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How Did The Gilded Age And Its Impact On America Today

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A Period of Contrats and Transformations Neylan VanWinkle Vernon College History II Steven Ellerkamp April 7, 2024 The Gilded Age, from the 1870s to the early 1900s, is a defining period in American history. When things like factories and machines were growing rapidly and a lot of money was being made. Mark Twain and Charles Dudley called it “gilded” because it seemed like everything was shiny and rich, but underneath, there were a lot of problems with how people were being treated (Digital History.(n.d.). In this paper, we will discuss the events of the Gilded Age, why it mattered, and its ongoing impact on America today. The Gilded Age experienced extraordinary industrial expansion through technological innovations and the rise of …show more content…

Rich business owners during the Gilded Age had a lot of control over what the government did. They could influence policies and decisions because they were so powerful. There were groups that did favors for people in exchange for support, like the Tammany Hall in New York. Which is not fair and makes democracy look bad. But, even though there was corruption everywhere, there were some movements trying to make things better. The Populist Movement, which was farmers wanting changes like making sure big companies could not have too much control and making the rich pay taxes. Others like Theodore Roosevelt and Jane Addams fought to make laws to stop these big companies from having too much power and too help people who were treated unfairly. In summary, the Gilded Age was a time of big changes and contradictions in American history. There was a lot of new technology and businesses were growing rapidly. But, at the same time, there were big differences between how rich and poor people lived, and people in power doing sad things. The effects of the Gilded Age still affect discussions today about how things like how the rich people

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Labor strikes and riots were common during the time. Policies were put into place to prevent individuals from gaining this much power ever again. In todays’ modern Gilded Age loopholes have been exploited and the rich are becoming just as powerful as they have ever been. Individuals such as the Koch Brothers have taken up the plutocratic mantle, they “buy politicians” in order to further their agenda and business

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