A Corrupt Political System In The Gilded Age

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The Gilded Age VS Now
The Gilded Age was given its name in the late 19th century by Mark Twain. Twain used the word gilded to describe this period of time because on the outside everything seemed to be running smoothly, but in reality everything was corrupt on the inside. The majority of people during the 19th century saw it as a time of guile and greed due to the unequal distribution of wealth because the monopolies during this time, a corrupt political system, and the economy. In today’s society some would say that the 21st century has some of the same qualities of the Gilded Age. So does that mean the 21st century is the new Gilded Age?
During the Gilded Age monopolies were on the rise; John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie would soon …show more content…
Gilded Age politics was referred to as the three party system which was made up of the two main parties with minor parties coming and going. The minor parties dealt with issues such as prohibition, labor union, and farming. During the Gilded Age elections were are an all-time high, the competition was intense and elections were close. In large cities a voter was paid an anticipated patronage in exchange of supporting a candidate. These votes would be repaid with favors from the government once that candidate was elected. Often the candidates were pick bases upon their willingness to play along with the spoils system. Corruption reached Congress as well, splitting the Republication party into two factions, the Stalwarts led by Roscoe Conking and the Half-breeds led by James G. Blaine. The Democrats supported a free market policy, with low tariffs, low taxes, less spending, and a Laissez-faire government. While the Republications insisted that prosperity of the nation depended on industry with high wages, and thought lower the tariffs would not be good for the nation. Politics of the modern age consists of just two parties, the Republications and the Democrats. The Democratic Party is a supporter of labor in economics and also in social matters. Republications are supporters of an American conservative platform, helping with foundations in social conservative, fiscal …show more content…
The Gilded Age was the greatest period of economic growth in American history. After the panic of 1873 the economy recovered with the help of hard money policies and industrialized. Technology innovations such as the steel productions, electric engines, cars, and skyscrapers are a few examples of the new industries that were springing up at the time of the Gilded Age. These inventions became the bases of modern consumerism and industrial productivity. “From 1869 to 1879, the U.S. economy grew at a rate of 6.8% for real GDP and 4.5% for real GDP per capita, despite the panic of 1873. The economy repeated this period of growth in the 1880s, in which the wealth of the nation grew at an annual rate of 3.8%, while the GDP was also doubted.” The banking system at the time of the Gilded Age was “a period when firms relied heavily on the bank financing and U.S. banking markets were geographically segmented by restrictive branching laws.” In the United States the traditional way of banking is through unit banking which consists of more geographically segmented banking markets. Banking of today is evolving rapidly because of the removal of most branching restricts as well as the recent financial crisis and recession. The biggest part of the modern day economy in the United States is through international transactions. While it has been
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