How Did The Gilded Age Affect The Economy During The Gilded Age

During the Industrial Revolution many business leaders were very successful. American people at the time were controversial as to if these Big Businessmen were robber barons or captains of industry. This dispute even continues into present time. Business men should be considered captains of industry. A captain of industry is defined as “a business leader whose means of amassing personal fortune contributes positively to the country in some way.” Furthermore, a business leader who increased productivity, expanded markets, provided more jobs, or showed acts of philanthropy were considered captains of industry.

(The Brewing Industry) Railroads are gaining profit because alcohol producing companies are paying them to distribute their product to stores. Telegraph companies are benefiting due to different companies interacting and negotiating with each other. Lastly, mechanical refrigeration units are not cheap, so if alcohol companies are buying the units, the makers of the refrigeration units are making huge profits. This complex flow of money helps the economy run smoothly. On the other hand, the prohibition of alcohol had a very negative affect on the economy.

population and economy grew very promptly and many wealthy people lived very fancy lives. The Gilded Age happened about 60-30 years before the Great Depression, however some people think that the Gilded Age is the cause of the Great Depression. The rights of the few in this situation happens to be the rich people because there is only a select few that are financially able to live their lives without any stress or worrying about money. On the other hand the power of the majority is the normal people of the world that are not as wealthy and do not make nearly the same amount as the rich people. The tension between the upper class and the lower class is caused by the pure fact of jealousy and not being nearly close financially.

Businesses could not afford to slow downproduction during the Panic, so they continued to keep their prices high, but the people didn’thave access to the scarce money. Not only were businesses charging high prices, but also thePhiladelphia and Reading Railroad went bankrupt, causing less modes of transportation for work-ers and farmers. In total, over 15,000 companies went bankrupt during the Panic and the unem-ployment was the highest in history.Labor Unions were also created during the Gilded Age, which added to the idea of theGilded Age being truly “gilded”. The American Federation of Labor was one of the first laborunions created in the United States. The AF of L wanted “unionism” and opposed socialism.

Railroad companies were left unregulated for so long they were considered the law when it came to moving people and goods around the country. They could change the rates for shipping whenever they felt it was beneficial to them. In the end, the economic growth in the nation was plagued with corruption and greed and the lower income families were at the mercy of the businessmen and

Vanderbilt made millions using the railroad system and built an empire with them. The impact it had on the gilded age was the number of jobs it provided to the fresh-in immigrants. Vanderbilt knew that he could hire immigrants and they would work for not that much money and with these new railroads america will be shrunk for easier expansion of the immigrants.

Big businesses were more powerful than the national government due to trusts. Establishing trusts allowed for these big businesses to run their competition out of business and raise the price of a given product. Thus, consumers had no other option but to

At the same time, the problem of unemployment also existed. Actually, unemployment remained high in the twenties. Although the government had policies to take income tax in order to balance the income between the rich and the poor, the actual income of the big companies were much more than what they pay for tax. The effort made by government did not help workers effectively. After the Great Depression, the New Deal programs benefited people who suffered from inequality a lot.

The Negative Influence of Wealth Wealth and prosperity are the core of living a lavish lifestyle and having a successful life. However, money can influence people into debauchery. In the book, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald introduces to us to some of the dangers of being rich. Most people in the Great Gatsby were very privileged, and they lived a lavish lifestyle. However, these people did not know how to control their power and wealth.

The demand for stock became so great that the prices went up, but the value of the companies didn’t actually increase. The true effect that the consumer culture had on Americans during this period is evidenced through a line in a popular song during the time period, “they used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob” (Song of the Depression: “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?, 230). The new, strong consumer culture that was created caused people to buy stock on credit, but eventually people stopped paying the inflated prices. This was detrimental as the market became flooded with unwanted stock, causing stock prices to drop and a widespread panic. The new consumer culture is what led to 16.5 million shares being sold in one day, which was detrimental to the stock market as it caused the crash on October 29, 1929.

The growing of large businesses in size, number, and influenced changed the United States severely. The economy was greatly relieved but the politicians were corrupted and the people very unhappy. The businesses were smart in using the reduction and increasing of prices to link all the businesses but taking advantage of the people by silencing them and increasing their labor hours really hurt them. It also did not help that the politicians that were corrupted made bad decisions for money and no the

As industry exponentially grew after the Civil War, the need for labor and materials to power newly-created manufacturing giants caused new social classes to form: the rich corporation owners and the poor laborers. Unfathomably rich Robber Barons, or plutocratic American Capitalists, dominated the economy and industry and profited from the slave-like work of millions of poor laborers during this time period. Moreover, the poor working class and the rich further divided by distribution of wealth. Therefore, exploitation of capitalism widened the gap between the rich and poor classes of America, and both newly-formed classes developed reasons for the change. During the period of industrialization, between 1865 and the early 1900’s, corporate

In 1900, New York became the second largest city in the world. This was the result of monopolies capitalizing in America. Industries were booming; however, the common people were suffering greatly. The men behind these monopolies, incorrectly known by many as captains of industry, are more accurately known as robber barons. While this remains true, the business men of the Gilded Age were captains of industry to an extent.

As we can see these days, New York City has become one of the most expensive places in the country to live, and maybe one of the hardest cities to “make it in” if you are not a wealthy individual. Those at the top of the economic ladder do not seem to be doing enough to help their brothers and sisters at the bottom rise. This is apparent when we hear people like Wall Street advisor, Ivan Boesky saying “greed is healthy” (Foner 837). Because of this philosophy, the wealthiest of Americans continue to get wealthier, and

So in other words it does not matter if his intention were of no evil he was still considered a selfish liar that cheated his way to the top. But, I can say that they did a see lot of unfairness and their little family owned businesses were closed due to these over powering