The Late Nineteenth Century: The Gilded Age
In 1873, the late nineteenth century was named The Gilded Age, thanks to Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner. This reflected the time’s combination of dazzle and wealth along with poverty and inner corruption. Most historians define this period by it’s negatives, due to a lack of powerful presidents and cheap history. These people, Twain and Warner included, weren’t wrong about The Gilded Age’s corruption. However. there were also some of the most influential years in American history during this period. Westward expansion, urbanization through railroads, and immigration all contributed to the Industrialization of the US economy as we reached this Gilded Age. The plan of the federal government at the time was to shape the West into the country
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This caused the population to increase from 49 million to 76 million in 20 years. Immigrants placed themselves anywhere they could in the nation, except for the South. Along with other factors, immigration ultimately started an anti-democratic movement in which people wanted to restrict access to suffrage from immigrants. Political changes were thought to be put in place to make it more difficult for certain groups to vote. The U.S. welcomed immigrants because they were needed to grow the economy, but natives viewed them as antithetical to the society and culture. People believed that immigrants were unassimilable and exotic. Racists groups had previously said that “superior Anglo-Saxons would inevitably replace inferior races”. To counter that, some immigrants could wrap themselves into Americanism if they were Protestant and “white”. These (Protestant) immigrants joined the APA (American Protective Association) in 1887 to get away from Catholic immigration as a surge of anti-Catholicism was rolling through the nation. One thing each side had in common was they both often feared that businesses were using contract labor. They believed there was workers being recruited at lower wages to undermine the “American family”(Working man/Stay at home
This caused the population to increase from 49 million to 76 million in 20 years. Immigrants placed themselves anywhere they could in the nation, except for the South. Along with other factors, immigration ultimately started an anti-democratic movement in which people wanted to restrict access to suffrage from immigrants. Political changes were thought to be put in place to make it more difficult for certain groups to vote. The U.S. welcomed immigrants because they were needed to grow the economy, but natives viewed them as antithetical to the society and culture. People believed that immigrants were unassimilable and exotic. Racists groups had previously said that “superior Anglo-Saxons would inevitably replace inferior races”. To counter that, some immigrants could wrap themselves into Americanism if they were Protestant and “white”. These (Protestant) immigrants joined the APA (American Protective Association) in 1887 to get away from Catholic immigration as a surge of anti-Catholicism was rolling through the nation. One thing each side had in common was they both often feared that businesses were using contract labor. They believed there was workers being recruited at lower wages to undermine the “American family”(Working man/Stay at home