Question

Mark Twain described the term “gilded” as something that is shiny and beautiful on the outside, but rotten on the inside. With this definition in mind, why do you think the late 1800s in America is often referred to as the Gilded Age? Name some of the changes that occurred near the end of the Gilded Age.

Answer 1

Mark Twain described the term “gilded” as something that is shiny and beautiful on the outside, but rotten on the inside. With this definition in mind, the late 1800s in America is often referred to as the Gilded Age because of all of the technological and industrial growth led to American prosperity but it also led to greed and corruption often at the extent of the working class people.

Some of the changes that occurred near the end of the Gilded Age include: Pullman sleeping cars and trains, using the Transcontinental Railroad to transport goods and services, the Industrial Revolution and monopolies, expansion of banks/textiles/agriculture/steel/oil industries, electricity, the telephone, and the Progressive Era (trust busting, reforms, women’s rights, civil rights, trade unions, and fair labor).