...enjoyed unheralded success, many of the lower classes were exploited. The Gilded Age was a time of economic growth for the U.S.; the industrialization of the country and the technological advances made it possible for certain individuals to achieve extraordinary amounts of wealth. However, this wealth came at the cost of the general population. This economic and social inequality is what led to the terrible living conditions as described in Jacob Riis’ How the Other Half Lives. In his pioneering work of photojournalism, Jacob Riis draws attention to the horrifying living conditions in the poor slums of New York. Although there were many reasons for the terrible living conditions, three of the most influential...
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...towards the beginning of the Gilded Age. Although the Gilded Age brought great economic improvement, many suffered. The economic development that this era brought to America was very appealing to immigrants, and America experienced a large influx of European immigrants towards the latter part of the 1800’s. Despite the technological and economic improvements of the Gilded Age, only a small percentage of the population in America reaped the benefits of this. Living and working conditions were abysmal, and tensions rose within the large, yet poverty ridden middle...
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...The Gilded Age I agree with Mark Twain. The Gilded Age is remembered as an time that involved prosperity and industrial growth. The Gilded Age consists of three decades following the Civil War. These decades were also filled with Greed. Americans believed in a magical scheme to get them rich. “Gilded Age” basically refers to the middle class of the time. It was full of the purchases of dress, home decor, and all material goods which were considered signs of “good taste.” There was increased aestheticism of the age. The Gilded Age was mostly about the rapid industrialization that transformed the country from a rural and agriculturally-based republic who shared a belief in God, into an industrial and urbanized nation whose values were changing rapidly due to increased wealth and to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, who both monopolized their industries, symbolized the “self-made man” that controlled this time. This moral is what was criticized. As individual income increased due to improved communications from the invention of the telephone, electricity, and transportation by the new transcontinental railroads. Many individuals could afford to buy finer clothing and home decorations. The steam engine, the railroads, and the industrial boom caused the country's first...
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...experienced many changes. Industrialization and a rapid increase of new immigrants led to changes in business and in every day life. Industrialization and immigration greatly impacted America during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, as this was a time of transition in both American society and in industry. After the American Civil War, the country was still largely an agrarian society. Industry had indeed taken root, but throughout many regions it was still far more common to find farms than factories. The effects of industrialization in Europe pushed many Europeans to move to America. They came for different reasons, some just for an opportunity to make more money and then move back to home and some came...
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...1. In Cliff Dwellers, George Bellows apprehends the bright crowd on New York City’s lower east side, and based on the picture we can assume that it was a hot day. When I see the painting my eyes immediately go straight to the large crowd. The large crowd is significance to this painting. The shadowing of the colors in the background also help the crown to be more noticeable. This painting can demonstrate that the city’s population is growing dramatically and that can be mainly to immigration. With the city’s population growing then the more crowded the town will be. Specifically, we can observe more youth than older people in the painting. The painting portrayed by George Bellows describes the nature of cities of the historical reason of how...
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...Assignment 1.2: Industrialization after the Civil War History 105: Contemporary U.S. History The Post Civil War marked an economic transformation of the United States. With the unprecedented surge in immigration and urbanization, American society was now in transition. A transition that included the most influential third political party movement ever. Major aspects of industrialization during 1865 and 1920 that influenced U.S. society, economy, and politics One key to the rite of the industrial economy was the expansion of railroads. The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States was built in the 1860’s. Linking the well-developed railway network of the eastern coast with rapidly growing California. Construction on the first transcontinental railroad began after President Abraham Lincoln approved the Pacific Railway Act of 1862, a landmark that authorized the federal government to financially back the construction of a transcontinental railroad. Lincoln felt the transcontinental railroad was a necessity, an idea whose time had come (HUL 2014). With the development of the transcontinental railroad spurred a major economic growth. The true economic impact of the railroad may never be known, but one thing is for certain: It was dramatic. The flow of goods over the line after the first full year of operation was around $50 million in 1869 dollars (Friedman 2010). Individuals felt the joining of America...
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...industrialization took hold in the healing nation. Industrialization brought about the Gilded Age, a time period of rapid economic growth and corrupt politics. People responded differently to...
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...1. Were the ideas of Dubois or Washington more likely to integrate African Americans into society? (b) Both Booker T. Washington and WEB Dubois were black rights activists who, through different approaches, sought to integrate African Americans into society. While Washington sought education for blacks in order to get normal job opportunities, he did not necessarily want equality with white men. Dubois, on the other hand, focused on progressing the blacks through the education system so that they would have higher IQs and be viewed equally to the whites. Washington’s ideas would be the most likely to succeed in integrating them into society because they would just flow into a job without demanding that they be treated equally. Either one of the two men’s ideas would succeed in their goal, but Dubois’s plan falls slightly behind the other. 2. What was the most disappointing aspect of the Gilded Age?...
