Gilded Age

The era in American history from the end of the Civil War to the turn of the century is known as The Gilded Age. It is considered as the time of the greatest economic, industrial and population expansion in America. The main diving force behind the industrial revolution was the new technology and the abundance of natural resources. The industrialization had a big impact on workers who lived in very bad conditions, had low wages and long hours of hard work. Workers created unions and tried to fight the problems by creating strikes that lead to use force and violence by government and police.

During this time period workers were in increasing demand, so industries were looking for new sources of employees. Emigrants from Europe, China and Mexico were flooding into America and starting to work in factories. Workers lived in very small rooms of area 6' x 9'. Sometimes a whole family was crowded into a single room. The emigrants and old workers were not enough. During that time children under the age of 16 were working in factories. It deprived children of education and a real childhood. People were working at low wages and their employers wanted them to produce more, which made the work hours long. The working class felt behind and wanted to make their situation better.

Poverty, poor living conditions, and lack of education opportunities bothered the growing working class. Workers organized labor union in an effort to improve their conditions with demands for better wages and working conditions. Workers also went out on strike, often with violent consequences. Some strikes were relatively peaceful but others were not and ended u with