6.5: Summary

The Gilded Age was an era of rapid industrialization and urbanization and of large-scale immigration from Europe and Asia. In California and the West, railroads were crucial to economic development because of the great distances, and the Southern Pacific (SP) emerged as a powerful corporation, operating with virtually no competition or regulation throughout much of the Gilded Age. Mining continued to be important in the economy of California and the West, especially Nevada, which was an integral part of California’s economy. California’s bankers played key roles in the economic development of the West. Agriculture emerged as California’s leading industry, first with wheat and then specialty crops of fruit and vegetables. Water was indispensable for mining, agriculture, and urban growth. Workers, especially in urban areas, formed unions, but most had little staying power until late in the 19th century. In the 1880s and 1890s, San Francisco was one of the largest cities in the nation, and the dominant metropolis of much of the West.

The Gilded Age was a time of significant change in California’s social and cultural patterns, including the emergence of new educational institutions, changes in the status of women, and the emergence of a gay and lesbian subculture. California experienced significant immigration from Europe, as did other parts of the United States, but was more unique in some aspects of its ethnic and racial relations, especially those involving Latinos, Asian Californians, and American Indians.

California’s voters showed a less pronounced commitment to political parties than was true elsewhere in the country. From the end of the Civil War until 1900, the two major political parties were closely balanced and often alternated in power within state government. Third parties were a recurring feature of state politics, including the Grangers, the Workingmen’s Party of California, and the Populists. The second constitutional convention, in 1878, drafted the constitution still in use, though it has been amended many times. Two recurring political issues were the power of the Southern Pacific and opposition to Chinese immigration. In 1898, the United States went to war with Spain and acquired an island empire in the Pacific. California lay on the major route to the new island possessions. In the Gilded Age, Californians achieved national prominence through their writing, painting, photography, and other forms of cultural expression.