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Industrialization & the Gilded Age
AP US History · Period 6: 1865–1898
Historical Context
Mark Twain coined "Gilded Age" — gold on the surface, corruption underneath. America transformed from an agrarian republic to the world's largest industrial power between 1870–1900.
Key Drivers: Transcontinental Railroad (1869), Bessemer steel process, electrical power, laissez-faire government, massive immigration, and abundant natural resources.
Business Strategies
Vertical Integration
Control ALL stages of production (Carnegie Steel: mines → ships → mills → distribution)
Horizontal Integration
Buy out ALL competitors (Rockefeller: acquired 90% of U.S. oil refineries)
Tags
Gilded Age Robber Barons Carnegie Rockefeller Labor Unions Urbanization
Gilded Age Themes
AP Exam Focus (KC 6.1.I): Period 6 heavily tests: Robber Barons vs Captains of Industry debate, vertical vs horizontal integration, Social Darwinism vs Gospel of Wealth, labor union strategies (Knights of Labor vs AFL), the Haymarket Affair's impact, and how industrialization created BOTH massive wealth AND widespread poverty.