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What Is The Gilded Age

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In 1890, America was seen by millions of immigrants across the globe as the “Land of opportunity”. The place where anyone could become rich if they worked hard enough, equity was evenly distributed to all, and all could live comfortable and enjoyable lives. While for some this dream became a reality, the vast majority of these immigrants were dirt poor, living in cramped unsanitary living conditions, and working low paying, dead end jobs to scrape by while trustees sat on millions of dollars and lived lavish lives. This period of American history is simply known as the “Gilded Age” because although it was a time of prosperity for the US economy, life wasn’t as “golden” for the vast majority of the US population as it was made out to be. This …show more content…

In a study conducted in 2013 by The Economic Policy Institute, a financial think-tank devoted to analysing the ebbs and flows of the national economy, it was documented that while the average Massachusetts one-percenter grossed an annual household income of $1,692,079, the average ninety-nine percenter grossed a household income of only $56,115 which leaves us with a vast wealth gap of $1,639,964. It also states that the cumulative one-percent takes home nearly a quarter of all the income in the state. This is a perfect example of what it means to be gilded because although Massachusetts prides itself on its economic success, it’s evident that while the ninety-nine percent are becoming poorer, the one-percent are getting richer. This type of income inequality has existed in America for a very long span of time and was one of the main reasons that the first “Gilded Age” was considered “gilded” in the first place, according to the PBS.org’s “Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches timeline” Andrew Carnegie, one of the poster boys of the “golden” aspects of the “gilded age” due to his rise from immense poverty to extraordinary wealth, grossed in a grand total of nearly $25,000,000 in 1890 while the average public school teacher earned $256. This just further proves that we’re living in modern gilded age because although we 've improved the state of income inequality since the first gilded age, it’s still a big problem that affects us on a global

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Second off, the reasons behind Andrew Carnegie represented the worst of the Gilded Age was due to the fact that he was a two-faced person. To explain, sure, he was a philanthropist, a person who seeks to promote the welfare of others, especially by the generous donation of money to good causes, however; he was hypocritical. During his younger years there was very little for the care of his workers, Carnegie amassed a huge fortune on the backs of mistreating his workers to the point that they went on strike. Another reason, he represented the worst is that, he even though he said that he love humanity, Carnegie manufactured guns and war ships overseas. Adding on, he was an overpriced fraud because he was selling steel armor plates for unreasonable

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Corporate greedy and corrupt politicians were specific problems and injustices that were present in American life during the late 1800s and early 1900s however these were addressed during the progressive era with laws and regulations. Throughout the gilded era corrupt politicians and corporate greedy allowed the upper class and businessmen to take advantage of the working class. This means that a majority of the population were hurt during the gilded age whereas a small percentage benefitted. As seen in document 1, living conditions were crowded, dirty, and unsafe.

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The Gilded Age, as described by Jacob Riis in his book, How the Other Half Lives, and in lecture, was filled with crowded living spaces, poverty, prejudice, and alcoholism. When he made his conclusions about the challenges of the Gilded Age, Riis was slightly biased racially. However, he also had a better understanding of the living conditions of the poor immigrants and described them accurately in my opinion. Riis began his book by summarizing the beginnings of the tenement housing situations, or the “Genesis of

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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.

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The era commonly known the “Gilded Age” received this descriptive name for several reasons. One reason the term “gilded” was used was to describe how society appeared shiny and unblemished from the outside, however, the inside did not reflect the same condition. Jacob Riis’ novel, How the Other Half Lives, written amid the Gilded Age in 1890, explored the hardships of the unappreciated populations that embody the unpolished appearance responsible for the name, “the Gilded Age.” Riis used photojournalism to uncover the realities of living in the cramped tenements of New York City along with the causes of exploitation of these inhabitants. As a Danish-American, Riis was set on trying to improve the lives of the immigrants who populated the overcrowded

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The saying that history repeats itself has been proven to be true time and time again. History seems to be doomed to repeat itself as if lessons were never learned from past mistakes. The Gilded Age is a unique period in American history that is undoubtedly repeating itself in the modern day. Corruption, unprecedented immigration, and the massing of wealth by the top 1% of the population are just a few of the things that characterize this period of American history. The same issues that plagued America over 100 years ago are re-emerging in todays’ society leading scholars to say that America has arrived in “The Second Gilded Age”.

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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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1707 Words | 7 Pages

Between 1870 and 1900, an estimated 25 million immigrants had made their way to the United States. This era, titled the Gilded Age, played an extremely important role in the shaping of American society. The United States saw great economic growth and social changes; however, as the name suggested, the Gilded Ages hid a profound number of problems. During this period of urbanization, the publicizing of wealth and prosperity hid the high rates of poverty, crime, and corruption. European immigrants who had come to the United States in search of jobs and new opportunities had fallen into poverty as well as poor working and living conditions.

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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.

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1318 Words | 6 Pages

Wealth, poverty, technology, decadence, the Gilded Age was a time of change and uprooting of past systems, schools of thought, and standards. It was a time of both hope and doubt for the majority of the population and brought many to be empty handed or exceedingly wealthy. The dynamic between rich and poor was shifting to a gap of wealth never before seen in the young country. The gilded age’s built up wealth disparity faded away over time. Yet today it seems that a resurgence of these features is rearing its ugly head again.

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935 Words | 4 Pages

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