Question

Describe one example of the impact the gilded Age had on American culture. Impact on American culture: political corruption, labor strikes, legislations passed 300+ words cite sources

Answer 1

During the Gilded Age, rapid economic growth produced huge wealth.
New products and techniques have enhanced the quality of life of the middle class.
In the new wealth, industrial employees and peasants did not share, working lengthy hours in hazardous low wage circumstances.
Politicians of the Gold Age were mainly corrupt and ineffective.
Most Americans wanted political and social reforms during the Gilded Age, but they firmly disagreed with what kind of reform.

The economy of America has grown at an exceptional pace during those years, producing unprecedented amounts of riches. Railroads and quickly telephone lines spread across the nation, generating fresh entrepreneurial possibilities and cheaper consumer goods. But a country that had long regarded itself in idyllic terms as a country of small farmers and craftsmen faced the emergence of a culture progressively separated between the haves and the have-nots: a society in which many bad employees struggled just to survive while an evolving industrial and economic aristocracy lived in palatial homes and indulged in opulent amusements.

American politics have been vibrant and interesting over the years. Voter turnout levels were extraordinarily elevated and marginal margins were used to determine national elections. But it also plagued American politics with corruption. Ulysses S. Grant's administration was a cesspool of graft and maladministration at the domestic level. Successive presidential administrations were less corrupt, but America's rapidly expanding wealth left its mark on public life, as many politicians adopted a ruling philosophy rooted in the assumption that this financial elite should be permitted to pursue its efforts with minimal interference from the state.

While economic and political elites capitalized on the rapidly expanding wealth of America, industrial workers were struggling to survive the bleak conditions often hidden behind the glittering façade of the nation. Industrial salaries were small and hours in usually hazardous and unhealthy factories were long. But perhaps worse, labor restructuring— the division of labor into its unqualified parts— leaves many employees with few marketable abilities and little hope for job or social mobility.

As employees banded together to attempt to force their collective will on the industrial giants who had dominated them as people, one result of all this was a budding labor movement. Workers ' attempts to organize often resulted to lengthy and violent strikes, rocking the financial landscape and even increasing the scary specter of outright class warfare.America's farmers also suffered during these years. Initially, they, too capitalized on the new technologies and new markets of America's growing economy. But soon, they faced increased competition, saturated markets, and falling prices for their produce. By the last decades of the century, their share of the national wealth had precipitously declined and their iconic place in the American imagination was at risk.