The Gilded Age: A Tale Of Today

Improved Essays
The “Gilded Age”, coined by famous author Mark Twain in his novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, is most commonly known as the period of time in which the U.S. population and economy skyrocketed while political corruption was rampant. This era falls from the 1870s to about 1900, right between the Civil War and World War I.

As stated above, the Gilded Age is the time period where the population and economy were in a state of rapid growth, especially in the North and West areas of America. There was an emerging middle class, the very first of its existence, worming its way between the dirt poor and the filthy rich. Although the middle class in the late 19th century was just the beginning and, therefore, only a small portion of the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The gilded age was a time of trusts monopolies, abuse of workers, and unregulated business. It continued long enough that the attempts to fix the problem lead to the progressive era. The word “gilded” refers to a very thing layer of gold hiding poor metal. The corruptions in the gilded age such as the tweed ring lead to the progressivism which leads to the progressive era. The companies had unsafe amounts of power (Standard Oil Co.).…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Gilded Age was published in 1873 and was a satirical novel written by Mark Twain and co-authored by Charles Dudley Warner. The term “Gilded Age” was eventually used to refer to the decades from the 1870s to the 1890s. Many events took place during these times, for example: James Garfield was elected President in 1880 and was then assassinated in 1881 and Chester A. Arthur became President shortly after Garfield was assassinated, the Pendleton Civil Service Act took place in 1883, Benjamin Harrison was elected President in 1888, the National Farmers’ Alliance was formed in 1889, the Supreme court declared federal income tax unconstitutional in 1895, etc. The Gilded Age was chaotic, many people viewed it negatively, and some viewed the period…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    For decades, the role the government plays in the economy has been a heavily debated topic. The search to find a solution to this conundrum has been tedious and extensive, seemingly everyone having an opinion. A myriad of historical evidence demonstrates that the government should have a large and expansive role in the economy. The faults of both the Gilded Age and the Twenties combined with the solutions that emerged from the Progressive Era, The New Deal, and World War II provide extensive evidence to this claim. The Gilded Age was very true to its name: glimmering on the surface, yet contemptible and unscrupulous just below.…

    • 1423 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Was there a second Gilded Age? Considering how similar the 1870’s were to the 1980’s, calling the 1980’s a second Gilded Age could be reasonable. The 70’s and the 80’s were both times of excessive spending. Money was spent in different ways, but it sent the economy into major debt in both periods of time.…

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Andrew Carnegie made 480 million dollars through his steelmaking companies. But what did his workers make? Many Americans worked 70 hour’s a week for very little money. Fortunately, now there are laws that have been placed allowing people to stay safe and healthy, but in the 1800s they did not have these laws. Now the average hours of work that an American has is 38.6 hours.…

    • 264 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    1870 to the 1900 was referred to as the gilded ( to be covered in a thin layer of gold color) age due to the fact it was paraded as a brilliant and magnificent time in America when infact it was a time of poverty and corruption. During this time in U.S. history the country had become very corrupt examples of this were shown like the party bosses, railroad companies were paying off politicians, and corners were cut on the construction of the dumbbell buildings. At this westward expansion was occurring which started by the United States selling large pieces of land to the railroad companies. The railroad companies then took the land it sold and used the rest for building the railroad. This time in history poverty was a big part of the United…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gilded Age Analysis

    • 1466 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Gilded Age is a term coined by writer Mark Twain in The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873), a book satirizing an era of serious social problems when a veneer of refinement covered the brutal realities of industrial capitalism (Doc 2). “The amazing achievements of this period were like a thin gold layer that covered many unresolved social issues” (Keene…

    • 1466 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    From 1870 to 1900 American had a huge growth in its industry and size. In this time period was called the “Gilded Age.” This was the name Mark Twain called it. He refers this to be the period everything on top seem to be sparking and glittering but underneath it’s all corrupt. This essay will be talking about how big business,during the gilded age, sprung up and took control of the economy, political system, and the response the American people gave.…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Gilded Age, from 1860s-1900s, is considered a time of economic growth, industrialization, and wealth. Slavery had ended after the Civil War, and factories and machines were replacing the farms. Like all things gilded, under the bright, shining facade of the Gilded Age, there were darker things hidden beneath. Greed, corruption, and poverty were prevalent everywhere, without having to look far to find it.…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this paper I am going to delve into the work of art known as The House of Mirth and examine the main character, Lily Bart. By explaining some of the literary allusions that are found in this book I hope to give others a deeper look into the story. The Gilded Age was known as a time of great breakthrough and discovery. However, despite its glorious appearance, the nation was struggling with corruption and greed. I believe this is the backbone of Edith Wharton's book, The House of Mirth.…

    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    America from after the Civil War up until the 1890’s is described as being the period of time that was golden on the outside, but if you scratch the surface corrupt underneath. This period is known as the Gilded Age, which is a term invented by a famous American author Mark Twain. During the Gilded Age, America was facing serious social problems. These problems were being masked by the advancements of the new modern nation it was turning into. This era is significant because there is no event that solely occurred that resulted in defining the Gilded Age.…

    • 1444 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the Gilded Age in America, a new movement of techology and wealth spread throughout the country. Industrialization rapidly swept through the nation and urbanized many western areas including the Great Plains and California. White colonist took this as an opportunity to expand westward though this brought destruction to the native americans, while poverty and overpopulation in Japan encouraged migration to America to find their own riches. During the time period of the Gilded Age, the Gold rush was also a prominent movement. White settlers from the east heard of untod rishes in the west and started to make their claim on land in and around california.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the Gilded Age many people used greed to their advantage of becoming well known and wealthy. The definition of greed is the selfish desire for something, especially wealth and power. To the more fortunate, greed was a great thing because they kept gaining power from what they were doing, but to the less fortunate greed was seen as an awful thing because it gave them nothing to benefit from. Some people during this time that were seen as greedy would often give back to the community what they had taken away from it after they had passed. They would do this type of good deed to clear their name.…

    • 982 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Gilded Age was a time period in America of transition and revolution. America was shifting from farming and irrigation to the development of industrial capitalism and big corporations. There were many social changes such as; increased immigration, poor living conditions, and the barrier between the rich and poor. Also there were many economic changes such as; railroads, telephone, and steel factories. Corporations and monopolies grew, growing a divide between the working class and the rich.…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gilded Age Inequality

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages

    During the Gilded Age the wealthiest 2 percent of American households owned more than a third of the countries wealth, while the top 10 percent owned roughly three fourths of it. This was due to big names such as Rockefeller, Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, Vanderbilt, and many other business leaders who capitalized from the newly industrialized economy of the Second Industrial Revolution. This was the first time in American history where we had a new class of the super-rich people, that practically dominated the United States. Many people were not happy about this new class of the super-rich and labeled these industrialists as “robber barons” because some believed that they made their fortunes at the expense of the working class. Although this is true to a certain extent since these industrialists gave the workers horrible conditions, which led to the highest rate of accidents in the world with 1,972 workers killed on the job, and low wages; some of these industrialists also donated a large part of their money.…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays