• Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan partnered to found the first billion-dollar company.

Social Darwinism was thought to explain that

• those at the top of society earned their place. If you're poor, you deserve it.

• humans evolved from more primitive life-forms.

• the strongest and most adaptable animals survive to pass on their genes.

• lax economic policies benefit only the poor and middle classes.