The Gilded Age 2.0

 Niko Cantu

M r.Roddy

IHSS
19 April 2022


The Gilded Age 2.0


Those that led the Gilded age consisted of the high ranking wealth of America, the people that had enough money to control others with it. These businessmen only had the goal in mind of making more money and making sure that the government did not get in the way of that happening. This wealth had the ability to bend American democracy to its will, and with this power these big businesses had an influence over the government. They used their money to influence lawmakers into adopting policies that would better favor these large businesses and that were hostile to organized labor. While these businessmen used their money mainly as a means of influence in these political discussions they also used it to compete against one another to see who was the most expensive. They did this by hosting expensive. parties, taking trips, and building mansions, all signs of incredible wealth. A big factor in these businessmen's high wealth was the booming industrial economy. During this booming time more specifically what was described in the article as the enthusiasm side, the factory output shot up from $1.9 billion to $13 billion, this is an estimated 600% increase. This massive increase greatly benefitted the top 1% of wealthy individuals, as during this time that top 1% owned 51% of all wealth. What makes this crazier is that the lower 44% of the US population, which is almost half of the country, only owned 1.2% of that wealth. With all this wealth during the gilded age politics were filled with bribery and other forms of corruption. For example some infamous scandals happened at this time such as the Credit Mobilier scandal involving massively inflated contracts, or the whisky ring scandal where politics found a way to avoid paying excise taxes. Money was and still is a big form of politics, as Mark Hanna said in the 1890s “There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money, and I can’t remember what the second one is”. As Steel was the new found product of this time period many people capitalized on it, most notably Andrew Carrnige who gained his wealth by selling his steel company for $480 million making him one of the richest people alive. Cornelius Vanderbilt had a focus in railways, which was another major industry during this time where he found a way to make railroads more efficient, as his work led him to die with over $100 million. Concluding that this ear was operated by business men, money, and politics, and I reckon that his article begs the question of how as the US changed from those same three leaders and if it hasn't, will it ever change.


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