Dbq On The Gilded Age

Due to the political and social barriers that the United States held, starting the class at 1877 emphasizes the change taking place after the Civil War had torn the country apart. During this time after the Civil War, the Reconstruction Amendments were in place to make equality among the races, freeing all slaves in the southern states. By the time 1877 came around, these amendments had done their job and the Reconstruction Era was declared over. When the Reconstruction Era ended, the Gilded Ages started. This was a time of rapid growth economically for the United States.

“The politics of the Gilded Age failed to deal with the critical social and economic issues of the times.” Assess the validity of this statement. Use both the documents and your knowledge of the United States from 1865 to 1900.

During this time, railroads were improving and growing as a means of common transportation. 10 years before the Homestead Act was approved, about 128 million acres of land were already reserved and granted to the government for railroad construction (Anna Khomina). Migrators were issued plots around railroads in order to continue funding as well as create job opportunities in construction and regulation. As the western frontier widened, and eventually disappeared, proposals for a transcontinental railroad began to arise. In 1862, Congress answered the people’s demands and passed the Pacific Railroad Act; with this, railroads would be connected across the nation, from California all the way to New England (http://law.jrank.org/pages/8984/Pacific-Railroad-Act.html). This intrigued western habitants because it allowed for easy transportation of goods in the newly growing corporations and businesses. The government was not the only driving force for Western settlers; many found individual factors that sparked their new

Mark Twain called The Gilded Age a time period known for being an era of good times. During this time period, America began experiencing more advances in technology, which led to an increase in industry and business. While America began to grow financially, the wealthy became greedier, and politics became a place for business deals. The Gilded Age was a period where industrialists began acquiring wealth through bribes and corruption. The wealthy grew greedier as farmers and immigrants were unable to rise in the social system. As America continued to be successfully post reconstruction, The Gilded Age however, was a period social conflicts were hindering Civil War Reconstruction.

The Gilded Age was characterized by rapid industrialization, reconstruction, ruthless pursuit of profit, government, corruption, and vulgarity (Cashman 1). After the Civil War, America was beginning to regroup as a nation. There were many other changes developing in the country. Industrialization was taking over the formerly agricultural country. The nation’s government was also in great conflict (Foner 20). Many changes occurred during the Gilded Age. These changes affected farmers, labor, business, and politics.

Any American including freed slaves could claim a land up to 160 acres for free if they worked on the land for 5 years (Doc. B). What this meant for the Native Americans was that they now have less land to hunt on so they are resorted to the reservations. Forty-eight million acres were given away. In 1872 there was an advertisement on the Homestead Act showing millions of acres in Iowa and Nebraska (Doc. E). Also in 1862, the Morrill Land-Grant Act was created to allow the creation of land-grant colleges in the US (Doc. C). It was a huge uplift to higher education in

These conflicts had great effects across America, many of which were detrimental to the American Indians who were confined to reservations and killed at high rates. The conflicts gave rise to reformers’ new idea of assimilation which would essentially destroy American Indians traditional ways of life. Before the Civil War began, Congress reserved the Great Plains for American Indians since many Americans believed that the prairie could not be used for farming or anything of economic value. However, during the mid-1800s many Americans decided to move westward and settle the Great Plains. This was partially due to popular cultural beliefs such as Manifest Destiny, the belief that settlement across all of America was justifiable and inevitable.

The Gilded Age is a brief time in American history in which the United States experienced a population and rapid economic expansion. Mark Twain named it the “Gilded Age” as this was after the Civil War, lasting from 1870 - 1900. Although, this name was ironic as “gilded” is a term used to describe something that was covered in gold, by this he meant that the Gilded Age was whitewashed but was full of corruption. It shows how the social factors (as seen in documents A,B,C and D), economic factors (as seen in documents G), and political factors (as seen in documents E, H and I)

In addition to the social and political changes that impacted the Indians, there were changes aimed at the economy which also negatively affected the Indians. One act that negatively affected the Indians was the Pacific Railway Act of 1862. This act was created to help the construction of a railroad and telegraph lines from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. Permission was given to the company creating the railroad that they can take away any land touching that of which the railroad is to be built on within 200 feet in width. Although the railroad was a great impact of Manifest Destiny because it allowed for quicker transportation of goods and people to and from the west, it legally allowed for Indian land titles to be extinguished [Doc 7].

The Gilded Age was a very special time for our nation that took place from the 1870s to around 1900. During this time, economic growth was at a rapid increase, politics were corrupted yet had high turnouts, and urbanization flourished. Every aspect of the life of an American changed drastically throughout this time of the Gilded Age. The entire era was focused on the enormous changes that each aspect of America was going through. As this is brought to attention, if we are to look into the way that America is in our time of today, we can find that there are many similarities to that of the original Gilded Age. The United States of America have currently found themselves to be experiencing the second era of the Gilded Age throughout the areas of economic, politic and social transformation.

The Gilded Age was an era of consequential social mishaps and economic growth concealed by a thin gold gilding. This period was particularly rough on immigrants. New York City for example, during 1865-1890, was filled with sweat shops where young children would work alongside their mothers in what would be considered horrendous conditions today. Factory rooms were filled with people without any central air or windows. Children would work strenuous long hours six to seven days a week, instead of going to school or enjoying their childhood.

The Indians were ridiculed and manipulated because of many different bills passed in the 1800’s and their land was decreasing in size and amount of food sources and land. The effects of the Indian Removal Act, Westward expansion, and the Dawes Act on the Native Americans in the 1800’s were abundant.

After the soaring ideals and tremendous sacrifices of the Civil War, the post-War era of the United States was generally one of political disillusionment. Even as the continent expanded and industrialized, political life in the Gilded Age was marked by ineptitude and stalemate as passive, rather than active, presidents merely served as figureheads to be manipulated rather than enduring strongholds. As politicians from both the White House to the courthouse were deeply entangled in corruption and scandal during the Gilded Age, the actual economic and social issues afflicting urbanizing America festered beneath the surface without being seriously addressed.

The Gilded Age is a time period in American history between 1870-1900. During this time period there was a boom in the United States economy and population. Unfortunately, during this time period there was a lot of financial corruption and inequality which caused the rich to become very wealthy. Interestingly enough there were a variety of distinguished authors, from William Graham Sumner, Henry Demarest Lloyd, Andrew Carnegie, and Henry George knew economic inequality was a major problem and something needed to be done.

The Westward expansion provided settlers with fertile lands and according to the Homestead Act, settlers did not require to be an American citizen to fill for lands. Farmers farmed extensively, which led to smaller agriculture’s share of the economy. Although the country was producing more than its consumption, statistically; reflect a decline in the importance of farming, the farmers exported the excess. However, the migration from rural to urban areas increased due to the dominance of wage labor and the rise of industrial America, such as railroads. At this era, the whole economy seemed like to revolve around railroads, every company needs railroad to export/import goods, or accessible transportation, and it was a major supplement that powered the industrial economy. The steel rails accounted for an enormous percentage of the steel production in the United States, also a major consumer of coal and lumber, opened an unlimited