Advanced Historical Essay

Topic: Gilded Age

Written May 2020

In the aftermath of the civil war & reconstruction, the United states underwent change by way of corporate entities rising to prominence. The ‘self made man” and the ideal of the entrepreneur became very popular, new companies worth billions in today’s money grew from seemingly nowhere. With this astonishingly quick rise to economic power, political power came with it. Corporations began to grow their influence in Washington and with this, they created laws that benefited them, not the people. The absence of the people’s will within the government caused many groups in society to grow weary, new political movements were created to shift the balance back towards the citizens of the nation. Populism sprung up from an alliance of farmers movements, farmers were being harassed by railroad monopolies for their land. The corporate entities would raise their rates for farmers to forcefully gain this desired land. These injustices, along with the numerous others such as child labor and minimal workers rights also gave way to the progressive era. These reform movements ultimately changed American society to a massive extent, they challenged the rule of corporate monopolies & they attempted to end the decades of long injustice that plagued the nation at the hands of malicious entities, such as large corporations. 

The first wave of corporate corruption affected the political sectors. Congress & the senate were prime targets for these corporations, they fully intended to control American lawmakers in order to properly lobby support for their own interests. Whenever injustices in the business world were noticed by well meaning government officials, they were quickly explained away. The owner of the Union Pacific Railway Company Jay Gould had purchased a smaller railroad company (Kansas Pacific Railway), for this act, he was being investigated by a congressional committee. Gould testified before this committee and gave many reasons for the merger. Gould would be able to continue with his practice, growing his company’s power in two ways, economic and Political. These moves of apathy by the government were precisely what allowed  railroad companies to later force farmers off their land and charge them exorbitant rates. The audience of this document, congress, illustrates how many sway the corporations had over the government, this is relevant because it depicts the exact situations that reformers had to change. They had to overcome many aspects of our society that had become ingrained in even the American political system. During this time period, a US senator from Ohio, John Sherman, spoke before congress as well. His speech was on the matter of the government and their responsibility to the people to confront corporate interests. While this shouldn’t have even been a matter of debate, senators of congress were frankly torn about their next move. Corporate entities and businesses dictated many steps in the political process at this time, something reformers would later try to change.

During America’s entry into the 20th century, many of the same problems were still occurring. Reforms to American society were long due, that was where the progressive movement stepped in. Progressives took many notes from the populists, but some ideas were altered. The direct election of senators and the “Australian” or secret ballot were ideas shared by both parties. Both of these ideas were ultimately achieved, leading to a less corrupt political system. Before that point, voters may have been intimidated by powerful local leaders to vote in a certain way. This could have been seen earlier in the gilded age with Tammany hall. Tammany became a very corrupt institution in New York, a victory for reformers when its corruption was ultimately dismantled. While some reforms had been passed many aspects of American society still needed change. The chief method in which this was achieved was by spreading awareness of society’s ills. One man that did this better than any other was Jacob Riis. He photographed the slums of New York city, showing their depravity and how unclean living conditions were. These conditions were a result of the low wages garnered by workers during this time. Riis reached a wide audience with these photos, spreading awareness of this plight in “How the other half lives”. This is relevant due to the project's immense audience, reaching high up in the government, all the way down to the common man across the nation. Most of society were now aware of the issues, thus allowing them to be properly tended to in the government. Another consequence of low wages during this age was child labor, a majority of children worked in some areas to supplement their parents income. Florence Kelly brought attention to this important issue, saying that many children were out of school. If this continued, it would poison society and cripple the youth. Attention was placed upon this issue and it was ultimately fixed by reformers. Like many issues of the age that would have crippled American society if they were not stopped, reformers brought the issue to light, and insisted that the government deal with it.