1. “It is a time when one’s spirit is subdued and sad, one knows not why; when the past seems
a storm-swept desolation, life a vanity and a burden, and the future but a way to death. It is
a time when one is filled with vague longings; when one dreams of flight to peaceful islands
in the remote solitudes of the sea, or folds his hands and says, What is the use of struggling,
and toiling and worrying any more? let us give it all up.”
- Mark Twain, The Gilded Age
42. An Uneven Wealth Distribution
• By 1890s 10% of pop. held 90% of nation’s
wealth
• Growth of large corporations “white-collar”
workers middle-class accountants,
salespersons, doctors and lawyers
• 20% of adult women in labor force; most young
and single, less income and fewer benefits
than men
• Worker discontent grew
43. New Business Culture
Laissez Faire ideology of the
Industrial Age.
Individual as a moral and
economic ideal.
Free marketplace competition
No room for government in the
market!
44. Social Darwinism
British economist.
Advocate of
laissez-faire.
Adapted Darwin’s
ideas from the
“Origin of Species”
to humans.
Notion of “Survival
of the Fittest.”
Herbert Spencer
45. Social Darwinism in America
William Graham Sumner
Folkways (1906)
$ Individuals must
have absolute
freedom to struggle,
succeed or fail.
$ Therefore, state
intervention to
reward society and
the economy is
futile!
46. New Business Culture:
“The American Dream?”
Protestant (Puritan) “Work Ethic”
Horatio Alger [100+ novels]
Is the idea of the “self-made man” a MYTH??
47. The Gospel of Wealth:
Religion in the Era of Industrialization
$ Wealth viewed as sign of
God’s approval.
$ Christian duty to
accumulate wealth.
$ Should not help the poor.
48. “On Wealth”
Andrew Carnegie
$ The Anglo-Saxon
race is superior.
$ Inequality is
inevitable and good.
$ Wealthy should act
as “trustees” for
their “poorer
brethren.”
51. How Rich Are the Superrich
Today?
A huge share of the nation's economic
growth since the 1980s has gone to
the top one-hundredth of one percent,
who now make an average of $27
million per household.
The average income for the bottom 90
percent of us?
60. New Type of Business Entities
1. 1887 Interstate Commerce Act
Interstate Commerce
Commission created.
2. Trust John D. Rockefeller
Standard Oil Co.
