Native Americans In The Gilded Age

During the late 1800s there was a time period called the “Gilded Age”. The Gilded Age is a time period the economy was struggling along with the people of the era. Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and Thomas Edison were some examples of successful business owners and Robber Barons of that time. Robber Barons were the people who stole money from the public along with natural resources such as soil, land, etc. These men were supposed to be great leaders, but instead they enforce horrible working conditions.

The mid-19th century saw an unprecedented wave of immigrants coming into the country. At its peak, Ellis Island, the main processing station for immigrants, handled an astounding 5,000 people every day. Because of the language and culture barriers faced by each group of people, they often settled amongst themselves. Very quickly, country-specific neighborhoods began popping up throughout New York and the surrounding area. This helped to alleviate the stresses with moving to a new country; however, most immigrants came to the United States penniless and lived in low-income housing as their jobs rarely supported themselves let alone their families.

In the 19th century we have seen the rise of the industrial revolution, this led to the construction of urban cities and urban life. Many immigrants were seen migrating to the United States in search of jobs opportunities and a better life. Most of the immigrants were Europeans. All the people working together in industries were of different cultures and were supposed to live in the same urban communities. Kasson writes that, they would not talk to each other and a sense of racial tension could be seen in the urban cities.

The Gilded Age was an age of rapid economic growth. Railroads, factories, and mines were slowly popping up across the country, creating a variety of new opportunities for entrepreneurs and laborers alike. These new inventions and opportunities created “...an unprecedented accumulation of wealth” (GML, 601). But the transition of America from a small farming based nation to a powerful industrial one created a huge rift between social classes. Most people were either filthy rich or dirt poor, with workers being the latter.

From colonial times until the end of the Indian Wars in 1890, the people in America went through a series of unfair and unfortunate events. Mainly for the Indians which are also called the first peoples. These events could have been handled with much more consideration for the Indians. There are many times when the Americans went too far including the Removal Act of 1830, the Reservation System, and the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians.

The American government of the late 1800’s adopted the policy of assimilation because they were influenced by the desire to expand westward into territories occupied by these Native American tribes. All Native American tribes, lived to the west of the Mississippi River. These American Indians, some from the Northwestern and Southeastern territories, were confined to Indian Territory. The Native Americans had endured nearly a century of forced removal westward.

In the gilded age there were 3 branches of hardships Immigrants faced were in social, economic and political. There were many social problems for Immigrants. Immigrants lived in Ghettos. Ghettos are places that Immigrants created to live with their race, and culture. A famous example of a ghetto from this time would be Chinatown.

The Second Industrial Revolution presented many hardships to immigrants looking for a better life in America. In his book, The Uprooted, Oscar Handlin makes the case for immigrants enduring the hardships adjusting to the American culture and economy. His argument is supported by specific statistics and events that damaged these people. These newcomers’ ideas, beliefs, and cultures were affected as well. Immigrants faced with American culture and commerce had to adjust their own in order to survive.

A skilled worker was no longer needed to manufacture a product.” Instead of getting another laborer they could be taught easily to use machinery, if this person decided to resign they could be easily replaced due to the surplus of immigrants looking for jobs. The Gilded Age was known as the Industrial era for the use of factory systems, and the new inventions of machinery that replaced the need for as much human labor. As a result of this, America in the last decades of the nineteenth century was controlled by labor unrest and incurious workers who are losing their jobs and violent strikes. An example of this was The Great Railroad Strike of 1877.

The American Revolution lasted six years and the impacts of it were everlasting(Schultz, 2010). The effects were felt by every group of people in North America and many worldwide. Even though George Washington had all of his troops vaccinated against smallpox, the colonists were not so fortunate and as a results some estimates are that as many as one hundred and thirty thousand people died from this dreaded disease. This loss of life combined with the divisions among the colonies into those loyal to Britain and those who wanted freedom would forever change the way of life for the colonists.

The Effect of European Exploration and Colonization on Native Americans Everyone knows that the colonization of Europeans on the Native American’s land has been disastrous to its people. The exploration of these new lands did not start with Columbus as most of us have been taught, instead stretching back all the way to the fifteenth century A.D, when millions of Native Americans lived in the America’s rather than the small amount we reduced them to. The Europeans brought other things than death to the Native Americans, however.

The decade between 1890 and 1900 expressed a crucial time in the United States of America’s history. Many people experienced struggles throughout this time while others prospered. Mark Twain suggested that despite the significant achievements of the United States, Americans experienced poverty. This statement is an accurate description of the lively hood people experienced in their daily lives during the Gilded Age whether it was positive or negative. Many people during this time period focused on the positive outcomes that resulted from the Gilded Age such as new inventions, the gospel of wealth, additions of land to the country, urbanization, and middle-class improvements.

Americanization and Indian Boarding School The history of Native Americans was full of violent, cheats and sadness. From Spanish conquerors, English settlers to U. S Government, Native Americans lost their battles against these parties with greater power. As a result, their home lands, people and culture were consistently threatened by different societies.

Immigration and The American Dream Immigrants from the mid 19th century and early 20th century consisted of mainly Southern and Eastern Europe, Asia, and elsewhere. Immigrants motivations, experiences, and impacts shaped what an immigrant had to go through being a different person from another country. Although Americans dislike foreigners who came to the United States, immigrants had a role in political, economic, cultural, and social aspects of immigrants because of their motivations, experiences, and impacts in America. New Immigrants did not have it easy and went through obstacles natives, political figures, bosses and others had thrown at them.

Throughout the 19th century Native Americans were treated far less than respectful by the United States’ government. This was the time when the United States wanted to expand and grow rapidly as a land, and to achieve this goal, the Native Americans were “pushed” westward. It was a memorable and tricky time in the Natives’ history, and the US government made many treatments with the Native Americans, making big changes on the Indian nation. Native Americans wanted to live peacefully with the white men, but the result of treatments and agreements was not quite peaceful. This precedent of mistreatment of minorities began with Andrew Jackson’s indian removal policies to the tribes of Oklahoma (specifically the Cherokee indians) in 1829 because of the lack of respect given to the indians during the removal laws.