Question

What were the defining characteristics of the Gilded Age?

Answer 1

Hint: The chaotic years between the Civil War and the turn of the twentieth century are referred to as "the Gilded Age." During the Gilded Age, it was rich tycoons, not politicians, who wielded the most political influence invisibly.

Complete answer:
Gilded Age - The Gilded Age was an era in American history during the 1870s marked by rampant materialism and overt political corruption, which spawned significant social and political critique novels. The Gilded Age (1873), written by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, is the first of these and gives the time its name. The novel paints a vivid and realistic picture of Washington, D.C., and includes caricatures of many of the day's leading figures, including greedy industrialists and cynical politicians.

Characteristics of the Gilded Age –
- Due to technological advances in transportation and manufacturing, the Gilded Age saw rapid economic and industrial growth, resulting in a rise in personal income, philanthropy, and immigration.
- Politics at the time was not only fraught with corruption, but it was also seeing an increase in participation. The "political machine," in which people backed a candidate in exchange for guaranteed benefits, reached new heights.
- Social reforms such as women's suffrage, workplace improvements, prohibition, and changes in the civil service marked the Gilded Age.
- Women were politically engaged and played an important role in the economy as both employers and customers.
- Although there were many dissenting voices, much of the social thinking of the period was dominated by excuses and justifications for the growing wealth inequality among Americans.
- Between 1870 and 1900, the United States experienced a period of economic and industrial growth, increased political involvement, immigration, and social reform known as the "Gilded Age."

Note: Twain coined the term "Gilded Age" to describe the late nineteenth century. He meant that the time was gleaming on the outside but corrupt on the inside. The Gilded Age is better defined by laissez-faire economics. This implies that there would be no government control of the business.