When the Civil War ended in April of 1865, so did agriculture being the prominent portion of the economy, the industry began to boom. With industry taking over a major part of the nation’s economy, the emergence of immigrants seeking work began to take place. Immigrants were coming from all over the world, but mostly it was individuals from Eastern Europe. Conditions leading to the Gilded Age Industrialization included: more forms of transportation becoming available, like trains, new cities emerging, developments of mass production, and demand for consumer goods. Twenty-five million immigrants arrived in the United States between 1865 and 1915. In the 1870s and 1880s, most immigrants came from England, Ireland, and Northern Europe. By the …show more content…
Penn Station in New York was one of the most astounding and remarkable projects of construction of its time. At this time, in history New York was America’s greatest city, with the railroad it was linked to outside communities in New Jersey and Long Island and brought more people into the city. For example, many immigrants looked for and owned property outside of cities and used trains in order to get into the cities. Before Penn Station became of the cities most monumental public spaces, it needed to be built, which was not an easy task. In the painting, Pennsylvania Excavation, Bellow’s shows the enormous pit that would turn into the grand and gorgeous Penn Station. The painting shows the men working in the gloomy and dark pit that stretched more than two cities blocks. Most of the men working in the underwater tunnels and pit, at this time, were immigrants. Instead of Bellow’s painting the grandiose Penn Station he decided to show the background and hardship that lead to Penn Station. Before Penn Station was the beautiful station that stood where Madison Square Garden is now, many men lost their lives in order for it to become complete. I believe that by showing the gloomy and darkness in the painting Bellow’s was trying to show the idea that without the death and hard work by many people, the beautiful new station would have never been able to be completed. I think he was also trying to show that it was not as easy as some may have thought. The station was not completed overnight and people dedicated a part of their life in order for other people to enjoy the station for their personal pleasure. Penn Station was finally completed in 1910, but by the end of the Gilded Age, the problem of regulating railroads arose. The issue was whether or not the railroads should be private or publically owned. Penn Station was privately owned and in result it was closed and demolished from
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 18th Century was a time where most immigrants were of Irish, British, and German descent. From the 1890’s, through the next couple decade, Italians, and Jews would be the cause a new wave of immigration. Between 1900 and 1915, 3 million immigrants would take the journey, and travel to America. They would come through the famed “Ellis
In the years from 1860 through 1890, the prospect of a better life attracted nearly ten million immigrants who settled in cities around the United States. The growing number of industries produced demands for thousands of new workers and immigrants were seeking more economic opportunities. Most immigrants settled near each other’s own nationality and/or original village when in America.
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 United States had an open door policy on immigration from the nations beginning until 1921. During that time, between 1790 and 1920, the population grew by 102 million. That’s about one million new immigrants each year for 130 years. Most of these immigrants were from European countries. In 1921 Congress passed the Quota Act which put a cap of 360,000 new immigrants per year. Congress did this because the public was concerned about the number of new immigrants and how it would affect the country. This act also favored immigrants from England, Germany, France, and Scandinavia over those from Asia, Africa, and southern Europe.
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 Labor and the American Federation of Labor, helped represent the workers in this time of chaos. The Knights of Labor, founded in 1869, were representing both skilled and unskilled workers. They were quite popular with a large boost in membership becoming the biggest union in 1885. They sought for equal pay and equal work. All were welcomed to the Knights of Labor; there was no discrimination on race, gender, or sex. They called for an eight-hour day in order to reduce fatigue and for safety issues. The Knights of Labor Declaration of Principles states their purpose is to “make industrial and moral worth, not wealth” (Reading 9, p. 1). This means the moral worth is to what they could contribute to society rather than monetary gains. They were working towards this improvement of the common mans life to advance in civilization and create new ideas for society. They also called upon the employer to treat the employee with respect and fairness so they can contribute to not only their company but to Amer...
