Manisha Munjal Dr. Abell April 27, 2015 Final Research Paper The Gilded Age Final Paper Clothing Remembered as an era in American history characterized by great prosperity and industrial growth, the three decades following the Civil War was known as “The Gilded Age.” In 1873, a novel was written by authors Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner titled, “The Gilded Age,” that sarcastically depicted a character life environment about what the Gilded Age represented. While the rich wore diamonds, many wore rags. In 1890, 11 million of the nation's 12 million families earned less than $1200 per year; of this group, the average annual income was $380, well below the poverty line. Rural Americans and new immigrants …show more content…
The production of iron and steel rose dramatically and sources like lumber, gold, and silver caused an increase to the demand for transportation. The development boomed as trains traveled from West-East. The production of steel and oil were in hot demand at this time. This led to the partnership of two robber barons people who got rich through scrupulous business deals, John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie. The Gilded Age was characterized to be the era of rapid growth. It transformed the country from a basic lifestyle that was primarily rural, into an industrialized and populated nation whose rituals and values were making a change due the rise in wealth as well as the theory of evolution. Individual income levels increased due to an increase in innovations of the telephone, and technological inventions. Electricity and transportation rapidly boomed in this time as well. The introduction of the transcontinental railroad became a beneficial power for market-buyers and shopkeepers because now goods could be transported quicker and faster. These new advancements caused a rise in population as well as home goods. Along with the new advancements came an increase in …show more content…
Women in the Gilded Age were responsible to be prepared for any event. They needed to make sure that upon entering the event, they had the appropriate attire. Women had to strictly follow rules for evening dress, ball dress, full dinner dress, with a slightly different standard for the hostess of the dinner, dresses for receiving calls, carriage dresses, visiting dresses, dresses for morning calls, morning street dresses, promenade dresses, the opera dress, the riding dress, a walking suit, an occupational dress, an ordinary evening dress, with variations on dresses for social parties, church, croquet, archery and skating, traveling, the wedding dress, and finally dresses for periods of mourning. For women in the Gilded Age, marriage was the gateway to a new social life, and another highlight of the exhibition is a magnificent wedding dress, heavily trimmed with cascades of lace and silk ribbons. Although women focused highly on the beauty of weddings, they add emphasis on sportswear/outdoor wear. Active sportswear is represented by a rare riding habit from the 1890’s and a turn-of-the-century cycling
The Gilded Age was a time in American history that came to be known as a major turning point for the country, as it marked the decline of an economy based on agriculture, and brought forth the rise of an economy based on business and industry. Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, it was a great time for change, especially for the economy. The economy improved, and at the same time, it granted more opportunities for inventors and businessmen to come out and share their talent with the the world. As America began to industrialize and make new advancements in technology, it also began to encourage the growth of the middle class and promoted the importance of social mobility and competition between businesses. The Gilded Age was a time when
Victorian Fashion refers to the styles and clothing worn before and during the Civil War era of the United States, 1860-1900. This era was filled with a very difficult way of dressing oneself and to deviate from this line of dress was unheard of, and worthy of being outcaste. Victorian women’s clothing was layers, heavy, and barely manageable to even wear. Many different articles made up the full garment such as the undergarments, the skirt, top, shoes, accessories, and even the hair. How did women ready themselves for the day in this era and how did they deal with all the cumbersome attire?
The period from 1877 to 1901 in American history was known as the Gilded Age, it was titled so because during this time things on the surface seemed peaceful and good but underneath lay corruption in the society. This era was marked by the end of Reconstruction of the South, as well as the presidencies of Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison, and McKinley. Significant events of this time were the 1878 Bland Allison Act in which the federal government bought silver and turned it into cheap money. The 1881 Chinese Exclusion Act which banned all Chinese immigrants coming into America because they were hurting employment opportunities for American laborers. The 1883 Pendleton Act that ended Jackson’s spoils system in the government and made the Merit System based on intelligence and ability. The 1887 Interstate Commerce Act which regulated the railroads. The Sherman Antitrust Act which outlawed any combination in restraint of trade. And last, the Gold Standard Act of 1900 that made the American monetary unit based on gold.
Weddings may be one of the most festive social occasions. The bridal dress was a chance to show off one’s best dress and finest accessories. The first possible references of wedding apparel came from the Hellenistic period of Greece. However, there was no real consideration of element, fabric, color, or style. It was given meaning by the use of accessories, such as flowers and metal tiaras.
