Browse Hierarchy HST5380: America in the Age of Capital: From the Gilded Age to the Great Depression

In the two generations after the Civil War, Americans experienced massive changes - socially, culturally and economically - as the slave-owning, cotton producing United States was transformed into the world's leading industrial nation. This module provides an overview of this pivotal era (1865-1932), covering a range of topics such as the rise of great cities, origins of Wall Street, consumer culture, labour organising and reform, Indian Wars, the Populist revolt, women¿s rights, and Jim Crow segregation. We will explore the impact of industrial capitalism on the lives of different social groups, the integration of the Great West in the orbit of the U.S., the debates over the role of government in economic and social life, and the formation of new patterns of inequality, inclusion, and exclusion.