The Gilded Age took place during the late 1800s in America. It was a time that seemed all superb and polished on the outside but it definitely has some big issues below the surface. The term "Gilded Age," was used by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their little book they wrote in 1873, describing how things looked good but were actually pretty awful. Economically, it was a big boom – lots of new things like trains and factories, making rich guys like Carnegie and Rockefeller super wealthy. But for regular people, it meant tough jobs, not much money, and a lot of unfairness.
Politics is a mess too, with lots of corruption. Boss Tweed in New York was a big example of someone doing mischievous stuff, and big companies had too much power.
