Age of Betrayal: The Triumph of Money in America, 1865-1900

by Jack Beatty

Age of Betrayal is a brilliant reconsideration of America's first Gilded Age, when war-born dreams of freedom and democracy died of their impossibility. Focusing on the alliance between government and railroads forged by bribes and campaign contributions, Jack Beatty details the corruption of American political culture that, in the words of Rutherford B. Hayes, transformed “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people” into “a government by the corporations, of the corporations, and for the corporations.” A passionate, gripping, scandalous and sorrowing history of the triumph of wealth over commonwealth.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Economics, American History, Politics, American, Business

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[David Buckley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beatty's book is certainly combative enough and "passionate" enough to warrant some of the praise showered on it by media reviewers. But "passion" is too often a codeword for "bias," and congenial though Beattty's view of the Gilded Age may be, there is no denying its lopsidedness.

In his opening sentence Beatty throws down the gauntlet: "This book tells the saddest story,"he writes. "How, having redeemed democracy in the Civil War, America betrayed it in the Gilded Age."

This is certainly high-minded, but is it accurate? Was the United Staes "democratic" prior to the Civil War? How did the War "redeem" "democracy"? Wouldn't it be more accurate simply to state that Reconstruction was the betrayal, and not the Gilded Age per se?

Professional historians generally strive for some semblance of balance in dealing with the past, especially with a past as contentious as that of post Civil War America. Beatty's book, while interesting and at times engaging, is written with both eyes on America's more recent Gilded Age, the one that lasted through the 1990s.

Lack of balance doesn't make for a bad read, but a poor prose style does; and Beatty's writing is at times grating to the point where it disconnects the reader from the tale and leaves him in a fog of confusion. Whole chunks have to be re-read and re-assembled by the reader, in order to escape the Yodaesque nightmare of inverted clauses and convoluted sentences.

An easy read it is not.

[Joe Hack · Rating 4 out of 5]

History repeats itself, and the history the United States is repeating here in the early 21st Century is the period from 1865 to 1900 that historians often refer to as the Gilded Age. All the rights and freedoms promised by Abraham Lincoln were thrown into the dustbin of history by the alleged losers of the Civil War. Corporations became the beneficiaries of the war's only victories (the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments) and the reaper of America's new industrial fortunes at the expense of the people who fought, suffered and died in the war. It was an Age of Betrayal and Jack Beatty goes into great historical detail in describing how it unfolded and how it set the stage for the New Deal era.

The Gilded Age has always been a mystery to me, so this book was the missing puzzle piece between the Civil War and the New Deal. It is a terribly depressing tale, but one that every American should know if they wish to understand what happened after Lincoln died and what's going on now here in 2013. The only reason it doesn't get five stars is because it is an intense book, written with an academic level that sometimes lost me in its diction and paragraph structure. Beatty is a very accomplished writer, and his command of the subject is absolute within the pages, but sometimes I felt lost amid the details and names. But the book is filled with too much historical knowledge to put down. It's a fascinating read. His humanitarian perspective is refreshing in a world dominated by corporate propaganda, and after reading this book, you know where the roots of corporate oligarchy in America begin.

[Jerry Landry · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I think this book had some really fascinating facts and analysis in it and helped to improve my knowledge of the time between 1865 and 1900 in the US, I almost feel that it would have been better served to have had its subject matter divided up into a few books. As a reader, I felt disoriented jumping from two chapters about the Supreme Court to two chapters about Tom Scott and the Pennsylvania Railroad to a chapter about Populism and so on and so forth. The transitions between topics were a bit too abrupt from me. Also, for a book with the mission to examine a certain period of time, I felt that there was a great deal of time spent analyzing the antebellum and Civil War era. While useful and insightful analysis, I did not anticipate there being so much of an emphasis on pre-1865. Overall, I do recommend this book as Beatty does a great job at analyzing what, at times can be muddy issues in the history of America, but would warn readers that sometimes the text can take a circular route around the focus of each chapter, so just sit back and enjoy the ride to where Beatty's thought process takes you.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you feel like getting really angry, read this book. It's not just about the way money bought politics--much more and much more openly then than now--but also about racism and the failure of reconstruction. I constantly felt like steam was going to come out of my ears. The book seemed weaker at the end but still well worth reading. If you want to get angry, anyway....

