The term "Gilded Age" refers to the post-Reconstruction era in the late 1800's. The phrase originally began with Mark Twain. Gilded means "covered with a thin layer of gold," and so the Gilded Age implied that while this time period seemed to be a prosperous one for America, only a thin layer of prosperity covered the poverty and corruption of the time period. While many labels have been used to describe the time period, the "Gilded Age" is the most accurate when describing the time period.
The largest economic issue concerning in the Gilded Age was determining the Federal government's role in the business sector of America. …
