At the turn of the century, American society has changed dramatically. Many people call the year after Civil war the “gilded age”; the year of economic growth, new technologies and products improved, industrial workers working for low pay, and politicians were corrupt. During this period, the economy grew rapidly, producing enormous amounts of prosperity. However, majority of the population was struggling to get by, while the industrial and financial class people live comfortably. It was like a gilded; the country covered with thin layer of gold. On the other side of the country, there were problems going on between the Lakota Sioux Indians and American Government. The government took over most of their land and forced them to move
After the Civil War there came the time period called the Gilded Age. This referred to the time when businesses were taking off and people were making money. Some people, that is. Others were working long, horrendous hours in factories or on farms. People were working in conditions that were unfit to even be around in today’s time.
The Great Depression, the worst economic low in America’s history, marked the end of a period that was known as being happy for all. The “Roaring 20’s” as they are often referred to, were a cultural transition in America. After the first World War, Americans celebrated by buying things they couldn’t afford, and investing in stocks (two things that often went hand in hand). During this time period, however, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. This wage gap is not the only economic issue that can be seen in this period.
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.
Throughout the history of America, we as a nation have gone through many unique time periods. Whether it was during the colonial times where we fought for revolution or during the age of Manifest Destiny where we migrated West to fulfill our destiny or when we were battling through the Great Depression to fix and stabilize our economy all of these different times we have been through still bears an impact on our society as a whole today. A time period in specific I will be talking about is the Roaring 20s. The 1920s was an era of social and political change which sent America into the modern age, where for the first time Americans actually lived more in cities than farms. Along with that America itself doubled their total wealth in the span
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.
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
The destruction of the Sioux’s native land had a great impact on their idea of home. When the Wasichus destroyed pieces of the physical being of their home, they also destroyed the emotional and mental ideas of home as well. The killing of the bison, had a very strong impact on the tribe, as well as when the whites forced the Sioux, to conform to their ideals of living, mainly by forcing them to live in the square houses.
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”.
What I learned from this was that the United States government yearned for the Native Americans to move out of ‘their’ land. Most of the tribes moved with no dilemma, but most of the Cherokees refused to move. So they went into a court battle, and the Cherokees won because they had full rights to the land. The President at the time, Andrew Jackson, ousted the ruling and proceeded with the Indian Removal Act. When the soldiers found out what the government wanted them to do was remove the Native Americans from their land, most of them resigned and turned in their insignias and regalia to the military.
The Civil War not only abolished slavery, but also threw the significant challenge of rebuilding a war-torn nation. Although initiated with the best hopes and intentions, the ‘Reconstruction’ of the USA had collapsed miserably for it had failed to establish a nation with equal rights for all. As a consequence, class discrimination and racial injustice had engulfed the American society. Besides having similarities and differences, the struggles for racial justice in the late 19th century and the struggles for economic justice in the Gilded Age are not only reminders of the failed ideology of the reconstruction, but are also evidence which shows us that the upper class of the society in that era were reluctant about the upward mobility of the poor.
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.
The Oglala Lakota Indians felt their needs or “interests” weren’t being met by their tribal chairman or the United States Government, and decided to take action.
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.
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.
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.