My Struggles During the Gilded Age

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Monday, October 10, 1870
The Gilded Age was a tough time for me and other families to have a life and prosper in. Long hours and low wages were common as owners could find low-cost workers. Without unions, I and the rest of the workers were exposed to extended hours during a time where paying someone overtime did not occur. With limited opportunities workers like me and families had jobs that we struggled with and no hope of getting far in life. During the Gilded Age, there were two social classes, the wealthy and the poor and, unfortunately I was in the poor social class. The Gilded Age had a meaning behind it and I had an idea of what it meant, “Gilded means covered with a layer of gold, but it also suggests that the glittering surface covers a core of little real value and is therefore deceptive” (Foner, 609). We laborers did what we had to do to make our city look good but inside we were miserable and struggling just so we can have something to eat and survive to live another day. Today is another day of hours of labored work, struggling, depressed and nothing to look forward to. Times were getting worse for me and my family. I am just an eight year old American girl struggling to make a living. I never imagined that at such a young age I would have to work so hard to make a living. My family and I were living in a crowded home, no space for us to even breathe. I had to do what I was told and obey orders from the wealthier people which were our owners. They were in control of me and I had no choice but to do as I was told. I had come to realize that the wealthier had more supplies, benefits, and better living conditions. The people, who were poor like me, had no supplies, no benefits or good living conditions. My life consist...

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...ting older as days went by. I began to realize that businesses were built on child labor, child labor was what kept big businesses and companies running and without that, they were nothing. The government was so selfish, they looked to make great profits and have to pay so little. Children like me were exactly what they wanted because we were minors and at that time did not think of starting a union. What really upset me was that the factory where I was working treated me as an adult and they were treating me so harshly. I was so young and being treated like dirt, constantly commanding me, working with no breaks and getting paid so little. I had to do it though and I had no other options so I followed all the orders I was given. I needed the job more than anything. My life wasn’t getting any better as time went by. I just tried to survive and provide for my family.

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