Welcome back to The Emancipation Podcast Station - the place to hear about history researched and retold through the eyes of Middle school and HS students.

Last time on the show…

Today we discuss the causes of the Civil War. Let’s dive in.

Introduction to the Gilded Age Why was it called the Gilded Age? And Who coined the term.

1. 1. Hunter- The gilded age in American was the late 19th century, from 1870 to about 1900. The name of this point in time was used in the early 20th century, and was derived from writer Mark Twain’s 1873 novel the Gilded Age: A Tale Of Today, which started an era of social problems covered by a thin gold gilding.

• Gabe - The Gilded age was a time where americans economy went good and bad in a way because industry grew but money not so much.  

1. - Ethan - The Gilded Age was the time that America began to revolutionize their industrial world. Mark Twain coined the term “Gilded Age” which meant the time seemed pretty good but was truly miserable. Someone who profited from the Gilded Age was John D. Rockefeller, who was the founder of oil. Oil was just 1 of the “titans of industry” which were steel, banking, and oil. The miserable part would probably be that they got their money mostly through corruption.

The Gilded Age and the Second Industrial Revolution

Name one invention that came out of the Second Industrial Revolution.

1. Hunter- The Second Industrial Revolution, also known as the Technological Revolution, was a time of quick industrialization in the last third of the 19th century, and the beginning of the 20th. Some of the inventions are of the following the swiss army knife, barbed wire, dynamite, and the motorcycle. Oh and some of my personal favorites are the Maxim Machine Gun, and the colt .45 M-1911.

1. - Blake(ben) - As everyone has said previously this was a big time for the early United States which revolutionized building and processing for wealthy businessman looking to get a start in the material industry.

Social Darwinism in the Gilded Age What is Social Darwinism and do you think there is any truth in it?

1. Skylar - Social Darwinism is just basically seeing what people are on the outside. Social Darwinism says that the poor have less worth that a higher class rich person. It’s judging people for what’s on the outside and your social class rather than judging someone for what’s on the inside like being kind. Acting like a snob means you have more worth to someone who believes in Social Darwinism, when in reality they are worth less for judging people just by how much money they have, or how they look.

America moves to the city Why did most of America start moving to cities and leaving farms?

1. 1. Skylar - In 1790 nearly everyone lived in the country or on a farm. Due to The Second Industrial Revolution, growing population, and new machinery the United States needed more room to expand into the countryside to make big cities for railroads and new jobs. By 1920 only 28% of people lived in rural areas and the majority lived in the larger cities.

• Gabe - Another thing that happened which was people started urbanizing living in urban places it started in the 1800s and it made its ascent from there until 1920s where more people lived in urban areas then actual rural areas. And here is a quote from thomas jefferson who said “once we start piling upon one another in large cities  as in europe

We will become as corrupt as europe”.

1. - Blake(hunters) - America began to enter industrialization and because of this more people moved to bigger cities to find work and be prosperous.

The Knights of Labor  

What were the Knights of Labor and what do you think about them? Good or bad?

1.Hunter- The K of L, officially Noble the Holy order of the Knights of Labor, Was the largest and one of the most important American labor organizations 1880. It’s most important leaders were Terence V. Powderly and step-brother Joseph bath. The Knights promoted the working man, rejected socialism and anarchism, demanded the eight-hour day, and promoted the producersethic of republicanism.

1. The Knights of Labor was a union founded in 1869. They promoted 8 hour work days and wanted to end child labor. It was mostly white men in this union, but immigrants, african americans, as well as women were welcome to be members. By 1886 the Knights of Labor had over 700,000 members and supporters.

The Populists What was the Populists agenda? Did they succeed?

1. Skylar - The people who were called populists were an agrarian-based movement trying to better the conditions for the farmers and agrarian workers of the United States. In 1876 the farmers alliance was made to help end the crop-lien system that put many farmers into poverty, this movement began in Texas. The crop-lien system operated in the south were cotton was grown. Any sharecroppers, tenant farmers, black, and white people who didn’t own the land that they worked, would have to take out loans to be able to purchase supplies had to pay back their loans with cotton.

7.Hunter- the Populists were an agrarian-based  political movement.

The South after the Civil War What happened to the farming economy, why?

1. 1. Skylar - The period of Reconstruction lasted from 1865 to 1877. During this time 3 newly adopted amendments were passed, the Thirteenth Amendment to end slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment that promised the African Americans the right to have citizenship in The United States Of America, and the Fifteenth Amendment that guaranteed black men the right to vote.

• Gabe - The South crashed economically because they were built on selling tobacco and cotton  and since the prices dropped the south was economically destroyed.

1. Ben- Just because slavery ended doesn’t mean racism did, some is still here today, and people are doing things about it. But the end of slavery was pretty cool. Allowing people of color to now vote and be American citizens. Some of the industry based on slavery like farming and other labor tasks sort of crashed since they now had to hire workers and pay them.

Life after slavery for African Americans What happened to racism, did it get better or worse? Why do you think that

1. 1. Skylar - When the civil war was over life got a lot better for the people living in the United States. African Americans became free in 1865 and was put into the Amendments as the 13th amendment. Which made a huge difference in everyone’s lives, especially the cotton plantation owners in the south because they would no longer have free labor.

• African americans became as the same as any white person there was no “an african american person couldn't do this because blank” anymore. There was a african american named george washington carver who made 300 different products from peanuts. Another named Booker T Washington started a University.

1. Ben - There were still some restrictions on what they could do though, they still couldn’t testify against white people, serve in a jury, or serve in some state militias.

The Compromise of 1877 Why did the compromise have to happen? What was the final factor that gave Hayes his victory. What was the main deal in the Compromise?

1. 1. Skylar - The Compromise of 1877 was put into place to resolve a Presidential election that took place a year before. There was a dispute between the democrat Samuel Tilden and republican Rutherford Hayes. This dispute was obviously over who was going to become the next President of the US. Samuel J. Tilden won with 247,448 votes, but votes in 3 states were being disputed. These states were in the South and were, Florida, Louisiana, as well as South Carolina. This lasted 4 months then this compromise was put into place.

• Basically the exchange in this compromise was that Rutherford B Hayes would become President and the south would get home rule and federal troops with withdraw from the south

1. 1. - Ethan - The compromise was seemingly a president in exchange troop withdrawal.

• Ben- With most debates the best option is a compromise, it will make both sides an equal amount of happy or sad. And with the destruction of the souths economy everyone was reconstructing their businesses.

1. - Blake - The compromise of 1877 was basically meant as a tiebreaker for the previous presidential election which had also affected African Americans

Jim Crow

The origins of Jim Crow - introduction

Origins of Jim Crow - the Black Codes and Reconstruction

Origins of Jim Crow - the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments

Origins of Jim Crow - Compromise of 1877 and Plessy v. Ferguson

What are the Jim Crow Laws and what did they encompass, why did people think there was a need to put those laws into place?

1. Skylar - Jim Crow laws were racist laws. Saying for example, this bathroom is for blacks and this is a special one for whites. Jim Crow laws were really popular in the South from the 1870 through the 1960. Nearly 100 years. Most schools, restaurants, bathrooms, buses, stores, ect. Were using these laws to keep African Americans out of their places of business. If a black man had a business that was making good money some nieve white men would burn their homes/shops down because they were jealous. If a white and black person were together they’d hang the black person in the middle of town which is so crazy.