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a remarkable tour through the ugliness that built our market economy in the 19th century—from slavery, to corrupt senators and judges, oligarchs, the horrendous treatment of freedmen, and the like. There is much that feels prescient and inevitable about all this—especially interesting since it was written in the mid-200s, well before the off-the-cliff radicalism of the Republican Party that built up steam in the Obama years. For me, there was at times too much detail, but Beatty’s erudition and pure rage make this a satisfying as well as instructive read. If there was ever any doubt that American exceptionalism is a wildly distorted myth, Beatty dismisses it thoroughly and devastatingly. This book may be depressing and hard to get through, but it’s certainly worth the effort.

[Len Boselovic · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you're looking for a compelling, lucid history of the Robber Baron period, run as fast and as far away as you can from this inscrutable, mind-numbing cacophony of words. Seemingly incapable of relating the story in plain English, the author resorts to stringing together a collection of quotes whose prose is so intensely dense that the reader feels as if he is the victim of the Age of Betrayal. Beatty's snooty vocabulary doesn't help matters.

[Vincent Caliendo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’d honestly rate this 2.5/5. I felt like the idea of the entire book wasn’t very clear. Names are thrown around without much background/explanation. Readers are left to put all the pieces together themselves. Chapters and sections can feel very disjointed from the main points. Maybe I just need to read it again, but considering it’s length, I might pass. Towards the end there are cool facts/stories and historical tid bits

[Sam C · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the greed, corruption, classism, and racism that infected politics and business in the late 1800’s. The writing is incredibly dense, but peel back the layers and you’ll find a shocking account of America during the Gilded Age.

[Jim Swike · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not a Financial Analyst or Big Money person, so this wasn't for me. However, if you are doing research and / or term paper, this is a great resource. Enjoy!

[Brian Gregory · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve finally finished this slog of a book. It is a lot interesting tidbits and facts but told so uninterestingly,

[Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack Beatty's Age of Betrayal I have to say, was a thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing read. Mr. Beatty, who demonstrates his probity, erudition and understanding time and again on NPR's On Point, easily imports these virtues into writing. His is politically inflected historiography in the best sense, comparing favorably to Marxian British historians of previous generations like E. P. Thompson and Gareth Stedman Jones. For the author, what is past is incontrovertibly prelude, and his treatment of the Gilded Age offers the perceptive reader as many insights into his own historical moment as of historical ones.

To his credit Mr. Beatty wears his learning and convictions lightly; the polemic is always subtle, never heavy-handed, and is seamlessly integrated into the prose; the gusto with which he tackles his subject proves infectious. Some chapters, such as those treating the rise and spectacular collapse of the Populists, and the labor unrest at the Carnegie steelworks, have a tragic sweep to them that will leave only the most jaded eye unmoist. As one who studies late-nineteenth century British literature, I really have to credit the author with deepening my understanding of events on this side of the Atlantic during the same period.

I do, however, have two quibbles with the text. First, the author's prose style, while generally graceful, does show a proclivity toward terseness, as well as Chicago-Manual economy of punctuation, which sometimes make even more formidable the dense thickets of data the author frequently drops his reader into. Second, while in the main Mr. Beatty confines himself to the period stated in the book's subtitle, 1865-1900, he does at times look forward to FDR's New Deal, and offers as a coda some words of Woodrow Wilson's in 1913. What the author fails to discuss in his small leap forward into 1913 is another significant event of that year, the creation of the Federal Reserve, a puzzling omission given that Lincoln's greenback paper currency and the free-silver of the Populists occupy such important places in his narrative.

