Inventions During The Gilded Age

During the Gilded Age, workers were forced to work in dangerous conditions surrounded by heavy machinery. The rapid growth of the manufacturing industry created a great need for unskilled laborers who required little training and completed routine tasks with minimum pay. One of the most significant employers, the steel mills, often demanded a seven-day work week. Furthermore, seamstresses and factory workers worked over 12 hours a day for six days a week. Employees were denied vacation days, sick leave, unemployment benefits, or assistance for injuries suffered on the job. In old, disgusting, poorly ventilated factories, workers performed many, challenging tasks, usually with dangerous or broken equipment. In fact, in 1882 an average of 675

Entrepreneurs flourished in the Gilded Age. One invention followed another: Eastman Kodak put photographic technology into the hands of millions for the first time, Nikola Tesla invented the motor, and Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. At the front of it all was Thomas Edison who made a promise to invent a minor thing every ten days and a significant thing every six months. Edison Invented electric power with direct current, a motion picture projector that changed the way people watched videos, and the light bulb- Edison’s first successful invention. Another advantageous inventor during the Gilded Age was Herman Hollerith who developed an electromagnetic tabulator that could read and analyze punch cards. The tabulator was the key for businesses to process vast amounts of information. Hollerith would go onto creating the company known as International Business Machines, or IBM. Inventors led the way during the Gilded Age by accomplishing groundbreaking work. Items that are important to everyday life in the 21st century such as cars, lights, phones, and vacuums all originated from the Gilded

But during the Gilded Age, individual personal savings increased creating new types of businesses to capture and make available savings to additional business borrowers—commercial banks, and savings banks both delivered new ways for accumulating and dispensing the capital needed to fuel American economic growth. JP Morgan, prominent banker during the Gilded Age reorganized many bankrupt railroads and industrial companies. He assembled U.S. Steel, the world 's first billion-dollar corporation, and helped establish International Harvester and General Electric. In fact, in 1860, the nation 's total wealth was 16 billion dollars, by 1900, it was 88 billion dollars. Morgan used his ambitious persona to help stabilize American financial markets during several economic crises, including the panic of 1907. Morgan’s banking firm built the structure of the most prominent American industries in the Gilded Age beginning with the railroad. During Morgan’s dominant years the American economy grew immensely. Through his funding and investments, companies could thrive during the golden years of the American