Gilded Age & Progressive Era (1877-1918)

In United States history, the Gilded Age is a period spanning approximately the 1870s to the turn of the twentieth century. The term was coined by writers Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873), satirizing what they believed to be an era of serious social problems disguised by a thin gold gilding.

The Gilded Age was an era of enormous growth, especially in the North and West. This attracted millions of emigres from Europe. However, the Gilded Age was also an era of enormous poverty. The average annual income for most families was $380, well below the poverty line. Railroads were the major industry, but the factory system, mining, and labor unions also increased in importance.

Two major nationwide depressions known as the Panic of 1873 and the Panic of 1893 interrupted growth. The South remained economically devastated; its economy became increasingly tied to cotton and tobacco production, which suffered low prices. African-Americans in the South were stripped of political power and voting rights. The political landscape was notable in that despite some corruption, turnout was very high and elections between the evenly matched parties were close.

The dominant issues were cultural (especially regarding prohibition, education and ethnic and racial groups), and economics (tariffs and money supply). Reformers crusaded against child labour and for the 8-hour working day, civil service reform, prohibition, and women's suffrage. State & local governments built schools, colleges and hospitals that sometimes received donations from philanthropists and various diverse religious denominations structured the social and cultural lives of many Americans.

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Before the Gold Rush
from McClelland & Stewart Limited
for 4th-6th grade
in Gilded Age & Progressive Era (1877-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Biography of James A. Garfield
Sons of Liberty Series
by William Thayer
from A Beka Books
for 5th-9th grade
in A Beka Book Report books (Location: REA-ABK)
$9.50 (1 in stock)
Bite of the Gold Bug
by Barthe DeClements
from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Gilded Age & Progressive Era (1877-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$4.99 $2.00 (2 in stock)
Civil War: 1850-1895
American History by Era Volume 5
by Auriana Ojeda, book editor
from Greenhaven Press
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Cobblestone "The Panama Canal"
from Cobblestone Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Gilded Age & Progressive Era (1877-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Danger in the Desert
by Roger Cohen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Era Of Industrial Growth & Foreign Expansion 1865-1900
Focus on U.S. History
by Kathy Sammis
from Walch Publishing
for 7th-12th grade
in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington Carver
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Gilded Age: A History in Documents
Pages From History
by Janette Thomas Greenwood
from Oxford University
for 9th-12th grade
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Gold Rush Fever
by Barbara Greenwood
from Kids Can Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Gilded Age & Progressive Era (1877-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
History of US Book 7
History of US Book 7
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
in Joy Hakim's A History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
$15.95 $11.00 (2 in stock)
History of US Book 7
History of US Book 7
by Joy Hakim
3rd edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
in Joy Hakim's A History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
J. Pierpont Morgan
by Michael Burgan
1st edition from Compass Point Books
for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Klondike Fever
by Michael Cooper
from Clarion Books
for 4th-6th rgade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Ladies Were Not Expected
by Dorothy Nafus Morrison
2nd edition from Oregon Historical Society Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Gilded Age & Progressive Era (1877-1918) (Location: HISA-19GI)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Last Princess
by Fay Stanley; illustrated by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Picture Book Biographies for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
by Gary D. Schmidt
from Scholastic Inc.
for 7th-9th grade
2005 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Louisa May Alcott: Her Girlhood Diary
by Louisa May Alcott
from Troll Medallion
for 2nd-5th grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Mama Went to Jail for the Vote
by Kathleen Karr, illustrated by Malene Laugesen
from Hyperion Books for Children
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Meet Samantha
American Girl
by Susan S. Adler
from American Girl
for 2nd-5th grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Mornings on Horseback
by David McCullough
1st edition from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
National; Book Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$20.00 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Orphan for Nebraska
A Guild Book
by Charlene Joy Talbot
from Atheneum
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
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Orphan Train Rider
by Andrea Warren
from Houghton Mifflin
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Outlaws of Halfaday Creek
by James B. Hendryx
from A. L. Burt Company
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$20.00 (1 in stock)
Panama Canal
by Elizabeth Mann
from Mikaya Press
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
People at the Center of Women's Suffrage
by Deborah Kops
1st edition from Blackbirch Press
for 4th-6th grade
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$4.00 (2 in stock)
Progressive Years
by Otis Pease, editor and introduction
2nd Printing from George Braziller
for Adult
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Reconstruction and the Aftermath of the Civil War
Understanding the Civil War
by Lisa Colozza Cocca
from Crabtree Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rough Riders
by Theodore Roosevelt
from University of Nebraska
Historical non-fiction for 9th-Adult
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Shoes for Everyone
by Barbara Mitchell
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
Biography for 4th-6th grade
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Spanish-American War
by Alden R. Carter
from Franklin Watts
for 1st-3rd grade
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Story of the Chisholm Trail
by Andrew Santella
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Johnstown Flood
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
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Story of the Little Bighorn
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
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Story of the Panama Canal
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
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Story of the Panama Canal
Cornerstones of Freedom series
by Barbara Gaines Winkelman
from Children's Press
Non-Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Rough Riders
Cornerstones of Freedom
by Zachary Kent
from Children's Press
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Theodore Roosevelt: Rallying a Free People
by Fred J. Cook, illustrated by Robert Boehmer
from Kingston House
for 5th-8th grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
War Between the States
by John J. Dwyer and editors
1st edition from American Vision Press
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
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$32.00 (1 in stock)
What Is the Panama Canal? (What Was...?)
What Was?
by Janet Pascal
1st edition from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
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$5.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Who Was Mark Twain?
Who Was?...Series
by April Jones Prince, John O'Brien
from Grosset & Dunlap
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$3.50 (1 in stock)