The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner (1873). The term originates in Shakespeare's King John (1595): "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily...
is wasteful and ridiculous excess. " It refers to the period, in American history, after the Civil War, from 1870s to the 1890s overlapping the reconstruction era which ended in 1877 and included The Panic of 1873. In this period there was unusual economic, industrial and population growth.It’s thus named out of the way of life lived as a result of the great fortunes created in this time. The era experienced unprecedented rapid growth of railroads, factories, banks, stores, mines and many other enterprises.
The American manufacturing production surpassed that of the Great Britain, Germany, and France combined. The production of iron and steel rose dramatically with western resources like lumber, gold, and silver increasing the demand for improved transportation.Agriculture also expanded dramatically especially in the western regions which had expansive fertile farmlands. A need for workers arose fuelled by the construction of railroad and trade. From 1860 to 1905 population in farmlands had grown more than thrice. Increased railroad mileage opened new areas to commercial farming.
A national marketplace came up as a result of the desire to make fortune out of the railroad. Consequently, most of the nation’s financial market became concentrated at the Wall Street.The spread of economic concentration was marked by establishment of trusts in the sugar, oil, meatpacking and the steel industry. Other economic development in the United States included issuance of patents for new inventions.
The Breakers, a gilded-age mansion (Wikipedia, 2007) Elsewhere, ethnic diversity increased as a result of immigrants seeking jobs and farmlands which were facilitated by the availability of steamship and railroad. Rich industrial cities emerged in the Northeast and gave rise to super-rich industrialists.These rich personalities such as John D. Rockefeller (in oil) and Andrew Carnegie (in steel) were referred to as “robber barons” because they engaged in overpowering and unethical financial manipulations. As a result a labor union movement led by Samuel Gompers emerged. The 1894 Pullman strike (Wikipedia, 2007).
The era was also characterized by contests between Republicans and Democrats and occasional third parties. Almost every single man was a political partisan.In some states, more than 90% of voter turnout would be recorded. During the Ulysses S.
Grant Administration, scandals of corruption in the state governments, massive fraud in cities, and political bribes to secure government tenders were common place. The Bourbon Democrats led the Americans to demand for a free market, low taxes, low tariffs, less spending and, in general, a Laissez-Faire (hands-off) government. Therefore, politics assumed a Republican and Democratic political platform which remained constant until 1900.The presidential elections between the Republicans and Democrats were closely contested, and Congress was marked by political stalemate.
The Republicans constantly had the support of the North regions during presidential elections. On the other hand, The Democrat attracted the South which adopted the name the Solid South. The contest was also characterized by counter accusation between the republican and the Democrats; the Democrats raised the issue of the "lost cause" and the "stars and bars" while the Republicans "waved the bloody shirt".
