Essay On The Gilded Age

The Gilded Age was a period from the late 1800s through the early 1900s. The name of this time period was given by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today which expresses this time using two stories. One of a Tennessee family trying to sell undeveloped land and the other of two upper class businessmen. This book visits the highs and lows of living in this age. Those who are rich and plentiful, and those who are dirt poor. Showing the struggle people went through to live in this era. The workers during this time were conservative capitalists trying to make as much money as they could as cheap and fast as they could. They did this at the expense of the poor who got even poorer as this happened.

The years following the Civil War and Reconstruction was an era somewhat gilded. The Second Industrial Revolution came about with new inventions, and revolutionized how factories and jobs were worked. Factory workers in this time period were working in poor conditions and had no power whatsoever. Often they were abused and their wages were cut very low. The mass immigration also did not favor laborers as it made them so easy to replace. In order to fight back laborers would join labor unions in order to protest; however, during this time the labor unions were not that affective during 1875 and 1900 because although they had their efforts many of them would not work to their advantage; efforts would give them a bad reputation, go out of

The Federal Government, although deeply influenced by the laissez-faire policy, should have intervened in the economic scandals and acts of injustice occurring throughout the Gilded Age. By imposing regulatory measures on businesses and industries detailing proper marketing conduct, the Federal Government could have regulated the economy and remained moderately objective to both the wealthy and the working class, whose patience for economic reform wilted quickly. As tension among the working class escalated and the movement for government intervention matured, strikes became common throughout the entire country, but concentrated among areas of political interest (Labor unrest, strikes 1870-1900). While wealthy corporate officials often denied the need for government involvement, protestant strikes by irritated and impatient working class citizens often forced businesses to join the fight for government reform.

Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, the federal government was looking for a way to get the people motivated; motivated to work again, motivated to have a better life again, and then like an answered prayer we entered the ‘Gilded Age’. The rapid growth from 1865 to 1900 was brought on by the availability of money and resources. With entrepreneurs willing to take a risk with this money and new resources, extraordinary growth arose. Railroads were evolving everywhere and as a result the Steel industry started to rise. With this economic boom all people, especially the federal government, sought after means to sustain this sudden increase in the market. The United States government came up with a plan to promote industrial development

The Gilded Age was characterized by rapid industrialization, reconstruction, ruthless pursuit of profit, government, corruption, and vulgarity (Cashman 1). After the Civil War, America was beginning to regroup as a nation. There were many other changes developing in the country. Industrialization was taking over the formerly agricultural country. The nation’s government was also in great conflict (Foner 20). Many changes occurred during the Gilded Age. These changes affected farmers, labor, business, and politics.

The Industrial Revolution is a pivotal period in human history that allowed for the complete transformation of rural life. First coined in the 1830s, the Industrial Revolution was an eruption of inventions, technical adaptations, and economic expansion. The origins of the Industrial Revolution are traced back to Great Britain, the first pioneer in Westernization and technological change. Britain’s well-developed banks, large potential labor force, and abundance of raw materials made Britain the most industrialized country in the world during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Although the Industrial Revolution brought beneficial changes to Britain and the countries that followed Britain’s path, industrialization provoked reform

The Gilded Age is defined as the time between the Civil War and World War I, during which the United States population grew quickly and the economy prospered greatly. However, it is also known to be cluttered with political corruption and corporate financial misleadings, in which the rich grew very wealthy and the poor were basically peasants. The economic growth of the nation was highly influenced by the availability of land and technological innovations promised through multiple acts passed throughout the time period, and, as a result, there were many negative changes in the social standing of minorities.

Businesses, laborers, and farmers faced major challenges between 1877 and 1920. This was a time period that included both the Gilded Age and World War 1, and the challenges that these three parts of society faced were very different between each group and throughout each period. Businesses had to deal with things called “trusts” with other businesses. Many businesses desired to hold the monopoly of an entire industry, and competition was intense and cutthroat. Laborers, of course, faced the challenges of not having the previously mentioned working conditions, as well as pay cuts and unemployment during the depressions in the 1870s and the 1890s. Farmers had to deal with major drops in the prices for their crops due to the second Industrial Revolution and the development of new technology, as well as the already-difficult farming of the West. Many southern farmers were sharecroppers, as well, and as the prices for their goods fell, so did their standard of living.

The period in America from 1865 to 1900 was known as the Gilded Age. This was a time for big business, industry, new inventions, and urban growth. With these new ideas and concepts came many problems. A few of these issues were political scandals, overpopulation in cities, monopolies, and bad working conditions. In summary, there were good and bad parts of the Gilded Age that helped shape America into what it is now.

Discuss Politics in the Gilded Age. Include major political events and issues, and the roles of the “bloody shirt,” corruption, patronage, and reform movements.

During the Gilded Age, America opened its doors to many immigrants. They flocked from Europe, Mexico, Asia, China, and Japan. Just like blacks, they were discriminated against by the Americans already here because the immigrants and blacks were willing to work in factories for hardly any money. Because of this, most women in the lower class and children worked in the factories to help to support the family. The immigrants and blacks usually lived in small crowded apartments in the cities because they could not afford to live far away from their job. Each immigrant group tried to recreate their neighborhood from their old country in America which caused the cities to become segregated ghettos with ethnic backgrounds. Poor farmers were also apart of the lower class because they were dependent to one crop, and there was only one harvest per year.

The Gilded Age was the last three decades of the nineteenth century, when America’s industrial economy exploded generating opportunities for individuals but also left many workers struggling for survival. With the many immigrants, skilled and unskilled, coming to America the labor system is becoming flooded with new employees. During this period, the immigrants, including the Italians, were unskilled and the skilled workers were usually American-born. There was also a divide in the workers and the robber barons. Robber barons were American capitalist who acquired great fortunes in the last nineteenth century, usually ruthlessly. There was much turmoil throughout the business and labor community. Two major organizations, the Knights of

or other tasks in payment for a bowl of gruel and a piece of bread.

Workers during the gilded age were marginalized by their working conditions, low income, and limited

After the soaring ideals and tremendous sacrifices of the Civil War, the post-War era of the United States was generally one of political disillusionment. Even as the continent expanded and industrialized, political life in the Gilded Age was marked by ineptitude and stalemate as passive, rather than active, presidents merely served as figureheads to be manipulated rather than enduring strongholds. As politicians from both the White House to the courthouse were deeply entangled in corruption and scandal during the Gilded Age, the actual economic and social issues afflicting urbanizing America festered beneath the surface without being seriously addressed.