Essay On The Wealthy During The Gilded Age

“It was the age of confidence. Arrogance was epidemic.” (Laskin, The Children’s Blizzard.) In William Dean Howells’ elaborate novel, The Rise of Silas Lapham, we follow Silas Lapham, a newly rich business man who accumulated his wealth in America during the Gilded Age. Throughout the story, Lapham experiences a rise-fall-rise as the founder of a paint business coming from a humble background.

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.

Jesse Morrow Ms. Helvey History Period 4 February 2nd, 2023 Although the Gilded age was primarily viewed as a progressive era for America, there were both gains and losses from this era. The robber barons were just one example of the negative side of the Gilded age. Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American steel industrialist and philanthropist who led the increasing expansion of the steel industry in America in the late 19th century and became one of the wealthiest Americans in history. Carnegie wrote The Gospel of Wealth in June of 1889 to advise others to follow his lead and lifestyle regarding wealth and riches. Herbert Spencer was an English philosopher, psychologist, biologist, anthropologist, and sociologist who was most known for

Succeeding the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era, the Gilded Age was a time in the United States when the economy was experiencing a rapid growth, prompting wealth among businessmen and upper-class citizens. Therefore, since the beneficiaries were mostly those of greater wealth, those included in the Other Half did not get to experience the lavish lifestyle of the wealthy during the Gilded Age. As a result of their contrasting lifestyles, they experienced differences such as housing and how they spent their leisure time, yet also had similarities such as their interest in sports, and an appeal to being out in public among other Americans. First of all, during the Gilded Age, there was a stark difference in lifestyles between the poor and

There were no major party differences in the Gilded age. Democrats were mainly Lutheran and Catholic. They promoted education and opposed prohibition. Republicans were politically more successful. They believed in social issues like having moral standards and no regulation.

Background The Economy of United States grown significantly in terms of the number, size and influence in the world trade market. This was the period when the American society went through many changes and new social and economic processes have changed the organization of American society. Mark Twain an observer of Eighteen century have given a name Gilded Age as period in which wealthiest Americans were benefited by the government reforms and policies.

Politically, economically and socially the Gilded Age was truly a “Gilded Age”. Noteverything added to the “Gilded” effect of the time period. The “robber barons”, two major de-pressions and the labor unions (though not originally a bad thing) did add to the age. The Gilded Age saw the rise of Andrew Carnegie, John

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.

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.

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.

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.

The society was divided in 2 groups: old and new money. People had got rich quick and they were trying to show how rich they are every possible time. “As year followed year of prosperity, the new diffusion of wealth brought marked results… There was an epidemic of outlines of knowledge and books of etiquette for those who had got rich quick and wanted to get cultured quick and become socially at ease” (Frederick Lewis Allen, Only Yesterday, 1931). There was a leap from 75 to 283 in the number of Americans who paid taxes on incomes of more than a million dollars a year.

During the “Gilded Age”, America made numerous improvements to the functions and development of society. This was a time of renaissance in the United States, shortly after leaving a state of depression caused by the civil war and the reconstruction of our nation from World War I. We made break thorough advancements and improvements that allowed us to be where we are today. The “Gilded Age” was pivotal to the growth of our nation as a whole and led us to be as developed as we are. The three most important improvements to America through the “Gilded Age” were industrialization, transportation, and the appearance of wealth.

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.

Although society today may often times recognize this time as a prosperous time that allowed growth and improvements in techniques of everyday life. Many forget to examine what everyday life, then really consisted of. Studying this time and the struggles faced can allow people to perceive events during the Gilded Age with a different