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...Running Head: The Rise of a Mass Society Summary The Rise of a Mass Society Summary Team C Due Week 2 Erik Escobar Kimberly Foster Brianna Gomez Cristina Gonzalez Isabel Ortega Ricardo Ruiz The Rise of a Mass Society Summary The word Gilded is best described in the words of writer Mark Twain from his novel written in 1873; The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. When asked today what we thought Gilded means people think of this novel and describe Gilded as a form a greedy political corruption. The first gilded age was in 1874 to 1900. Twains book and definition of Gilded definitely summarized the corruption in public lives during the late 1800s. The term “Free Market” is a voluntary agreement of the exchange between two or more people in society. The type of exchange do vary and in any combination of two economic goods either tangible commodities or the services from another person. (Rothbard, Murray, N. 2008) Like many new things there are benefits as well as disadvantages to any system. The Free Market has its high points one of which helped society out of the first gilded age in the 1890s. However even though the free market was successful certain social classes still struggled and did not get the opportunity to enjoy what the market had to offer. The department store was introduced to society back in the nineteenth century. The very first real department store was owned by a man named Aristide Boucicault in Paris, France. Before the free market Aristide sold...
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...riGild- to cover boring base metal with a nice precious metal “gilded age” credited to mark twain The great leap forward- the prosperous economic times @ end of gilded age. The great leap forward was mainly concentrated in the north. The main cause of the GLF was the industrialization Throughout the gilded age the north accounted for 80precent of the industrial advancements. Until the 1800’s the only 2 components of the American economy was agriculture and overseas commerce. Then during the war of 1812 that began to change. The north started to do more manufacturing. 3 industries at the core of GLF steel industry railroad industry coal industry steel industry- over 400 steel companies. But only produced 200,000 tons of steel In 1900 – fewer than 80 steel companies But they produce 10million tons of steel Railroad industry – customers of steel coal and timber industry Government realized that railroad was so important So they gave it a lot of land. Coal Industry – Saudi Arabia of coal More here than anyone in the world. The Working People of The Gilded Age. Category A workers – white collar people. Had higher status Doctors Lawyers Ministers Journalists Needed higher education. **category A&B =Middle Class Category B workers – Skilled workers Worked with hands Did not dress nicely to work Got paid very well due to their skills Sometimes more than category A’s Carpenters Plumbers ...
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...the economic and social policies of federal, state, and municipal governments by various business groupings in their own long-range interest…(Zinn-351).Gilded age 1878-1889 was the age of fast growth of industry and immigrants in America history. The production of steel and iron rose radically than other time. In contrast, the Western resources increased such as silver, lumber, and gold. As well as the transportation also improved. Railroads develop and move goods from resources rich west to...
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...The Second Industrial Revolution changed America’s character by creating them as the largest economy in the world. Unfortunately, conflicts involving currency, tariffs, political scandal, and economic crisis became serious. This time period consists of two waves of Panics or depressions. The 1873 panic was caused by over-speculation in the railroad industry. The Panic of 1893 was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures. The panic was resolved in 1897. Key people during this time period were John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan. John D. Rockefeller is the founder of the Standard Oil Company. He became one of the world's wealthiest men and a major philanthropist....
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...the Indians further west. Correct Why did the Indians sign the Treaty of Fort Laramie, which ceded some of their land to allow passage of wagon trains? d. They hoped to preserve their culture and way of life in the face of white settlement of the West. Correct What was the Comstock Load? b. The richest vein of silver ore found on the North American continent. Correct Which is the largest ethnic group in the western mining district of the U. S. in the late nineteenth century? a. Chinese Correct The Chinese men were hard workers but anti-Chinese prejudice barred them from work in which jobs? b. Mining jobs Correct What was the purpose of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882? c. To limit and decrease the number of Chinese immigrants to the United States. Correct Which two factors helped stimulate the land rush in the trans-Mississippi West? c. The Homestead Act of 1862 and he building of the transcontinental from the Mississippi River to the California coast. Correct What did the Homestead Act of 1862 promise to people who settled in the trans Mississippi West? b. 160 acres of free land to anyone who settled in the trans Mississippi West and stayed for five years. Correct What did the federal government do to encourage railroad construction in the decades after the Civil War? a. They gave away huge tracts of land to railroad companies to encourage railroad construction. Correct...
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...America’s Gilded Age: 1870-1890 1. The American economy thrived because of federal involvement, not the lack of it. How did the federal government actively promote industrial and agricultural development in this period? BE SPECIFIC. The federal government actively promoted industrial and agricultural development. It enacted high tariffs that protected American industry from foreign competition, granted land to railroad companies to encourage construction, and used the army to remove Indians form western land desired by farmers and mining companies. 2. Why were railroads so important to America’s second industrial revolution? What events demonstrate their influence on society, politics, and the economy? Spurred by private investment and massive grants of land and money by federal, state, and local governments, the number of miles of railroad track in the US tripped between 1860 and 1880 and tripled again by 1920, opening vast new areas to commercial farming and creating truly national market for manufactured goods. The growing population formed an ever-expanding market for the mass production, mass distribution, and mass marketing of goods, essential elements of a modern industrial economy. The railroads created 5 transcontinental lines and 4 times zones throughout the nation. 3. Why did organized efforts of farmers, workers, and local reformers largely fail to achieve substantive change in the Gilded Age? In order to achieve substantive change in the Gilded Age,...
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...Manifest Destiny is a strong platform that helped Americans build up their national spirit and the idea of unity as well as set ground for economic development. However, used under this pretext, it clearly stood for territorial pretentions of the USA within the continent. Civil Rights Act of 1875 is a piece of legislature that guaranteed America’s steady direction for racial equality and freedom of every citizen regardless of their skin color. With equal rights to public access, the idea was aimed at promoting racial tolerance and respect. Samuel J. Tilden is a good example of the person who can sacrifice his ambitions for the greater good. Adhering to authoritative decisions that contradicted the way circumstances favored him, Tilden proves...
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