The Gilded Age brought about many reforms in many ways affecting basically all ways of life of the people in America. The churches started their change with the physical appearance of the churches. The church house went from a homely little building to an extravagant building representing the wealth and prestige of its members. This caused many disagreements in the parish of these organizations. Many people felt that the church, by its stained glass windows and decorated halls, was emphasizing materialism; that god rewarded the righteous with money. Also at the time other religions began to gain new ground and popularity, mostly among and due to the immigrants. Roman Catholicism and Judaism emerged as predominant faiths.
By the end of the 17th century the Roman Catholics had nearly nine million people in their churches. The Salvation Army emerged in the 1880s when they came here from England. These soldiers with out arms were possibly the most effective, giving their free soup and shelter to those in need and spreading the thoughts of kindness and sharing amongst the world. Another new church that came about was the Church of Christ, Science, established by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879.
This church took a different view, based on the healing power of Christianity instead of modern medicine. The YMCA and YWCA grew tremendously in the post civil war era, with the Ys sprouting up in every place with a large enough population to support it. With so many leaps and bounds in the field of religion, one can only expect that something would be discovered. Enter Darwin and all the chaos and bickering his ideas cause. In 1859 he published his highly controversial volume On the Origin of Species which explained his theory on how human beings evolved from lesser life forms into what they are today, quickly becoming known as the survival of the fittest.
This theory also specifically contradicted the ideals which were set by the Bible of Gods creation, causing a split in the church as it was known. The church split into the Fundamentalists and the Modernists, causing many ripples in the current set up of all professions which taught others, teachers and clergymen who spoke in favor of Darwin were dismissed and removed from their positions. This continued until the more liberal minded became the majority. Public education in America was an idea that was beginning to gain ground before the civil war and continued its escalation after it.
The people of the union began to accept the fact that a government run by the people could not function if the people were uneducated. High schools and free textbooks were ideas that began to blossom in the post civil war era. Another new idea was schools to teach teachers since the idea of a single school room where one teacher taught all ages to read, write and basic arithmetic was no longer acceptable. Adults however were left out of the new education opportunities; thus they began a new campaign for adult education. The Chautauqua courses held public lectures in tents promoting courses of home study solving another educational problem. With all these advancements the illiteracy rate in America went from 20% in 1870 to 10.7% in 1900. Colleges also took a giant leap forward due to governmental acts and private philanthropists.
The Morrill act of 1862 set a grant for lands to be given to colleges, which would then have to provide services to the states, such as military training and agricultural development. The Hatch Act of 1887 gave additional money to the colleges which were established on the Morrill Act for agricultural development. Many colleges obtained money from private donors, some as predominant as John D. Rockefeller, who donated some $550 million to the University of Chicago. Professional and technical schools were also beginning to gain popularity to train people in specialized fields. With all these changes in the school system, the American people (at least those of them who mattered) decided it was time to be out with the old and in with the new in the light of curriculum.
The elective system, like we use today, gained popularity as it fit the needs for practical training and specialized classes. The public also began to become more healthy. Advancements in medical understanding and modern remedies led to longer expected life spans for all. Psychology also became more acceptable and popular in the gilded age. America seemingly entered a pool of knowledge when it entered the gilded age, learning and teaching others how to learn. The ideas that were once accepted as truth were now being challenged and they were raising a new generation to challenge even more and nurturing their minds to learn and experiment.
