Power Of Big Business During The Gilded Age

The big businesses in America during the gilded age (1870-1900) were controlled by a small group of very wealthy men who would each monopolistically control their industry. The growing fortune of these men allowed them to control their workers, prices, and all other aspects of the American economy without fearing any sort of restriction or punishment. Big business was able to get away without any repercussions because their great wealth allowed them to control the politicians, thus they controlled all politics and legislation as well. Even though these acts by big business seem terrible at first glance, they greatly improved the economy and changed the politics in such a way that allowed America to grow into one of the most powerful nations

When Mark Twain first spoke about the early 19th century era, he gave it the name the “Gilded Age.” Twain’s explanation for this name was; that the period was “glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath.” In explanation, the economy was increased by over 400% by new business practices, but below the surface there was corruption and fraud, between business owners and government officials. Big businesses impacted the economy by, creating new business practices, but the government was affected by bribery, fraud, and political machines, America responded by having labor strikes.

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.

Storyboard INDUSTRIALIZATION America faced many challenges during the industrializing time period. Though, these challenges helped improve most conditions. In 1878, inventor Thomas Edison, went to see a set of experimental arc lights. These lights were too hot and bright though for everyday use.

From around 1870 to 1914, the U.S. went through the Gilded Age where giant corporations such as Standard Oil and J.P. Morgan & Co. sprung up. However, such big corporations hurt the average U.S. citizen by underpaying workers, being run unfairly, and allowing a small few to practically control the nation's economy. During the Progressive Era, from 1890-1920, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and other laws were implemented by President Theodore Roosevelt to put a leash on large corporations, and ultimately help the average citizen and small business owners. Big business leaders hurt the average citizen by not fairly paying workers.

In the late nineteenth century, the United States witnessed a tremendous growth in wealth and corruption in government, which created great difference between the poor and the rich. Two American authors, “Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, called this era of growth in prosperity and corruption The Gilded Age” (Roark Johnson, 518). During this period of time, the American economy was dominated by railroads, steel, and oil industries which were controlled by influential individuals, rather than the government. Having control over major industries only benefited the wealthy individuals, and worsen the conditions of those in lower classes.

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.

The growth of government power commenced during the Gilded Age when farmers perceived problems formed the Populist Party that brought up the Omaha Platform, which demanded the government for certain policies. These demands in the Omaha Platform would later be answered by the government during the Progressive Era. After the Progressive Era, the Great Depression would occur forming the New Deal that could have some extension of progressive ideology and gave a massive increase of power to the government. Then Lyndon B. Johnson formed the Great Society that was like the New Deal on steroids hoping for prosperity for everyone. As you can see, from the Gilded Age, to the Progressive Era, to the New Deal, to the Great Society, and to the Great Recession,

In the mid nineteenth century, the 13th through 15th Amendment was created to end slavery, to guarantee rights to all citizens who were born in the United States, and to refine the rights to citizens which cannot be abused by race, color, and previous slavery occupation. Freedmen’s Bureau was also created to serve the first social service established by the government to help all people, including African American, who are struggling from the Civil War. This era was called Reconstruction and started in 1865 through 1877. After Reconstruction, there came the Gilded Age in 1877 through 1900 and the Progressive Era in 1900 and 1920. The late nineteenth and early twentieth century was marked as a progress towards an urban and industrial society.

In a time when America was coming out of the bloodiest war that was ever fought, against themselves, The Civil War, and when America looked overseas for a new frontier with Imperialism. It is in this context that America started to grow westward with farm land and in industry with the million of workers, but America still felt growing pains. Two significant ways in which farmers and industrial workers responded to industrialization in the Gilded Age (1865-1900) were the formation of organizations to protect farmers, and the creation of labor unions and the use of strikes to protect the workers. One significant way in which farmers responded to industrialization in the Gilded Age (1865 - 1900) was the formation of organizations to protect farmers. During Westward Expansion farmers fell victims to the low pricing of the crops.

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.

After the Civil War, the United States (U.S.) started industrializing in the early nineteenth century, bringing revolutionary revisions to America’s society and its industries. The abundance of natural resources, new inventions, and continuously immigrating workers, along with the creation of the free enterprise system and a spur of railroads, enabled the country to industrialize successfully. Soon America’s small towns were transformed into large cities filled with factories. In the late 1800s, a period known as the Gilded Age came about, suggesting that America’s industrialization and urbanization had two facets. On the surface, the U.S. showcased golden success and prosperity, while the interior aspect began to unveil the unsettling realities

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

Farmers and Industrial Workers in the Gilded Age In a time when industrialization was booming, immigrants were racing towards the “American Dream”, and cities were growing towards the sky, the United States was thriving. As a country, the United States went from rural, to mostly urban, which made America “the world’s largest industrial power” as stated by John Green. Since the U.S. had become mostly urban, this left the very few rural workers (farmers), and even some of the industrial workers unhappy. This period of industrialization is called the Gilded Age than spans from 1865 to 1900.The farmers and industrial workers responded to the Gilded Age in significantly negative ways including unions against their authority, strikes and political

During the period of the Gilded Age, the United States was controlled by the corporations owned by robber barons. Men such as Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Morgan used money to place their own foothold in the entire economic and political system of the united states. They were able to control wages, adjust prices, buy out all competition, and avoid nearly all punishment. They held their workers under them to build their business. These business’ products were such a necessity they were able to control the entire nation.