The U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously 9-0 in Loewe v. Lawlor (the “Danbury Hatters’ Case”) that the Sherman Antitrust Act applies to labor unions and that individual union members can be held personally liable for damages caused by union boycotts. Chief Justice Melville W. …
U.S. Supreme CourtChief Justice Melville W. FullerUnited Hatters of North AmericaD.E. Loewe & CompanyMartin Lawlor+1 morelabor-suppressiongilded-agesupreme-courtantitrust-misusejudicial-capture+1 more
Congress enacts the Platt Amendment as part of the Army Appropriations Act, stipulating seven conditions for withdrawal of U.S. troops remaining in Cuba after the Spanish-American War, plus an eighth condition requiring Cuba to sign a treaty accepting these conditions. The amendment, spearheaded by …
William McKinleyOrville H. PlattElihu RootLeonard WoodCuban Constituent Assembly+1 moregilded-ageimperialismregime-changecubaterritorial-control+1 more
The United States Steel Corporation is incorporated with authorized capitalization of $1.4 billion, becoming the first billion-dollar corporation in history and controlling 60% of the nation’s primary steel capacity. Financier J.P. Morgan orchestrates the massive consolidation, fusing together …
J.P. MorganAndrew CarnegieCharles SchwabElbert GaryJohn D. Rockefellergilded-agemonopoly-powercorporate-consolidationfinancial-powermerger-wave
On February 25, 1901, J.P. Morgan incorporated the United States Steel Corporation with an authorized capitalization of $1.4 billion, creating the first billion-dollar corporation in history by purchasing Andrew Carnegie’s steel empire for approximately $480 million and consolidating it with …
The Siege of Peking begins as the anti-foreign, anti-imperialist Boxer movement (Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists) surrounds foreign legations in Beijing, trapping diplomats and missionaries including 56 American sailors and Marines from USS Oregon and USS Newark. The siege triggers …
Secretary of State John Hay issues a diplomatic circular to Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Russia articulating the “Open Door” policy for China, advocating three principles: (1) no power would interfere with trading rights of other nations within its sphere of …
John HayWilliam Woodville RockhillWilliam McKinleyAmerican Asiatic AssociationEuropean imperial powers+1 moregilded-ageimperialismcorporate-powertrade-policychina+1 more
Fighting erupts between U.S. forces and Filipino independence fighters led by Emilio Aguinaldo, transforming America’s supposed “liberation” of the Philippines from Spain into a brutal three-year war of imperial conquest. The conflict begins just two days before the Senate ratifies …
Emilio AguinaldoWilliam McKinleyU.S. Army forcesPhilippine independence movementFilipino civiliansgilded-ageimperialismwar-crimesmilitary-atrocitiescounterinsurgency+1 more
By the end of the 1890s, the Standard Oil Trust controls the refining of 90 to 95 percent of all oil produced in the United States, representing the most complete industrial monopoly in American history achieved through systematic elimination of competitors, strategic mergers, and exploitation of …
John D. RockefellerStandard Oil TrustRailroad corporationsCompeting refineriesState regulatorsgilded-agemonopoly-powercorporate-powercorruptionanticompetitive-practices+1 more
President McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution (House Joint Resolution 259) annexing the Hawaiian Islands, legitimizing a corporate coup d’état executed five years earlier by American sugar planters who overthrew the constitutional monarchy of Queen Liliuokalani. The annexation occurs …
William McKinleySanford B. DoleQueen LiliuokalaniSugar plantation ownersCommittee of Safety+1 moregilded-ageimperialismcorporate-powerregime-changeterritorial-expansion+1 more
The Spanish-American War’s largest scandal erupts as U.S. Army soldiers receive widespread distribution of extremely low-quality, heavily adulterated beef products from Chicago meatpacking corporations. General Nelson Miles denounces the meat as “embalmed beef,” describing how …
Russell A. AlgerWilliam McKinleyArmour & CoSwift & CoMorris & Co+2 moregilded-agecorruptionwar-profiteeringspanish-american-warcorporate-negligence+1 more
