ipl-logo

The Impact Of The Gilded Age

957 Words4 Pages

What was the Gilded Age and why did Mark Twain refer to it as such? To help understand this question, one must know the meaning of the word gild. Per Merriam Webster, the term gild means to “to give an attractive but often deceptive appearance to” (Gild, n.d.). After the Civil War the American people had become tired of all the corruption and simply wanted to see an end to it and to have a stable economy. The Gilded Age was fashioned to be prosperous times for all Americans, promising wealth, and an end to past political corruption. However, what was supposed to be a prosperous time for all would become only a period of deception to many.
The Gilded Age was the post-civil war period from 1878-1889. During this period of history, there …show more content…

In regards to positive impacts, the mass of immigrants brought new religions into the American culture as many of the immigrants were Catholic or Jewish. As the push westward continued, the discovery of gold and silver gave hope to many who were poor that they could stake a claim and strike it rich. However, unknown to them, their chances of striking it rich were slim. Hence, the California Gold rush. America also experienced major economic growth in both industrial and agricultural areas. On the other hand, were negative impacts as most people would not become prosperous. During this time the rich would become richer and the poor would remain poor and struggle to make ends meet. Many of the jobs that were available were dangerous, required long hours, and paid low wages. This forced many workers to live in “urban slums” where cholera, typhoid, and tuberculosis were found (Shmoop Editorial Team, …show more content…

The citizens of the United States felt they had the best form of government and culture and felt the obligation to expand it across the nation. Manifest Destiny had both positive and negative effects on social and political values during this time. Americans felt because they were experiencing such growth that God was blessing them and that by incorporating others into their culture they would be blessed too. However, greed eventually took over and the belief that the white man could destroy anyone or anything that got in the way of its progress led to many wars and lives lost over the acquisition of much needed land. Nevertheless, without Manifest Destiny and the westward expansion, America would not be the country it is

Show More
Related

Wal-Mart In The Gilded Age

265 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More

Summary Of New Spirits By Rebecca Edwards

1168 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More

How Did Manifest Destiny Affect Mexico

541 Words | 3 Pages

Manifest Destiny changed the United States socially, economically and politically. It was affected socially because it became more culturally diffused; it also affected relationship with the Native Americans due to the Americans belief that they were the better race and others were inferior to them. It was affected economically because there was more land to profit off of and politically it damaged the United States and Mexico’s foreign relations. Those who believed in the manifest destiny forcefully removed Native Americans from their lands in order for the United States to gain more land. America was shifted politically, due to new tense relations with Mexico, as an effect of the Mexican

Read More

Political Scandals During The Gilded Age

471 Words | 2 Pages

The Gilded age is an American History term meaning covered with glitter and gold and was applied to this period because of political corruption. President Grant was elected as president because of his war experience not his political background. He relied on his staff to help him make decisions. His staff was very corrupt and found themselves involved in many political scandals. Some of the issues that grant faced during his time in office was printing money, cheaper currency, and inflation.

Read More

Gilded Age: Andrew Carnegie And John D. Rockefeller

134 Words | 1 Pages

The Gilded Age, around the 1870s to the late 1890s, led to immeasurable success within the American economy and society. Wealth for a few led to hope for the many, and the idea of becoming immensely wealthy appealed to people. People saw that anybody could rise to the top through hard work and it was exemplified in people like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. This gave them hope and advanced the idea of American exceptionalism and superiority. The process of obtaining wealth led to industrialization and urbanization but also to many problems.

Read More

The Positive And Negative Factors Of The Gilded Age

629 Words | 3 Pages

The Gilded Age, a term created by Mark Twain, described the conditions of the 1890s and 1900s. Twain stated that even though there were significant advancements and achievements, the United States was cheap and full of corruption. In my opinion, this concept is overstated and too harsh. The United States did have its imperfections such as big businesses monopolizing industry and poor working conditions for employees, but the positive factors of this era outweighed the negative factors. These positive factors included the termination of the spoils system, growth of industry, and the creation of the middle class.

Read More

Gilded Age DBQ

623 Words | 3 Pages

The Gilded Age really means that the U.S. was covered with gold, or otherwise as known as wealth. Many people were really, really rich. They had tons of money with them, but the problem is that people seem to look nice and wealthy to other people, but they are more or less corrupted. One of wealthy people’s corruption is selfishness. If one gets too wealthy, all they would think about is money.

Read More

The Similarities Between The Gilded Age And Today

2252 Words | 10 Pages

The Gilded Age took place in the U.S in the late 19th century, from about 1870 to 1900. It was a time of invention, and the development of many modern technologies that are still in use today. But behind the appearance of the courtly mankind wide strides toward the future of technology, and all the new amazing advancements, The Gilded Age was terrible time for all thoses that were not rich, white, men, for this time period was defined by them, for them, and it was a hellhole for everyone else in the country. Horrifyingly enough, very many similarities connect the time of The Gilded Age with today. The Gilded Age was a seemingly highly progressive period, however, underneath its shiny exterior is a much more ugly truth.

Read More

Politically, Economic And Social Effects Of The Gilded Age

799 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

Poverty During The Gilded Age

707 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Manifest Destiny Benefits

774 Words | 4 Pages

This is because the Manifest Destiny improve technology, was vital in the transition from rural to urban, more efficient trade, and more job opportunities for the Chinese. The Manifest Destiny helped the U.S to evolve and advance. Many of the advances help to make the foundation of what the U.S is today. The evolutions made during the time of westward expansion made the U.S a more powerful nation. Countries/ civilizations have to advance and change at some point or else it will inevitably be destroyed and conquered.

Read More

Differences Between Washington And Dubois In The Gilded Age

930 Words | 4 Pages

Speed Dating Conclusion Essay The Gilded Age, a term coined by the popular author of the time Mark Twain, was associated with the era of rapid economic growth in the United States from the 1870s to the 1900. The Gilded Age meant an era of progress and forward thinking preceding the aftermaths of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Tens of thousands of Immigrants came to America looking for economic prosperity. Large corporations and trusts were set up during this period.

Read More

Progressive Era Essay

860 Words | 4 Pages

The Gilded age was a period in the late 1800s (1865-1900) that showed tremendous increase of wealth caused by the industrial age. The lifestyle of the rich during this period hid the many problems of the time that eventually brought about the progressive era movement. This was a movement for reform between 1900-1920s. Progressives typically held that the irresponsible actions of the rich were corrupting both public and private life. Forces such as immigration, the Populist Party and industrialization that led to the progressive era also impacted the American government both in its activeness and its democracy.

Read More

Cause And Effect Of Manifest Destiny

2016 Words | 9 Pages

The time of Manifest Destiny was a time of true American brotherhood and comradeship. With Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk being the leading presidents of the cause during this time, it not only led to continental expansion but homicide as well. While the Americans believed they were expanding into free land, Native Americans had already settled the land centuries earlier. This led to the dark side of Manifest Destiny. Native Americans were forced to pick up their homes and resettle in areas that were less than sufficient to meet their basic needs.

Read More

Essay On The Gilded Age

861 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

More about The Impact Of The Gilded Age

Related Topics

Open Document