Puzzling because the Fed did exactly what Lincoln did, and what the Populists proposed: replace metal-backed currency with fiat. The only twist -- and a critical one, keeping with the theme of betrayal -- is that the power of fiat was removed from government and placed in the hands of private bankers through legislation drafted by representatives of the reviled caesariat of robber-barons. This, I think, is perhaps the greatest single greatest betrayal, ensuring as it does that the everyday wage-worker will lose around three percent per annum the value of his labors' fruits -- and it is one the author never mentions. I'd be interested to hear how the author would defend the creation of the Fed as an innovation on what was proposed by the free-silver folk, whom Beatty, following Milton Friedman, claims would have triggered inflation of low-double digits. Thus I'm led to ask: Is the steady, inexorable march of three-percent inflation preferable to that which the free-silverers would have engendered? Is it simply the rate of the progression that makes the former palatable? To me, this is like saying the prisoner condemned death by lin chi died before the thousandth cut, and therefore did not die by lin chi.

These are of course ancillary considerations, and they do not prevent me from recommending Age of Betrayal as an instructive, entertaining read. I also recommend Louis Menand's magnificent The Metaphysical Club for discussion of another dimension of the same era.

[Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not for the casual reader or the faint of heart. At close to 400 pages, Age of Betrayal is an undertaking. Beatty has demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the subject matter and supported his work with copious amounts of citations and references. His work falls short in the complexity of his subject and his writing style.

Overall, this is an impressive book. I learned a lot by reading it. The Guilded Age was one of robber barons and corruption. In this telling, Beatty gives details that are glossed over in the history books. Part of the problem is that Beatty gives too much detail and probably includes too much bias.

The bias includes a variety of objectives such as identifying Tom Scott as a master-manipulator of corruption and evil; Andrew Carnegie was really a villain - like Jay Gould or Tom Fisk; Santa Clara was the epitome of a corrupt Supreme Court; the Compromise of 1877 destroyed democracy; and something about gold and silver standards. Beatty bounces between topics in a mind-bending manner. This reader frequently had to go back and re-read sections to understand Beatty's subsequent references.

The crux of the book appears to be the Compromise of 1877 that decided the presidential election of 1876. The Democrat Samuel Tilden won the popular vote and was just one vote shy of the electoral college when the two parties formed a balanced commission to decide the election. Unfortunately, the single independent on the commission resigned at the eleventh hour and the evil Tom Scott manipulated a business-friendly jurist to replace him. The result is that the commission determined that Rutherford B. Hayes won South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana delivering to him the electoral college by one vote. Scott, the railroad magnet, wanted a pro-business administration; so he delivered railroads to the south and home rule (end Reconstruction) if the Southern Democrats voted for Hayes. The rest of this book appears to turn around this event.

After the end of Reconstruction, Beatty goes through some painfully complex chapters on fiscal policy that probably requires readers to have a more firm knowledge of finance and history than most casual readers, including readers who are receptive to Beatty's thesis that the Compromise of 1877 ended democracy in this country. Seemingly, everything else is ancillary to 1877. Beatty's tangents on racism and his vague notions of democracy successfully show how wealthy people benefited from racism and furthering it.

The result of these tangents seems to explain or mirror politics in the 2000s with comparable scandals and outrage, just not as bloody or causing popular resistance. Maybe the Tea Party is a form of populism. Beatty does not speculate on the similarities between the Gilded Age and the 2000s. The furthest he progresses is New Deal legislation.

Overall, readers will learn something from this book. However, the complexity of his arguments and connections; along with his assuming readers will have a strong background in the subject matter, will leave most readers confused. Many readers probably never heard of the Santa Clara lawsuit that established corporations as citizens (although Beatty stresses that a court clerk established this precedent, not a judge). However, connecting Santa Clara to the silver standard and the Colfax Massacre will be difficult.

[David Monroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beatty's focus is on tracking the transformation of the late 19th Century through an in-depth examination of key events and representative biographies that highlight the alliance between government and business, including the Supreme Court's infamous Santa Clara decision (effectively extending equal protection rights to corporations), the bloody suppression of the Homestead strike, and the rise (and fall) of the Populist movement. This is the story of "political capitalism": "government favors to business in return for business favors to politicians."

