...The Gilded Age: History and Effects on Society The Gilded Age, which lasted from 1870 to around 1910, was an extremely influential period full of hardship for the poor and women of the United States and the creation of monopolies as well as reformation of government and accomplishments in the United States. The name “The Gilded Age” comes from Mark Twain when he referenced the fact that the period was polished and golden on the surface, yet unethical and foul underneath. Despite the appearance of prosperity, the era was marked by income inequalities and political corruption. Despite the corruption, consumerism, and capitalism that characterized the Gilded Age, it was also a formative period for new America, one in which an agriculture-based...
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...Greatest Effect of the Gilded Age The Gilded age is not the most positive part of American history by any means; gilded age means literally garbage painted gold. The gilded age did have brilliant ideas we still use today. The most important way the gilded age impacted Americans was through the rising social standards and the new found social tension, that brought new ideas. Social standards began after Jim Crow laws were put into play. Strong black leaders such as Booker T. Washington wanted to change these laws through hard work and believing that if they did, Americans would do the right thing. W. E. B. Du Bois wanted to fight for justice as soon as he could without hesitating. No matter how they planned to fight for justice, the gilded...
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...The Gilded Age, a period beginning in the 1870’s and lasting until the late 1890’s, was an era in American history characterized by unparalleled economic growth and technological advancements while also plagued by significant social and political challenges. The name Gilded Age is derived from famous author Mark Twain’s novel of the same name, written for the purpose of exposing the blatant corruption and excessive materialism of America’s most rich and powerful. This essay aims to analyze the juxtaposition of prosperity among the wealthy elite and inequality during the Gilded Age. The rampant industrialization of the Gilded Age propelled prosperity by fostering great economic growth and technological innovation, consequently exacerbating...
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...From the aftermath of the Civil War to the turn of the 20th century, America saw the Gilded Age, which was characterized by unprecedented industrial and urban expansion. Yet underneath the surface of this growth and development, there were widespread corrupt practices, political unrest, and social injustices in society. The Gilded Age in America is a particular subject of analysis that Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History (Seventh Edition), Chapter 16, delves into. The word "gilded," which was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, accurately describes the contradictory character of the time, in which wealth concealed more serious social divides. Through primary sources like Andrew Carnegie's 1889 “Gospel of Wealth” and William...
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...States had just endured a civil war, and the government felt that if they could not keep the peace then another war would be imminent. In response to this fear, the government became more oppressive and created surveillance programs to monitor major unions in the United States. The government also authorized the illegal arrests of other union leaders, these men and women were held against their will- illegally. This is similar to the method of wiretapping in the fact that the government made assumptions about those perceived as “threats” and monitored them illegally. The fear of a second civil war during the First Gilded Age reflects the fear of another major terror attack during the Second Gilded Age. In response to the fear of terror, the United States government expanded its’ power of surveillance, to the controversial extent of wiretapping. Just as in the First Gilded Age, people at first supported the government’s actions but eventually public support began to fade away. A Gallup Poll which takes information from CNN and USA Today found that in 2004, Americans had generally mixed feelings about the PATRIOT Act, “only one-quarter of Americans (26%) believe the Patriot Act goes too far in restricting people's civil liberties in order to fight terrorism. Nearly as many (21%) think it does not go far enough, while the plurality (43%) believes it is about right.” (Inc, Gallup) In 2015, over 10 years after that poll was published, Newsweek published a poll where many Americans shifted...
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...The Gilded Age ‘ The Gilded Age was a time of huge social change and economic growth in the United States. This time period brought a rapid development in urbanization, industrialization, the building of the railroads, innovations in science, and the rise of big business. New products and technologies improved middle-class quality of life for Americans. The rise of the Gilded Age in American History helped the American economy long-term to this present day. Economic development in the United Sates was made through the impact of transportation innovations. The Gilded Age brought upon positive changes in America there was a demand of manufactured goods that increased, therefore, needing an efficient way to keep up with high demand. This brought upon the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic lines, which would be used for centuries to come. The Pacific Railway Act passed on July 1, 1862 provided what was needed for the construction for this production. In the act it states: The question of "internal improvements" was constantly before Congress in the 19th century: Should Congress assist in improving the country’s transportation system? One such improvement was the dream of constructing a railroad that would cross the entire country. Railroading became a highly profitable business venture during this time period. The expansion of the railroads meant that goods and products could be more easily exported around the country...
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...1893 was a very successful and influential time in United States history as it introduced the world's fair. In Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson, the Chicago world fair portrays the impact the fair had on how the United States was viewed, as well as how deeply affected american culture is by the gilded age at this time. The fair not only was a spectacle to propel America to the top spot in industry and entertainment through various new technologies, but it managed to show the advancement of America compared to the rest of the world. Coming into the construction of the fair, after the site in Chicago had been decided, Burnham and the other architects were concerned about whether they would be able to outshine...
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...Fashion in the Gilded Age: A Profile of Newport’s King Family The Gilded Age in America lasted from 1870 to 1914. The Gilded Age has typically been defined by the decadent and lavish standard of living enjoyed by America's most wealthy and influential families. The complexities and sartorial transitions of the age can be seen through a lens focused on the King family of Newport. On the surface, David and Ella King were 'Old New York Society' industrialists who spent their summers in the fashionable seaside resort of Newport, Rhode Island and appeared to be the ultimate perpetrators of behavior and spending. The whirl of social activity that David King was involved in suggests that Ella King would have needed an extensive wardrobe in order to be appropriately attired for her diverse social obligations. The wealthy engaged in such social rituals because they understood that their participation was pertinent to maintaining good social standing. In addition, the King’s had established a household in Paris, which was also used as a starting point for their extended travels within Europe. This gave Ella access to a wide variety of couture and custom-made sportswear, which was fashionable during the Gilded Age. The houses of Worth, Doucet, Paquin, Redfern, Felix, Rouff and E. Raudnitz were some of the famous couturiers of the time that dresses Ella. Clothing expenditures at all social levels are driven by the need for a respectable appearance rather than by the more basic need of protection...