The United States declares war on Spain following the April 20 ultimatum demanding Spanish withdrawal from Cuba, launching what Secretary of State John Hay will call “a splendid little war” that transforms America into a global imperial power. Spain had severed diplomatic ties on April …
William McKinleyTheodore RooseveltU.S. NavySpanish EmpireCuban revolutionariesgilded-ageimperialismspanish-american-warmilitary-interventionterritorial-expansion
An explosion tears through the hull of the USS Maine anchored in Havana Harbor, Cuba, sinking the ship and killing 266 American sailors. Sober observers and an initial report by the colonial government of Cuba conclude the explosion occurred on board, but newspaper magnates William Randolph Hearst …
William Randolph HearstJoseph PulitzerNew York JournalNew York WorldUSS Maine crew+1 moregilded-agemedia-manipulationimperialismpropagandaspanish-american-war
Sheriff James Martin and 150 armed deputies open fire on 300-400 unarmed striking coal miners marching to support a newly formed United Mine Workers union at Calvin Pardee’s Lattimer mine near Hazleton, Pennsylvania. The peaceful demonstration consists mostly of Polish, Slovak, Lithuanian, and …
Sheriff James MartinLuzerne County deputiesUnited Mine WorkersImmigrant minersPennsylvania National Guard+1 morelabor-suppressiongilded-agepolice-violenceimmigrationmining-industry+1 more
President McKinley signs the Dingley Tariff Act into law, establishing the highest protective tariffs in U.S. history at an average of 52% in its first year of operation (57% increase on average). The act shields domestic industries from foreign competition by hiking duties on sugar, salt, tin cans, …
William McKinleyNelson Dingley Jr.Republican PartyIndustrial trustsManufacturing corporationsgilded-agecorporate-powereconomic-policyprotectionismmonopoly-power
William McKinley defeats William Jennings Bryan to win the presidency in what becomes a watershed moment in American campaign finance, powered by Republican National Committee Chairman Mark Hanna’s revolutionary systematic fundraising from corporations. The Ohio industrialist, shipping …
William McKinleyMark HannaStandard OilJohn D. RockefellerRepublican National Committee+1 moregilded-agecampaign-financecorruptioncorporate-powerelectoral-politics+1 more
At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 36-year-old former Nebraska Representative William Jennings Bryan delivers the electrifying “Cross of Gold” speech supporting “free silver” (bimetallism) against the gold standard, concluding with the famous peroration: …
William Jennings BryanDemocratic National ConventionPopulist PartyEastern banking interestsWestern farmers and minersgilded-agecampaign-financepopulismeconomic-policybimetallism
The U.S. Supreme Court issues a unanimous 9-0 decision in In re Debs, upholding the federal government’s use of injunctions to suppress labor strikes and affirming Eugene V. Debs’s contempt of court conviction for continuing the 1894 Pullman Strike in violation of a federal court order. …
U.S. Supreme CourtJustice David Josiah BrewerEugene V. DebsFederal judiciaryCorporate interestslabor-suppressiongilded-agejudicial-captureinjunctionsupreme-court+1 more
By 1895, following the Panic of 1893 that left one-third of American railroad mileage in receivership, J.P. Morgan had systematically reorganized the nation’s major railroads through a process known as ‘Morganization,’ consolidating competing lines into regional monopolies under …
J.P. MorganJ.P. Morgan & CompanySouthern RailwayErie RailroadNorthern Pacific Railroadbanking-consolidationrailroad-consolidationcorporate-powergilded-agefinancial-control
Workers at George Pullman’s railroad car manufacturing company in Pullman, Illinois—a company town where Pullman owns all housing, stores, churches, and infrastructure—launch a strike protesting wage cuts averaging 25% following the Panic of 1893 while rents and prices at company-owned …
George PullmanEugene V. DebsAmerican Railway UnionGrover ClevelandU.S. Army+1 morelabor-suppressiongilded-agepullman-strikecompany-townsfederal-intervention+1 more
Gold miners in Cripple Creek, Colorado, launch a strike after mine owners announce they will either extend the workday from eight to ten hours for the same $3 daily wage or maintain eight-hour days while reducing wages to $2.50 per day. Western Federation of Miners president John Calderwood issues a …
Western Federation of MinersGovernor Davis Hanson WaiteColorado State MilitiaJohn CalderwoodMine owners+1 morelabor-rightsgilded-agemining-industrystate-interventionunion-victory+1 more
