The Guilded Age

4 Pages 1123 Words

The Steel Beneath the Gold

“Gild’ed: To Make seem more attractive or valuable than it is”
-Webster’s New World Dictionary

Between the Civil War and the early 20th century, an era of growth, wealth, and power was born. In this era, the United States became an Industrial powerhouse amongst the world, becoming the most industrialized nation on the planet. The population had doubled within 30 years of fighting one of the most deadly battles of the country’s history. The level of technology had skyrocketed, and with technology, wealth is not far behind. Yet, alas, if only this wasn’t too-good-to-be-true. While the previous statements were in no way false, they are only half of the era’s characteristics. The United States became an industrial powerhouse through monopolization and weighted negotiations, so that eventually there would be one company left that controlled the usage/sales of a certain product throughout the entire country. The population had doubled within 30 years, driving many citizens out of business (farmers being the majority) and into either factory jobs with horrible conditions, or no job at all, resulting in an unemployment rate rising almost as fast as the immigration rate. The level of technology had skyrocketed, leaving even more people without a job while being replaced with machines, yet in the meantime, the employers and factory owners get wealthier as they have less of a need for workers. At first glance, this era seems to be one of great prosperity, yet is obviously one of corruption and deceit if looked at more closely, resulting in the name of the Gilded Age.
From the end of the Civil war to the end of the 19th century, the United States population had doubled due to the huge influx of immigrants, seeking a promising future in the “land of freedom”. Unfortunately, while every immigrant wanted a better life and would do almost anything to attain it, every immigrant wanted a bette...