The Gilded Age
The word gilded means "covered with a thin layer of gold". This term was used for the Gilded Age because during the Gilded Age, many of the bad things that were happening were being covered up by the good. Some people became rich during the gilded age. This included those of big businesses such as Rockefeller and Carnegie. It had looked to the rest of the world that if they came to America they would have a better life and a chance at becoming rich. However, what they didn't know, is that there were millions in poverty and terrible living conditions. There were several books written where people exposed the slum life and conditions people were living. These people who exposed such things were known as "muckrakers". The book the "How the Other Half Lives" written by Jacob Riis, showed the poverty Americans were living in. While "The Jungle", by Upton Sinclair, exposed the dangers and unsafeness of the meat industry. These men were both muckrakers for exposing such things. Many people just wanted to keep making it look like America was the land of wonders. |
American Imperialism
The United States eventually decided they wanted to become a world power. American Imperialism was the United States' economic, military, and cultural influence on foreign territories. The United States wanted to expand our customs through out the world. During the age of imperialism the United States picked up new territory including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. The only problem with American Imperialism was that many other countries were imperialistic at the same time. Some countries were not happy with the United States and their expansion. One of these countries was Spain, leading on to the Spanish American War |