Introduction
No one is sure when the Gilded Age began and ended, but many agree it happened between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the First World War. Between these years, the US experienced tremendous economic development and saw an emergence of a new social class, the middle class. During this period, farmers and rural dwellers felt disadvantaged, and parties to champion their rights were formed. In the Gilded Age, several changes happened; there existed controversy among the social classes and inside the economic processes, although they may appear normal today.
Urban Life
During the Gilded Age, many Americans left life on the farms and migrated to the big cities to take advantage of the factories and mines. In the urban centers, they met with migrants from Europe and Asia who had come to America for the same reasons. The interaction led to a change in the way people lived. Workers protested for more free time, and working hours were reduced from 12 to 8 a day. The more affluent middle class could visit museums, go to music concerts, and have occasional vacations for entertainment. The Gilded Age saw a flourishing in the sale of books. Many copies of novels of various genres, including romance, thriller, adventures, and non-fiction, became common among the population.
How Economic Development Affected Settlement Patterns
Economic development affected residential patterns in various ways. Some people migrated to the US from other nations without ties to the United States. These were referred to as “new immigration” by the Americans. Then others migrated from rural areas to urban areas to take advantage of the mines, mills, and industries in the urban areas. Thus, the economic development made the population in American cities triple while rural areas just doubled. When jobs became scarce in America towards the end of the 1890’s many were against immigration into America, arguing that they were taking the jobs from the real Americans.
The Middle Class in the Gilded Age
The middle class in the gilded age had a comfortable lifestyle but was not content with it. The middle class in this era was comprised of the wealthiest 1 or 2 percent of the population (Swenson, 2017). The class always lusted for the wealthy upper class’s leisure, consumption, and money. The middle class, through organized labor, aspired to have their pay increased, their hours reduced, and their work environment made less hazardous. The middle class’s living conditions were unhealthy, and most pushed for good sanitation. Some middle-class sections argued that the extremely rich should share some wealth with the less fortunate.
The lives of the middle class and the working-class urbanites were almost identical, apart from the following differences. The middle class in this period controlled the social lives and services in the areas they lived in (Badertscher, 2017). The difference between the two was that the middle class had a disposable income while the working class did not. The middle class enjoyed working privileges not seen by the working class. Their working hours were significantly fewer, their work environment was less hazardous, and they benefitted from labor protection rights. Examples of their professions included lawyers, doctors, and engineers. They believed in delayed gratification to fulfill specific achievements like owning good homes and having good vacations, unlike the working class, who lived paycheck to paycheck. The middle class in the Gilded Age could afford minor vacations and luxuries compared to the working class, who toiled with the primary goal of putting food on the table. They were able to buy homes away from the overpopulated cities and get better-sanitized homes in the sub-hubs of the towns.
Leisure in the Gilded Age
Economic development meant Americans could afford to pay for theatrical and sports events. The transportation infrastructure to connect the interior to the coasts and major waterways where population and industry were concentrated greatly improved (Collier & Miranti, 2020). Both theatrical performances and sports events had a massive influx of spectators. Tickets were introduced for spectators leading to a boom in business in the cities where the events were held. The railroad facilitated these forms of entertainment, meaning a considerable number of spectators could follow their team across the country. Thus, the transportation made these events successful.
The Financial Crisis of the 1890s
In the 1890s, the prosperity that had been associated with the Gilded age came to an end and the 1893 panic was followed by a financial crisis. The depression was prolonged to 1896 by a fall-of capital inflow from Britain. Between 1892 and 1893, the GDP of the US fell by 17% (Taylor, 2021). The financial crisis was caused by, among other factors, overextension of the property boom of the 1880s. The seeds of this crisis appear to have been laid by the strangely inconsistent policies of the Harrison administration (Taylor, 2021). Other factors proposed to have caused the depression include public withdrawal of financing infrastructural development, poor mitigation measures by the US treasury, the collapse of Australian and South African properties, and 1890 crop failure. The panic resulted in a fall in stock prices, many businesses were closed, and many people, especially the working class, lost their jobs. By 1897 the unemployment rates increased significantly in most states. Many people, especially the lower class, faced starvation due to this financial crisis.
Programs Offered to Reduce Poverty During the Crisis
During the 1896 election, the financial crisis was a significant discussion point. The blame for the crisis was put on the democratic government in power, especially president Grover Cleveland and it cost him his presidency. The 1896 election pitted big business Republican William McKinley against Democrat and Populist William Jennings Bryan (Richardson, 2017). McKinley won, making democrats stay out of power for the next 14 years. Both Democratic and Republican governments offered food relief which included flour, pork, split peas and cocoa, to the unemployed. The governments stopped infrastructural developments to focus on putting money in the pockets of the people. Although the reliefs by the government were targeted at the poor, corruption was high and money was instead channeled to the rich to finance their lavish parties.
Role of Women in Grange and People’s Party
In the 1870s and the 1880s industrial revolution ensured that food was available in large numbers, and prices went down. This change resulted in farmers facing economic problems while it was relatively easy for the city dwellers. Grange and people’s parties were formed to protect the farmers’ rights. The parties had a significant number of members being women as all were encouraged to join farmers’ movements. Some women were outspoken and became leaders and spokeswomen of the party, a notable example being Mary Elizabeth Lease of Kansas. This openness was new, as women were unwelcome from having a say in government (Richardson, 2017). The majority of women, though, enjoyed having just a voting right.
Conclusion
The modern US draws most of its roots from the Gilded Age. Social classes and economic patterns which look normal today were the subject of much controversy towards the end of the 19th century. Popular culture, music, sports, and other various forms of entertainment boomed in this period. The period had its share of shortcomings, including massive corruption, poor sanitation, and an economic crisis in the 1890s. Farmers were hard hit by the crisis leading to the formation of various parties to champion their rights.
References
Badertscher, K. (2017). Social Life and Social Services in Indianapolis: Networks during the gilded age and progressive era. Indiana Magazine of History, 113(4), 271–308. Web.
Collier, D. M., & Miranti, P. J. (2020). Tariffs, rail rates and social welfare in the USA, 1887-1914. Journal of Management History, 26(4), 451–469. Web.
Richardson, H. C. (2017). Reconstructing the gilded Age and Progressive Era. A Companion to the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 5–20. Web.
Swenson, B. (2017). Resistance to the gilded Age: Robert Herrick’s radical middle class. The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 16(2), 143–162. Web.
Taylor, M. Z. (2021). Ideas and their consequences: Benjamin Harrison and the seeds of economic crisis, 1889-1893. Critical Review, 1–26. Web.