...The Gilded Age was to describe America in the late nineteenth century. The outside of the US seemed glamorous and splendid alongside industrial development and massive economic growth. However, the dark sides were hidden beneath it. Some may argue that we are currently living in another Gilded Age, while others advocate that we have already reached a new era. In my perspective, I side with the former point of view. I strongly believe that we are living in the 2nd Gilded age. Here are four reasons why. Initially, wealth concentration and inequality were severe problems and are still now. Back then in 1870-1900, it was a period of wealth concentrated by many “Captains of Industry”. Social Darwinism was used to justify the extremes of wealth,...
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...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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...Gabriel Lima AP United States History Mr. Reinhardt June 10th, 2024. Immigration during the Gilded Age and Its Impact on America’s Development. The period between 1870 and 1920, often referred to as the Gilded Age, was a transformative era in American history, marked by rapid industrialization, urbanization, and economic expansion. Central to this dynamic period was the massive influx of immigrants who arrived on American shores in search of better opportunities. These immigrants played a pivotal role in shaping the economic landscape of the United States, contributing significantly to its growth and development. They provided the labor force essential for the burgeoning industries, fueled innovation and entrepreneurship, and enriched the...
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...HQ: During the Progressive Era and Gilded Age how did the government affect child labor, food sanitation and immigrants? Thesis: Throughout these time periods the government attempted to resolve the problems of child labor, food sanitation and immigrants to the best of their ability and in result helped the environment. Boys and girls only the age of 10 through 12 worked in dangerous working conditions for 10 hours and to only get paid 10 cent per day (Doc A). Most children didn't have a education, but very few could read at low level. However, there was night schooling for them but after working those long hours, most children didn't go because they were overworked and tired. For example, in 1910 a little girl only 11 years...
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...Shift To The Progressive Era Following the Civil War, the mid-19th century brought a second industrial revolution. Many technological advances took place during this time, which gave way 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 I agree with Mark Twain. The Gilded Age is remembered as an time that involved prosperity and industrial growth. The Gilded Age consists of three decades following the Civil War. These decades were also filled with Greed. Americans believed in a magical scheme to get them rich. “Gilded Age” basically refers to the middle class of the time. It was full of the purchases of dress, home decor, and all material goods which were considered signs of “good taste.” There was increased aestheticism of the age. The Gilded Age was mostly about the rapid industrialization that transformed the country from a rural and agriculturally-based republic who shared a belief in God, into an industrial and urbanized nation whose values were changing rapidly due to increased wealth and to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, who both monopolized their industries, symbolized the “self-made man” that controlled this time. This moral is what was criticized. As individual income increased due to improved communications from the invention of the telephone, electricity, and transportation by the new transcontinental railroads. Many individuals could afford to buy finer clothing and home decorations. The steam engine, the railroads, and the industrial boom caused the country's first...
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...Inequality was extremely prevalent from the 1870’s to the and 1920’s, leaving any race, but whites unprivileged socially and economically. This created a major problem for every other race of people living in the United States at that time. All people of color were treated unfairly receiving what they did not deserve and not receiving what they did deserve. This varied from minuscule things to enormous ones like murder. This problem effected contemporaries of the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era immensely by leaving the African Americans still restricted from doing many things a white man could do and being treated unlawfully in court, forcing the Indians out of their place of comfort and throwing them to assimilate to American’s civilization, and trying...
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...During the mid-1860’s, America experienced many changes. Industrialization and a rapid increase of new immigrants led to changes in business and in every day life. Industrialization and immigration greatly impacted America during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, as this was a time of transition in both American society and in industry. After the American Civil War, the country was still largely an agrarian society. Industry had indeed taken root, but throughout many regions it was still far more common to find farms than factories. The effects of industrialization in Europe pushed many Europeans to move to America. They came for different reasons, some just for an opportunity to make more money and then move back to home and some came...
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...In the late 19th century, Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, penned a novel about the momentous expansion of the American economy and the unjust corruption of politics and corporations. The publication was entitled The Gilded Age. The reference to the word “gilded” means an object is covered in a thin layer of gold paint or gold leaf. The object Twain and Warner are referring to that was gilded was the state of the economy and the corporate corruption. This period was an era of greed, oppression, and umbrageous business practices. The inception of a modern age industrial society boomed in the late 19th century. Prior weak or small businessmen were able to establish and grow large corporations and accumulate immense wealth by the use...
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...this time period went through grim employment, and horrible living conditions for the poor and working classes. At the same time this time, an age known as the Gilded Age, was an era of rapid growth, especially in the North and West America. In addition to Gilded Age, came a movement named the Progressive Movement. The Progressive movement's main goal was to wipe out corruption in government. At this very key time in history, there were many...
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...of Professional Sports 5 November 2015 Abstract Sports became a professional phenomenon during the Gilded Age of America, which consisted of a period of unprecedented success for Americans in regard to wealth and long-term business enterprises. During the Gilded Age period, the country was consumed by the belief that every man had an opportunity to become wealthy, and those who were wealthy actually were able to spend their leisure time consumed with spending this wealth on lavish pursuits. ("Why Sports History Is American History | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History," n.d.) It was during this era that the rise of professional sports began to emerge as a way for the wealthy to entertain themselves during their leisure time. It was also during this time that immigrants were coming into the country in the millions, and the use of sports was an opportunity for these recent newcomers to become “Americanized” wherein the use of sports was an avenue to identify with their new country. This became an important way for these immigrants to mark their progress within the American society. Coupled with the political machines of that time, sports became a way to elicit support from large groups of people that were in support of specific geographic areas wherein the politicians who used sports for leisure also saw the importance of using them to garner support from immigrants. These were seen as community building institutions, and they are still used as this function...
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...Social hierarchy has existed from the start of time it seems, as in the medieval ages you always have the royals and the peasants. In the United States of America there is a system in place showing the social hierchy which consist Elites at the top, only making up one percent of the population, use the government to extort the rest of the population by using the law in their favor against the middle class, immigrants, and those suffering from poverty. This form of hierarchy is supported by Social Darwinism; the idea that the wealthy are the fit, and the poor are the weak so they are not to be helped. Is society’s way of taking out the weaklings, and further validates the corruption during this time period, disappearing middle class, and the...
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...Provide historical context/background for each document, connecting the individual accounts to the larger historical themes of the era. Compare the experiences and attitudes of each author. Based on the textbook and the videos, explain how all these documents relate to the social and economic developments that occurred in the United States during the Gilded Age (1865-1900). Ida B Wells described her bad experiences during the Gilded Age. She described how blacks were killed and lynched by the KKK. She states that whites would lynch blacks for any reason and see them as inferior. She was a journalist and a civil rights activist. The two documents relate to the social and economic developments during the gilded age. During the gilded age, there...
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...products. Technology and skyscrapers, such as the Woolworth Building, created possibilities while trolleys and cars decreased commuting time. Beneath the skylines lay abject poverty. Immigrant neighborhoods struggled to realize what the American...
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...The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era are time periods that were significant in the growth of the American society. The Gilded occurred during the 1870’s to about 1900. Gilded, meaning wealth, refers to the flawless and neat society. However, underneath the gold, there is discrimination, corruption, and poverty. Although the gilded age was a time of industrial, economic and innovative accomplishments, discrimination against immigrants, poverty, gender oppression and political corruption were notable. The term was created by Mark Twain. Known as the second industrial revolution The Gilded Age was manufacturing and transporting goods became increasingly easy with the aid of machines and new railroads. Many breakthroughs and technological innovations...
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