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When was the Gilded Age? -

The Gilded Age was a very peculiar time in the history of the United States that is usually said to have started in 1865 and then ended fairly abruptly in 1901. It was a time of extremes and polar opposites, with more wealth pouring into cities than ever before, yet somehow creating a larger impoverished class than had ever existed in the country.

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Why "Gilded?" -

The term "Gilded Age" was coined by the great American author Mark Twain, who wrote a book of the same name. Twain was alluding to the thin visage of gold and great prosperity that seemed to characterize the Gilded Age, and the vast, dark world of poverty, corruption, and oppression that was fomenting underneath.

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The end of the Civil War -

Most historians agree that the Gilded Age began on April 9, 1865. This was the day that Confederate General Robert E. Lee officially surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant.

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A victorious North -

The North emerged victorious, and as the region's money, attention, and manpower no longer had to be funneled into the war effort, the leaders of the northern states began to direct their energy towards the future, while the South struggled to put itself back together.

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A time of massive expansion -

Cities and industrial areas grew at a breakneck pace, particularly New York and Chicago. New York City specifically grew around four times in size during the Gilded Age, by both population and land area.

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The growing power of corporations -

With the massive migrations not only from the countryside but also from Europe, industrial leaders quickly grew their factory operations into huge corporations, assuming complete control over work contracts, working hours, and wages.

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Overflowing affluence -

The new opportunities to make money came almost too quickly for the already-affluent classes of the Gilded Age. Wealth grew exponentially for those involved in industry, and many chose to indulge in hoarding and decadence instead of putting their wealth back into the city and its people.

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Abject poverty -

With the rapidly expanding upper class and no opportunities to create a healthy middle class, those left in the affluent's financial dust quickly fell into poverty. The Gilded Age, despite its glittery facade, mostly consisted of millions of factory workers as young as five years old working 10 hours a day, six days a week, unable to afford anywhere to live besides the rapidly growing slums and ghettos of the cities.

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The Second Industrial Revolution -

With the growth of industry also came a period of incredible invention, commonly referred to as the Second Industrial Revolution. New innovations that changed the world seemed to appear every day. The automobile, the Kodak camera (pictured), Edison's lightbulb, not to mention the telephone, were all products of the Gilded Age.

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The all-powerful robber barons -

There were, of course, a small number of individuals who took total advantage of the growing influence of industry and the absence of labor laws. These men, who controlled the vast majority of the nation's production, subsequently also had most of the government in their pockets. Today they are, as they were then, referred to as the "robber barons."

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Cornelius Vanderbilt -

In the years leading up to the Gilded Age, Cornelius Vanderbilt, nicknamed the Commodore, served on the boards of numerous northeastern railroads. Eventually, his influence became great enough to assume complete control over the Harlem rail line, and he proceeded to take over most other railroads in New York City.

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The railroad empire -

Vanderbilt eventually consolidated his numerous independent railroads under one corporate roof, the New York Central Railroad, in 1870. This was one of the first corporations in US history, and brought in a fortune of US$95 million, the equivalent of around $2 billion today.

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Jason Gould -

The only thorn in Vanderbilt's side was a man named Jason Gould, another primary robber baron. Gould cheated his way into control of the Erie Railroad and bribed the state legislature to ensure Vanderbilt could never gain control of the Erie, one of the primary rail routes from New York to Chicago. This allowed Gould to eventually dominate the rail industry in the West.

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The first transcontinental railroad -

Constructed between 1863 and 1869, the first transcontinental railroad, known then as the Pacific Railroad, rolled straight through the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The new rail line revolutionized national commerce, allowing Western farms, granaries, and mines to send products to the northeastern cities with speed and ease.

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J.P. Morgan -

J.P. Morgan, the king of Wall Street and the Gilded Age's primary financier, was arguably the most influential of the robber barons. Morgan was responsible for the creation of a number of the largest and most powerful corporations of the Gilded Age and today, including General Electric, U.S. Steel, and dozens of railroads. Morgan had his fingers in the pies of most industries and had wide-reaching influence over local policy makers. 

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Industrial consolidation and the first monopolies -

Morgan is mainly responsible for the development and abuse of industrial consolidation, a financial strategy of large companies absorbing as many small operations in the same industry as possible, in order to wipe out the competition and create a monopoly. When there was only one massive corporation left standing, that corporation and the people behind it could have full control of the market and the price of their product.

