The Gilded Age

The Gilded Age was a period in American history from the late 1870s to the late 1890s, characterized by rapid economic growth, industrialization, and technological advancement, but also by significant social problems like poverty, inequality, and political corruption. Named satirically by <a href="/article/mark-twain">Mark Twain</a>, it was a time of stark contrasts between immense wealth and widespread hardship, laying the groundwork for the <a href="/article/progressive-era">Progressive Era</a> that followed.