The Gilded Age An Era Of Extreme Corruption - 1169 Words

During their time in grade school, students are taught that after Reconstruction of the Civil War, America enters the Gilded Age from 1877 till about the 1890’s. Then the next era would be the Progressive Era beginning from where the Gilded Age left off till around 1920. Though these eras are accepted in the historical community, some historians argue that it is useless to label these two as separate eras in American history. One historian is Rebecca Edwards in her article Politics, Social Movement, and the Periodization of U.S. History. She argues that the Gilded Age and the Progressive should be known as one Long Progressive Era, and I agree with her. The Gilded Age is not only just an era of extreme corruption, but it served as the starting point of the Progressive Era and should be treated as such. The Gilded Age is an outdated term that should be removed text books not because it’s false, but it lacks to paint the entire picture that is the mid 1870’s to the 1890’s. The term â€Å"Gilded Age† doesn’t come from a historical scholar, but from famous authors Mark Twain and Charles Warner’s novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. The term reflects how America was run during this time. On the outside America seemed to be thriving with industrial and economic life, but under the surface you will find greed, corruption, and violence. In a time where urbanization and industrialization as well as the beginning of development of United States railroad system (9/19/16) there was alsoShow MoreRelatedThe Progressive Era Of The Gilded Age1455 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout the progressive era there were many reform movements due to the abundance of political, social, and economical corruption in America in the gilded age as seen by political machines like William Marcy tweed and American financiers like J.P. Morgan. Some of the many issues that made themselves present in the gilded age include the large wealth gap, child labor, women’s lack of rights, influx of immigrants, Urbanization, Indian wars, monopolists, political machines, and alcoholism. All ofRead MoreProgression Of Women s Rights1229 Words   |  5 PagesProgression of Women’s Rights The Gilded Age caused the solution of many problems to not happen. During this time, in the late 19th century, there was extreme corruption that was not being fixed. Soon, in 1890, the rise of progressivism took place, trying to fix the problems that were made. Many different progressive era reformers focused on many different issues and tried to mend the corruption relating to that specific topic. Women’s rights was a huge problem during this time, and two specificRead MoreFederal Elections Committee Vs. United States1389 Words   |  6 Pagesmoney as a corporation would, thus making the votes of the people matter less. In the post-civil war era until World War One lived many elites who prided themselves on their shoddy and commercialized wealth, which can also be said about the current political climate existent in America today. In the era termed â€Å"The Gilded Age,† by one Mark Twain, there also thrived a great deal of political corruption due to huge amounts of money that existed in the economy, similarly to our current political climateRead MoreThe Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World1417 Words   |  6 PagesBartholdi†. (Edwards 90.) It is important to note that gift was not from the French government. It was a gesture of friendship from its citizens and I feel symbolized the stature, in France’s eyes, that America had achieved in the world during the Gilded Age. The Harper’s article discusses the dedication on October 28, 1886 of the statue of â€Å"Liberty Enlightening the World†. The article uses the dedication to reflect on the relationship between the countries of France and the United States. Harper’sRead MoreFreedom During The Gilded Age922 Words   |  4 PagesFreedom during the Gilded Age The meaning of freedom for black Americans have changed over time, during the Gilded Age Blacks’ definition of freedom was defined as a new â€Å"social order† still driven at the hope of an American society breaking free from the anti-democratic restraints imposed by a corrupt government. This concept of freedom changed when WWII and the 1960’s Conservative Revolution started ,allowing blacks to reap the benefits of social, political and economic prosperities by having theRead Morereserchpaper817 Words   |  4 Pageswar? Industrial economy By the 1913 the United States produced one third of the world’s industrial output. The 1880 census showed for the first time that a majority of the work force engaged in non-farming jobs. Worker’s freedom in an industrial age .for a minority of workers, the rapidly expanding industrial system created new forms of freedom. Between 1880 and 1900 an average of 35,000 workers perished each year in factory and mine accidents, the highest rate in the industrial world. Class divisionsRead MoreChanges And Reforms Of American Industry962 Words   |  4 Pageshelped make changes in the United States’ economic, political, and social systems. The Gilded Age was an â€Å"era of serious problems that were masked.† For example, it was the era of masked political, economic, and social issues--such as wealth inequality, labor suppression and political corruption. Significant figures such as William Graham Sumner and Henry George played an important role during the Gilded Age. Although they shared different ideas of freedom they both helped our economy grow. WilliamsRead MoreRobber Barons By John Davison Rockefeller And Andrew Carnegie2403 Words   |  10 Pagesof information on his competitors with a total wall of silence he himself presented to the outside world.† (Tony Gosling 3) Although Carnegie did buy out his competitors, it was not on a grand scale compared to Rockefeller. Each of these men took extreme approaches to gain success in the growth of their business, and they took to the start of a monopoly to achieve it. As the industries grew, Rockefeller and Carnegie became more aggressive in the way they ran their business. â€Å"To give Standard OilRead MoreSlavery And The American Civil War3525 Words   |  15 Pagesas a moment to claim their emancipation and advocated women’s rights. The Constitution no longer discriminated race, but there was no law written for gender and the gender boundary was still there. The 1890s launched a period known as the â€Å"women’s era† (pg. 528). It was three decades where women were given opportunities for economic independence and public life that had not been available to them before, but it still did not given them the right to vote. This was significant because women were notRead MoreEssay on The Death Of Liberal America1652 Words   |  7 Pagesthat word, â€Å"partial.† It is their assurance in their own virtue that renders the Republicans most dangerous, most prone to set the law aside when it gets in the way of doing wha t they want. Impatience with the law is endemic and is the harbinger of extreme politics regardless of whether its from the right or the left. Republicans have done everything they can, from restricting access to the debate to disempowering any input from participants with whom they do not agree, to destroying the deliberative