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 degree of division of labor. This reduced the level of workforce conditions as workers would be forced to work longer hours in less safe conditions for less pay. Ultimately, this was a problem which made it increasingly more challenging for a family survive on two working incomes (Roediger, 1991). As Larson described this aspect of the Gilded Age, "Some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow. In the end it is a story of the ineluctable conflict between good and evil, daylight and darkness" (Larsen, 2003). What the author means is that in the Gilded Age, there were some financial issues received consideration, but socioeconomic reorganization were not priorities, as sociopolitical corruption rendered them ineffective. The government largely disregarded socio-economic problems in favor of free-market, no rules capitalism (Twain, 1996).
All told, the major issues were cultural, educational ethnic and racial, as the result of economic gaps, including tariffs. This ultimately led to the dawn of reform in child labor, the eight hour work day, civil service, prohibition and women's suffrage (Twain, 1996). Mark Twain called the Gilded Age glittering but corrupt (Twain, 1996). In his view, the period between 1875 and 1900 drew strict class lines dividing common thieves, corrupt political leaders, unethical corporate practice, and false economic forecasts: "Distinct classes were apparent, the grades of society were people of good family, people of unclassified family, people of no family...the class lines were quite clearly drawn and the familiar social life of each class was restricted to that class. These divisions effected similar cultural divides" (Twain, 1996). The unfettered capitalism of the era led to the Gilded Age and boomed the economy, but it also dehumanized the country. Industrialization in society also caused people to move more toward the urban city areas and away from the rural areas, which caused overcrowding and poor standards of living conditions (Faust, 2008). Overall, this class line was compounded by the fact that the benefits of the Industrial Revolution were felt mostly by the wealthy factory, mining, and railroad owners (Faust, 2008). This redistribution of people in the country was felt particularly by the Indians (Faust, 2008).
A prime example of the downside of the Gilded Age was the treatment of the Indians, who were confined onto reservations after treaties were renegotiated and wars were waged against them for three decades. Throughout the Industrial Revolution, Indians lost their land, which caused the Sioux Wars and various armed conflicts amongst Americans and the Indians. After the Sioux living in the Great Plains were banished to reservations following the war, several news laws supporting the Indian Removal Act were added to increase pressure on the disbandment of tribal structures that called for the division of the land, usurping of power and influence from tribal leaders, and a general push to force Indians into the culture of America.
Social issues were largely neglected by the political system as minority groups has little rights. For instance, the federal government ignored blacks after the reconstruction of American following the Civil War. In the Gilded Age, segregation was a common aspect of life in America due to the fact that blacks were still regarded as second class citizens. This was a fact that was supported by the Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896 before the Supreme Court which ruled that segregation was legal under the "separate but equal" doctrine. Following this verdict, every city and state in the South passed Jim Crow legislation throughout the course of the Gilded Age. These laws meant that blacks would be forced to attend separate schools, use different water fountains and bathrooms, and be forced to have designated transportation and housing areas, but still be afforded the same rights under the Constitution.
The reality of racial conflicts during the Gilded Age led to systematic racism. This meant significantly substandard treatment and housing provided for blacks. Ultimately, this led to of socio-economic, educational and social weaknesses as compared to white Americans. For example, there were less schools for blacks, and the institutions that existed were subpar because they were poorly funded by taxpayers.
Overall, racial segregation and inequality was clearly prevalent and not challenged during the Gilded Age. Blacks that were in violation of Jim Crow laws or any other racial segregation laws were subject to expulsion from their housing or fatal lynching (Carter, 1871). As Ida Wells described in "Lynch Law in America," these color laws: "It represents the cool, calculating deliberation of intelligent people who openly avow that there is an 'unwritten law' that justifies them in putting human beings to death without complaint under oath " (Wells, 1900).
In the end though, with the Gilded Age came three decades of violence and aggression toward blacks, even after the Reconstruction effort. As a result, this caused a lack of guarantee of fundamental human rights, civil rights and voting rights for both blacks and women. Gender also became a strong source of discrimination in the country.
Women also felt the burden of gender issues that resulted from the Industrial Revolution of the Gilded Age. As women were prohibited from voting, they began the suffragette campaign. This campaign called for their Fifteenth Amendment rights as well as activity and participation in politics. Woman from 1870 to 1900 were forced to work as servants, as low-level employees in shops and factories until they were married, or as bootleggers and prostitutes on the streets. Therefore, the ideal position for a woman at that time was a housewife. This meant that women who became unmarried or widows were predestined to a life of poor paying jobs and marginalized socio-economic class positions.
The Gilded Age throughout the Industrial Revolution resulted in several important social issues. These social, political and economic issues involved labor, women's rights, rights for ethnic minorities, immigrant sprawl, forced assimilation into American culture, and increased urbanization. As a result, with the increased of production size, so too did the issues associated with it. This is what Twain referred to by Gilded Age, "It is a time when one’s spirit is subdued and sad, one knows not why; when the past seems a storm-swept desolation, life a vanity and a burden...It is a time when one is filled with vague longings...or folds his hands and says, What is the use of struggling, and toiling and worrying anymore? Let us give it all up" (Twain, 1996). Twain meant that the undercurrent of corruption that came with the dazzling gold profits of the era made America lose its character and become a nation of inequality and unfettered capitalism that dehumanized people.
Works Cited
Carter, M. 1871. "Ku Klux Klan Violence in Georgia." History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web. George Mason University, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. .
Larsen, Erik. 2003. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. Crown Publishers. Print.
Roediger, David R. 1991. The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class. London: Verso. Print.
Twain, Mark. 1996. The Gilded Age. New York: Oxford University Press. Print.
Wells, Ida B. 1900. "Lynch Law in America" UW Courses Web Server. University of Washington, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. .
Faust, Drew G. 2008. "Accounting: Our Obligations to the Dead." This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 215-220. Print.