Economic History

The economy came out of the depression following the Panic of 1873 at the end of that decade, lurched into a short, sharp depression in 1882–1883, and then fell into a much more severe depression from 1893 to 1897. Until the 1930s this was known as the Great Depression. Many Gilded Age workers toiled in dangerous jobs for low pay. Approximately 40 percent of industrial laborers in the 1880s earned below the poverty line of $500 a year. With such a yawning chasm between “haves” and “have-nots,” workers fought back against the inequality by forming labor unions. Industrial strikes occurred with greater frequency—and greater violence—following the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. During the 1880s alone, there were nearly 10,000 labor strikes and lockouts (Klein, 2021). During 1865 to 1895, the Gilded Age, a period of rapid urbanization and industrialization, the creation of huge fortunes by entrepreneurs such as the Rockefeller, Carnegie and other "robber barons" and strengthening of social class distinctions and inequalities. Most histories neglect the lives of the poor and other marginalized people since they produced few records, leaving us with very little social welfare history written "from the bottom up." (Miyawaki, 2009).

Jacob Riis wrote “How the Other Half Lives” and it highlights crises in housing, education, homelessness, immigration, crime, and labor in the late nineteenth century.  “Long ago it was said that "one half of the world does not know how the other half lives." That was true then. It did not know because it did not care. The half that was on top cared little for the struggles, and less for the fate of those who were underneath, so long as it was able to hold them there and keep its own seat. There came a time when the discomfort and consequent upheavals so violent, that it was no longer an easy thing to do, and then the upper half fell to inquiring what was the matter. Information on the subject has been accumulating rapidly since, and the whole world has had its hands full answering for its old ignorance” (Heyman, 2010). Its clear the world forgets easily, too easily, what it does not like to remember. The poor, Riis believes, were the result of the overpopulation that accompanied industrialization, urbanization and immigration during that time.  It echoes the reflection that the rich do not typically care to notice the poor. This thought is mirrored in the book's title, How the Other Half Lives, with the other half symbolizing the escalating poor population of the city. Riis's book helped build a new consensus that empowered government to make ameliorative responses such as zoning, housing codes, sanitation, health, work, and safety regulations. How the Other Half Lives was innovative in a number of ways: it brought together the newly accessible technology of photography, social statistics, and first-hand reportage, and for the first time it directly appealed to public reform and legislative regulation as opposed to private charity.  In addition to catalyzing actual reforms in New York City (and inspiring them elsewhere)(Heyman, 2010). Evidently, the 1890s were marked by a severe economic depression which impacted industry and employment, which left many poverty stricken.

Heyman, Rich. 2010. “People Can: The Geographer as Anti-Expert: 4th Annual James Blaut Memorial Lecture Las Vegas, Nevada, Tuesday, March 24, 2009.” ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies 9 (3): 301–26. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.uwgb.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=a9h&AN=63157374&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Jacob A. Riis was a journalist and social reformer who publicized the crises in housing, education, and poverty at the height of European immigration to New York City in the late nineteenth century. In the book "How the Other Half Lives," by Jacob Riis had marked in the American methods to urban social conditions and it signaled the start of public interest in legislative intervention.

Klein, Christopher. “How Gilded Age Corruption Led to the Progressive Era.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, February 4, 2021. https://www.history.com/news/gilded-age-progressive-era-reforms.

Statistics regarding the economy in the 1890's .

Miyawaki, Christina. 2009. “Review of Ordinary People: In and out of Poverty in the Gilded Age.” Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare 36 (2): 192–95. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.uwgb.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=psyh&AN=2009-08583-014&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

This entails details relating to poverty from 1865 to 1895 during the Gilded Age.

Palen, Mark William. “Global Problems for the New Gilded Age.” Institute for Policy Studies, May 8, 2014. https://ips-dc.org/global\_problems\_for\_the\_new\_gilded\_age/.

Political cartoon from the Chicago Labor Newspaper in 1894 criticizing the poor laborer.