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Difficulty: HardGilded Age Politics and the Populist Movement

Read the excerpt and answer the question that follows:

"The government, having demolished the bastille of slavery, must now face the more complex task of protecting the citizen against the encroachments of concentrated capital... The state is a collective corporation, of which each citizen is a member, and the true purpose of its organization is to promote the welfare of all... It is the business of the government to make it possible for every man to find employment, and to make it impossible for any man to amass a colossal fortune at the expense of his fellows."
— Lorenzo D. Lewelling, Governor of Kansas, Inaugural Address, 1893

Which of the following dominant Gilded Age ideologies is most directly challenged by the political philosophy expressed in this excerpt?

  1. A
    The belief that a pure laissez-faire model had historically governed the American economy, free from any federal intervention.
  2. B
    The conviction that meaningful political reform could only be achieved through professional municipal administration and urban civil service exams.
  3. The application of Social Darwinist principles to argue that concentrated wealth was a marker of evolutionary progress and natural selection.Answer
  4. D
    The assertion that federal policies like the Dawes Act were designed to protect communal property rights from industrial expansion.

Answer

The application of Social Darwinist principles to argue that concentrated wealth was a marker of evolutionary progress and natural selection.
The correct answer is correct because Governor Lewelling's Populist address asserts that the government's role is to promote the welfare of all citizens and actively prevent the concentration of colossal wealth. This directly conflicts with the Gilded Age ideology of Social Darwinism, which held that wealth inequality was a natural, evolutionary outcome of human society and that government intervention to redistribute wealth or aid the poor was counterproductive.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the primary source excerpt for key arguments.
The speaker argues that the state's true purpose is to protect citizens from 'concentrated capital' and to make it 'impossible for any man to amass a colossal fortune at the expense of his fellows.'
This establishes that the political philosophy of the speaker (a Populist governor) favors government intervention to limit wealth concentration and promote the general welfare of the working classes.
2
Recall dominant Gilded Age ideologies regarding wealth and state power.
Identify Social Darwinism (the belief that wealth concentration is a natural result of survival of the fittest) and laissez-faire capitalism as the prevailing justifications for inequality during this era.
This provides the historical context needed to contrast the source's arguments with contemporary beliefs.
3
Evaluate which option represents the belief most directly challenged by the speaker's thesis.
The speaker's call for government action to limit fortunes directly challenges the Social Darwinist view that inequality is natural and that government interference is harmful.
This matches the core pedagogical objective of demonstrating how the Populist movement opposed the ideological structures justifying Gilded Age consolidation.

Key Concept

Populist opposition to Gilded Age economic inequality and Social Darwinism
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Topics

Gilded Age Politics and the Populist Movement

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