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The Gilded Age : The Gilded Age

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1. The Gilded age, took place between 1870 and 1890, was a period known as a time that was not Americas brightest for the common people. Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner’s book helped create the term that represented something that is deceptive in its value. The Gilded age was a time that represented an unchained free market due to very little to no intervention from the federal government. Companies like the railroad and oil corporation controlled politics that influenced their growth; Corruption was unchecked. Another aspect of the Gilded age was the amount of voters who showed up to cast ballots. Also, the Presidential elections were matched very closely due to the massive party rallies. The corruption of the Gilded age even reached the Presidential elections with candidates like James G. Blaine being caught up in corruption.
2. The rapid growth of the United States economy lead to the greater separation in social classes. The noticeable difference between the social classes begun to cause people to question the direction of America. The unregulated work of poor Americans led to protests and attempts at labor unions. The problem of extremely poor citizens, constantly working in jobs like factories, and millionaires in the same economy questioned the traditional ideas of freedom. The inequality caused the poor to seek out help from the Federal government to regulate the inconsistencies in the economy. However, followers of Social Darwinism used his ideas to

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