The Gilded Age

When you are young and even well into your adult years people will tell you there will always be somebody who is smarter, faster, happier, or better at something than you are. This is true for all periods of time but in the Gilded Age those who were better gained more and more crushing the people below them with unprecedented greed, corruption, and power. The few exploited the many by way of opportunity. Something our nation was built on, yet the avaricious elite used it for evil methods.

In the years that followed Reconstruction many issues came up including whether laissez-faire was the correct system to follow. Because of problems like that remained unsettled for some time industrial leaders began to pop up and create overpowering monopolies. Just like what Walmart is considered today. Monopolies could lower prices to a degree at which smaller businesses could not compete. This would allow them to buy out a smaller company and lower competition. In today’s world we value competition because we know it is what makes prices lower. It is what allows smaller businesses to get into the market and provide new knowledge to the same concepts. It is what allows new companies to gain momentum and have the means to develop new methods. In the gilded age freedom was valued over equality. Those who could rise would rise, crushing those they surpassed.

During the Gilded Age, many industrialists were considered robber barons. They were in fact, because of the monopolies they created, the large amounts they "stole" from the American people, and their selfish attitudes. A few of these industrialists were Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J.P. Morgan. . It was this morality and their personal business strategies that have lead historian to classify these three men as either robber barons or captains of industry.

These men established large monopolies and bought out all other little businesses. This made it impossible for competition of any kind. Perhaps the most famous of these men and most definitely the richest of them is John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller joined with smaller companies through trust agreements and mergers. Many people consider Rockefeller a tyrant who suppressed many because of his forcible ways of gaining his monopolies. Rockefeller was fond of buying out small and large com...

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...nois, the Supreme Court overturned its decision in Munn vs. Illinois. At this point the federal government stepped in, legislating the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, which created a regulatory agency to oversee rail operations, a committee to oversee the agency, and proclaimed the vague demand that railroads charge "reasonable" rates.

Several times throughout the Gilded Age and for that matter throughout Reconstruction and the era of populism the fourteenth amendment was used by businesses to protect their property. The fourteenth amendment came up several times because it did not speak of sex. Women wanted the same rights as men, or at least the right to vote but were suppressed by fearful men.

During the Gilded Age there was much opportunity for upper class citizens to become the industrial elite. It was an opportunity that was taken by many and achieved by few. What really came from this time period was a new realization that protections had to be made. Free only means free when harm is not done to others. During the Gilded Age the industrial elite took charge and through corruption and greed suppressed the many who they needed in order to survive as big businesses.