Howard Zinn's Description Of The Gilded Age

Howard Zinn was a powerful righter who called out the US government on the dishonesty in their descriptions of the Gilded Age. Many cutting-edge mechanical developments allowed for mass production of goods and crops. The loss of workers and new influx of profit led to an unbalanced economy. In the late 19th century, the American economy experienced a boom at the expense of underpaid minority and immigrant labor. Major corporations flourished throughout the Gilded Age, which led to the necessity of many more workers willing to do hands-on labor jobs. The workers that the corporations recruited varied in ethnicity, age, and gender. However, all of these laborers shared two commonalities; they were all underpaid and they were all minorities. …show more content…
Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, there was a massive influx of European and Chinese immigrants into the United States. These immigrants were typically imported “en masse” by contractors. Zinn specifically stated that many Irish immigrants were recruited by “new political machines” that wanted the votes of the Irish, whom received much hatred when they first entered the Unites States. Contractors and corporations mistreated these immigrants by hiring them to do the unpleasant jobs, which Americans felt were too lowly for them to do themselves. In addition to employing these immigrants to fill these lowly occupations, the major businesses severely underpaid and neglected these immigrants.
Zinn established many shocking truths about the events that occurred throughout the Gilded Age. Much of the information that Americans previously had about the Gilded Age was extremely idealistic, and this information was given from the perspective of the Corporations and Businesses that were largely in power at the time. Zinn produced an honest account of the imperfect history of America throughout this period of time. Ultimately, the Gilded Age was a time of suffering for minorities and immigrants, which yielded an immense profit for corporations, contractors, businesses, and the

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