The significance of the Gilded Age was expanded to include the period from the end of Reconstruction to the early twentieth century. During the Gilded Age the United States became the leading industrial nation in the world, defeated a world power, built a powerful navy, and acquired a large overseas empire. The Gilded Age came alone with some tremendous urban growth with all its accompanying problems, the changes in communications and transportation through the telephone and the transcontinental railroads. The significance of the Gilded Age Era is a time of exciting and important scientific and technological inventions and improvements, such as the electric light, the telephone, and the typewriter, which have had and continue to have an impact upon American life.
Some significant individuals that contributed with the era and played important roles were Andrew Carnegie, John. D Rockefeller, Thomas Edison etc. Thomas Edison contributed to this era by being one of the bets known inventor in this era, he invented many major inventions such as the ones that involved electricity. For instance the power railways, larger generators, developed the incandescent lighting, and improved the light bulb. Andrew Carnegie richest man of the world saw himself as a hero of the working people, yet he crushed their unions. He cut the wages of the workers who made him rich; together with his partner Henry Clay they broke the steel unions. After Carnegie sold his company to J.P Morgan in 1901 he turned his energies to philanthropy and the pursuit of world peace. By the end of his death he was remembered for his generous gifts for instance his 3000 public libraries, and given away $3 billion dollars. John D. Rockefeller founder of the Standard Oil Compa...
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...ve-it” basis. Many of the workers were injured or killed in industrial accidents each year because of the unsafe conditions they worked in. men and women weren’t the only ones to work in the harsh conditions there was child labor they were used to move, clean, or fix large machines since they were so small and fit between the parts. The kids that worked were all under the age of fifteen, they missed air, sunshine, fresh air, play, and the chance to attend school and get an education.
The Gilded Age Era was an important era because it brought new inventions and the skills of American entrepreneurs by increasing the countries industrial capacity. It also spread railroad lines and telegraph wires helped to the emergence of a national market. All of the new inventions and innovations were a spread of a new life to the American people that we still use as of right now.
The Gilded Age was a time in American history that came to be known as a major turning point for the country, as it marked the decline of an economy based on agriculture, and brought forth the rise of an economy based on business and industry. Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, it was a great time for change, especially for the economy. The economy improved, and at the same time, it granted more opportunities for inventors and businessmen to come out and share their talent with the the world. As America began to industrialize and make new advancements in technology, it also began to encourage the growth of the middle class and promoted the importance of social mobility and competition between businesses. The Gilded Age was a time when
The Gilded Age was known as the Second Industrial Revolution because there was change in the economy, politics, and society. Most of the change was occurring because of the growth of large companies. The in the 1900s up to the 1920s, the companies started to decrease in power but not all since Henry Ford was being successful because of his automobile company that allowed the people to move more, and think differently depending on their sexuality. Even though Ford was successful, the businesses still didn’t run the people anymore, the people started to control the government more.
The Gilded Age was a wonderful time period in history due to innovations by some of the United States most well-known philanthropists who shaped America to what it is today with their monopolistic companies at the time. Even though workers would be treated unfairly due to the competition other companies provided each other, the Gilded Age is an era to remember.
The exact period of time in which the Gilded Age occurred is ever-debatable, but most historians can at least agree that it started within the 20 years after the Civil War ended and lasted until the early 1920s. (West) The Gilded Age itself was characterized by the beginnings of corporations and corrupt political machines. Policies such as the General Incorporation Laws allowed business to grow larger more easily, and with less red tape involved. New technology allowed faster and more efficient production, but this explosive growth of industry called for not only more resources, but new business practices and leaders as well. (Moritz 10-12)
The Gilded age and the Progressive Era are time periods that played an important role in the development of the American society. The Gilded Age is a period of American history between 1870 and 1900. This term was coined by Mark Twain in the late 1800s. By this, he meant that this period was glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath ("Learn About the Gilded Age"). The Gilded Age is well known for its political scandals and extravagant displays of wealth. At the same time, this was an era of major achievements in the industry and economy, which significantly changed life of American people. The Gilded Age was followed by the Progressive Era which lasted from the 1890s to the 1920s. Progressive Era is well known for its economical, political, social reforms and technological inventions. In my opinion, The Gilded Age had a more significant impact upon the United States than the Progressive Era because it gave rise to new industries, created transportation and communication networks which provided the infrastructure for further development of technology in the Progressive Era.
