Additional Coverage:
- Photos show the extreme inequality between rich and poor Americans during the Gilded Age (businessinsider.com)
The Gilded Age: A Tale of Two Americas
The Gilded Age, a period of rapid industrial growth and opulence, borrowed its name from Mark Twain’s 1873 satirical novel. While the wealthy reveled in gilded interiors, this sheen masked a stark reality of exploitation and inequality. A tiny fraction of Americans, the richest 0.01%, controlled a staggering 9% of the nation’s wealth, achieved through monopolizing industries and leaving the poor struggling in their wake.
Photographs from this era offer a glimpse into this disparity. New York City’s Fifth Avenue, then known as “Millionaires’ Row,” showcased the extravagant mansions of families like the Astors, Goulds, and Vanderbilts, each a testament to their immense fortunes.
These homes, modeled after European palaces, stood in stark contrast to the slum dwellings crowding Eighth Avenue. A report in 1865 revealed that a shocking 65% of New York City residents lived in substandard housing.
The lives of the wealthy were marked by excess. They maintained multiple residences, including lavish “cottages” in Newport, Rhode Island, such as Cornelius Vanderbilt II’s 138,300-square-foot Breakers mansion. Meanwhile, homelessness, a term first coined during this era, became a harsh reality for many itinerant workers drawn to cities by the promise of work, only to find themselves without shelter.
The Breakers, completed in 1895, boasted 70 rooms, accommodating the Vanderbilts, their staff, and lavish entertaining. In contrast, families in New York City’s tenement apartments often crammed into single rooms, facing squalid conditions that fueled the rapid spread of disease. Photographer Jacob Riis bravely documented these realities in his 1890 book, “How the Other Half Lives,” exposing the dark underbelly of the Gilded Age.
Transportation further highlighted the divide. Tycoons like Jay Gould commuted to their offices via private steam yachts, while others toiled long hours in sweatshops, also documented by Riis. The wealthy attended galas in opulent venues like the Hotel Astor, while the staff who maintained the hotel’s elegance remained largely unseen.
Even within wealthy families, complexities existed. Consuelo Vanderbilt, daughter of William K.
Vanderbilt, lived a life of privilege but lacked autonomy, famously being forced into a marriage against her will. In contrast, child labor was rampant among the poor, with a significant percentage of children working in factories and mines.
The stark inequalities of the Gilded Age ultimately gave rise to the Progressive Era, a period of significant social and political reform. Women’s suffrage, labor unions, and antitrust laws aimed to dismantle monopolies and redistribute wealth. The era of the “robber baron” began to wane, and even the grand mansions of Millionaires’ Row eventually made way for the city’s growth.
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- Photos show the extreme inequality between rich and poor Americans during the Gilded Age (businessinsider.com)