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Monopolist Robber Barons In The Gilded Age

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The period from 1865 to 1900 is called the Gilded Age, not only for the monopolist Robber Barons who got very rich by developing major industries -- steel, roads, railroads, electricity, banking, etc -- but because of a fundamental change in American life. Before the Civil War, America was largely agricultural. People lived on farms or small villages & towns. In the 1870s & 1880s cities like Chicago were all the rage. . Life on the farm was boring when it wasn 't drudgery, esp. for women who were pregnant much of their lives while engaged in hard labor without electricity, running water, communication technology or neighbors. In contrast Chicago offered pavement, electricity, movies, newspapers, neighbors, restaurants, romantic possibilities, & an altogether more desirable life. . All of this had costs; many associated with the policy of Manifest Destiny, which claimed that God wanted Anglo (white) culture to spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This meant war against the Plains Indian tribes - including slaughtering 11 million buffalo to starve them -- then isolating the survivors in out-of-the-way concentration camps. Local Color literature was written for East Coast readers as propaganda …show more content…

Despite the illustrations offered by authors like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Realism rejected this outlook as illusion. It was committed to the idea that our lives are entirely determined by causes we can 't even discern, much less control. The model is illustrated in Stephen Crane 's Red Badge of Courage by Henry Fielding who wanders around battlefield lost & in a daze. He has no idea what is going on, much less how he might be heroic. His red badge is the result of random events & being at the wrong (maybe the right) place at the right or wrong time. The world is, as Darwin said, full of random events that mean nothing but determine

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Gilded age 1878-1889 was the age of fast growth of industry and immigrants in America history. The production of steel and iron rose radically than other time. In contrast, the Western resources increased such as silver,lumber, and gold. As well as the transportation also improved. Railroad develop and move goods from resources rich west to east.

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The charge about the old days of the American economy—the nineteenth century, the “Gilded Age,” the era of the “robber barons”—was that it was always beset by a cycle of boom and bust. Whatever nice runs of expansion and opportunity that did come, they always seemed to be coupled with a pretty cataclysmic depression right around the corner. Boom and bust, boom and bust—this was the necessary pattern of the American economy in its primitive state. In the US, in the modern era, all this was smoothed out.

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When Cornelius Vanderbilt died he left his $100 million fortune to his son William Vanderbilt and they both had the same attitude. During the Gilded Age these big business and their owners were thought of as being Robber Barons or Captains of Industry. The poor working conditions that were provided, the corruption they led in government, and their use of child labor shows that they were Robber Barons. Children were used in labor to work a lot and most days of the week. Kids as young as 5 often worked as much as 12 to 14 hours a day for barely any pay.

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The Gilded age was a period of time, from 1865-1901 after the Civil War, when the economy switched from agricultural to industrial. During this age two famous American cases each set premises for the future. Plessy vs. Ferguson was a case in 19th century America that challenged the 13th and 14th Amendments. Louisana just passed the Separate Car Act of 1890 which stated that trains had to provide separate but equal accommodations for passengers. Homer Plessy who was 1/8th black bought a ticket for the white only section on the train to challenge this act.

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After the Civil War, America gave rise to a new era of industrialism, the Gilded Age. An era dominated by powerful figureheads of industry, otherwise known as robber barons, America soon became an international economic power. Many believe that America’s international economic power is due to the doctrine of laissez-faire capitalism, where businesses operated without any interference from the government. However, there are multiple instances where the American government had directly supported the rise of industrialism. Thus, the Gilded Age’s success cannot only be attributed to laissez-faire because of the government intervention through the use of corruption practices, foreign policy, rail roads and the government’s response, government

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The end of the reconstruction era gave rise to the gilded age. The gilded age was a time of economic growth. It was the second industrial revolution, urbanization, immigration and political/economic corruption. The congress and the big business were more influential than the presidency. The term ‘Gilded Age’ was termed by Mark Twain who described the wealthy who were covered in a ‘layer of gold’, a superficial layer can be peeled and reveals unpleasant things.

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The Gilded Age was the period 1870 to 1900 were Industries grew exponentially and working environments for employees decreased. Coined by Mark Twain, it was a satire phrase to describe the increase social problems that were the result of a few businessmen becoming rich. The Progressive Era began as a social movement and grew into a political movement in the United States, spanning from the 1890s to 1920s. This was an era of political reform and social activism.

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The Gilded Age was an age that was directly dependent on the end of the Civil War. Jazz was a major parts of what the 1920s and it helped African Americans realize the where they are at that moment was not what they had to stay at. The end of the Civil War made most of the American populace believe that the lives of slaves would change drastically. American slaves were granted freedom by order of the President and the Congress.

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Jessica HillisMr. GillardAP US History5 January 2007Essay 16: Gilded AgeThroughout history, certain periods of time have been given certain names based on thehappenings that occurred. Many have called the period of 1865 to 1901 the “Gilded Age”, be-cause it was “shiny and pretty” on the outside but it was “rough and ugly” underneath. The term“Gilded Age” was actually coined by Mark Twain who satired the Gilded Age with a GoldenAge.

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The decade between 1890 and 1900 expressed a crucial time in the United States of America’s history. Many people experienced struggles throughout this time while others prospered. Mark Twain suggested that despite the significant achievements of the United States, Americans experienced poverty. This statement is an accurate description of the lively hood people experienced in their daily lives during the Gilded Age whether it was positive or negative. Many people during this time period focused on the positive outcomes that resulted from the Gilded Age such as new inventions, the gospel of wealth, additions of land to the country, urbanization, and middle-class improvements.

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Farmers and Industrial Workers in the Gilded Age In a time when industrialization was booming, immigrants were racing towards the “American Dream”, and cities were growing towards the sky, the United States was thriving. As a country, the United States went from rural, to mostly urban, which made America “the world’s largest industrial power” as stated by John Green. Since the U.S. had become mostly urban, this left the very few rural workers (farmers), and even some of the industrial workers unhappy. This period of industrialization is called the Gilded Age than spans from 1865 to 1900.The farmers and industrial workers responded to the Gilded Age in significantly negative ways including unions against their authority, strikes and political

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In the decades following the Civil War as the United States was changing from a primarily agricultural to an industrialized nation the American intellectual landscapes was changing in equally important ways. New ideas in the worlds of literature, science and philosophy were having great impact on intellectual and artistic endeavors and theses ideas were not just influencing the social elites but also America’s growing mass of ordinary, literate citizens. This influence would set in motion a change in mass direction for the United States. There are many important events that occurred during the Gilded Age. This age was birthed at a time following the Civil War, around the Reconstruction Era and it would continue to rise until its last breath

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The Gilded Age lasted from 1870 to World War 1, “1900s.” The Gilded Age was a period of fast economic development, but also much social struggle. Mark Twain in the late nineteenth century founded the “Gilded” Age, which means covered with gold on the outside, but not really golden on the inside, for example, tin. This period of time was glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath. In other words, the outside looked beautiful, but the inside looked old and trashy.

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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.

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