Second Gilded Age Essay

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.

Discuss Politics in the Gilded Age. Include major political events and issues, and the roles of the “bloody shirt,” corruption, patronage, and reform movements.

The late 19th century and early 20th century, dubbed the Gilded Age by writer Mark Twain, was a time of great growth and change in every aspect of the United States, and even more so for big business. It was this age that gave birth to many of the important modern business practices we take for granted today, and those in charge of business at the time were considered revolutionaries, whether it was for the good of the people or the good of themselves.

As the age of Reconstruction ended, the Gilded Age of big businesses began in the United States and with it came new jobs and goods for Americans. When new corporations became more successful, it made an immense impact on the economy, the political system and the lives of citizens. Economically, the cost of food and living went down significantly as well as a surplus of jobs. Political leaders were corrupted by big business as their decisions and laws were influenced by the wealthy class’ bribes and stealing from the common man. Though mass production allowed goods to be made quicker and in greater quantity, the workers’ horrible working conditions and remarkably long hours caused the creation of unions and strikes. Despite the great effect big business had on the economy in the Gilded Age through the decline in the cost of food and fuel, the daily lives of average working-class citizens were negatively impacted by long hours, horrid working conditions leading to unions and a corrupted political system.

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.

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.

During the rise of industrialization, the United States had just ended the Civil War and was starting to move on. People had an aspiration at this time to make a more than decent living for themselves, and the economy was at the right spot for this to be possible. This time period in American History is referred to as the Gilded Age, termed by the famous author Mark Twain, which simply means covered in gold; however, Twain did not necessarily mean this in a good way. He believed right under the surface of this gold plating was still problems with the American society that didn’t look so appealing. This essay will discuss how practices during the rise of industrialization during the Gilded Age shaped the American work and labor force.

Mark Twain named the 1870’s to 1900 the Gilded Age. He called this time that because gilded means covered in gold, this describes America, because if your looking at America from the outside in it looked good and business was booming. But if you lived in and worked in America you would have seen the problems and saw that everything was not good as it seemed. He called this time that because gilded means covered in gold, this describes America, because if your looking at America from the outside in it looked good and business was booming. But if you lived in and worked in America you would have seen the problems and saw that everything was not good as it seemed. The wealthy industrialists were robber barons because they paid low wages, poor working conditions, and there was manipulation of laws.

The 1870’s-90’s in the United States was a period of rapid industrial, population, and city growth. Dubbed “the Gilded Age” by Mark Twain, this era of growth also brought on new, unprecedented problems. Unhealthy living and working conditions and corruption were rampant and immigrants settled in cities that were unequipped to deal with them. Under bossism, the dominant political system of the day, one political giant controlled much of the cities they were the “boss” of. These bosses only solved problems when they could see how it would keep them in power and relied on the vulnerable poor and immigrants to make up much of their base. They learned to appease them, but never to actually solve their problems.

Improvements in transportation as a result of the Industrial Revolution made life in the cities an improvement over life in the country. In order to further development, more railroads were

Advancements in railroads, air brakes specifically, allowed safer transportation of goods. The railroad industry changed everything. More cities grew, in order to keep up with rapid economic and social environment, and industries grew in number in order to produce a profit. The Bessemer process was also established, it allowed for cheaper and faster production of steel. The petroleum industry provided hundreds of more jobs, the output rose from less the five million barrels to fifty million barrels.

Imagine a time when the only way to get around was by riding a horse, or a time when the only way to get in contact with someone was sending a letter, or a time when the only way to dig a hole was using a shovel, during the mid-19th century young innovators, Alfred Nobel, Samuel Morse, and Thomas Edison developed machines that made doing all that easier. Inventions and innovations like dynamite, the railroads, and the telegraph helped the United States’ economy grow. Scientist developed, a railroad that connected New York City to San Francisco, a telegraph that could send messages across long distances within minutes, and dynamite which could blow up anything along its path. The United States had a small, weak, economy, until the mid-1800s when inventions and innovations united and strengthened the economy.

The videos for this assignment was interesting and very informative although it is like a comedy. It has also enlightened me on so many things. After my completion of the book The Gilded Age, by Mark Twain, I have observed that the America’s economy was not at all at its higher position, but it is struggling to maintain that standard. I have also found it awful that a lot of people are losing their jobs because of Wal-Mart, which is a little disturbing for me. This is because families live on their income, but if they are rather losing their jobs how can they take care of their families.

Gilded is defined as having a golden appearance concealing something that has little to no worth underneath. During the Gilded Age, the wealthy companies were able to accumulate a surplus amount of wealth and large profits. Since companies are trying to make as much profit as possible. Often times, companies will try to cut corners and not spend money towards its’ employees that way the industry can reep most the benefits from the profit. Although, this can usually make matters worse and be counterproductive to solving the issues at hand regarding the employees. Many people were dramatically affected by the changes made to ensure companies obtain the most profit. When an individual person informed their employer of an issue it was often overlooked thus leading to the creation of unions. These unions gave individuals the power of numbers. Laborers began standing together to fight for their rights. The unions created specific strategies pertaining to each member to help protect the laborers rights. The American Federation of Labor and the Industrial Workers of the World created strategies to help their members obtain better treatment from the companies.

This developed mass production of goods that were commonly used .New factories were built which increased the number of products at a faster rate .Many people left their farms to work in the city since more jobs were being created .Scientist were bursting with ideas to improve the economy and make the labor is without doing all the man work that use to be done .Instead of them doing all the work the machines were doing them but people were constructing the machines .