The life of an immigrant in the United States during the Gilded Age was a rough life. During this time period the U.S. went through a dramatic change in dealing with changing infrastructure and masses of people coming over from different countries for a chance at a better life. This time period was characterized by small wage jobs, poor working conditions and the struggle to survive. The Jungle embodies the themes of the Gilded Age with first hand experiences of an immigrant's hardships of life.
The Gilded Age was the period of Reconstruction after the Civil War. During this time period, the recently separated North and South were piecing back together as one united nation. After being enemies for so long reuniting as a whole seemed easier than perceived to be, and required strong leadership to aide in the process. Unfortunately, many historians believe that this Reconstruction period did not experience the luxury of having these elite rulers. Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison deserve their historic reputation as they failed to maintain control of the country, and lacked authority when making decisions. However Rutherford B. Hayes and James Garfield do not deserve the historic reputation of a weak president as they succeeded in financially improving the country and continually making the right decision for the people and the nation.
Expansive growth was the moniker that expressly defined the Gilded Age. Industry in all sectors, witnessed massive growth leading to the creation of an American economy. Due to the rapidly changing nature of industrialization, important men of both the public and private sectors attempted to institute their own controls over it. However, this transforming landscape integrated both economic and political changes, but also cultural and social interactions. In turn, those who controlled the flow of business would also steadily impact the American social scene by extension.
dealt with or in many cases, avoided. Gilded age or not, it was a great and improving period of time.
The Gilded Age was a time of great wealth, extravagance, and corruption. The Civil War and its aftermath bred "waste, extravagance, speculation, and graft." (Bailey 513) There were unscrupulous stock-market manipulators, and too many judges and legislators put their power up for hire (Bailey 14). The Tweed Ring in New York City employed graft, bribery, and fraudulent elections to "milk as much as $200 million from the city." (Bailey 514) This last quarter of the 19th century is often called the age of invention because of the technological advances made. This led to mass production, which caused the economy to grow at a tremendous rate ( ,112). The Exposition came at the peak of the Gilded Age, and the extravagance of the Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915 showed the tremendous effects of the Gilded Age in the lives of the American people.
"Gilded" means covered with a layer of gold. The Gilded Age was an era known by a derogatory name. This era had great economic boosting but corruption caused by corporate dominance of politics and to the oppressive treatment of those left behind in the scramble for wealth. Of course, Howard Zinn (author of History is a Weapon; A People's History of the United States) and Eric Foner (author of Give Me Liberty; An American History) had different perspectives of the Gilded Age. Zinn thought mainly about economic growth which helped the United States overall, but Foner without a doubt focused more on politics.
The struggle was great for big families, since even the kids had to get jobs sometimes. The working conditions made it no better. Grimy environments, and misty lighting was bound to cause an accident. Samuel Gompers addressed to Congress about Labor declaring, “…men…should have a better consideration than inanimate and dormant things… demand a reduction of the hours of labor” (Document G). Usually kids would work more than 10 hours with very few breaks in between. The settings also made them prone to sickness, which led to death quite often because they went unnoticed. This was considered normal, since the majority of the population was living in poverty, and minimum wage was not adequate enough to pay debts. Gompers also said “Labor…insists…right to organize for self and mutual protection… That the lives of and limbs of the wage-workers be regarded as sacred…” (Document G). Men working in factories frequently got injured and it was considered their responsibility. Whatever happened to you was your fault, and neither the company nor employer can be liable. No compensation was given and thus whomever you were working to get money for will now be at a
For those who worked in factories, life wasn’t any better. Workers received very low pay and worked long hours. Some workers had to work seven days a week, and sometimes those workers were children. Workers under 16 had to labor long hours and received even less the pay as an adult. The factories were unsafe as well, so not only were workers receiving low wages, but they also were putting their lives at risks. Women’s hair would get caught in machines, limbs would get stuck in a machine, and children would fall...
During the Gilded Age America was growing as a super power in the world and was full of pride because of
The term Gilded Age refers to a time frame in history, particularly American history, from around the 1870s to the 1890s. The name was given by the prominent Realism author of the time Mark Twain, also known as Samuel Clemens. Twain gave the time period this name due to the suggested thin gold border that was used to cover and hide the major injustices that were occurring in the country. The primary issue during this period was social and immigrant inequality. The three pieces of literary works that I believe best represent this time period are “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “War is Kind”.