6.11 Reform in the Gilded Age

Responses to Industrial Excess

Gilded Age reformers reacted to corruption, inequality, and unsafe conditions. Social Darwinism justified laissez-faire wealth accumulation, while critics like Henry George (*Progress and Poverty*) and Edward Bellamy (*Looking Backward*) proposed alternatives. The Social Gospel movement urged Christians to apply religious principles to fix social problems like poverty and slums.

Labor and Political Reform Movements

Workers organized through the Knights of Labor (inclusive membership) and the American Federation of Labor (skilled workers, led by Samuel Gompers). Farmers formed the Populist (People's) Party, demanding free silver, graduated income tax, and direct election of senators via the Omaha Platform (1892), pushing government to address economic inequality.

Settlement Houses and Government Response

Jane Addams founded Hull House in Chicago, part of the settlement house movement helping immigrants and the urban poor. Reformers pressed government action, resulting in laws like the Interstate Commerce Act (1887) and Sherman Antitrust Act (1890), early attempts to regulate railroads and monopolies despite weak enforcement.

Key terms

Social Darwinism

Belief applying 'survival of the fittest' to society, justifying wealth inequality and opposing government intervention.

Social Gospel

Religious movement urging Christians to address social problems like poverty and labor conditions.

Hull House

Settlement house founded by Jane Addams in Chicago to aid immigrants and the urban poor.

Omaha Platform (1892)

Populist Party platform demanding free silver, graduated income tax, and direct election of senators.

Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

Early federal law aimed at breaking up monopolies and trusts, though weakly enforced at first.

Try an AP-style question

The Pendleton Act (1883) created…

1. the Interstate Commerce Commission
2. a national income tax
3. the spoils system
4. a merit-based civil service