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Similarities Between The Rich And The Poor In The Gilded Age

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How did some people during the Gilded Age manage to be wealthy and successful while others struggled to survive and provide their families with the basic needs? The Gilded Age took place during the 19th century and was time of prosperity for the wealthy and a time of severe poverty for the poor. During the Gilded age, some people, in this case the rich, really did benefit from the industrial economy that was created. While the rich benefited, the poor were making less than what they should have and were struggling to keep a decent life. The lifestyle of these two groups of people are significantly different, but also have some aspects in which they are similar. To begin with, The gap between the rich and the poor was extremely noticeable and due to this gap, the rich lived a lavish life of big business, while the poor were struggling to survive. …show more content…

Both the rich and the poor shared the same means of entertainment and in this case they both enjoyed sports. They both enjoyed watching teams competing for victory. Although the “working-class males had a greater appeal for baseball” and the “elite segment of the male population appealed to football” they both enjoyed this form of entertainment. Another similarity between both social classes would be that both the rich and the poor were fanatics of music, theater, and movies. They both would enjoy the acts the magicians, musicians, jugglers, and comedians performed in the theater. Watching movies was greatly enjoyed by the rich and the poor since now new forms of screening movies was being invented. Last but not least, both the rich and poor enjoyed of a good education since “free public primary and secondary education was spread rapidly.” Even though, “rural areas lagged far behind urban-industrial ones in funding public education”, they both eventually had access to an

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