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Andrew Carnegie -

Andrew Carnegie, born in a one-room cottage in Scotland, grew to dominate the American steel industry through a series of shrewd investments. Founder of Pittsburgh's Carnegie Steel Company, Carnegie was, for some time during the Gilded Age, the richest man in America. Perhaps remembering his roots, Carnegie spent the latter years of his life putting his fortune to good use. Numerous universities, public libraries, and charities were opened in his name, including, of course, Carnegie Hall.

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John D. Rockefeller -

No other robber baron, or any other person in modern world history for that matter, surpassed the wealth of John D. Rockefeller, the founder of the Standard Oil Company. In 1911, Rockefeller became the world's first billionaire, and amassed a fortune worth about US$400 billion in today's money.

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Standard Oil -

Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870 and grew to control not only its own oil fields, but also its refineries, factories, and transportation. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest oil company in the world and one of the most powerful multinational corporations to ever exist.

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Standard Oil -

The production capacity of Standard Oil was much greater than the entire country's demand, so Rockefeller sold oil and petroleum products to Asia and helped manage oil assets in the Middle East. But the company was deemed an illegal monopoly by the Supreme Court in 1911 and was split into 34 different entities, who remain the leaders of oil production to this day. ExxonMobil, Chevron, and BP, among others, are all descendants of Standard Oil.

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Rampant corruption -

The robber barons and their effectively limitless wealth had a great number of politicians in the palms of their hands. Nearly every politician who sat down in Tammany Hall, the infamous New York political machine that was meant to run the city with fairness, sat down with the sole intention of pushing the interests of their shady financial supporters.

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The noble muckrakers -

The working classes were fully aware of the corruption occurring above them that made the poverty line so impenetrable. This was in large part thanks to the fearless journalists known as muckrakers, who dedicated their lives to investigating and uncovering the nasty injustices of the ruling class. Ida Tarbell (pictured) was one of the leading muckraker journalists. Her investigations into Rockefeller and Standard Oil were instrumental in the eventual demise of the monopoly.

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Unions in the Gilded Age -

Labor unions started to burst from the woodwork amidst the despicable working conditions of the Gilded Age. Trade unions, as well as general unions such as the Knights of Labor, held incessant strikes and demonstrations in the battle for workers' rights.

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The fight for workers' rights -

Oftentimes, these figurative battles would turn into literal battles. The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, consisting of rail workers rising up against their third pay cut of the year, ended tragically when hundreds of strikers were killed by military and militia forces sent by the government and the railroad barons.

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Civil rights in the Gilded Age -

Numerous groups fought for their basic civil rights during the Gilded Age. Unions fought for, among other things, an eight-hour work day and an end to rampant child labor; prominent women's groups continued to fight for their right to participate in elections, until finally securing their right to vote in 1919 with the passing of the 19th Amendment.

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The beginning of the end -

The corruption and oppression of the Gilded Age was never built to last. With corporate conglomerates running wild, bending the economy to their will, and the constant exploitation and antagonization of a working class up in arms, it was only a matter of time before the thin gold shimmer of the Gilded Age faded away.

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The Panic of 1893 -

The financial panic of 1893 was caused by a bubble in the railroad industry, a poor harvest season, and a general feeling of unrest amongst the public that caused swaths of people to run to banks and withdraw their money. In effect, it caused stock prices to plummet, leading to the closure of 500 banks and 15,000 businesses. In New York City, the unemployment rate reached 35%.

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The start of the Progressive Era -

As more and more people came to resent the actions of the powerful, the push for progressive reforms became stronger and stronger. Successful reforms such as the 1890 antitrust Sherman Act were warning signs the end was approaching.

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The assassination of President William McKinley -

Leon Czolgosz was a working class man from Detroit, Michigan, who lost his job as a result of the 1893 panic and the recklessness of the wealthy. Furious with the system, and seeing the incumbent President William McKinley as the symbol of the system, Czolgosz assassinated the president on September 6, 1901. This was a wake-up call to many politicians who had been quietly playing the game of the Gilded Age, and is seen as the definitive end of the era.

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The age of Roosevelt -

What's more, McKinley's successor, Theodore Roosevelt, had no plans of allowing the plutocracy of the Gilded Age to continue. As president, Roosevelt passed sweeping reforms, gained a reputation as an effective trust-buster, and issued in the Progressive Era with a fresh and firm vision for the future of the United States.

Sources: (History) (The History Junkie) (PBS)

See also: American political feuds that got out of hand

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