First of all, the 1800s in the West are characterized as the period of opposition between the White American and local indigenous people who had been living on the territory of the United States for centuries. During the second half of 19th century the White Americans started expanding their settlement to the western part of the country. The government was supporting the settlers, which led to the several civil wars between the government and the Indians. Since the Indians lost, they had to live afterwards on the special territories provided to them and known as reservations under the control of government. When the Indians were defeated, thousands of settlers decided to move to the West in order to find a good farmland and establish their households. For this reason, the government issued the Homestead Act in 1862, according to which everyone, both an American citizen and a foreigner, had a right to claim government land. The Act allowed people could privatize the land after living and working on for five years. However, new inhabitants on the West faced some challenges that were also common for the rest of the world at that time. The first problem was the lack of fuel because there were not enough wood and trees around. Therefore, people had to use everything what they could find including small plants, dried grass and even the cattle’s waste. Water was also a problem, which became an additional problem for farming. There were several months without a proper rain at all, therefore all the crops dies. Winters were also severe and cold not allowing to cultivate and grow anything on the frozen soil. (Cortes 1108)
The West in 1800s was also characterized by the fast growth and development of other industries in that region. One of such industries was mining, for example, which has also caused construction of transcontinental railroad in order to ling the West and the East. The end of 19th century in the West is also known for appearing and fast development of cattle ranching that produced meat for the markets all over the country. (Steers and Nardon 145)
The Gilded Age is known in the American history as a period of a very fast economic growth of the country that was happening at the end of 19th century. It is considered to be the fastest and the most intensive growth in the whole American history characterized by high wages, good gross domestic product, wealth, creation of communication and transportation systems and development of business because a corporation became the leading form of business organization. The United States was developing so fast during the Gilded Period, that by the beginning of 20th century it had been already known as the leading country. Since the business was the main industry of that time, businessmen and so-called “robber baron” had the most power in the country, and the government’s attempts to regulate them have failed. Thus, since most of the business during the Gilder Age operated almost without government’s control and regulations, it is possible to say that the economic system of that time was laissez-faire, which means “hands-off” in French.
In terms of political system, there are two parties in the Unites States – the Republicans and Democrats, and both of them had almost the same number of supporters. Therefore, in order attract more people and increase the power, the Republicans and Democrats have developed The Spoils System, according to which political candidates offered potential jobs in exchange for votes. The Republicans were focused on appealing such groups of population as farmers, industrialists and eastern farmers, while Democrats were looking for their supporters among less privileged groups of citizens such as immigrants, southern planters, labourers, western farmers and etc.
In general, in is possible to say that during the Gilded Age both politics and business had much power in the late 1800s, however the business area and businessmen were though a bit more powerful since they owned much of the American industry of that time. (Kindell and Demers)
Work Cited
Cortes, Carlos. Multicultural America: A Mulrimedia Encyclopedia. Los Angeles: SAGE Publishing, 2013.Print
Kindell, Alexandra and Elizabeth Demers. Encyclopedia of Populism in America: A Historical Encyclopedia. Santa-Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2014. Print
Steers, Richard and Luciara Nardon. Managing in the Global Economy. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.
