How did economic growth affect society in the gilded age? Americas economy did grow at am extraordinary rate, generating unprecedented levels of wealth. American celebrated the new wealth, others lamented it; all could agree that profound changes were taking place in the country. One company control the supply this was the era of the political machine. Urban politics were dominated by powerful organization that exchange jobs and contracts for political loyalty. This was the gilded age that mark twain lampooned so viciously, yet whether gilded age contemporaries condemned or defended the social and economic forces at play, and whether historians find twains. Americans