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...The Gilded age refers to the brief time in American history after the Civil War Restoration period. From 1877-1893, Americans were wealthy, hard working, and willing to do what they could to better the country. While some went and put thier money into stocks (which didn't help them in the long run) others put thier money towards the mills. One mill in Manchester, NH was one of these Gilded Age marvels. Through this era, there was a huge growth of different industries and a wave of immigrants marked this period in history (Morgan, 54). Because of the success of Western expansion, the gold rush in California and resources in Western North America, the demand for railroads led the way for the Gilded Age. The production of iron and steel rose dramatically because of improved technologies in factories and western resources like lumber, gold and silver increased the demand for improved transportation. There were mining operations that led to incredible profits and the owners of companies dealing with these were suddenly swimming in lots of money,many men used these new found riches to invest in the Mills that were in New England at the time. The Mill that is most interesting to me is the Merrimack River Mills in Manchester, NH. Growing up in Manchester only a mile from the mills has made me want to learn the history of this landmark and how the gilded age affected Manchester. In May 1807, Samuel Blodget completed a canal and lock system beside the Merrimack River at Derryfield....
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...progressive's attempts to enact social reform depended on them controlling other group’s actions and behavior (Discussion Board-9). For the most part of American history were full of the supremacy of white and the black peoples' activities as a result, there are a lot of unbalanced and one side history information that comes from the history writers (Discussion Board-7). For this reason, the progressive movement run for primary goal, to change the reforms of American life style from imperialist political ideology to socialism and marched...
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...The Gilded age had began in the late 1800’s, this refers to the corruption and falseness of this era. The Gilded age was a rise in big business, corruption along the government and a lot of violence due to strikes. Many people from the country had began moving to the cities for jobs and money causing the populations to grow quicker. During the Gilded age America had changed politically because the government became weak; Economically, we had bigger and better jobs; and, socially we became more violent as workers fight for rights. America changed politically because the government had became weak. The government had became week when they had started using the spoil system, the spoil system is when they have their friends, supporters or family working government positions due to víctory. The government would only side with the big business and would take their word on anything that they would say. They had also started the laissez-faire and social darwinism. The laissez-faire had happened because they started believing that the government should completely stay away from big business and social darwinism was an idea of “survival of the fittest the ones who were poor were meant to be poor and the ones who were rich were meant to be rich. An example of this would be “The government should not try to help the “unfit” because it would be a waste of...
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...towards the beginning of the Gilded Age. Although the Gilded Age brought great economic improvement, many suffered. The economic development that this era brought to America was very appealing to immigrants, and America experienced a large influx of European immigrants towards the latter part of the 1800’s. Despite the technological and economic improvements of the Gilded Age, only a small percentage of the population in America reaped the benefits of this. Living and working conditions were abysmal, and tensions rose within the large, yet poverty ridden middle...
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...The Gilded Age is generally thought as a time in American History in the 19th century were lots of workers (mainly immigrants) participate in the rapid growth in industrialization because the government believe that this was time for the rich to get richer and the poor to stay poor and do the dirty work. However, if we are looking at this book “the devil in the white city we see glimpse of the gilded age at the fair and throughout the entire reading with the development of technology. Ray baker quote from the devil in the white city suggest he was talking about the wealth and corruption, which pinpoint back to the era of the gilded age when everything was made to look good. Ray baker stated that “What a human downfall after the magnificence...
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...“It was so easy to disappear, so easy to deny knowledge, so very easy in the smoke and din to mask that something dark had taken root. This was Chicago, on the eve of the greatest fair in history” (p.12). The Gilded Age was a period in American history characterized by a theme of image versus reality. The 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago accurately reflected this portrait of America and showed how a covering of ‘gold’ masked the negatives of the time. The fair’s image was one of excess, extravagance, and innovation, yet few experienced the underlying truth of failure and disaster. The World’s Columbian Exposition was dedicated to showcase the Nation’s image of power and prominence and designed to encapsulate the pride and progress Chicago and...
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...The Gilded Age The purpose of this essay is to show how the Industrial Revolution of the Gilded Age contributed to increased problems in gender, race and class in the latter half of 19th century America. Mark Twain coined the term "The Gilded Age" between the years 1870 and 1900 America in reference to the gold gilding that became popular in the era, but also masked very serious social conflicts that arose across the country (Twain, 1996). Ultimately, with economic growth came wider income gaps and brutal social issues with gender, race and class that divided the country. Throughout the Gilded Age, swift financial growth simultaneously increased the size of the labor force, which in turn increased wages (Roediger, 1991). Given that these wages were higher than in Europe, people immigrated to America en masse, which then increased the overall poverty rates (Roediger, 1991). The Gilded Age also transferred industry from independent craftsman toward railroads, factory manufacturing and mining, which created less skilled and more regimented labor forces. This meant that people were forced to work under poor conditions, which stripped workers of their independence, which was the American way prior to the Industrial Revolution (Twain, 1996). These mass-production methods were created as offshoots of the steam engine with technical advancements expanding the size of workforces, making them larger and set up to accommodate more production, which created new jobs with a higher...
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