There Were No Cats in America by Adam DeSimone

Author:Adam DeSimone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gilded Age, Immigration, An American Tail, Nativism, Xenophobia, Chinese Exclusion Act, Muslim Bans, 19th century
Publisher: Adam DeSimone
Published: 2017-08-31T16:00:00+00:00

Part III:

Connecting Past and Present

Penny-wise

Fantasies are, by definition, incapable of becoming reality, but it’s hard to watch the cats sail over the horizon and not dream of a world where our problems can’t be just as easily overcome. Unfortunately, this is not possible so we need to come to terms with reality; American Nativism has returned, and the confidence Nativists have in themselves seems to be growing. In the summer of 2017, for example, Charlottesville Virginia saw the Ku Klux Klan and several other white nationalist hate groups pridefully[36] chant both “Jews will not replace us,”[37] and the Nazi-Nativist slogan “blood and soil”[38] [39]. Ostensibly these groups organized to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, but their message of who they believe belongs in America, and their underlying ideology predicated on race, intimidation, hate, and anti-non-European immigration[40] was clear. We need to remember that these views are not without cost. During the rally, a white nationalist attacked counter-protesters by driving his car into a crowd, killing one and injuring nineteen others.[41] Tellingly, Trump’s initial and repeatedly weak response to this act of terrorism has been seen as a tacit endorsement of the violence by both his critics and by his supporting Nativist groups.[42] [43] The history of Nativism in America is long, and understanding how we resurrected these attitudes (while primarily focusing on immigration) is difficult, but to avoid conjecture a cursory review of economics proves to be illuminating.

Although the Gilded Age is correctly seen as a time of economic expansion, it was not a golden age. Having already touched on the abysmal working conditions of this era, we need to go on to note that the Gilded Age also saw lumpy economic growth. While GDP grew by a blistering 19.7% in 1872, it collapsed to -4.3% following the 1873 Financial Panic, an event which ultimately triggered a five-year deflationary spiral that contributed to the worldwide Long Depression of 1873–1896.[44] In the U.S., the Long Depression only included one year of negative GDP growth, but given the boom it trailed the dip was painful. In 1872, the unemployment rate was only 4%, but by 1878 it ballooned to 8.3%. [45]

Unfortunately, having employment in the Gilded Age did not guarantee a livelihood: it would take decades of activism before something resembling a living-wage standard would be achieved. When Gilded Age laborers organized to demand a livable wage, they often suffered disastrous consequences. For example, Carnegie Steel, the largest U.S. manufacturer of steel, once hired a private military organization to break up a strike; this resulted in nine dead and eleven wounded. This incident is known as the Homestead Strike of 1892, and it was hardly an isolated incident. In 1894, President Cleveland deployed federal troops to end the Pullman Railroad Strike, which resulted in thirty dead workers and another fifty-seven wounded.[46] [47]

Unions that fought for workers did see some success during the Progressive Era (1890-1920). Legislation aiming to reduce corruption, expand public education, break up

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