The Gilded Age - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages During the so called Gilded Age, the economy of America went up significantly by more than 400% between 1860 and 1900. During the same time, the United States Patent office gave out up to twelve times more patents than it had been the case in the past 70 years. There was also a notable increase in the productivity of the agricultural sector due to invention of farm machinery; “In 1872, the vast majority of Americans equated logging trees, plowing prairies, grazing grasslands and mining mountains with progress.” The same advancement was made in the factory sector. The business communication sector made a step with the invention of Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone which was developed on February 14th, 1876. The lighting of homes and the power required by the various factories in carrying out several of the operation were made possible by Thomas Edison. This was as from 6th December, 1977.Still on the American economy, the growing industrial sector made available the goods needed for the upcoming urban markets. This led to a shoot in the number of the urban dwellers due to migration of individual to urban centers, most of who came from Europe. As a percentage, those living in urban areas represented 40% of the total American population. This was an increase from the initial 20%. The immigrants wanted to get jobs in the expanding manufacturing sectors, and also to have a taste of the city-life.However, there is an irony regarding this economic development of the gilded age.The growing of this economy came with weighty negatives. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More