The Gilded Age

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• The Gilded Age

Section 4.2 Conspicuous Consumption
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Todays AgendaDay 6

• Issue 1 (Palins and the Bush Doctrine)
• Issue 2 (Political Ads)
• Review Political Spectrum
• 4.2 The Spirit of the Gilded Age
• Homework
• Day 7 Presentation/Paper due Monday!!!

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Write which political philosophy or which side
you would associate with the following terms

• laissez-faire
• Government control over all economic activity
• Government control over all social activity
• Pro Welfare
• Pro Big Business

• Anti-Foreigner
• George W. Bush taking over Fannie and Freddy
• Pro Union
• Violence a legitimate tool
• The Republican Party

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Objectives for TodayYou should be able to

• Define and list at least 2 characteristics of the
  Gilded Age
• Identify The Breakers
• Define and give at least 3 examples of
  Conspicuous Consumption
• Develop a position of the role government should
  play in dealing with severe economic disparity

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The Centennial Exposition (1876)
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Was America a great nation circa 1900?

• Centennial Exposition showcased American know-how
• Growing economy
• Thousands of new patents

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The Greatness of America
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What was the Gilded Age?

• Another name for Americas Industrial Revolution
• America from 1890-1912
• Gilded
• to cover something with a thin layer of gold to
  make it seem more attractive or valuable than it
  really is.
• "Gilded Age"
• coined by Mark Twain

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What was the nation trying to gild?

• Poverty
• Child Labor
• Crime
• Alcoholism
• Protestution
• Inhumane working conditions
• Inequality between Rich and Poor

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How did the American elite gild themselves?

• Conspicuous Consumption
• referred to the acquisition of goods for purposes
  of show and status
• Often called Nouveaux Riches
• New Rich
• Example in Titanic
• How is this person regarded?

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Describe Vanderbilts, The Breakers.
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Describe Vanderbilts, The Breakers.

• Cornelius Vanderbilt IIs summer mansion in
  Newport, RI
• Quintessential example of conspicuous consumption
• interior used marble rare woods imported from
  Italy and Africa
• Gold Room was originally constructed in France,
  disassembled, shipped in airtight cases, and
  re-assembled in place in Newport

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Are we still in a Gilded Age?
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On the back of your worksheet, Create a political
cartoon that comments on something about America
today