Gilded Age Robber Barons Analysis

There were many conflicting views during the Gilded Age. Some viewed those at the top of the socio-economic ladder as robber-barons due to the vast amount of wealth that never seemed to extend to the workers in terms of salary or safety. However, some called them captains of industries, those who bettered the economy and the lives of workers. These people had an enormous positive impact on the country’s businesses and philanthropy on American economy and society. They transformed America into the most powerful industrial nation, leading the country’s charge by building powerful industries.

In the 19th century, the Gilded age was this period of time when America looked like this massive productive country. What people do not know was that in the inside they were this suffering country that had massive poverty and thousands of people without jobs. America was filled with industrialists which are also called Robber Barons. Robber Barons were these people who basically stole fortunes by having their employees work 12 hour days, 7 days a week and getting paid about 15 cents an hour. Andrew Carnegie was a really wealthy businessman who made steel. Carnegie made millions of dollars but in the end he still paid his workers very little. His employees worked long hard days and at the end of the day they got paid hardly nothing. These workers also worked in bad conditions and some of the workers were kids and they were having them do some of the really hard dangerous work. According to a US history author “They received no health benefits, no vacation, and suffered from periodic layoffs because of downturns in the business cycle( The Gilded age pg. 1) The 19th century during the Gilded age most of the big business men where these guys who had massive amounts of money and yet they pay their workers really low wages with bad conditions.

The Gilded Age is a time period in American history between 1870-1900. During this time period there was a boom in the United States economy and population. Unfortunately, during this time period there was a lot of financial corruption and inequality which caused the rich to become very wealthy. Interestingly enough there were a variety of distinguished authors, from William Graham Sumner, Henry Demarest Lloyd, Andrew Carnegie, and Henry George knew economic inequality was a major problem and something needed to be done.

The Gilded Age was a time in American history when some of the most famous industrialists rose to power. These industrialists made good decisions and bad decisions which reflected them as Captains of Industry or Robber Barons. A Captain of Industry is used to describe someone who contributes positively to society. Robber Barons are businessmen who use unethical or questionable ways to gain power/wealth. Both terms were expressed during this time period by businessmen. The great industrialists of the Gilded Age show traits of being both Captains of Industry and Robber Barons.

The Gilded Age was a time a of great prosperity but also great corruption. Many advances in technology and industry took place during the time period. The transcontinental railroad was built, the steel industry was expanded, and oil took off. These developments allowed for the US to experience an industrial revolution, but not all was well. Most of the wealth generated during this time concentrated itself into the hands a of a select few who were able to weasel their way to the top of their industry. One example is John D. Rockefeller, who with wealth adjusted for inflation, amassed a fortune of around $700 billion. The way the these men obtained their wealth was an issue for many during the

The Gilded Age was the time of rapid economic growth for the United States. The period where little corporations turned into a millionaire company. The time of one of the most dynamic, contentious, and volatile periods in American history happened. National wealth increased dramatically but their was a problem for the poor and the farmers of the U.S. People may say that the Gilded Age was the era of corruption, harsh labor and brutal industrial competition, but others think that the Gilded Age is the time that the U.S. exploded industrially and that was the moment that the U.S became one of the superpowers of the world. The Gilded Age was a new era of industry. It was a time of great social change and economic growth for the U.S. Lots of

The Gilded Age is defined as the time between the Civil War and World War I, during which the United States population grew quickly and the economy prospered greatly. However, it is also known to be cluttered with political corruption and corporate financial misleadings, in which the rich grew very wealthy and the poor were basically peasants. The economic growth of the nation was highly influenced by the availability of land and technological innovations promised through multiple acts passed throughout the time period, and, as a result, there were many negative changes in the social standing of minorities.

The Gilded Age was a time in American history, from the 1870s to the 1890s, which ostensibly characterized the country based on its economic and technological advancements. However this era’s development served as a mere facade for the corruption and classism which occurred during the time. From economic manipulation to immorality in politics, the Gilded Age is best characterized by the unscrupulous nature of individuals who sought to attain superficial success.

