The Transformation Of The Gilded Age

Gilded Age Years after the Civil War, the economy of American undertook a drastic transformation. This renovation went from wealth being measured palpable possessions- buildings, livestock, paper currency, property, and securities, to expanding dramatically into modern industries. One of the largest to do this was the U.S. Steel discovery which triggered new industries such as oil refining and electric light and power. A key role in this transformation of the American economy was the development of the railroad which was decades after the Civil War. Andrew Carnegie, Jay Gould, John D. Rockefeller, and other businesses initiated many strategies to seize markets and take combine the power. This period that was gleaming on the outside yet corrupt underneath is known as the “Gilded Age,” according to Mark Twain.
Between the early 1870s and the 1890s railroad mileage nearly quadrupled, with the most growth in the Mississippi West area. In almost one decade following, in 1900, the railroads had expanded to more than 193,000 miles of tracks. This was a larger amount than India, Europe, and Russia combined. This wouldn’t have happened without Jason “Jay” Gould starting his career with buying his first railroad that was in bad condition and about sixty-two miles long. After about two years he sold the railroad for a large pocket profit of $130,000. Following this success, Jay was taking over and roaming the stock market viciously, taking over vulnerable railroads by buying large stocks to take power. He would then threaten competitors to buy him out at high profit. Though what Gould did was hostile, it was genius and a clever strategy that expanded the overbuilding of railroads and the growth of the national