Hard rock miners establish the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) in Butte, Montana, as a direct response to the catastrophic defeat of the 1892 Coeur d’Alene strike in Idaho and the brutal military repression that followed. The WFM emerges from miners’ recognition that existing labor …
Western Federation of MinersButte minersCoeur d'Alene strikersMining industry workerslabor-organizinggilded-agemining-industrymilitant-unionismwfm
Congress passed the Anti-Pinkerton Act following public outrage over the Homestead Strike massacre, prohibiting the federal government from hiring “an individual employed by the Pinkerton Detective Agency, or similar organization.” The legislation addressed “Congressional concern …
U.S. CongressPinkerton Detective Agencylabor-rightslegislative-reformcorporate-accountabilitygilded-age
Around 30,000 union members—half of New Orleans’ workforce and virtually all its unionized workers—strike on November 8, 1892, after the Board of Trade refuses to negotiate with the predominantly Black Teamsters union while offering contracts to white-dominated Scalesmen and Packers unions. …
Workingmen's Amalgamated CouncilTriple AllianceNew Orleans Board of TradeAmerican Federation of Laborlabor-organizinginterracial-solidaritycorporate-resistancegilded-age
Violent confrontation erupts between striking silver and lead miners and company guards at mines in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, after union workers discover a Pinkerton agent has infiltrated their organization and routinely provided confidential union information to mine owners. The violence follows …
Western Federation of MinersPinkerton Detective AgencyIdaho National GuardU.S. ArmyGeneral J.M. Schofield+2 morelabor-suppressiongilded-agemining-industrymartial-lawfederal-intervention+1 more
Three hundred Pinkerton Detective Agency agents attempt to forcibly seize Andrew Carnegie’s Homestead steel mill in Pennsylvania, triggering a 14-hour armed battle with locked-out steelworkers that leaves seven workers and three Pinkertons dead, with dozens more wounded. The violent …
Andrew CarnegieHenry Clay FrickPinkerton Detective AgencyAmalgamated Association of Iron and Steel WorkersPennsylvania National Guard+1 morelabor-suppressiongilded-agehomestead-strikeprivate-securitycorporate-violence+1 more
On July 1, 1892, Andrew Carnegie consolidated his various steel operations into the Carnegie Steel Company, creating the largest and most profitable steel company in the world through complete vertical integration of the entire steel production chain. The company headquarters were located in the …
Andrew CarnegieHenry Clay FrickCarnegie Steel Companycorporate-powersteel-industryvertical-integrationgilded-agemonopoly
The Pinkerton National Detective Agency operates throughout the Gilded Age as a private corporate army deployed against labor organizing, providing armed guards, infiltration agents, and strikebreaking services to employers seeking to crush unions through surveillance, espionage, and violence. …
Pinkerton National Detective AgencyAllan PinkertonCorporate employersState governmentsLabor unionsgilded-agelabor-suppressionprivate-securitycorporate-violenceunion-busting+1 more
On July 2, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison signed the Sherman Antitrust Act into law after it passed the Senate 51-1 (April 8) and the House 242-0 (June 20), creating America’s first federal anti-monopoly legislation—but the law was deliberately vague, weakly worded, and systematically …
Senator John ShermanPresident Benjamin HarrisonU.S. Congressantitrustregulatory-failurepolitical-theatergilded-agecorporate-power
Pennsylvania coal companies established hundreds of “patch towns” where corporations owned all housing, stores, and infrastructure, creating systems of debt peonage that trapped workers through company scrip and inflated prices. Coal operators “controlled employment, housing, local …
Coal Mining CompaniesCoal and Iron PolicePennsylvania Coal Operatorslabor-suppressioncorporate-powereconomic-coerciongilded-ageinstitutional-capture
Forty-two delegates representing 13 national unions and various local labor organizations convene in Columbus, Ohio, to establish the American Federation of Labor (AFL) as the successor to the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (founded 1881). The convention elects Samuel Gompers, an …
