Changes In The Gilded Era

The gilded era was full of changes. All aspects of the American society were developing as technology improved. Innovations like the light bulb and telephone drastically improved ordinary things like communication and extended the time in the day. In addition, the newly built railroad system and invention of cars made transportation much easier throughout the country. Transportations biggest impact was on agriculture. Now that crops could be shipped across the country, small local farmers were in competition with large specialized “cash crop” farms who produced their crops in massive quantities. And because the railroad was the only shipping option, their rates were extremely high which added to the debt of many farmers. The combination of the growing technological advances and increasingly difficult field of agriculture, turned the American society into a very industrialized one. …show more content…
The heads of the industrial companies quickly became very wealthy and exploited their workers. At factories and mills across the country workers went on strike against company leaders for better wages and hours. These company officials threatened their workers and the government often became involved to settle disputes, but usually sided with the big corporations. Due to this the difference between social classes became evident. The poor became poorer and poorer as the rich businessmen cheated them out to make more profits. Overall, there were many good advancements made during the gilded era, but many social outcomes were