How They Got Rich!

the period between the end of the American Civil War and the turn of the century so 1865 through to 1900 in the United States was a time of Rapid economic growth that became known as the Gilded Age during the 1870s and 1880s the U.S economy grew at the fastest rate in the country's history with real wages wealth GDP and capital formation all growing massively the rapid pace of industrialization led to real wage growth of 60 between 1860 and 1890. this growth meant that American wages were much higher than those in Europe especially for skilled workers which Drew in millions of European immigrants the growth of railroads across the United States meant that large-scale commercial farming Could Happen millions of acres of land became feasible for farming 1 railroads were in place providing a long distance outlet for wheat cattle and Hogs that reached all the way to Europe shipping live animals with slow and expensive so major packing centers were set up in the midwest that could ship meat in refrigerated Freight cars to stores around the country the rail cars were cooled by slabs of ice that had been harvested in the North in winter time stored for use in the warmer times of the year and shipped around the country by rail during the Gilded Age the output of grain in the United States increased by 250 percent coaled by 800 percent and miles of Railway Track by 570 percent National networks for transportation and communication were created and the corporation became the dominant form of business organization wealthy industrialists like Vanderbilt Rockefeller and Carnegie built out and financed the infrastructure of the United States becoming fabulously wealthy in the process and were later labeled rubber Barons by their critics who argued that their fortunes were made at the expense of the working class mom and pop businesses weren't going to be able to build out railroad networks or oil refineries a single mile of rail track cost more to install than most small businesses were worth so although workers wages were Rising a lot during this period there was a real Advantage associated with scale and wealth inequality was very high too the term the Gilded Age was actually not in use at the time it came into use in the 1920s taken from the name of a Mark Twain novel it ...