The United States in the Gilded Age, 1877-1901 (Essay Sample)

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US History Since 1877
In the United States, civil rights, equality, and political economy have been the significant talks that define its history. Economic strength can be traced to the earliest 18th century. One of the influential writers of American history and the contributor of the constitutional theory Adam Smith ascertained once that there should be establishing the free-market mechanism where business should operate independently without necessarily the government's intervention. This means that he was advocating for economic strength, where little interventions should be put in place so that businesses can freely interact with each other. He used the constitutional theory to ascertain the importance to the public, mainly by dividing it into various parts: the rights that a sovereign has to its citizens and the rights that citizens have to the monarch. He talks more about the civil rights of both the citizens and the state.
Furthermore, Madison is his speech to the House of the Representatives on June 8, 1879, stated that the people should not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, to write, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable. This indicates that he was on the frontline of enhancing independence among the citizens in the United States. He was among the significant contributors of the Common Law in the United States to protect people's rights. Abraham Lincoln, one of the historical figures in the US presidency, encouraged and promoted the Declaration of Independence, especially during his time in office. He urged all Americans from north and south and every lover of freedom and liberty to join together. He advocated for equality in the United States. This all combined implies that the United States is a country that has a lengthy historical background. It is essential to know how liberty and government bring out such notions since the earliest centuries. The primary aim is to understand America today from a historical perspective. This research paper is going to be concerned with US history since 1877. To compile the whole record, the analysis will be broken down into different periods outlining the significant events related to wealth, liberty, and governance in the United States, mainly drawing examples from the biography of La Follette and the Sloan Rules.
The United States in the Gilded Age, 1877-1901
A gilded age is a period in the United States' history where the country was characterized by corruption in the political sector, especially from 1877-1901. This continued trend changed the notion of people towards the government and established critiques against the leadership. This was when the industrial revolution was taking place in the United States and led to the rapid expansion of the cities as most of the people who had moved to the frontier chose to work in the factories. The results of the industrial revolution were beneficial to a new class of shareholders and corporate officers. The gilded age is what can be referred to as some people working from rags to riches with their efforts. During this time, most of the young people were unable to enter the public because of the inequalities and corruption existing, especially in the political sector. Those who were willing were ready to fight up to their way to the political leadership, and in most cases, they turned out to be successful.
In the first chapter of La Follette's biography, most of the young men who joined the political sector were forced to face real problems and meet various temptations in the public service. During the time he was compelled to be a leader and take up the district attorney's position, it was just the beginning of many struggles that he would face throughout the career. This was the direct reflection of the whole society when the community's poor had no freedom and rights. They were separated and could not take up top positions in the government or even secure good-paying jobs. He lived in a poor background, which tells us that most of the people who had the potential to be the promising leaders of the society were simply the ones facing a lot of problems in the organization. Lack of a voice could not allow them to contest for any particular seats, as he was told once that they already knew the person who will be taking over Wisconsin.
This particular notion of taking an individual by his class truly gives the United States picture during such early days. As described by Croly Herbert The Promise of American Life, in America, it is simple to lay one's finger upon almost every one of the outstanding defects of civilization- even those defects define the Old World (p. 15). He further acclaimed that the United States cannot ascertain to be an exception from any form of slavery in terms of politics, of looking down upon the faces of the poor, of not taking good care of the weak, of unfair wealth distribution, of a centralized economy which is unjust, of unequal laws, of industrial and business corruption, disgraceful ignorance, economic fallacies, corruption in the public sector among another sort of the inequalities. It has led to a particular class of people suffering more than the other, amounting to the increased sins that the United States of America has been charged with. The American life promise tends to reflect on what happened in the past during the times that most people were suffering from inequalities.
This is also the time in which the involvement of the government in the business was becoming limited. This was mainly based on the constitutional theory, which ascertained political economy. However, such can be seen as an achievement that the government made, but it is all concerned with politics. Mainly, the rich were benefitting from it and other corporate leaders. On the other hand, the tariffs made were to help the Americans and protect the country. This accumulation of wealth to some people had a lot of reasons behind it. Since the downfall of the Roman Empire, there was a continued accumulation of wealth by individuals, in this case, the corporate owners (La Follette's Autobiography 8). Most of the enterprises in the United States were opting for mergers which required a lot of capital. Most surprisingly, they were not after economic empowerment but for political power.
Basing on this excerpt from La Follette's autobiography, it leads to the divided interests of the people within society. From this article, the increase in the political power only to specific individuals leads to economic differences and class differences during such a period of the gilded age where the politics of money took the course in society. For example, in the United States, one of the great corporations had trifled with the sovereign power and insulted the state. The great rivals, for example, had brought the need to partition the state and share its spoils. This led to the rise of the central political question in the US. Which shall rule- wealth or man; which shall lead- money or intellect, who shall fill public station, educated and patriotic free men, or the feudal surfs of the corporate capital (La Follette's Autobiography 8). Basing on this analysis, the writer indicates to us the negative impacts of people taking control of wealth in the United States as the major contributors to its downfall.
Certain people having the possession of wealth in the country was problematic to everyone in the United States. This is so because of varied economic conditions. At the times of the economic growth in the United States, most of the workers suffered a lot due to the increased unemployment while others were still benefiting. The increased intimidation in this particular period resulted in blacks being discriminated against. Most of the whites had access to wealth, while the blacks were denied the opportunities to carry out elections, especially in matters related to intellectual benefits. In 1898, there was a war between the United States and Spain over issues related to the world trade's human rights and interests both in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
For instance, what happened in Wisconsin in the United States on February 22, 1898, according to La Follette's Autobiography, on the Obligations of Wealth, where every branch of the government was strengthened, civil service law and equality were the significant points of focus, also focused on bringing the taxation reforms with the aim of improving trade within the Pacific (p. 62). Such efforts encountered a lot of resistance by the leaders because they believed in protecting the country's economy.
Reforms and Human Nature, 1901-1929
The gilded age period was highly rejected by most of the people in the earliest 20th century. This is because people wanted the wealth to circulate through the people and the leaders of the corporates and political individuals. Different views were obtained from the individuals, mostly from both the Republicans and Democratic Parties. These two other antagonistic groups have been ideas that Jefferson represented. The primary thing that they were championing was progressivism, a set of political ideologies calling for the government to put regulations on the corporations' operation to be of expected benefits. This is why the period was called the period of transformation. Most of the large companies that were controlling the economy under monopoly influence were broken down.
Furthermore, other reforms entailed immigration, urbanization, and industrialization to be done by experts who best suit the world to evolve into a new era. This is in 1913. There was a formal constitutional amendment that aimed at licensing the...