Samuel Clemens born in 1835 acquired the name Mark Twain in Virginia City after taking a job at a leading daily newspaper making $25 a week. It was during that time that he began signing the name "Mark Twain" to his columns. Mark Twain referenced the late 1800’s the "Gilded Age." The Gilded period once was considered to be a temporary era between Reconstruction and the Progressive Movement. The Gilded era became known as the beginnings of modern America. The late 19th century was a period of greed and deceit. Everyone was out for themselves to earn a living regardless of how they obtained it. Businesses as well as people were practicing dishonest business deals, lying, stealing, cheating, killing and whatever else they had to do to persevere. (rbhayes) Basically everyone went crazy and was out for themselves. They did not care how they made it to the top. The rapid growth of industrialization, the population increased rapidly as well as immigration, and hardly no governmental regulation. This allowed the rich to get richer and …show more content…
Many Americans came to idealize these businessmen such as Rockefeller, Morgan, Gould, and Ford just to name a few. They were aggressive competitors and was out for personal financial success and power in the oil, banking, and railroad industries. Some of these big shots were honest regarding their business transaction as others took their power to bribe and pull fast ones over on people to maintain their wealth and power. The good and the bad had a lot of influence over government. (usa) “Gilded Age” also suggests a fascination with gold itself and with the wealth and power that gold symbolizes.” (apstudy) The Gilded Age ended with the financial upset in 1893. A battle over the value of the American money led investors to call in their loans. The American dollar was declining and it scared foreign investors. This in return began to start a four year