Urban industrialization in the late 19th century and working-class immigrants

Gilded Age

Wealth, Poverty, and Labor Unions in the Gilded Age

The Gilded Age was a period of American history when the gap between the rich and the poor was more pronounced than ever. The rich, like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, owned the factories and companies in which the poor, immigrants or urban Americans often living on less than a dollar a day toiled. Rockefeller, Carnegie, and other wealthy businessmen were called robber barons, as they "got rich through ruthless business deals" ("Gilded Age"). The name "Gilded Age" came from the large amounts of wealth that were created during the period ("Gilded Age"), but for the poorest Americans, life was everything but gilded. These people usually turned to labor unions and the political machine for relief. A discussion of immigration, the plights of the working class people, and labor unions and political machines will give an overview of the period.

Although immigration to the United States was slowed during the civil war, most likely because of a fear of getting involved in the hostilities, it began to increase during the late 1870s (VandeCreek). Many immigrants from Europe and Ireland came to the United States in search of work because economic conditions were improving. Many institutions such as meatpacking companies, rail years, and factories enticed immigrants because they would hire unskilled workers. These immigrants tended to settle in urban areas, like Chicago, which would become a hotbed of immigrant settlers (VandeCreek). Immigrants fueled the needs of American industry by providing the cheap labor it needed to succeed.

But the economic promise that these immigrants and working class Americans identified would not last long. The end of the 1870s brought an economic depression, and with it difficult work for little pay. Jobs were incredibly difficult, such as mining coal in Virginia and other states, a job that was dangerous in many regards. Workers in factories and sweatshops did not benefit from the labor laws that existed today. Children could work in dangerous jobs, people could be forced to work long days, and many did not have the option to deny dangerous work.