Gilded Age

(noun)

A time of enormous growth attracting millions from Europe. Railroads were the major industry, but factories, mining, and labor unions also gained in importance. Growth was interrupted by major nationwide Depressions—the Panic of 1873 and the Panic of 1893. Most of the growth and prosperity occured only in the former Union states of North and West. The South, the defeated Confederate States of America, remained economically devastated.

Related Terms

Examples of Gilded Age in the following topics:

  • The Gilded Age

    • The "Gilded Age" refers to the period following Reconstruction, when the American economy grew at its fastest rate in history.
    • By the end of the Gilded Age, the United States was at the top end of the world's leading industrial nations.
    • In the Progressive Era that followed the Gilded Age, the United States became a world power.
    • The Gilded Age saw impressive economic growth and the unprecedented expansion of major cities.
    • Built in 1893, it typifies the excesses of Gilded Age wealth.

  • Conclusion: Trends of the Gilded Age

    • The Gilded Age in U.S. history was an era in the late nineteenth century, from the 1870s to about 1900.
    • The early half of the Gilded Age roughly coincided with the middle portion of the Victorian era in Britain and the Belle Époque in France.
    • The Gilded Age was an era of rapid economic growth, especially in the North and West.
    • During the Gilded Age, many new social movements took hold in the United States.
    • A book cover of The Gilded Age by Mark Twain (1st edition, 1873).

  • The Golden Age: 1860–1932

    • Despite outward indicators of prosperity, the Gilded Age (late 1860s to 1896) was an era characterized by turmoil and political contention.
    • In United States history, the Gilded Age was the period following the Civil War, running from the late 1860s to about 1896 when the next era began, the Progressive Era.
    • The term was coined by writers Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, which satirized what they believed to be an era of serious social problems obscured by a thin veneer of prosperity.
    • The Gilded Age was a time of enormous growth that attracted millions of European immigrants.
    • Describe major economic and political developments during the "Gilded Age" of American history and identify what led to these developments

  • Freedom, Inequality, and Democracy in the Gilded Age

    • During the Gilded Age, many new social movements took hold in the United States, supporting the rights of women and African-Americans.
    • During the Gilded Age, many new social movements took hold in the United States.
    • The "Gilded Age" that was enjoyed by the topmost percentiles of American society after the recovery from the Panic of 1873 floated on the surface of the newly industrialized economy of the Second Industrial Revolution.
    • The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their 1873 book, The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, employing the ironic difference between a "gilded" and a Golden Age.

  • Labor and Domestic Tensions

    • During the Gilded Age, new labor unions, which used a wide variety of tactics, emerged.

  • The Transformation of the West

    • The West was most notably transformed through the railroads, increase in crime rates, and the rise of industry during the Gilded Age.
    • The American West was vastly transformed during the Gilded Age.
    • Six transcontinental railroads were built in total during the Gilded Age.
    • Outline key issues in the transformation of the West during the Gilded Age

  • The Transformed National Economy

    • The "Gilded Age" of the second half of the 19th century was the epoch of tycoons.
    • The Gilded Age saw the greatest period of economic growth in American history.
    • The end of the Gilded Age coincided with the Panic of 1893, a deep depression that lasted until 1897 and marked a major political realignment in the election of 1896.
    • A chart of real US GNP per capita from 1869 to 1918 (covering the period of the Long Depression and the Gilded Age).

  • Social Criticism

    • The end of the Gilded Age witnessed rising levels of social criticism from a new kind of investigative journalist called a "muckraker."
    • The 1890s and early 1900s witnessed a profound social and political reaction to the excesses and corruption of the Gilded Age.
    • Journalists began to respond to the excesses of the Gilded Age toward the end of the period.

  • Politics in the Gilded Age

    • Gilded Age politics were characterized by intense competition between Republicans and Democrats and much demographic change.
    • Gilded Age politics, referred to as the "Third Party System," were characterized by intense competition between the two parties, with minor parties coming and going, especially on issues of concern to prohibitionists, labor unions, and farmers.
    • During the Gilded Age, Congress was known for being rowdy and inefficient.

  • Education and the Professions

    • Industrial growth and increased educational opportunities in agriculture and engineering fueled the new economy during the Gilded Age.
    • The Gilded Age in America was based on heavy industry such as factories, railroads and coal mining.
    • Rockefeller, and "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt were among the most influential industrialists during the Gilded Age.