Named after the satirical novel by Mark Twain, The Gilded Age described the years between the end of The Civil War and the start of the twentieth century. During this time America was known as The Gilded Age because of its deceiving looks. While from many perspectives America was in an age of unprecedented economic growth and industrialization, just underneath was the seed of corruption. Bankers, politicians, and the upper class used bribery and extortion to grow ever richer at the expense of the middle class. This increasing gap in wealth in part lead to the 'gilded' look of America as the economy was booming but most of its profits funneled directly into a small group of elites.
With The Gilded Age came robber barons, who set the stereotype for cold and unscrupulous business men. Robber barons took the simple concept 'optimizing individuals' to the extreme, they bribed, blackmailed, threatened, and often outright defied the law with their extensive political connections to crush their competition. These men were soon in control of every major industry from steel and mining, to sugar and alcohol. And while these men cheated and lied to further the disparity between rich and poor, they were also contributing to society through manufacturing and industrialization which contributed to the outlook of The Gilded Age.
While it's easy to dismiss The Gilded Age as an era of rampant corruption, shady business, and increased labor violence; there was genuine progress that eventually lead to better lives for Americans. Technological innovations and scientific breakthroughs were happening left and right, the automobile, the telephone, the radio, the phonograph, electric trains, commercialized entertainment, and even sports saw rise in such a short amount of time. Even through the corruption and deceit there was a true sense of progress and hope for the future.
Sources:
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraid=9
https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/gilded-age
I love how you talked about both the positives and negatives of the Gilded Age! In my opinion, I feel like the corruption and the great economic disparities of the time had to go hand in hand with innovation and scientific breakthroughs. The Gilded Age's notoriety was also one of the catalysts for its fame as one of the most technologically advancing times. For example, large companies like General Electric spearheaded by JP Morgan advanced American industries. General Electric was known for its first corporate research laboratory and is known to this day for its hold in many industries like appliances, energy, etc. (To be clear though, I do not think the corruption was good; I just feel like monopolization and the class divisions were inevitable for society to progress as it had)
ReplyDeleteI think this post provides a really important backstory on the gilded age. It was full of awful business deals and insane corruption but despite that the gilded age lead to a huge increase in technology as well as a huge increase in immigration.
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