The last picture, was of a young girl who was looking out of a window from inside of the factory. In Jacob Riis pictures his pictures were more of the towns condition and the adults working in the factory. With that being said, I believe Lewis Hine represents a greater flaw in the American capitalist economy of the "Gilded Age". They had children under the age of sixteen doing adult women and men jobs with low pay. That caused the children who were working to receive little to no education. They worked on farms, factories, urban areas, or even in at home workshops. All of the jobs were not easy for adults, much less for kids. People preferred kids over adults because it meant less pay, they were young and so they could be easily controlled. When the children was working, they were treated very poorly. They made low wages but had long hours. It was common for a child in the

The Gilded Age was a very special time for our nation that took place from the 1870s to around 1900. During this time, economic growth was at a rapid increase, politics were corrupted yet had high turnouts, and urbanization flourished. Every aspect of the life of an American changed drastically throughout this time of the Gilded Age. The entire era was focused on the enormous changes that each aspect of America was going through. As this is brought to attention, if we are to look into the way that America is in our time of today, we can find that there are many similarities to that of the original Gilded Age. The United States of America have currently found themselves to be experiencing the second era of the Gilded Age throughout the areas of economic, politic and social transformation.

The Gilded Age started after the civil war and was an economic powerhouse. Once the war ended, many companies started to prosper, small businesses grew larger and larger. Many of these companies that prospered were owned by powerful individuals who ruled the nation's economy. In order to succeed in this era, you must provide the best product at the cheapest price, if unable to you were simply driven into bankruptcy or were bought up by hungry, successful industrialists. The Gilded age was a period where many people were prospering but the system was corrupt.

The Gilded Age was the last three decades of the nineteenth century, when America’s industrial economy exploded generating opportunities for individuals but also left many workers struggling for survival. With the many immigrants, skilled and unskilled, coming to America the labor system is becoming flooded with new employees. During this period, the immigrants, including the Italians, were unskilled and the skilled workers were usually American-born. There was also a divide in the workers and the robber barons. Robber barons were American capitalist who acquired great fortunes in the last nineteenth century, usually ruthlessly. There was much turmoil throughout the business and labor community. Two major organizations, the Knights of

The Gilded age period occurred between the civil war to the end of world war 1. During this period, the industry and U.S economy boomed. As those two grew so did the political corruption and misdealing’s among business tycoons. “Robber Barons”, were known as businessmen looking only for an eye of quick money. They provided horribly low wages to their workers with atrocious work conditions to just get ahead of competition. I believe these men did not even consider or care about others as long as their company thrived. They used corrupted dealings and unruly business trades to become rich. These “robber barons” such as, J.D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and many others devised schemes to gain control of markets by buying out failing corporations. This

During the gilded ages, the overall wealth distribution was immensely divided, separating the rich from the poor more than ever. USHistory.org has published many different articles about this tiem period many being specifically on the Gilded Age and in one of these articles it is stated that “New technologies and new ways of organizing business led a few individuals to the top. The competition was ruthless. Those who could not provide the best product at the cheapest price were simply driven into bankruptcy or were bought up by hungry, successful industrialists,” This shows how easy it is for the rich to get richer by simply organizing their companies so they can produce a lot for a little, dividing the population into the two groups so easily

The Gilded age was named in a book by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner that was The Gilded Age:A Tale of Today. It was published in 1873 and was about politics. I think Theodore Roosevelt set the whole country on an unsustainable path to ruin. He did not save the lower class, he put them in bad conditions to work in. The meat factories that the lower-class people worked in work not sanitary, they were not safe and very dangerous. The people also got very low pay for this job . I don’t think it is right to treat people differently based on if they are low, middle, or high class. I don’t think it was right for him to make richer people pay higher taxes. Because they are working harder than other people to make more money for their family