Expansive growth was the moniker which 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. Alan Trachtenberg, professor of American studies at Yale and author of The Incorporation of America, argues that the system of incorporation unhinged the idea of national identity that all American’s had previously shared. As a result incorporation became the catalyst for the great debate about what it meant to actually be American, and who was capable of labeling themselves as such. Throughout his work Trachtenberg consistently tackles the ideas of cultural identity and how those ideas struggled against one another to be the supreme definition of Americanism. This work not only brings to life the issue of identity but it attempts to synthesize various scholarly works into a cohesive work on the Gilded Age and demonstrates that concepts developed during the incorporation of the time period have formed the basis for the American cultural, economic, and political superstructure. The Incorporation of America sets a high standard for itself one in which it doesn’t necessarily meet; however the work is still expansive and masterful at describing the arguments of the Gilded Age.
The Gilded Age was was an era that saw rapid immigration. This along with an explosion of Americans moving from farms to the cities, causing more people migrating to urban areas than ever before. The growth of cities gave rise to powerful political machines, that stimulated the economy, and gave birth to an American middle class. It was a time of highs and lows.
From the period between the 1870’s through the 1890’s, it became an era known as the Gilded Age. The term was characterized by a famous American Literature author named Mark Twain. The writer tried to point out that the term means that while on the outside society may seem perfect and in order, underneath there is poverty, crime, corruption, and many other issues between American society’s rich and poor. This era’s gild is thicker than the cheaper material it’s covering. This can be shown through the countless numbers of achievements and advances America has made during the period of reconstruction and expansion, industrialization, and foreign affairs.
During the last 10-15 years of the Progressive Era, more than 15 million immigrants arrived in the United States— a number equal to the total number of immigrants that arrived in the previous 40 years. In 1910, three-fourths of New York City's population was made up of either immigrants or first generation Americans. Unlike earlier immigrants, the majority of the newcomers during this time came from non-English speaking European countries. Immigrants mostly traveled in from...
“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”, three common goals immigrants came to America seeking with hopes of the promise to prosper and gain success. However, during the Gilded Age it seemed as though these were attainable only for the select few, while others left the land they knew to spend their lives toiling away in pursuit of the American dream, many never understanding how unattainable it really was. While the Gilded Age was a time of an industrial boom and a growing economy, those working by the sweat of their brow to make the success of this time possible, were not actually ever grasping this wealth, but rather putting right back into the pockets of the wealthy. The Gilded Age compromised the American Dream by limiting the chances of the immigrant working class, and thus creating a cycle of missed opportunities keeping the immigrants from progressing much further then when they came to America to begin with.
Immigration to America began when Christopher Columbus discovered the new land now called the American continent. Immigration increased in the 17th century when people came from Europe, Africa, and Asia to the new land. There were many colonies, such as the British and Dutch. When people came they go to their people and find jobs as farmers. The first immigrants were in the east coast around 1607 to 1775 after the number of immigrants increased. In 1790 - 1850 there were few immigrants who came to America, but in 1850 to 1930 the number of immigrations increased (Dolan 4).
In 1800, somewhat more than five million individuals called America home. By 1900, that number soared to seventy-five million people. A substantial part of this uncommon development can be attributed to European settlers. Europeans hit America 's shores in two diverse waves: "old" and "new." "Old" migrants were the individuals who moved to the United States between the 1820s and 1870s. It was amid this time numerous Britons, Germans, and those of Scandinavian descent arrived in America. These settlers were commonly English speaking, Protestant or Jewish—with the exception of the Irish Catholics—and could mix effectively into American culture. "New" foreigners, did not converge into American society as effortlessly; rather, they confronted an assortment of battles that will be talked about later on in the
The United States experienced major waves of immigration during the colonial era, the first part of the 19th century and from the 1880s to 1920. Many people immigrated to America for
An outburst in growth of America’s big city population, places of 100,000 people or more jumped from about 6 million to 14 million between 1880 and 1900, cities had become a world of newcomers (551). America evolved into a land of factories, corporate enterprise, and industrial worker and, the surge in immigration supplied their workers. In the latter half of the 19th century, continued industrialization and urbanization sparked an increasing demand for a larger and cheaper labor force. The country's transformation from a rural agricultural society into an urban industrial nation attracted immigrants worldwide. As free land and free labor disappeared and as capitalists dominated the economy, dramatic social, political, and economic tensions were created. Religion, labor, and race relations were questioned; populist and progressive thoughts were developed; social Darwinism and nativism movements were launched.