The Gilded Age?
During the "Gilded Age," every man was a potential Andrew Carnegie, and Americans who achieved wealth celebrated it as never before. While the rich wore diamonds, many wore rags. Although Americans had sewing machines, phonographs, skyscrapers, and even electric lights, most people labored in the shadow of poverty.
" What is the chief end of man?--to get rich. In what way?--dishonestly if we can; honestly if we must. "
- Mark Twain-1871
It is easy to portray the Gilded Age as an era of corruption, mass consumption, and let-loose capitalism. However, one can also speculate this as the period that helped shape modern America, where an agrarian society of small producers was transformed into an urban society dominated by industrial corporations. |
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