The Gilded Age:Men and Events
Wyatt Clafton
John D Rockefeller
John D Rockefeller was an American business man who made big money in the oil business. He founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870 in the state of Ohio. He founded Standard Oil because he saw it as a way to get rich fast.
Samuel F B Morse
Samuel Morse was an American painter who became very interested in the telegraph. Morse had heard of the 26 wire telegraph, one wire for every letter of the alphabet, and the 5 wire telegraph, but he wanted to make a telegraph with 1 wire. He finished his design in 1837(I was unable to find where he made it). He wanted to make the single wire telegraph because he wanted to make long distance communication easier. He wanted to make long distance communication easier because he was told that his wife died while he was on a ship so he couldn't be at the funeral or see her before she was buried.
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was a big riot that was ended by state militias. It began on July 14, 1877 and ended on August 28, 1877, 45 days later in Martinsburg West Virginia. This happened because the workers had low pay and poor working conditions.
Chinese Laborers
The Chinese laborers were Chinese immigrants who came to America looking for work. The Chinese were used to help build the railroads. They were first hired in 1865 to work in the high Sierra Mountains. they were hired for railroad work because the Americans heard that the Chinese were hard workers.