Ms. Mallory Cohen, Ramapo College of New Jersey
Disclaimer: This site is for educational use with no intention to plagiarize or use materials for profit*
Unit Overview:
This interactive, project based unit is centered around the time periods of the Gilded Age. This website serves as an inclusive guide to all lessons, materials, projects, rubric, and skills for The Gilded Age. Students will develop academic and life skills through the thoughtfully designed activities.
Essential Questions:
1) How are technology, immigration, urbanization, and economic policies interconnect during the Gilded Age?
2) What issues did different racial, ethnic, and gender groups face in the late 19th-early 20th centuries and how did these groups overcome these issues?
3) How could and would the Gilded Age lead to social and economic change?
For more information, including standards and objectives, please visit the Teacher's Corner
Historical Context:
At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, the United States underwent drastic changes socially, technologically, politically, and economically. Reconstruction had ended with the Election of 1876, with the Republican Party (who pushed for racial equality) losing political power to the Democratic Party, which held a strong majority in South and primarily against racial integration. The Second Industrial Revolution began in 1870, which led to gains in technological advancements. The advancements include electricity, telephones, oil refining, automobiles, and plans. The Second Industrial Revolution overlapped with the Gilded Age. A term coined by Mark Twain, it suggested that this time period was, "glittering on the surface, but corrupt underneath". While there were advancements that improved the quality of life, it was overshadowed by robber barons, greedy economic and political practices, lack of government regulation, and capitalism. During the Gilded Age, the rich became richer while the poor suffered even more than they previously did.
The economic and social inequalities, in combination with corruption, led to the Progressive Era at the turn on the 20th century. Spanning almost three decades (1900-1929), the Progressive Era saw vast changes- in part due to muckraking journalism. The progressive leaders and groups fought for prohibition of alcohol, women's voting rights, regulation of child labor, improve working conditions, and increase government regulation in many of the corrupt practices of the Gilded Age.