What Did The Gilded Age Consist Of?

What did the gilded age consist of? The gilded age was a time period that took place during the late 19th century and early 20th century and it consisted of economic prosperity for many Americans while for others economic growth was not so prosperous. The industry was expanding significantly and that changed the American society. The American industry boomed; consequently, a division between the workers and the owners grew and that created what is known as a social divide. The social divide was the division of the rich from the poor. While there were people living a luxurious life there was also a group of people living in poverty; even though there were differences amongst them, there were also similarities and the people in poverty also known
Both the wealthy and the poor also performed the same activities during their spare time. One of the most popular activity they carried out was the attendance to Coney Island which was an “amusement park and resort on a popular beach in Brooklyn”. Coney Island permitted both types of parents to enjoy their time with their children, in a place where they could both have fun. Both class groups also attended “dance halls,vaudeville houses and concert halls” during their spare time. There were various links between the wealthy and the poor. Nevertheless, there are differences that exist amongst these two groups. To begin with, a major difference amongst the wealthy and the poor was their homes location and condition. The wealthy tended to own homes that were mansions and they were located in exclusive city areas such as “Fifth Avenue in New York, Back Bay and Beacon Hill in Boston,” and “Nob Hill in San Francisco”, as well as many other exclusive areas. On the contrary, the poor lived in buildings, in where many families lived together, these homes were known as tenements. These tenements were
Since the beginning of the 21st century to the year 2006 the middle class group in our nation “rose over 6%”. The percentage of middle class has grown since the beginning of the century and continues to grow since many people are willing to work hard in order to “join the rich”.During that process those people are placed amongst the middle class and they fill that gap between the wealthy and poor. During the gilded age there was no economical help to the people and that made the poor even more poor since the wages were at low rates. Today the poor benefit from economic help from the government in ways in how they receive medical, welfare, and food stamps. Many middle class and low income Americans receive “Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance”, which is a benefit to the poor. This is different from the gilded age since back then there was no government help so that created a larger gap. For those reasons, the other half does not exist