The Gilded Age (1870-1900)
By: Marissa Martinez
Introduction (in a nutshell)
- The Gilded Age was known as a period of rapid economic growth but social conflict also came in to play. It spanned the three final decades of the nineteenth century and was one of the most dynamic, contentious, and volatile periods in American History. America's industrial economy boomed , generating unprecedented opportunities for certain individuals to to build great fortunes but that leaves many farmers and workers struggling for survival. The overall national wealth boomed with a staggering increase, but many saw it as an equally staggering disparity b/w the rich and the poor.
Industrial Giants
Such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, revolutionized business and ushered in the moderate corporate economy but sometimes destroyed free-market economic competition in the process.
What was it like?
the Gilded Age was a time of high highs and low lows; the highs and lows were actually often deeply intertwined parts of the exact same developments. In other words, the highs often were the lows, and vice versa. In the Gilded Age, every dark cloud had its silver lining… and every silver lining had its dark cloud. For more than a hundred years, critics have been ripping the business strategies that allowed big industrialists to build powerful monopolies—but those much-maligned monopolies brought desperately needed order to America's immature economic system.
Continued..
The Gilded Age was a dynamic age of incredible economic opportunity, just as it was a harsh era of incredible economic exploitation. Any version of this tale that includes only the exploitation but not the dynamism—or vice versa—is missing half the story.