The Gilded Age was the last three decades of the nineteenth century, when America’s industrial economy exploded generating opportunities for individuals but also left many workers struggling for survival. With the many immigrants, skilled and unskilled, coming to America the labor system is becoming flooded with new employees. During this period, the immigrants, including the Italians, were unskilled and the skilled workers were usually American-born. There was also a divide in the workers and the robber barons. Robber barons were American capitalist who acquired great fortunes in the last nineteenth century, usually ruthlessly. There was much turmoil throughout the business and labor community. Two major organizations, the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor, helped represent the workers in this time of chaos. The Knights of Labor, founded in 1869, were representing both skilled and unskilled workers. They were quite popular with a large boost in membership becoming the biggest union in 1885. They sought for equal pay and equal work. All were welcomed to the Knights of Labor; there was no discrimination on race, gender, or sex. They called for an eight-hour day in order to reduce fatigue and for safety issues. The Knights of Labor Declaration of Principles states their purpose is to “make industrial and moral worth, not wealth” (Reading 9, p. 1). This means the moral worth is to what they could contribute to society rather than monetary gains. They were working towards this improvement of the common mans life to advance in civilization and create new ideas for society. They also called upon the employer to treat the employee with respect and fairness so they can contribute to not only their company but to Amer...
The Gilded Age gets its name from a book by Mark Twain called The Gilded Age: a Tale of Today. It was written in 1873, and unfortunately was not that successful. While the Gilded Age conjures up visions of ostentatious displays of wealth and decorative parties, the over all topic was politics. The book gives an extremely negative assessment of the state of American democracy at that time. Which does not come as a huge surprise coming from Twain, who famously said "It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.” So when faced with sweeping changes in the American economy after the Civil War, the American political system both nationally and locally dealt with these problems in the best way possible, by inevitably and incredibly becoming corrupt.
The life of an immigrant in the United States during the Gilded Age was a rough life. During this time period the U.S. went through a dramatic change in dealing with changing infrastructure and masses of people coming over from different countries for a chance at a better life. This time period was characterized by small wage jobs, poor working conditions and the struggle to survive. The Jungle embodies the themes of the Gilded Age with first hand experiences of an immigrant's hardships of life.
Expansive growth was the moniker that expressly defined the Gilded Age. Industry in all sectors, witnessed massive growth leading to the creation of an American economy. Due to the rapidly changing nature of industrialization, important men of both the public and private sectors attempted to institute their own controls over it. However, this transforming landscape integrated both economic and political changes, but also cultural and social interactions. In turn, those who controlled the flow of business would also steadily impact the American social scene by extension.
The Gilded Age was was an era that saw rapid immigration. This along with an explosion of Americans moving from farms to the cities, causing more people migrating to urban areas than ever before. The growth of cities gave rise to powerful political machines, that stimulated the economy, and gave birth to an American middle class. It was a time of highs and lows.
After the soaring ideals and tremendous sacrifices of the Civil War, the post-War era of the United States was generally one of political disillusionment. Even as the continent expanded and industrialized, political life in the Gilded Age was marked by ineptitude and stalemate as passive, rather than active, presidents merely served as figureheads to be manipulated rather than enduring strongholds. As politicians from both the White House to the courthouse were deeply entangled in corruption and scandal during the Gilded Age, the actual economic and social issues afflicting urbanizing America festered beneath the surface without being seriously addressed.
The women on the trail, though it shows, had little time to care about mending clothes, “The majority of the overland women wore what clothing they had and prayed that what they wore would not tear. They were too preoccupied with the necessities of the day to consider fashion at all (Schlissel 105). ” I would be happy if I were these women because that just means one less chore that was their “duty” to perform. In conclusion, the woman of the Victorian Era had her role in life planned out from before she was born. Although it was a dreadful role, these women carried it out in a way that shows their purity of the heart and willingness to do so many things for others and for little return.
Marsden, Jean I. "Modesty Unshackled: Dorothy Jordan and the Dangers of Cross-Dressing." Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture vol. 22. Ed. by Patricia B. Craddock and Carla H. Hay. East Lansing, Michigan: Colleagues Press Inc. 1992. 21-36.
Throughout this essay, I will address the way women tackled societies constrictions and expectations, which includes their battle against the control of the corset. I will compare corsets from the 18th/19th century to modern day; exploring how modern-day society has changed and how power shifts have altered the way women are seen and respected within our society. For centuries women have been told how to act, what to do and what to wear as well as suffering with the restrictions put in place by society. Many of these restrictions were purely down to simple biology: being born a woman automatically made you an inferior being. Women’s fashion became a restriction as well, for example; the corset was a manufactured way of controlling the way a
From the 1700’s through the Industrial Revolution, regulating fashion was deemed as a way of preserving social and gender distinctions that were firmly established in the predominantly patriarchal society. During the 1850’s, the Victorian Era, there were strict guidelines on how people could behave and dress, and behaviors that they had to conform to their everyday lives. The rules were so strict that there were codes for how certain inanimate objects should be displayed; for example, table covers had to be long enough to cover the table’s legs because soci...
Fashion in the 1900’s was impacted greatly by World War I and II. The biggest change was seen in women on the American home front. As the men left for war, the woman’s responsibilities on the home front changed. Women went from wearing dresses to wearing pants and doing the labor once done by man. With World War I bringing over six million fatalities it became many women’s only choice to manage without male support. The women liked their new found freedom on the home front. It was during this time that fashion manufacturing was interrupted due to limits on material, so women’s dresses became shorter, and their pants tighter (Nunn 169-206).