The Great Revolution Of The Gilded Age

The gilded age was a period in history that caused a vast transformation due to the increase of American industrialization. Values and attitudes toward The Gilded Age varied.

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.

Mark Twain, an American writer, named the late 19th century, the ‘Gilded Age.’ This time frame is ‘gilded’ because the time was glittering with gold on the surface, but corrupt and rotten underneath. This was a time period full of greed and guile, filled with robber barons, speculators, and Buccaneers. Not only that, but there were many sneaky business schemes to get more income, improper politics, and many impolite displays. Although, it’s better to think of this time as modern America’s formative period where small companies were transformed into an urban society dominated by industrial corporations.

The telegraph quickly became popular between people that wanted to send messages over long distances easier and faster than ever before. The telegraph also improved ways of communicating across continents. The first telegraph line was laid across the Atlantic Ocean in 1866; later in 1940 40 lines were laid across the Atlantic Ocean. History.com also states that:

The effects of the Gilded Age were substantial. The population in San Francisco grew from a small settlement of about 200 residents in 1846 to a boomtown of about 36,000 by 1852. Roads, churches, schools, and other towns were built throughout California, and the flood of instant wealth created a mountain of work for not only the local people, but also for immigrants. So, the Gilded Age brought about many positive changes in California. Even through, American government is blaming the new immigrants of overpopulating the nation, and for being the cause to all of the negative events that occurred, but it was the age of robber barons and the corporate exploitation of workers, and the divide between rich and poor was enormous. I believe "The Gilded Age" is a reference to how gilded objects look like gold, but the gold rubs off when touched, much like the increased industrialization of the country looked like a good thing, but had dark consequences, like discrimination. Before the Gilded Age, most of the newly arrived to the California territory were Americans, but tons of gold attracted tens of thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia, and eventually China, who came to work. Those immigrants came to America for wealth, and avoided turmoil in their countries, but they also had to face low wages and discrimination from local people. In order to stay in America, they lived in the most terrible environments，and learned to live and suffer through such unfair treatment.

The Gilded Age was a time of reconstruction and change for most white Americans, but as for African Americans, the Gilded Age was full of inequality and discrimination. Many groups and individuals attempted to make changes for black Americans but few were successful. Though it was not until the Progressive Era that racial segregation started gaining attention and African Americans, as well as those who wanted them to be treated equally, began making changes and their fight against racial segregation began to improve.

The Gilded Age was the last three decades of the nineteenth century, when America’s industrial economy exploded generating opportunities for individuals but also left many workers struggling for survival. With the many immigrants, skilled and unskilled, coming to America the labor system is becoming flooded with new employees. During this period, the immigrants, including the Italians, were unskilled and the skilled workers were usually American-born. There was also a divide in the workers and the robber barons. Robber barons were American capitalist who acquired great fortunes in the last nineteenth century, usually ruthlessly. There was much turmoil throughout the business and labor community. Two major organizations, the Knights of

1865 marked the beginning of the Gilded Age a time period known for its innovations, corruption, progress and violence. At the same time as the phonogram and automobiles were being produced the major corporations employed child labor and offered deplorable working conditions. Laborers soon rose together to form labor unions that would have a fair advantage when dealing with large corporations. One of the pros of being a Unionist was the great numbers of unionists in several states this facilitated international strikes and placed pressure on the corporations. Depending on social class and economic background the antagonist and protagonist of the era were either large corporations or their wage workers. Members of the middle class were unsympathetic toward the Unionist at strike and prominent members of society. For example, Henry Ward Beecher and Henry Clew both members of the middle class clearly expressed their discontent towards the strikers. Unionist, and their family members, defended their actions and the Pullman strikers and Samuel Gompers were their advocates.

The late 19th century experienced the birth of a modern society dubbed the Gilded Age by writer Mark Twain. America witnessed the growth of big business, a population explosion of immigrants and the creation of labor movements. However, the Expansion and transformation of America often came at a cost to the American Citizen. It has been said, “The glitter of the gilded age covered a multitude of sins.” Evidence supports the validity of this statement. Although The Gilded Age (1870-1900) produced economic prosperity due to the growth of big business, extreme individual wealth, and increased immigrant population, it was littered with big business greed and corruption, unreasonable

The Gilded Age was a period from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in which Americans greatly increased the rate of industrialization, bringing rise to many economic and social problems. Although many people responded to these problems, two of the most famous were Andrew Carnegie, a wealthy “captain of industry,” and Upton Sinclair, a novelist. Industrialization brought about many economic and social problems. It brought a great amount of wealth to very few and brought poverty to many, widening the gap between the two classes and causing tension between the wealthy and the poor, the factory owners and the laborers. Laborers had to work in hazardous environments for wages and with few ways to advance their position.

Mark Twain and Charles Dudley named the late nineteenth century as the “Gilded Age”. What Mark meant by Gilded Age is it is a shiny gold type surface on the top, but if you study and try to look inside it is full of corruption, scandals and controlled by wealthy influential people. As mentioned in the book on pg. 641 that Supreme Court justice John Marshall Harlan in the late

Not everything and glitters is gold and this is something that can be said about the Gilded age. Taking place between the 1870s to about the 1900s this was a period that saw an influx of immigrants, mostly from eastern and southern Europe, adding much more diversity to the ethnic and religious composition of the United States. However, as these new immigrants came to the U.S.A. in search of the American dream, many of the Americans were seeing their daily lives begin to change with the urban boom brought about by the industrialization slowly taking place. This forced them to decide whether they wanted to get onto the train headed towards growth and industrial development or get run over by it.

Expansion has been a core idea in the United States for centuries. Looking to better and grow the country has driven it to take charge. The country decided many what direction it would go in, and how it would do so, but in doing so, there would be many consequences. As the country grew, so did its power and control. Names were written into history books as people helped define and build the nation. Some of the names lead the nation to conflict and turmoil. Due to people’s lust for progress, power and money, the Gilded Age led to many great advancements in the United States, but at the cost of great turmoil for many minority groups.

The Gilded Age Served as an era that was characterized by rapid growth of the economy, though significant social conflict was also prevalent. Railroads were regarded as the major industry, as well as mining, factory and

Discontent of the working class was a major issue during the “Gilded Age”. Following the failure of the Farmer’s Alliance came a new political party better known as the “People’s Party” or the Populists. Nationwide strikes in increased during the summer of 1892. One such strike left ten dead and involved the biggest steel tycoon of the time, Andrew Carnegie. A strike, better known as the Homestead Strike, occurred at Andrew Carnegie’s Homestead steel plant near Pittsburgh. Steelworkers over constant pay cuts decided to retaliate, so they stocked up on weapons and began to strike. Three hundred armed Pinkerton Guards were floated on barges down a river, and many of them were assaulted by the assailants and ultimately forced to surrender following a battle between the two sides which left ten dead and some sixty wounded. Carnegie, who was out of state at the time, told his trusted friend, Henry Frick (who was left in charge of the plant), to end the rebellion, so Frick summoned a couple thousand federal troops who broke the strike and the union. Following this strike, questions were raised about how Carnegie ran his business. In this trial, Carnegie was charged with one count of Reckless Endangerment, one count of Hypocrisy and one count of Greed. Although Carnegie had frequently docked his workers pay and his factory was not up to par, to a very small extent, Carnegie was a robber baron, because he paid his working conditions were significantly better than those around him