The late 1800s and the early 1900s saw an extraordinary increase in the size and the amount of people living in cities in America. Thousands flocked to cities like New York and Boston looking for work in Americas thriving industrial economy, where it was promised that anyone could get wealthy through hard work. As more people began to move into cities the amount of room was beginning to run low, which eventually lead to the first skyscrapers being built in order to create more room. Wealthy individuals who lived in cities lived extravagant life styles, being able to buy the best homes, cloths, and products available to them without having to worry about anything but their social statues. The working class however were living very different
“Life among the Lowly, 1873”, by Madison Hemings, tells the story of the son of Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings. Jefferson married Martha Wales, and after the death of his father-in-law, Martha’s father John Wales’ concubine Elizabeth and their children fell to his wife, and consequently became his property (Madison Hemings, 192). Before his trip to France, his wife Martha fell ill and passed, causing Jefferson to take his daughter Martha with him instead. His slave Sally Hemings (John Wales and his slave Elizabeth’s child) accompanied Martha as a body servant (192). During their time in France, Hemings became Jefferson’s concubine and was impregnated by him.
The reading that caught my eye was “Who Rules America? The Corporate Community and the Upper Class” by G. William Domhoff. Domhoff wanted to argue that the upper class was not just one intertwining unit, but that the upper class also contains power by controlling economic and political decisions regarding our country. To gain better insight on his argument, Domhoff collected various types of data from reliable people on how the upper class go about their lives, and how their lives can directly and indirectly affect America. Domhoff started by talking about social class in general in America.
Imagine working sixteen hours a day in an unsanitary, dangerous, place for a big business gaining two dollars. This is what laboring-class Americans had to go through during the Gilded age. Politically, the first largest American labor union was formed during the Gilded age and many other organizations formed as well as violent strikes. Socially, different ethnics joined together to share their thoughts and realize the evils of big business and of the federal government. Mentally, most we 're losing their personal life while some were financially stable and glad.
People of different wealth classes were all able to live in adequate
The Gilded Age was an age of rapid economic growth. Railroads, factories, and mines were slowly popping up across the country, creating a variety of new opportunities for entrepreneurs and laborers alike. These new inventions and opportunities created “...an unprecedented accumulation of wealth” (GML, 601). But the transition of America from a small farming based nation to a powerful industrial one created a huge rift between social classes. Most people were either filthy rich or dirt poor, with workers being the latter.
Wealthy people spent their money however they pleased. The middle class struggled during the Gilded Age, their incomes stayed low for many years. That made many middle class people feel less and insecure of themselves. They feared losing their jobs and not being able to pay their houses or afford to see the doctor when sick or injured.
The disenfranchisement of Black Americans is as old as their presence in The United States. This disenfranchisement manifests itself in many different ways and is perpetuated on an institutional and individual levels. The oppression that blacks face have been consistently resisted by Black people and our allies. One of the more favorable ways of resistance towards institutional racism in the past and in the present has been to create legal reform. Laws such as the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment, also referred to as Reconstruction Amendments, are some laws that alleviated the oppression black people faced.
The upper class was filled with industrialist that were able to live lavishly, but the working class remained at the bottom and were forced to live in tenement apartments. The gilded age was marked with positive prospering but an unfairness
The 1920s were the first years of the new, modern America, with a growing consumer society and new ideas and rules. America saw many changes throughout this decade, including but not limited to social, economic and political changes. Throughout this time, new values were made with the growth of new forms of entertainment and education. After the Progressive Era, the ideas of political figures changed with a new focus on conservative politics and less labor issues. With the new ability for people to buy other products than basic needs, their money went to new inventions, causing new industries to grow.
Social Standards of the Late 1800s to Mid 1900s compared to Today told through Literature from English 11 Throughout the course of English 11, social standards from a different time period were presented, and those social standards from the late eighteen hundreds to mid nineteen hundreds are very different and better than todays. This is evident and can be seen throughout literature we read this year, from Poets of the 1800s to The Harlem Renaissance, to the novel Until They Bring the Streetcars Back. Before comparing social standards of today with centuries past, its important to have a clear definition of a social standard. Multiple sources describe a social standard as “informal understandings that govern the behavior of members
The Gilded Age shines light on how the lives of the poor and rich contrasted each other in the era. During The Gilded Age, to be wealthy was a dream. They had lavish parties, big fancy mansions, and enough money to buy anything. And, if they were one of the most wealthy people in the country, they basically ran the U.S. Being poor was horrible. Oftentimes, they could barely afford food, worked ungodly hours, and were treated terribly.
In the late 19th century, Mark Twain coined the name “Gilded Age”, meaning the period in which this era was taking place was a point in time where greed, cunning intelligence, speculators, scandalous politics, and shady business would arrive in the United States causing an era of corruption. This was the duration where the United States government was referred to as the “Third Party System” where the 19th century saw the advent of economy, mass immigration, and class division all within the seams of the country. A modern American economy arose along with big businesses that were controlled by a small number of giant corporations. Carnegie believed that there should be no restrictions on how a man makes his money or how much he makes,
The high status were well dressed and lived in houses that contained many appliances and didn't have leak holes, they knew that they were above the lower
The 1920’s, or “The Roaring 20’s”, was a decade that witnessed exciting social changes. It was a time of prosperity and dissipation, bootleggers and jazz dancers, and most importantly, it was a decade of The Prohibition Era. The Prohibition Era is basically an era which banned the manufacture, transportation, import and export, and the sale of alcoholic beverages. It was meant to reduce crime, corruption, and social problems and increase the overall hygiene of America. However, this social and political experiment failed.
