Inventions During The Gilded Age

The Gilded saw America 's economy boom. Steel, oil, and railroads played a crucial role in this economic boom. Owners of the biggest companies, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, and Carnegie, were the ones who industrialized our nation. Their industrial impacts were both positive and negative. Right after the Civil war, America was rebuilding itself.

The Gilded Age was a time of good and bad economic growth. In America during post civil war times, years 1870 to 1900, the nation was prospering on the surface, but was corrupt underneath; large businesses took control of the economy, changed society, and influenced politics nefariously. By the end of the nineteenth century, monopolies and trusts exercised a significant degree of control over key aspects of the American economy. Carnegie used vertical integration to take over the steel industry. He then set up a mega trust with Rockefeller, who was in the gas and oil industry, JP Morgan, who was a banker, and Vanderbilt, who was high up in the railroad industry.

The term ‘Gilded Age’ was termed by Mark Twain who described the wealthy who were covered in a ‘layer of gold’, a superficial layer can be peeled and reveals unpleasant things. The period from 1870 to 1900, big businesses governed by Robber Barons sprung up and took control of the economy and the political system that governed the American People. The American people responded by forming labor unions and tried to improve the plight of the poor. Laissez-faire

They slaved for hours and hours over large machines, working for long hours each week. Workers suffered constantly, weaving and sewing until closing time. Many people perceive that mills were run by greedy owners and in most cases, they weren’t wrong. Mill owners gave workers little pay and little time to eat. Workers were only paid enough to support their homes and they could barely support their family.

(The Industrial Revolution 145-147) According to Perry, Capitalism caused many people hardship and pain especially the working class who suffered pay cuts because machines were starting to replace human power. Factory labor was very strict and harsh to the workers, everything was done according to schedule (135). Workers spent twelve to fourteen hours a day, six to seven days a week, in the factories. Other than the harsh conditions of the factory itself the children working under those circumstances were being beaten and abused very frequently which only added to their pain and suffering. According to , the children thought that if they were not beaten regularly they would not have worked in the factory.

Although the condition seems much improved, consumers don’t know the true fact- “Today, American citizens simply cannot know the working conditions of the factories that make the products they buy. We cannot know how the chemicals, tools, and technologies in these workplaces affect workers.”(In the Global Apparel Industry, Abusive and Deadly Working Conditions Are Still the Norm)-many workers have to inhale harmful gases, face dangerous situation everyday. More, reports indicate that women make up the vast majority of the workforce, but men make up the supervisors, which is the same as what happened in the Gilded Age. “The darker side of the growing population in cities was racial tension and

During mid 19th century, coal mining dominated North Eastern Pennsylvania, a state with great potential of anthracite coal. In 1870s, very powerful individuals controlled the coal fields and railroads. These individuals monopolized the coal industry recruiting immigrants to work for fewer wage than the American employees, luring them with promises of fortune. Hundreds of immigrants, transported by trains, replaced the local minors who were forced one by one to pave way for immigrants, either abandoning or re-treating the industry. The immigrants were exposed to health risks and hazards since they were frequently unable to adhere to safety regulations.

Between 1870 and 1900, an estimated 25 million immigrants had made their way to the United States. This era, titled the Gilded Age, played an extremely important role in the shaping of American society. The United States saw great economic growth and social changes; however, as the name suggested, the Gilded Ages hid a profound number of problems. During this period of urbanization, the publicizing of wealth and prosperity hid the high rates of poverty, crime, and corruption. European immigrants who had come to the United States in search of jobs and new opportunities had fallen into poverty as well as poor working and living conditions.

One year after opening, it was deemed the largest testing laboratory in the world. Thomas Edison was a creative inventor that pushed the science world forward 100 years by inventing the lightbulb, quadruplex transmitter, telegraph, helping with the making of the telephone and much more. Plus he had a major positive impact on his decade by serving in the civil war, saving lives and creating jobs. He also had a major impact on the world by allowing safe lasting light with the light bulb, easy communication with the telegraph, and electrical distribution. Next time you call a friend or turn on the lights, think of Thomas Edison, because without him, they wouldn’t

The Gilded Age, the period of the history of the United States from the Reconstruction to the early 20th century, witnessed the development of industrialization, urbanization, the construction of great transcontinental railroads, innovations in science and technology, and the rise of big business. There were many capable leaders who were building a better future. Vanderbilt stopped at nothing to connect the nation via railroads. Rockefeller used his trademark ruthlessness to establish his oil empire. Cities were expending to the sky, this was built on the strength of Andrew Carnegie’s steel.