Samuel GompersFederation of Organized Trades and Labor UnionsKnights of LaborCraft unionslabor-organizinggilded-ageaflcraft-unionslabor-rights+1 more
In what would become one of the most consequential non-rulings in American legal history, a court reporter’s headnote to Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad established the foundation for corporate personhood without the Supreme Court ever deciding the issue. Before oral arguments, …
U.S. Supreme CourtChief Justice Morrison WaiteJ.C. Bancroft Davis (Court Reporter)Southern Pacific RailroadSanta Clara County+1 morecorporate-personhoodsupreme-courtfourteenth-amendmentconstitutional-lawgilded-age+3 more
A peaceful labor rally at Haymarket Square in Chicago advocating for the eight-hour workday descends into violence when an unknown person throws a dynamite bomb at police officers attempting to disperse the gathering. The blast and ensuing retaliatory police gunfire kill seven police officers and at …
Chicago Police DepartmentAlbert ParsonsLucy ParsonsAugust SpiesCarter Harrison+3 morelabor-suppressiongilded-agepolice-violenceanarchismred-scare+2 more
The Supreme Court ruled in the Railroad Commission Cases that states possess constitutional authority to set railroad transportation rates through regulatory commissions, upholding Mississippi’s 1884 statute establishing rate-setting power. Filed the same year as the Santa Clara headnote, this …
U.S. Supreme CourtMississippi LegislatureFarmers' Loan & Trust CompanyMobile & Ohio Railroad CompanyMississippi Railroad Commissioncorporate-regulationsupreme-courtrailroad-regulationstate-police-powerproperty-rights+1 more
The Knights of Labor reaches its peak membership of over 700,000 workers (some sources report 750,000) under Grand Master Workman Terence V. Powderly, representing the largest and most inclusive labor organization in American history to that point. Founded in 1869 as a secret society and reorganized …
Terence V. PowderlyKnights of LaborJay GouldAmerican workerslabor-organizinggilded-ageknights-of-laborunion-membershiplabor-rights
Former U.S. Senator Roscoe Conkling, who had twice refused Supreme Court appointments to pursue his lucrative Gilded Age law practice, argued before the Court in San Mateo County v. Southern Pacific Railroad that the Fourteenth Amendment’s framers intentionally used “person” rather …
Roscoe ConklingU.S. Supreme CourtSouthern Pacific RailroadSan Mateo CountyJoint Committee on Reconstructioncorporate-personhoodsupreme-courtfourteenth-amendmentlegal-corruptiongilded-age+2 more
President Chester A. Arthur signs the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first significant federal law restricting immigration into the United States based on race and nationality. The law prohibits all immigration of Chinese laborers—defined as “both skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese …
Chester A. ArthurU.S. CongressChinese immigrant workersLabor unionsWest Coast employersimmigration-policyracismlabor-suppressiongilded-agescapegoating+1 more
On January 2, 1882, John D. Rockefeller and 40 other investors signed the Standard Oil Trust Agreement, creating the first modern corporate monopoly structure that controlled 90% of American oil refining. The trust pooled securities from 40 companies under nine trustees—John and William Rockefeller, …
John D. RockefellerStandard Oil CompanyHenry FlaglerSamuel C. T. DoddWilliam Rockefellercorporate-powermonopolytrust-formationgilded-ageinstitutional-capture
President James A. Garfield launches an investigation in April 1881 into the Star Route scandal, a massive postal fraud scheme that has defrauded the Post Office of $4 million through rigged bidding on rural mail delivery contracts. The scandal involves a ring of contractors, brokers, and appointed …
James A. GarfieldThomas J. BradyStephen W. DorseyChester A. ArthurBradley Barlowsystematic-corruptiongilded-agepostal-fraudelite-impunity
George M. Pullman establishes the town of Pullman, Illinois, just outside Chicago city limits as one of the most substantial and comprehensive company towns in the United States. Entirely company-owned, the town provides housing, stores, a library, churches, parks, and entertainment facilities for …
George PullmanPullman Palace Car CompanyCompany town workersgilded-agecompany-townscorporate-controllabor-suppressionpaternalism+1 more
