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A Very Brief Look At Coney Island During The Gilded Age

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Lindsey Stange HIS 2366 Paper #1 During the Gilded Age to not have seen Coney Island, truly was like not having seen your own country. Coney Island embodied what America was at this time: greater social freedom, diversity in the population, and innovation in technology and business practices. Coney Island showed the best of what America was, though it gave no indication of the political corruption and civil unrest that was rampant at the time. Coney Island grew to great notoriety in the 1880s with resorts, hotels, and amusement parks, the most famous being: Steeplechase Park, Luna Park, and Sea Lion Park. People flocked from all over to enjoy the rides, the food, and mostly the atmosphere. Coney Island offered people a type of freedom that …show more content…

At Coney Island visitors would be able to see the latest exhibits and innovations. The first roller coaster was invented at Coney Island, as was the hot dog. The tallest structure in the world at that time was brought to the island from the World Fair in Philadelphia for all to see (Class notes 9/14-9/18). This was a place for the public to experience things they never had before. Coney Island wasn’t just innovative in technology, but also in business practices. During the Gilded Age we saw the emergence of captains of industry: business moguls who absolutely dominated the field they were in. An example of this was Andrew Carnegie, Carnegie was an immigrant who worked his way up in the steel business to become one of the richest men in the country (OTP pg. 517-520). “ The conditions of human life have not only been changed, but revolutionized, within the past few hundred years.” (Foner pg. 28) Carnegie believed that the economic direction this country was taking greatly benefited the standard of living for Americans. While Coney Island portrayed the best of parts of America, though this wasn’t truly representative of what the country was actually going

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