The Gilded Age

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The time period between 1870 and 1900 is called the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age was famous for its political corruption. During this time, big businesses and corporations grew tremendously, and gained major control and influence over the people and government. The growth of these corporations and businesses had major effects on the economy and politics in America. These businesses also created new innovations that both benefited and hindered the people. This all led to various responses by the people. The businesses and corporations that sprang up during this time period developed into monopolies. Railroad companies gained control of the government and the nation’s food and fuel supply. In The Labor Movement: The Problem of Today, George …show more content…
Big companies began to use mass production. Mass production used standardized made from machines. These machines did not need the use of skilled labor. In Recent Economic Changes and Their Effect on the Production and Distribution of Wealth and the Well-Being of Society David A. Wells describes what it’s like working in the mass production system. Workers did not work independently and they were only taught how to do one particular task. This system no longer required skilled labor. Since only unskilled workers were needed, if anything were to happen, they could easily be replaced because the job did not require much skill. Even though the mass production system used by the large corporations affected the jobs of many skilled workers, it also decreased the prices for important goods. The graph from the Historical Statistics of the United States exhibits the significant decline of food, fuel, and lighting prices, and the slight decline of the cost of living between the years of 1870 and 1899. These declines were a result of the mass production system, agricultural inventions, and new mining and lighting inventions that allowed these goods to be sold at lower prices. All of these declines made life a little easier on the …show more content…
Department stores were very efficient retail organizations. In Sister Carrie, Theodore Dreise explains how Carrie was attracted to all of the goods sold at the department stores, along with many other people. These department stores drew people from farther way into the city. The travel into the city was made possible by new inventions in transportation such as the trolley. Another invention created during this time was the typewriter. Female typists image shows women dresses in similar clothing all in a large room typing on typewriters. The invention of the typewriter increased the employment of white women. People of other races and genders were discriminated against and were unable to do certain jobs, like being a typist. Not only did big businesses have effects on the economy and jobs, they also had effects on political aspects of the country. Big businesses had control of the Senate and the government. Joseph Keppler’s, “The Bosses of the Senate,” shows large trusts, monopolists waiting to get in, and the door to the people’s entrance is closed. The senators are smaller which shows the trust's’ control over them. Since the doors to the people are closed, it shows that the people did not have any control of the government. The large size of the trusts displays their wealth which they used to control the
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