"This is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people no longer . . . It is a government by the corporations, of the corporations and for the corporations." -- Rutherford B. Hayes, 1886

Thomas Wolfe's Four Lost Men:

For who was Garfield, martyred man, and who had seen him walk the streets of life? Who could believe his footfalls ever sounded on a loud pavement? Who had heard the casual and familiar tones of Chester Arthur? And where was Harrison? Where was Hayes? Which had the whiskers, which the sideburns; which was which?

As Thomas Dewey was later to observe, in America politics is the shadow cast on society by big business. And these were the shadows-in-chief.

In 1875 two times as many children under twelve worked in the "tariff-made state of Rhode Island," mostly in textile mills, as in 1851. "There is, however, little danger of an outbreak among them," the Sun observed. "They live, as a rule, in tenements owned by the company employing them; and when they strike they are at once thrown out in the street. Then they are clubbed by policemen, arrested as vagrants, and sent to the county jail, to be released to take their choice of going to work at the old wages or starving." Recently a man had starved to death - three dogs had been found gnawing on his bones.

-- Jack Beatty

Things today may be grim, but they still aren't Gilded Age grim.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conservative historians like to complain that histories written with the present in mind results in bad history. This book proves that old saw to be, well, old. This book is a well written, carefully detailed (sometimes too detailed) and powerfully relevant history of the Gilded Age - the period of American history from the end of the Civil War to the Assassination of William McKinley. This was an era of unrestrained capitalist growth, the creation of huge personal fortunes (including John D. Rockefeller the world's first Billionaire), systemic political corruption (i.e. plutocracy), triumphant white supremacy as well as massive political resistance in the form of race riots, labor revolts and the Populist party. Written with a clear eye towards our own moment - please note that the NYTimes has recently begun referring to our current era as a "New Gilded Age" - The Age of Betrayal provides current readers with an arsenal of relevant historical and comparative insights. The real strength of this work is that it places the growth of the modern business corporation at the center of American history, focusing in particular on the Santa Clara case (1886). With the Santa Clara case, the US Supreme Court granted the modern business corporation the legal rights of individual persons under the 14th Amendment. Now, it was no mistake that the same sitting Court was actively depriving blacks of these very rights and protections while handing them over to the corporate "legal personage" who has "no body to incarcerate nor soul to save."

This book leaves us to ask, if we are in a new Gilded Age, with Enron and Haliburton standing in for Pennsylvania Railroad and Homestead Steel, then were are our revolutionary unionists, our Populist farmers, our black Radical Republicans, where is our outrage at the cruelty of vast fortunes?

[Zack Anchors · Rating 4 out of 5]

All those people chattering so much about "populist rage" these days need to read this book, a history of late 19th century populist uprising and related events. Then, as now, vigorous debate over substantive economic issues became watered down by the infusion into the political discourse of completely phony issues -- most notably the "currency question". Ultimately, whether the US used silver or gold as the standard for its currency didn't matter all that much. But the choice was rife with symbolic potential. To adopt anything other than the gold standard would be to accept impurity, to, as Henry Adams wrote, "attempt by artificial legislation to make something true." It would, in fact, be a bit too much like allowing black and white people to live side by side and intermingle freely, and politicians were not about let either color line slip -- the gold-silver or the black-white.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a first-rate history of the Gilded Age that shows very clearly the betrayal Beatty's title refers to -- how special interests managed to corrupt the government and one of its noblest achievements (the 14th Amendment) to empower corporations. It's a searing book about how the system once worked against the very people government is supposed to protect -- we the people -- and instead became an instrument for the wealthy and powerful to protect themselves. One nit I would pick is Beatty's habit of sometimes trying to mix what are essentially book reviews into his book: "This historian said this about the topic, but this historian said that." The book might be a bit smoother and easier to read had he done a better job of synthesizing the information. But overall, a good summary of an era that continues to prove controversial in American history.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the late 19th century is very interesting... especially compared to the current politics. This is a very liberal biased look at that time but, being very liberal, I found little that was amiss!

