The Gilded Age and Chapter 24 Lecture Notes

In the Gilded Age, there was a lot of corruption. One example of a piece of
society that was very corrupted was the railroad companies that were building the
transcontinental railroads. Often, the companies would buy their stock at an inflated
price, then sold it to make a huge amount of money. This hurt the economy. The system
also bribed judges, abused the public and had their fingers in the economy and financial
situation of the railroad business and made millions off of people who could not prevent
it. It was a monopoly that made a millionaire class and oppressed the lower classes.
Men such as Jay Gould made millions from embezzling stocks from the railroad
companies.
Why was the Gilded Age given its name?
Mark Twain wrote a book of satire on what he called The Gilded Age
o is it exaggerating the time period since the book is satire?
What caused the conditions?
There was some corruption
o trusts made it so that companies could corner the market
no more competition so they could up the prices
Capitalism
today we see capital as money
o it's actually something created by humans
it is meant to have the consumers the ones who are in charge
o doesnt always work that way
o immigrants were coming in from all over and messing with U.S. capitalism
before, the workers could quit or protest if they were angry or
disagreed with something
the consumers are in control
but now if someone quit, an immigrant could just come in
and take their place, not giving the workers a choice
the trusts didnt give consumers a choice or options anymore,
which you need for capitalism
so to make fairness, the Federal gov. had to step in to change it
equity vs equality
equality means everyone is the same and equity is people
being treated fair
they were unsure because of the laissez faire, or the gov. agreeing
to let capitalism grow and leave it alone
The Whiskey Wars
References to the Future
o Bureau of Internal Revenue was the precursor to the IRS

o today the tax on a 100-proof gallon is $13.50

their $2 tax is equivalent to $30 today
Eliot Ness during Prohibition
References to the Past
the Whiskey Rebellion was about alcohol as well
the first time the gov since 1817 that alcohol had been taxed was to
fund the Civil War