Top Gilded Age Flashcards

Many cultures undergo what historians call a “Golden Age” – a brief period when everything seemed to be going well and science, philosophy, and the arts flourished. Historians disagree about whether there has ever been a golden age in the United States – this sort of question can only be evaluated centuries after the event occurs.

There was, however, an American Gilded Age. The gilded age is a satirical play on golden age, since “gilded” suggests that the age was gold-plated in order to give it the appearance of being better than it really was. The Gilded Age was a period in the late 1800s, when economic growth fueled massive wealth accumulation for a small subset of the population, leaving millions in abject poverty. These inequalities led to instability around the turn of the century, including the assassination of President McKinley by an anarchist.

The Gilded Age has many parallels with the modern global political situation, including rising inequality and increased political instability and uncertainty. Some historians have looked to the Gilded Age for a better understanding of our current predicament, both in the United States and around the world.