The Gilded Age: A Tale Of Today

The Gilded Age was a time period of industrial growth in the United States that took place in the late nineteenth century. Its name derived from Mark Twain’s book, “The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today.” In it, he emphasized that the country was not experiencing a “Golden Age” full of success and prosperity, but rather a Gilded Age. Meaning that there was a thin gold sheet masking the corruption actually going on. During this time period immense wealth was earned by individuals who were business owners and entrepreneurs. In order for industrial growth, business owners needed to produce more goods at a lower price. To do so, it would take lower wages, extensive work hours, and unsanitary work conditions for the employees. The employees were the lower class, it mainly consisted of people moving into the urban cities and immigrants from southern and eastern Europe who were arriving in large numbers at the time. Therefore, the gap between the wealthy and the poor was vast. Differences and similarities between these two classes can be illustrated through their housing and leisure time.
To begin with, when it comes to the housing of the wealthy individuals and the other half, the differences were massive. In spite of the different physical entities of their homes, both the rich and the poor had to work for shelter. The “other-half,” or the poor, found themselves …show more content…
Both worked hard and dedicated plenty of time to have a roof over their heads. However, the homes of the poor were crowded and unsanitary; whereas, the rich lived in beautiful mansions. Also, they enjoyed socializing during their leisure time, but the rich liked to do so quietly and the poor liked to attend concerts and dance. Finally, as of today, poverty still overtakes the lives of plenty American citizens, yet most are able to have a comfortable home and