Feudalism was a combination of legal and military customs in Medieval Europe and Medieval Japan. It was a system of structuring society around relationships which were based on the holding of land in exchange of labor and service. This encompasses the wider society. A peasant was protected by his lord who would give him housing and security and the peasant would work on the lord's land. This is a typical example or characteristic of feudalism.
I'm literally learning this now in APUSH. In 1914 which is the era of the gilded age people were dependent on railroads and oil. Thanks to help from Carnegie (and the other 4 men) (around 1914) and steel, the US economy rose back from its divided chaos.
