What is the Gilded Age?

What was the Gilded Age? well, it was only the birth of modern America..

Why the name?

This period in time was named the "Gilded Age" by Mark Twain; a very famous American author and Humorist.

By the "Gilded Age" Mark Twain meant that this period was pretty on top and ugly on the bottom. By this I think he meant that the hard labor of the working-class was very cruel, but this also gave an opportunity for children and their families to make a living.

The ugly side of the Gilded Age

Sweatshops..

Sweatshops are exactly what is implied in the phrase; shops in which you sweat. Sweatshops produce clothes. Their employee's are most likely immigrants without papers, or criminals who need money and wont get hired anywhere else. The millions of people who worked in these shops were payed VERY little. They would work maybe 6-7 days a week and about 12 hours a day and win about as little as only cents a day.

The average day of a worker

At the beginning of each workday they workers would get assigned their work then have the entire day to finish it. If any worker didn't finish their assigned work by the time the work day was over, they'd have to work over time until all was finished. The faster you work, the more money you made. Safety was not an issue on the minds of the big-shots who ran these.

The owners

All the capitalists during this period were in a competition for markets and profits. Therefore, they had no choice but to push their workers to the limit.

The owners of these shops were as selfish as people can get, but also smart. Why do i think they're smart? well maybe because they made millions and payed their worker's an income equivalent to a meal at McDonalds.

It was a great idea to hire people who were in desperate need of a job. They would work as hard as they can, and as fast as they can (so they wouldn't get fired).

They were also selfish because they only cared about how fat their wallets were, when their very own workers were working 12 hours shifts of hard labor and returning to their not so nice, little homes in poverty.

The pretty side of the Gilded Age

Factories=good?

VERY!!
Although inside these factory walls hid hundreds of workers working harder than any of us ever will, these thousands of factories gave jobs to millions and gave them a means of survival. The unemployment rate dropped tremendously after factories started opening and hiring anyone that came through the front doors.

Rail Roads

The Gilded Age brought many more advances, like rail roads for instance.
Rail roads are extremely important, if you didn't already know; they are still used today for the transportation of materials. Their are rail roads all around the US, their isn't anywhere you can't go on a train now-a-days. But it wasn't always like this. It wasn't till the early 1900's that rail roads began to become bigger and stronger. By 1906 seven huge companies controlled approximately 2/3 of the rail road tracks set in the US. And along the years rail roads were set all around the US making it possible for anything to get anywhere someone desired.

Coal Mining

Coal mining became to be a bigger deal during the Industrial Revolution. Why? Because Coal was the primary source of energy for factories and transportation.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

In my opinion, The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was on of the most tragic events ever recorded in American history. If you've never heard of this event, its okay. I myself just recently heard of this event from my brilliant American history teacher; Ms. Hopkins.

What was the triangle shirtwaist fire?

The triangle shirtwaist fire was an event that took place in New York City in the Triangle Waste Company. On Saturday, March 11, 1911, the top floors of the triangle waste company engulfed in flames just before closing time.

The workers in this factory were locked in, to assure that no worker had a bathroom break. At the end of each day the workers had their "pocketbooks" inspected before leaving.

Shortly after the fire erupted, the employees on the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors had two choices; be burned alive, or jump out of the window and hope to God that the Firemen rescue nets caught you safely.

Women jumped out in pairs and before they had time to realize, the nets were breaking. Wasn't to long after that, that firemen and bystanders were crushed by falling bodies. Seven of the 148 died in a hospital bed, the rest died instantly. This tragedy stole 148 of 500 young immigrant worker's lives, most of which were woman as young as 15 years-old.

Was it wrong for the women to be locked in a room all day with one bathroom break?

Um, duhh? Working 12 hours a day with one bathroom break is just cruel. The employee's of any company shouldn't have a limit on bathroom breaks. Bladder problems do exist and holding in your fluids is very bad for your kidneys. The worker's of this sweatshop, basically were locked in a room for 12 hours to assure that they didn't leave for a bathroom break, or any kind of break.

I myself can't go 12 hours without using the bathroom. I can't even go a whole seven hour school day without doing so. I would literally have to not drink a single drop of anything and stay dehydrated all day so I wouldn't have to use the bathroom, and that would most likely result in me fainting in the middle of class.

What happened after..

Some of the survivors and witnesses decided to action. This resulted in taking the two owners, Blanck and Harris, to court. These men had 23 individual civil suits against them. Three years after the incident the owners finally settled and paid $11,100.