Summary
Summary Civil Rights in the USA: In-depth Studies: Gilded Age
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All key information pertaining to women, native Americans, African Americans, and trade unions in the Gilded Age.
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Gilded Age, 1875-95:African Americans:
Lack of Progress:
- 1881: growth in segregated transport began with Tennessee enacting a segregated railway
law, which was continued with every other Southern state doing the same.
- Some African Americans supported segregation, such as Booker T. Washington. He
thought civil rights legislation would not help African Americans but taking advantage of
economic opportunities would.
- The Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision in 1896 upheld the idea of facilities being
‘separate but equal’.
- Segregated districts became common across the US. In Chicago, 5000 African Americans
were concentrated in one area. In New York, Harlem became a separate district for 23,000
African Americans by the early 20th century.
- Exclusion by registration laws (such as taxes, literacy tests, or the ‘grandfather clause’)
meant that African American voters were scarce by 1895.
- Mob rule was favoured in the South which allowed lynchings and violence against African
Americans.
- Though some benefitted from the Westward expansion, most African Americans were not
able to move due to lack of capital and expertise.
- There were a disproportionate amount of African American prisoners in chain gangs and
labour camps due to false arrests.
Gains in Progress:
- Some 40,000 African Americans moved with the Westward expansion. Though this did not
relieve tensions, there were many black pioneers and cowboys.
- Literacy was improved during this period whereby only 1 in 20 African Americans could
read in 1865 but, by 1895, this had risen to 1 in 2.
- There was a rise in religious organisations, banks, insurance schemes and societies, and
companies run by African Americans.
- By 1900 there were around 47,000 African American professionals including doctors,
lawyers, teachers and artists. Though, this was out of a population of 8 million.
Trade Unions + Labour Rights:
Lack of Progress:
- The growing demand for workers may have encouraged industrial militancy and violent
strike action, as witnessed with the Haymarket Affair in 1886. The event damaged the
reputation of unions, discouraging people from joining them.
- The economic slump at the end of the period meant that there was unemployment, job
insecurity, and a reduction in wages.
- The courts usually supported employers against workers and issued injunctions to end
strikes.
- The government continued to follow a laissez-faire policy and supported big business,
which added to the lack of protection available to workers. This meant that workers would
have to work long hours and in dangerous conditions. Some 2,000 rail workers died in
accidents in 1889.
- The lack of protective legislation and the use of the ‘contract system’ meant that workers
could be laid off during quiet periods; this became a greater issue during the slump.
- The increase in mechanisation led to a decline in the demand for skilled workers. Many
new workers taken on were unskilled and their wages were 30% of what skilled workers
earned. This led to further division in the workforce which led to divisions in the labour
movement.
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