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Analysis of gilded age
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Changes in the gilded age
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New Spirits: Americans in the Gilded Age, 1865-1905 written by Rebecca Edwards provides readers with many different individual accounts to illustrate the transformative time of America during the Gilded Age. The work shows the cultural, social, political and economical elements of the age that aided in forming the America we have today. Edwards’s purpose in writing New Spirits is to offer readers new insights on the era by eliminating predetermined stereotypes one may have established before reading the work. Edwards wants readers to put aside their prior knowledge to understand just what it was like to live in the Gilded Age by providing readers with the consequences and achievements of people during the time.
The industrial revolution was picking up steam, and these men mastered novel business tactics to triumph. The systems that had kept people in poverty were beginning to deteriorate: those born poor could now achieve wealth using hard work, skill and dedication. The business men of the gilded age devoted themselves to their industry as if it were their religion, routinely living a life strongly
The eternal words of Mark Twain made this era the “Gilded Age” for a reason: Society changed for the worse in those years, and the strife of the many was concealed by the Bentleys of the few. As shown by document 1 of section 2, the land grant to the Union Pacific Railroad Company,
“Much of the blame heaped on the captains of industry in the late 19th century is unwarranted.” (Document F). The Gilded Age was a time where the U.S. economy grew very quickly and rapidly, due to the inventive minds and entrepreneurs of that time; but it has different perspectives of opinions in history today. This era led the U.S. to its state and place in the present world, thanks to its important contributors, (who are involved in the main debate of whether they were robber barons, unethical men who yearn for money, or captains of industry, leaders who add positive ideas and methods to benefit their country.) The industrial leaders of the Gilded Age are captains of industry, worthy of some gratitude and credit for how our society’s structure
In the late 1800’s, American business was just starting to take the familiar shape we know today. Inventions and innovations in factories were changing the meaning of ‘efficiency’ to business owners. This era has been referred to as the Gilded Age. This is because on the surface, things were going very well for industry. However, the sudden change led to problems such as child labor and dangerous working conditions, all for very little pay.
The Gilded Age boasted a lot of great things for the United States. It created so much in such a short amount of time, but that time also brought bad things. Monopolies, factory accidents, horrible working conditions, and an ever-growing gap between the rich and the poor. These problems were handled very poorly due. This was due to nobody really caring about the poor and not eliminating trusts.
After the Civil War, factories no longer had a reason to manufacture weapons. Instead they could focus on household products like textiles or building materials like steel. Such factories boomed and became more prosperous as their industries thrived. Also around this time, railroads that spanned across the country were being constructed, uniting the country more than ever and allowing the country to become a nation of wealth. These events and more brought about the Gilded Age, a time that would push America into the modern age of industrialization and plutocracy.
Mechanization in the factory production line served as the basis for efficient, high-yielding production. Charles W. Calhoun’s collection of articles from experts specialized in the Gilded Age includes Industrialization and the Rise of Big Business by Glenn Porter, capturing that “mechanization and the factory system, well under way before the Civil War, experienced heightened growth. Production in volume through the use of special-purpose and ever more precise and durable machinery … spread steadily (Calhoun15). Industrial tycoons implemented systematic, productive machines that supported a stable production line where goods are generated precisely and in abundance. As a result of mass production, more consumers in the American economy can access the highly available and standardized goods.
Between 1870 and 1900 the United States made great advancements in industrialization. “Industrial capitalism realized the greatest advances in efficiency and productivity that the world had ever seen. Massive new companies marshaled capital on an unprecedented scale and provided enormous profits that created unheard-of fortunes. But it also created millions of low-paid, unskilled, unreliable jobs with long hours and dangerous working conditions.” This period was known as the Gilded Age.
The Gilded Age was an age of rapid economic growth. Railroads, factories, and mines were slowly popping up across the country, creating a variety of new opportunities for entrepreneurs and laborers alike. These new inventions and opportunities created “...an unprecedented accumulation of wealth” (GML, 601). But the transition of America from a small farming based nation to a powerful industrial one created a huge rift between social classes. Most people were either filthy rich or dirt poor, with workers being the latter.
Gilded age Gilded age coastline has been losing its wetlands at a rate of 16.57 square miles a year during the past 25 years, equal to the loss of a football field of coast every hour. This loss of wetlands is due to pollution, deforestation, and erosion. The loss has caused has caused loss of biodiversity. Louisiana has lost 1900 years ago of land because of pollution from landfills, factory waste, and erosion.
Your analysis is most agreeable. Although the gilded age was the era of huge technological advancements, it was certainly not a pleasant time for all of the people who lived in America. It was not only the native Americans who were not in their best condition from a political and economical aspect, but the immigrants were suffering to some extent too. Unlike the Native Americans that were forced out of their homes, the immigrants had their decision made for them; they lived in tenements, because of their financial situations. Also, often times, immigrants did not have many career options, since most of them were uneducated and were struggling with the language, so they worked in railroads and mines that sometimes belonged to the Natives.
Although society today may often times recognize this time as a prosperous time that allowed growth and improvements in techniques of everyday life. Many forget to examine what everyday life, then really consisted of. Studying this time and the struggles faced can allow people to perceive events during the Gilded Age with a different
The Gilded Age was to describe America in the late nineteenth century. The outside of the US seemed glamorous and splendid alongside industrial development and massive economic growth. However, the dark sides were hidden beneath it. In my perspective, I believe we are living in the 2nd Gilded age.
Looking over the different readings for this assignment, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to read. However, when I came across the “Where is Here?” by Joyce Carol Oates, and read a few lines, I thought back about my old homes that I used to live in. Growing up we lived in a few houses, so my story is much different then this old man’s is. But I still thought this was an interesting story.