Congress overrides President Rutherford B. Hayes’s veto on February 28, 1878, to enact the Bland-Allison Act, requiring the U.S. Treasury to purchase between $2 million and $4 million of silver bullion each month and mint it into legal tender silver dollars. The Act represents a partial …
Richard P. BlandWilliam B. AllisonRutherford B. HayesU.S. Congressmonetary-policycorporate-influencefinancial-system-capturegilded-age
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 begins when Baltimore & Ohio Railroad workers walk off the job in response to a 10% wage cut—the second reduction in eight months during the severe economic depression following the Panic of 1873. The strike spreads rapidly across the nation’s rail …
Baltimore & Ohio RailroadRutherford B. HayesU.S. ArmyRailroad workersState militiaslabor-suppressiongilded-agerailroad-strikefederal-interventionmilitary-force+1 more
Ten Irish-American coal miners were hanged in Pennsylvania on “Black Thursday,” the first mass execution in a coordinated corporate-state campaign against labor organizing. In 1873, Reading Railroad President Franklin B. Gowen hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to infiltrate the Molly …
Pinkerton Detective AgencyFranklin B. GowenPhiladelphia & Reading RailroadJames McParlanPennsylvania Courtslabor-suppressioncorporate-powerjudicial-corruptiongilded-ageinstitutional-capture
Andrew Carnegie opened the Edgar Thomson Steel Works in Braddock, Pennsylvania, in 1875, effectively introducing the Bessemer steelmaking process to the United States at industrial scale and launching his steel empire. Construction had begun in 1872, with the mill beginning rail production in 1874. …
Andrew CarnegieEdgar Thomson Steel Workscorporate-powersteel-industryvertical-integrationgilded-ageindustrial-consolidation
Congress officially repeals the congressional portion of the Salary Grab Act on January 20, 1874, sustaining only the salary increases for the President and Supreme Court Justices. The repeal comes after months of intense public fury over the March 1873 legislation that doubled congressional …
U.S. CongressUlysses S. GrantElihu Washburnesystematic-corruptionlegislative-corruptiongilded-ageelite-impunity
Between February 17 and March 28, 1872, in what became known as the ‘Cleveland Massacre,’ John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil acquired 22 of the 26 competing oil refineries in Cleveland, Ohio—a brutal six-week consolidation campaign that established the template for monopolistic …
John D. RockefellerStandard Oil CompanyHenry FlaglerSouth Improvement Companycorporate-powermonopolygilded-agepredatory-pricingmarket-manipulation
John D. Rockefeller incorporated the Standard Oil Company in Ohio with $1 million in capital, transforming an 1863 partnership into what would become America’s most powerful monopoly. The company was formed with Rockefeller, his brother William, Henry Flagler, Samuel Andrews, and other …
John D. RockefellerStandard Oil CompanyHenry FlaglerSamuel AndrewsWilliam Rockefellercorporate-powermonopolygilded-ageoil-industryinstitutional-capture
On September 24, 1869—Black Friday—Jay Gould and James Fisk’s conspiracy to corner the gold market collapsed when the U.S. Treasury released $4 million in gold reserves, crashing the price from $163.50 to $133 per $100 in gold specie and triggering a financial panic that ruined hundreds of …
Jay GouldJames FiskPresident Ulysses S. GrantAbel CorbinU.S. Treasuryfinancial-manipulationmarket-manipulationpolitical-corruptiongilded-agesystematic-corruption
The Erie War reached its climax in early March 1868 when Jay Gould, James Fisk, and Daniel Drew, facing arrest warrants from Judge George Barnard after issuing $5 million in fraudulent Erie Railroad stock, fled across the Hudson River to Jersey City with $7 million in cash and watered stock …
Jay GouldJames FiskDaniel DrewCornelius VanderbiltErie Railroad+2 morecorporate-fraudstock-manipulationpolitical-corruptiongilded-agerailroad-consolidation
In 1867, Cornelius Vanderbilt gained control of the New York Central Railroad after driving down its stock price, then combined it with his New York and Harlem Railroad and Hudson River Railroad to create one of the first giant railroad consolidations in American history. Vanderbilt had entered the …
Cornelius VanderbiltNew York Central RailroadHudson River RailroadHarlem Railroadrailroad-consolidationcorporate-powergilded-agemonopolyinfrastructure-capture