Gilded Age Dbq Essay

“I always see America as really belonging to the Native Americans. Even though I’m American, I still feel like a visitor in my country” (Nicolas Cage). Throughout US history, Native Americans who have lived longer in America than many Americans do not truly adhere the same rights as Americans. During the 19th century, for example, a group known as the Plains Indians inhabited the Great Plains but were soon deprived of it by US settlers. When the government agreed on the Treaty of Fort Laramie, which was the first treaty between the government and the Plains Indians to recognize that the Indians owned the Great Plains, it was ignored when gold was discovered in 1858.

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.

The beginning of Industrialization was a time of great economic growth and social change in the United States. Though The Gilded Age made America the leading industrial nation, this widened the gap between the rich and the poor even more. The Progressive Era came after and was defined by various reforms. The unionization of the government and the reformers was a very important factor during this time period.

This Act helped the Great Plains impact history by changing the immigration process and allowing immigrants to buy land before they were citizens of the country. Increasing numbers of Scandinavians came to United States with the intention of staying; they searched for land and a better life. People around the world came to the Great Plains in search for a better life and land something that they Great Plains had a lot of. This in many ways impacted the globe by easing the population of Europe, that was very crowded, and by giving people a chance to better their lives by giving them a fresh start. The impact of these events was important to global

The growth and conflict in America from 1865-1914 was primarily positive and is shown through the Homestead Act, the Pacific Railway Act, pie graphs and the 15th amendment. The Homestead Act of 1862 is the first document to prove that the growth in America was primarily positive. This United States government offered cheap land in the west for all adults over 21 of age. As a result, immigrants, women, freedmen, and poor families moved to the regions from Texas to Montana.

There were several labor disturbances during the Gilded Age. A few of the most popular disturbances were the construction of new railroads, advancement in science and technology, and rise of big businesses. There were four important events that happened during the Gilded Age that was considered labor disturbances; 1877 Railroad Strike, the Haymarket Riots, the Homestead Act, and the Pullman Strike.

During the 1840s and later through the Civil War Reconstruction Era, western expansion faced a wave of American interest. Many people thought the west was overflowing with wealth and opportunities. The land was advertised and sold by the government in an attempt to increase the nation’s farming productivity and territorial expansion. Land legislation promised to reward young farmers and families for their successful Midwest homesteads. This legislation included the Homestead Act of 1862 and the Timber Culture Act of 1873.

From these aspects came the term, “ the Gilded Age.” This name was first coined by Mark Twain,

Free Land In 1862 the U.S. Congress passed the Homestead Act. This law permitted any 21-year-old citizen or immigrant with the intention of becoming a citizen to lay claim to 160 acres of land known as the Great American Prairie. After paying a filing fee, farming the land, and living on it for five years, the ownership of the land passed to the homesteader. People came from all over the world to take advantage of this opportunity.

As a result, the Transcontinental railroad was finished in 1869 providing new transportation. This invention, one of many inventions in this productive time period, dropped the price of traveling the country from 1000 dollars to 150 dollars ("Transcontinental Railroad."). That helps the common person be able to make this trip. Just having this land didn’t motivate people to move, therefore the government decided to give incentives. In 1962 the Homestead act was passed.

The Credit Mobilier scandal occurred in 1872 to 1873 and destroyed many careers of several politicians. Stockholders formed a railroad company, and the Credit Mobilier. They built railroads and sold the shares and even gave them away to congress man, to insure they wouldn’t be shut down or voted against. They also gave cash bribes to congress men to be more confident in not being shut down. During this time Ulysses Grant was in office and this was was of his major events during his presidency.

The Gilded Age is mostly remember for the ‘boom’ in industrialism in the United States, industries such as the Oil and the Railroad ones grew in numbers and made many wealthy and some even part of history, but politics also had its role in this era. Politics during the Gilded Age (which lasted from 1870 to 1895) was something most of the United States citizen’s used as a “pastime,” a person could make a living out of politics due to corruption. During this era there were also many other factors that influenced other people to become aware of politics (which is what caused a raise in voter participation as high as 80% in 1876). Among the factors, influencing politics, the most important ones were: patronage, sectional loyalty, ethnicity, and

Settlers were migrating to the west and reaching Mexican territory. In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican War and added more than 1 million square miles to the United States. United states had new land to expand but needed advertisement. The Homestead Act, 1862 gave settlers more reasons to move to the west. It allowed homesteaders to claim 160 acres of land free if they lived and worked on it for five years.

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 was the catalyst of a surge of migration to the West, which was sustained by the Homestead Act in 1867, the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, and the discovery of gold in Colorado and California. Westward Expansion was a period of wealth and prosperity, and many businesses bloomed and thrived as a result of abundant natural resources garnered from the fertile, untamed land. And yet, this prosperity developed at no small expense, and the repercussions of Westward Expansion cost millions of individuals their lives. However, although Westward Expansion damaged relationships between groups that would take centuries to repair, it also created opportunities for amelioration in women’s suffrage. Both the positive and negative aspects of Westward Expansion built the foundation of modern American Civilization.

With no natural vegetation to hold the earth together, the earth itself flew away, along with the livelihoods of thousands of farmers. In the 1930s, what would become to be known as the Dust Bowl blew across the Southern Plains region of the United States. As people moved to this region seeking land grants from the federal government, so did the droughts. However, these droughts themselves were not entirely responsible for the Dust Bowl’s namesake.