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The development of factories and commercial enterprises led to the growth of the middle class because they required bookkeepers, managers, and other types of clerical or office jobs. These jobs were filled by educated workers (even some women). New educational opportunities were available due to the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862, which gave public land to establish new universities. More people began to pursue higher education, including some women.
Expansion of Consumer Culture
As mass production replaced more localized forms of production, people became more dependent on wages, salaries, and currency rather than making or growing what they needed. Mass production often led to overproduction. To “get rid” of extra goods, businesses began to advertise using psychological techniques that made people feel that they needed certain products.
Department stores, mail-order catalogs, newspapers, and mass-circulation magazines put the latest fashions and inventions on display and served to tempt Americans to purchase more products.
In response to these developments, Thorstein Veblen, a sociologist, coined the term “conspicuous consumption.” This was the consumer practice of buying higher-quality consumer goods of better quality or in greater quantity than might be considered necessary to display affluence or socioeconomic status. In other words, buying things so other people would see that you had them.
Effects of Increased Leisure Time
More affluent middle-class families who lived in cities had more leisure time. Some types of public entertainment available in cities included vaudeville (a type of theatrical variety show), saloons, parks, croquet and tennis courts, spectator sports, and amusement parks.
The Gospel of Wealth
Some industrialists believed that the wealthy had certain moral responsibilities to improve society. This idea culminated in the Gospel of Wealth, which was put forth in an essay by Andrew Carnegie. He argued that a wealthy person should live modestly and provide for dependents, and then any excess money should be used to support charities that “help those who help themselves.” Carnegie did not support charity given to those who were “drunken or slothful.”
This theory was demonstrated in acts of philanthropy—the desire to promote the welfare of others, especially when expressed by the generous donation of money to good causes. For example, railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt gave $1 million to found Vanderbilt University. Andrew Carnegie funded libraries, helped establish colleges and schools, and paid for thousands of church organs. John D. Rockefeller founded the Rockefeller Foundation, which donated more than $500 million to education, religious, and scientific causes. He also funded the establishment of the University of Chicago.
