Wealth In The Gilded Age During The Gilded Age

William Graham Sumner mentions in his book What Social Classes Owe to Each Other (1883) a way to compare the with evolution. Sumner did not see economic inequality in society as a problem. Rather he saw it as the solution itself. Sumner uses the term Darwinism as a contrast to economic inequality in the Guided Age. Social Darwinism, like Darwinism argues in favor of natural selection according to the class that a person is on. Stating that the wealthy were this way as a result of them being the best at what they did and arguably they knew how to “play the game”. Therefore, the people who were in the working class or not exceedingly rich were not satisfactory enough to be so. Inequality on society, according to Sumner’s Social Darwinism is needed for not only society to prosper but also humanity. This way only the wealthiest smartest people survive and the poor do not. This

William Graham Sumner, Henry Demarest Lloyd, Andrew Carnegie, and Henry George knew there was economic economic inequality manifesting in the United States during the late 1800s. They all had their own perspective on the economic inequalities. William Graham Sumner, who was a Social Darwinist perceived economic inequality was manifesting because of the growth of an industrial working class, the development of urban sums, and ever more extreme differences income. Summer perceived economic inequality was natural as in society there are differences between people on their eagerness and ability to work. Then Henry Demarest Lloyd, believed that economic inequality was manifesting due to monopolies. Lloyd perceived that monopolies causes economic inequality because when having a monopoly, the one who runs it does not care about the community. They just care about just how much money they will make. He also mentions this in his work Wealth Against

He discusses all that is wrong with the wealthy individuals and how they are spoiled. He makes his argument by revealing how wealth is disposed of, “There are but three modes in which surplus wealth can be disposed of. It can all be left to the families of the descendants; or it can be bequeathed for public purposes; or, finally, it can be administrated during their lives by its possessors” (3). The author is Andrew Carnegie and intended audience is the general public but more specifically are those of wealth and make them conscious of how surplus wealth is disposed of. This is a primary source and reveals that even though this was how the world was a decade ago, it is quite similar and not much has

An American writer, Susan Sontag, stated that capitalism is, “the ideology [which] makes us all into connoisseurs of liberty—of the indefinite expansion of possibility”. From 1850 to 1907, there was a mass immigration to America and the rise of ‘Gilded Age’ which the United States population and economy grew quickly. Capitalism is a social and economic system where both the means of production and any associate trades are privately owned. During 1850 to 1907, there were a number of factors which contributed to the rise of Capitalism such as: significant entrepreneurial figures such as Henry Ford; mass immigration and cheap labour; and Railway and telegraph lines expansion to transport goods to be sold.

William Graham Sumner is a social Darwinist who claimed that people who work hard are rich, while people who do not work as hard are poor. In his article of “What the Social Classes Owe Each Other,” he discusses the distinction between the lower and upper class. The upper class consists of all the determined hard workers, while the lower class consists of lazy workers. He believed that every man is given a chance to work for their success, but not everyone is able to grasp their opportunity and most end up in the lower class. In this sense, we should not help the poor. If the rich were to help the poor, it would discourage them from working harder and therefore they would not be working to their full potential. The poor would also become

He seems to say that if everyone had equal amounts of income that there would be no incentive to produce quality work or have a good work ethic. Carnegie shows this by saying that the contrast between the wealthy and the laborer is “essential for the progress of the race”(Carnegie 451). The law of competition means that better quality products come from competition because you have constantly improve to be the best. Competition between companies and laborers forces everyone continually work hard. Carnegie thinks that it is in the best interest of the race to give the wealth to a few because it is better to help many for years to come than equally divided among people to be wasted.

Throughout the course of the Gilded Age, several influential figures rose impacting the economy, political factors, and culture of the United States. One of the most important figures of this time period was Frances Willard, born in New York in 1839. She held several important positions, exceeding as an educator, a women’s suffragist, and a co-founder of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. The fact that Frances Willard held these positions indicates that she contributed to the improvement of the United States, specifically by educating Women, fighting for Women’s rights, and fighting for prohibition. These key roles were complementary to the issues associated with the United States at the time. For example, a significantly low percentage of the population attended college after completing high school. Most of the people that attended college at the time were men. Women were typically held to Victorian standards by society’s expectation of them to stay home to raise children, making it uncommon for them to attend college. In terms of alcohol, Christian churches completely disagreed with and despised the consumption of liquor, leading to the establishment of temperance reform. Frances Willard was the most influential figure of the Gilded Age because of her work through the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union that contributed towards the ratification of the 18th and 19th amendment, prohibiting the consumption or production of alcohol and

The late 19th century of American history is most commonly known as the Gilded Age, because of its attractive appearance, but underlying corruption. Popular themes during this period were greed and guile. This can most clearly be seen in the nature of city governments and political machine systems. Political machine systems were made up influential men preying on the vulnerable for their own gain. A shining example of this unethical system is Tammany Hall. Tammany Hall was a political force in New York City from its 1789 inception as a benevolent association to its infamous end in the early 20th century (Tammany Hall). Run by William M. Tweed, commonly referred to as Boss Tweed, this political ring gained its popularity by supporting immigrants and the lower class. Tammany Hall pushed for real improvements in hospitals, schools, and infrastructure (Burns). Although these examples are viewed as a good within the system, they are irrelevant and ineffective in the overall upheaval caused by Boss Tweed and his political machine. Tweed 's idea of city government and his political machine was a failure because it took advantage of taxpayers, used political graft and corruption to disparage the Constitution, and set a bad example for future political leaders.

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 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

He said that it wasn’t their fault that “survival of the fittest” decided they were more fit to climb up the corporate ladder than others. He said it was the rich’s duty to help the poor, however. Another example of this claim is Cornelius Vanderbilt. He was ruthless in his ways and was one of many who set a bad look for the rest of those who were wealthy because he truly cared about nothing but himself and his riches. He treated his workers horribly, cheated and lied his way up the ladder, and did not use his money for anything

William Graham Sumner was a social Darwinist who said “it is impossible that the man with capital and the man without capital should be equal. (Sumner,36)” Social Darwinists believed that evolution of human society was just as evolution in nature. Governments should not interfere

Although the people consider the Gilded Age as the era of “golden” and it was famous for the creation of rapid-growth industrialization, the true meaning carried connotation of cheap labors, fakery, and manipulation which led to disparity among the social classes. During this time

During the Gilded -age, The United States economy grew at a rapid rate generating a massive amount of wealth, where railroads, telephone lines stretched across the country which created opportunities for business owner and required cheaper products for consumers. While the economic and political profited on America’s rapid expansion of wealth, industrial workers were struggling to survive ,while wages were low and work days were longer.

The Gilded age was from the 1870s to 1900s during a time of economic growth and Industrialization. “The term for this period came into use in the 1920s and 1930s and was derived from writer Mark Twain's 1873 novel ‘The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today’” (Wikipedia). The term Gilded is classified in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “covered thinly with gold leaf or gold paint.” (Merriam) During this period, people were obsessed with materialistic things and would flaunt their wealth. The rich would have massive mansions and the women would wear fine coats and massive Jewels on their hands. But, even with the increase in production and increase in wages, there was extreme poverty.