It was the gilded age - the time of the Robber Barons - the civil war was over and the United States were becoming the dominant power in the world....if not in military strength at least in economic reach.

Slavery had all but returned in the South with the death of Reconstruction and the deal with the Democratic Party.

The concept of the corporation had it's birth here for better or worse.

This would not be the only book to read about this time but it should not be missed.

[Sabrine Cutting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read, especially for anyone interested in a true, un-filtered understanding of the Reconstruction Era of US history and what the start of industrialization really looked like in the US.

Another great takeaway was insight to the modern day foundation of the Democratic and Republican parties, and the Populist and Progressive undercurrents that were disruptive forces and shaped our history and the ideals of each of the parties.

A great find on the internet is Jack Beatty himself giving a lecture on his book, which conveys the voice of passion. The book is not a easy, casual read, so Beatty's enthusiasm in this video gives the book a fresher voice:

http://vimeo.com/33846066

[Robert Garcia · Rating 1 out of 5]

A rambling, analogy-ridden book that skips it's way through the details of the titular era. While the subject matter is, by itself, too broad of a subject to accomplish with any single volume in the style of the author's verbose, quote-driven writing; the text somehow still manages to disconnect the natural narrative turns of the period and ham-hands several poor segues onto us (the most notable occuring between Chs. 6-7)

[Anthony Vivirito]

I knew nothing in detail of "standardized time" and the true impact of the rail system on our emerging economy and clas at the turn of the century. Beatty writes with a certain fluidity that makes this book less of a hisotry lesson and more like a travel guide through the preindustrialized U.S. I recommend it highly!

[Toothy_grin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A most impressive piece of Gilded Age scholarship (The end notes are amazing.) conveyed in a dismal style of writing. Gratuitous over-usage of obscure words sent me to the dictionary too often, and numerous sentences took multiple readings to parse their meanings. That said, it's an important book on one of the crucial eras of American history: read it, but keep your dictionary at hand.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seems to be a common theme among books arguing that there was a particular time when business became more powerful in American society: They always seem to hint at an alternative but don't really seem to have it.

At any rate, this book is full of interesting statistics and stories. They may not all add up to anything in particular but they certainly add color

[david · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beatty tells engaging stories about politics, law, industry, labor and reform in post civil war america showing how the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. Perhaps most disturbing is the way in which an industry friendly and racist supreme court interpreted the 14th amendment as protecting the "privileges and immunities" of corporations but not freed slaves as was intended.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not an easy read (too many quotes, too much material to synthesize) but a most interesting look at the economic and political history of the "Gilded Age". It doesn't sound much different from the way things are today, unfortunately--entirely too much corporate influence.

[Sean Chick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disorganized, ham-fisted, and supported by a poor use of source. Oh, and he gets lots of basic facts wrong. But hey, when you are part of the intellectual elite, you get a free pass to fail. What is true has become true on Wall Street is true in scholarship.

[Victor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book if someone wants to better understand the background for today's corporate - legal - political landscape and how it came into being. The book can be a bit slow in places but overall still very interesting and informative.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Such an interesting topic....presented in the most boring possible way.

[Sicarii · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much about modern issues, rather than the period covered.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very uneven - the first five chapters were truly fascinating, but nothing following matched that level. Perhaps the author was less interested in the later material?

[Thom DeLair]

This book chugs along a transcontinental tour of America's Civil War political economy and social movements from region to region and industry to industry. In this often overlooked time period, the book quickly mention of the rapid urbanization (rather than western expansion) leading to new economics growths in the United States emergences ideas now familiar within the modern political discourse: Corporations as people, the false choices presented to a voting public and the struggle of popular movements juxtaposed to racial prejudice. It's a gripping portrayal of America becoming "big".