Gilded Age (1877 to 1900) The Age of Innocence

I've always loved history! Especially older history like this & ancient history. Fascinating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjpYzFtxfjU

When Andrew Carnegie's family left Scotland, his mother worked as a washerwoman. This was the lowest job you could have in class-bound Scotland. Years later, Andrew takes his mother back to Scotland. They arrived in their old home town on a private train. When she was a washerwoman, no one would give her the time of day. When she came back, the whole town showed up to greet her.

Cornelius Vanderbilt started his climb by working on tugs and bare-fisted boxing, moved up to buying his first boat, then realized that shipping was going to lose out and got in early on the railroad. No surprise, he was outrageous in "polite" society. Men with money and their wives still put up with it unless it becomes public.

I worked for Cornelius Vanderbilt II’s Summer Estate “The Breakers”, in Newport, Rhode Island. The grandeur of going to work and entering the magnificent Italian Renaissance Villa was awe-inspiring. A heavenly feeling would come over me.

When I was in college, my American history professor talked about all of the political undertones in The Wizard of Oz. The yellow brick road was the gold standard; the silver slippers (changed to Rudy slippers in the movie) were the silver standard; the tin woodsman had industrial interests; and the strawman had agricultural interests. Of course, being rebellious teenagers, we took things to the next level and asked what the flying monkeys meant, what the munchins meant, and what this and that meant, just to wind him up.

Mark Twain coined the phrase "the Gilded Age" to describe the time period in American history that stretched from 1877 to 1900 and fell between the Reconstruction and Progressive eras. Gilded Age: Wikipedia

Excellent exposition of broad historical events that gave rise to the periods and trends that are described here. If you want a more detailed and even granular description and experience of the individual, personal, and societal effects of this age of external "success" and the importance of appearances, read Edith Wharton's book or see the movie about it, "The Age of Innocence."

There is a quote at the beginning of this: "We are the rich; we own America; we got it; God knows how, but we intend to keep it if we can."

I think it is important to remember that the particular dude who said this, Frederick Townsend Martin, was rich, yes, but was an advocate for the poor and, in many ways, a crusader against the rich. The full quote shows it's actually supposed to be a criticism of the rich and corrupt "bought" politics and politicians: "It matters not one iota what political party is in power or what president holds the reins of office.

We are not politicians or public thinkers; we are the rich; we own America; we got it, God knows how, but we intend to keep it if we can by throwing all the tremendous weight of our support, our influence, our money, our political connections, our purchased Senators, our hungry Congressmen, and our public-speaking demagogues into the scale against any legislature, any political platform, or any presidential campaign that threatens the integrity of our estate."