Gilded Age: The Most Important Cause Of The Civil War

Gilded Age in America sprung from the remains of American Civil War fought for freedom. Civil War broke out in 1861 with the election of Abraham Lincoln as the President. Out of many reasons that paved way for the Civil War, the most prominent and most important one was the freedom movements for slaves. These freedom movements started with the conflict between South and North. South developed as an agrarian community and was economically dependent on it. In order to meet the growing demands of sugar and cotton, slavery was the best means for the Southern agricultural owners. Slavery was a cheap and fast way to produce raw materials that could be transported to England. The only expenses of the slaves were meager meals that were necessary to

When the latter are well-educated and the former are disposed to deal justly, controversies and strikes can never occur, nor can the minds of the masses be prejudiced by demagogues and controlled by temporary and factious considerations. (qtd. in Zinn, 257)

In order to educate the slaves, they needed to end the segregation and slavery which became one of the most important causes of the Civil War. The Civil War, then, resulted in the freedom of slaves.

While referring to Gilded Age, it is important to know Civil War because Gilded Age was a result of Civil War. However, the most notable thing is that this freedom that was gained during Civil War was only an apparent freedom which could not end the economic exploitation at other levels. Slavery was abolished on the surface only. America only entered into new modes of industrial slavery that were gilded. Gilded Age, dating from the 1870s to 1900s, was an era, marked by an apparent freedom from slavery, economic success, and capitalism. It was called gilded Age for the same reason that it was only lined with gold. The age, in reality, was corrupt. Emma Goldman rightly unleashed the lack of freedom as she stated that the democracy that her people are subjected to is only enslavement in new forms. The workers are slaves who are exploited and so are the military men fighting wars for their country (qtd. Zinn, 372)

The horrible working conditions in various industries caused respiratory and other problems for the workers which called for strikes for better working conditions. The socialists started posing a challenge to the capitalists as they demanded a proper division of wealth. The highs were too high and the lows were too low in the Gilded Age which was not tolerable. This led to the creation of labor unions which demanded economic freedom and industrial democracy. The government had been siding with the rich capitalists who were helping in flourishing the economy of the country. Inclination towards socialism was a result of this. Gilded Age, in this way, was only lined with golden. Internally, it was neither giving freedom not bringing success at an equal level. The freedom of the Gilded Age was further curbed with the start of World War I. When America set its foot into the war, many Americans did not want to sign up for the war. This led to Espionage Act which demanded a silent submission to the government. By the end of the war, even patriots started seeing the socialist agendas as their torchbearers to freedom. The government had to use other means to stop it. The age lined with gold was internally falling