Gilded Age

Ans1. The United States has undergone one of the greatest economic revolutions
in its history since the end of the Civil War, and even earlier during the 20th
century. This rapid economic growth was caused by several factors. The country is
rich in natural resources, a growing labor supply, an expanding market for
manufactured products, and the availability of capital to invest.

The rapid expansion of factory production, mining, and railroad construction in all
parts of the country signaled the transition from a world centered on the small farm
and artisan workshop—to a mature industrial society.

'It's hard to believe,' wrote the philosopher John Dewey, 'that in history there's been
a revolution so rapid, so extensive, so complete.' In 1913, the United States
produced one-third of the world's industrial output, more than Great Britain,
France, and Germany combined.

Drawn to factories by the promise of employment, a new working class emerged in

these years. Almost 11 million Americans moved from farm to city between 1870
and 1920, with an additional 25 million immigrants coming out from abroad.

In industrial cities, most production is now carried out. New York, with its new
skyscrapers and hundreds of thousands of workers in all kinds of factories, has
become a symbol of urban growth. The city was funding industrialization and
westward expansion through its banks and stock exchanges, raising capital for
railways, mines, or factories.

Rapid communication and economic growth have been stimulated by a remarkable

series of technological breakthroughs. Scientific breakthroughs poured forth from
research laboratories in Menlo Park and Orange, New Jersey, created by the era’s
greatest inventor, Thomas A. Edison. He has helped to create new industries, such
as phonographs, light bulbs, motion pictures, and the electricity generation and
distribution system, which have changed people's lives, public life, entertainment,
and economy. Nikola Tesla developed an electric motor.

The growth of the economy was dramatic but extremely unpredictable. Prices
continued to fall as a result of the combination of an overflowing market with
goods and federal monetary policies. A series of pools were set up by railroad
companies and others to divide the markets between so-called competitors and
fixed prices. They've set up a trust.
More and more companies are fighting to take over the entire industry to ward off
fierce competition. A lot of companies are gone or being swallowed up by other
firms. From 1897 to 1904, the process of economic concentration came to an end.

By the time the wave of mergers had been completed, giant corporations like U.S.
Steel (created by financier J. P. Morgan in 1901 by combining eight large steel
companies into the first billion-dollar economic enterprise), Standard Oil, and
International Harvester (a manufacturer of agricultural machinery) dominated
major parts of the economy.

Some business leaders have accumulated immense wealth and economic power in
a time when no personal or corporate income tax is levied. For a time, the
Pennsylvania Railroad was the largest company in the United States under the
aggressive leadership of Thomas A. Scott. Andrew Carnegie, who worked at a
textile factory in Pennsylvania, was another giant of the industry. Carnegie set out
to create a vertically integrated steel company during the depression that began in
1873, which controlled all phases of the business from raw materials to
transportation, production, and distribution. To dominate the oil industry, John D.
Rockefeller rose. Through cutthroat competition, he'd gotten rid of rival firms and
negotiated secrets with railroad companies to set prices and production targets.

The oil industry was taken over by John D. Rockefeller. He drove out rival firms
through cutthroat competition, arranging secret deals with railroad companies, and
fixing prices and production quotas. Rockefeller's first steps were horizontal
expansion, purchasing oil refineries from competitors. Soon, however, he had
established a vertically integrated monopoly, as did Carnegie. He had 90 percent of
the nation's oil industry under his Standard Oil Company.

Economic insecurity is still a basic feature of life for the majority of workers.
Millions of workers lost their jobs or were forced to accept pay cuts during the
Great Depression of the 1870s and 1890s. With no pensions, no compensation for
injuries, and no protection against unemployment, many industrial workers worked
for 60 hours a week. Although workers in the U.S. receive better wages than their
European counterparts, they have also experienced greater danger at work.
Accidents in factories and mines killed an average of 35,000 workers a year
between 1880 and 1900, the highest rate in the industrial world.

There was no lack of achievement in the golden age of national politics. The Civil
Service Act of 1883 created a merit system for federal employees, with
appointment via competitive examinations rather than political influence.
In 1887, in response to public criticism of railroad practices, Congress established
the Interstate Commerce Commission, to ensure that the rates charged by the
railroads to farmers and merchants for the carriage of their goods were reasonable
and did not provide more favorable treatment to certain shippers than to others.

The ICC was the first federal agency intended to regulate economic activity, only
to sue companies in court—it had little impact on railroad practices. Congress
passed the Sherman Antitrust Act three years later, which prohibits combinations
and practices that restrict free trade. The language, however, was so complex that
the law could hardly be enforced. These laws, as weak as they are, have helped to
establish a precedent for the national government to regulate the economy to
promote the public goods.