The Gilded Age -ME- Jordan Cook

The Gilded Age

The Gilded Age was a bad era for the poor. Most of everyone was looking for a job or didn’t have a job. The rich had everything like most rich people, the rich didn't care about the middle class. It was a time of enormous growth that attracted millions from Europe. The Gilded Age was the period following the American Civil War, to the end of Reconstruction in 1877 to the turn of the 20^th century. Railroads were the major industry, but the factory system, mining, and labors came to the United States for work and gained their importance.

The growth was interrupted by major nationwide depressions known as the Panic of 1873 and the Panic of 1893. Most of the growth and prosperity came in only the former Union states of North and West. Mark Twain was alive during this era also, he wrote some stories and books about the life in the Gilded Age “The Gilded Age a Tale of Today”. The Gilded Age I think was  an age where people were starting to finally build lives and get a grip on things. The Reconstruction years, people got jobs, people had homes, there were places to go to and have fun, there were railroads that could travel accosted the nation. This was all a big step into the 20^th century, and The Gilded Age I think helped.