Industrialization, Immigration, and the Gilded Age

After the Civil War, the United States exploded into an industrial powerhouse. Factories, steel, oil, and railroads connected the country coast to coast. The late 1800s are called the Gilded Age because the country looked golden on the surface but had serious problems underneath.

Big business and railroads

• ●The transcontinental railroad (finished 1869) tied the nation together
• ●Andrew Carnegie dominated steel; John D. Rockefeller dominated oil
• ●Huge companies (monopolies and trusts) controlled whole industries
• ●A small group got incredibly rich while many workers stayed poor

Immigration and cities

Millions of immigrants from Europe and Asia came looking for work and a better life. Many passed through Ellis Island in New York. Cities grew fast and crowded, with tenement housing and tough conditions.

Labor fights back

• ●Workers faced long hours, low pay, and dangerous jobs (kids worked too)
• ●Labor unions formed to demand better wages and shorter hours
• ●Strikes sometimes turned violent as workers and owners clashed