The Gilded age describes a time in the US history spanning from the 1870s to 1900. It is the time after the reconstruction of the ruins of civil war when the US economy grew fastest than it had ever done before. However, the name, Gilded age was coined by Charles Dudely and Mark Twain later in the 1920s to satirize the masking of social problems by the thin gold of economic prosperity (Lehr, 2018) . Led by a few men who made America overthrow Europe and become a Global industrial giant, the Gilded Age saw the expansion of the US with some adverse social effects.
The gilded age was marked by the rapid growth of industries in the US. The civil war is cited for having bled some of the most diligent personalities America has seen. Among the self-made millionaires who emerged after the civil war include Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, and Carnegie. Each of these contributed to the making of America and its expansion. Led by the railway industry, the US became the forefront for the development of a variety of sectors (Lehr, 2018) . Oil, Steel, and Financial industry were also critical to the growth of the American Economy. With economic growth, employment and people’s life improved as expected.
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Rapid economic growth as skilled laborers had their wages grow to overcome the European wages marked the Gilded age. With the expansion of industries led by railway and transportation, there was a growth in wages of typical workers by an average of 60% (Lehr, 2018) . Young people in the US moved from rural areas to towns to work in the booming industries. Moreover, the improvement of wages in American made millions of people from Europe and Asia to migrate to the US in such for good-paying jobs. However, as more people immigrated into the US, there was surplus labor in the market that resulted in other challenges for the growing nation. Soon, jobs became scarce and paid minimum wage to workers as owners of industries benefited from the surplus labor.
The gilded age also brought about Inequality and abject poverty in the United States. As people started to trickle in the US in large numbers, especially from poor nations, the concentration of wealth by the few who owned means of production started to become an issue. With most people living in town, large industries would be able to control them and ensure they go back to work (Lehr, 2018) . Moreover, the wealthy class who owned industries became greedy and oppressed the working class with poor payment. This oppression of workers resulted in the emergence of labor unions in the US.
The gilded age was also marked with nationwide depressions that indicated the dangers of accumulation of wealth by a few individuals in the US. These include the 1873 and 1893 waves of panic which had significant political and social impacts on the US. First, the depressions caused the interruption of economic growth as bankers run out of cash to bail households out of challenges. Secondly, the recession resulted in political and social upheavals. People felt that the ruling class colluded with the wealthy owners of industries to oppress them. Socially, there were changes in the family and community structure as people were forced to work overtime to feed for their families. Child labor also became rampant during this era.
The politics of the US were primarily were by corruption as measures to tame the concentration of wealth failed. However, people still voted in large numbers to allow big political wins to take over the urban lives of Americans. The issues that were mainly addressed by the political class at this time include women suffrage and 8 hours of labor per day. By the end, local governments became keen on the development of schools as social issues started to be addressed in the wake of the economic depression and oppression of workers.
References
Lehr, E. D. (2018). “King Lehr” and the Gilded Age . Pickle Partners Publishing.
