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Urbanization During The Gilded Age

Decent Essays

Tension over state rights vs federal authority continued to grow between the Northern and Southern United States throughout the 1860’s. In 1861, this tension erupted into The American Civil War. The Civil War was ended in 1865, when Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia. The decades to follow would become to be known as the Gilded Age. During the Gilded Age, the United States faced urbanization / overcrowding, changes to women’s rights, and major changes to organized labor. Changes and uncertainty made 1860’s an unsteady time in American history.
The Gilded Age is a term borrowed from an 1873 Mark Twain novel. The term suggested that “America has achieved a glittery outer coating of prosperity and lofty rhetoric, but underneath suffered from moral decay” (Henretta, 2015). The United States suffered widespread corruption, rapid expansion / urbanization, and mistreatment of those less fortunate. …show more content…

The Settlement House movement began in the 1880’s with the purpose of intermingling both the rich and the poor. John E. Hansan stated what actually happened was “the “settlers” found themselves designing and organizing activities to meet the needs of the residents of the neighborhoods in which they were living. While trying to help and uplift their neighbors — organizing classes, clubs, games and other educational and social activities — settlement house residents and volunteers experienced first-hand the powerlessness of the poor, the pervasive abuse of immigrants, the terrible conditions in which men, women and children were required to work in factories and sweatshops, the failure of public officials to enforce laws, the dangers of unsanitary conditions and the debilitating effects of tuberculosis and other

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