Despite some issues, The Gilded Age, or Industrial era, overall had a great impact on America. During this time, the economy saw a great increase, people were given new opportunities such as jobs, and the popularity of America increased globally. I really enjoyed watching "The Gilded Age", and found it very educational. I found the meaning of the name of the documentary interesting, the fact that America put off this image that they were perfect but behind the image were various issues. I guess you could say this proves to never judge a book by its cover. Watching the documentary helped me retain the information from Chapter 17 a lot easier because I learn better from hearing and watching, than reading. In my opinion, watching the documentary is better when compared to the book because the book …show more content…
In both the book and the video, railroads and the production of steel are spoken of in depth, and the reason this topic interests me is because railroads made industrialization possible. Railroads made it possible to transport goods on a national scale, so that people could sell their products to the nation instead of just locals. Also, railroads didn't provide transportation only for goods, they also allowed people to move cities easily in order to find jobs. With the need for more railroads to exist the demand for steel also increased, opening a new door to steel production. Once America started to become wealthier and more jobs were created many immigrants wanted to move to America. In fact, according to the video, from 1880 to 1885 more than 3 million people entered the United States. These people came from Ireland, Italy, Russia, Scandinavia, Asia, and Latin America. This is important because immigration has always played a huge part in American History, as we are called the "Melting