America in the Gilded Age

by Sean Dennis Cashman

The third and updated edition of the classic account of America in the latter half of the nineteenth century

When the first edition of America in the Gilded Age was published in 1984, it soon acquired the status of a classic, and was widely acknowledged as the first comprehensive account of the latter half of the nineteenth century to appear in many years. Sean Dennis Cashman traces the political and social saga of America as it passed through the momentous transformation of the Industrial Revolution and the settlement of the West. Revised and extended chapters focusing on immigration, labor, the great cities, and the American Renaissance are accompanied by a wealth of augmented and enhanced illustrations, many new to this addition.

Genres: History, American History, Nonfiction, Research, Politics, The United States Of America

425 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1993

Reviews

[M Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

America in the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age means America and America would not be the country it is today without the successes, failures and excesses of the Gilded Age. That age covers American reconstruction, the American Industrial Revolution and the American Victorian Period. It saw a tremendous influx of immigrants. It saw great changes wrought by technological advance. Sean Dennis Cashman has written a wonderful book that covers the important events and developments of that age. The book is divided into two parts. Part one covers industrial America to include the development of the labor movement, labor strife, immigration, the growth of large cities and skyscrapers, and the art and architecture of the period. Part two covers Reconstruction and politics and the dominant political fights of the age over bimetallism and civil service reform. Cashman writes lively prose but his book reads like a textbook in places. That is not really a bad thing. It is the information that is important and Cashman’s book is packed with information.

Occasionally the author will construct and argument or comment in a way that sounds strange to my ear or just does not make sense to me. An example of the latter from page 252:

“As E L Godkin, editor of the Nation, observed, it was possible that a system of competitive examinations would discriminate against able men from poor backgrounds who could not afford to go to college. Thus, instead of weakening class prejudice it would have the opposite effect. A nonentity like Franklin Pierce could still become president while a genius from a disadvantage background, like Lincoln, could not.”

Competitive examinations for a civil service position, like getting a job with the State Department or becoming Collector for the Port of New York, would have no effect whatsoever on running for elected office. The Constitution is clear on the requirements to run for president and a competitive exam is not one of them. Lincoln was a lawyer, he was well read, he was a tinkerer and an inventor, I am confident he could have passed an examination. Pierce is only a nonentity today. That whole passage is puzzling to me and was obviously written to air the author’s personal opinions.

An example of a comment that just sounds strange can be found on page 199:

“Robber barons and artists in their employ had chosen as symbol of America’s new prosperity not silver or lead, but gold.”

Why would he select lead as a possible symbol of prosperity? How did that metal pop into his mind?

Now, what is missing from the narrative?

The Astor family. Not one mention. There is a fine photo of the Waldorf Astoria on page 37 but from the caption a non-New Yorker might think it no longer exists. How can the author speak of the development of large modern cities, focusing mostly on New York and Chicago, and not mention the “landlords of New York?” For many the Gilded Age meant ostentatious displays of wealth exhibited at large exclusive costume parties. On page 180 he does mention that Alva Vanderbilt “…who threw parties so dazzling that everyone wanted to attend.” He does not mention the woman who created New York high society and was the first to throw parties “everyone wanted to attend.” That would be Caroline Astor; wife of William Backhouse Astor, Jr. She belonged to one of the oldest of the fabulously wealthy old money families and she threw ostentatiously gaudy, extraordinarily expensive parties that were limited to the wealthy members of old New York families. She insisted on being called “The Mrs Astor” (there were other Mrs Astor’s) and the old New York families that got invited to the parties became known as The Four Hundred or The Knickerbockers; the Vanderbilt’s were not included. It would have been nice if the author could have included something about how Alva Vanderbilt broke down that wall and dethroned The Mrs Astor from her perch at the top of New York high society.

Is this a good reference book on the Gilded Age?

Citations are missing. No notes or footnotes. Sean Dennis Cashman is a British historian but we must take all his assertion on faith. He has a chapter by chapter bibliography but that is not the same as letting the reader know where to find documentation for any given assertion.

The index is incomplete. To find a mention of Alva Vanderbilt by using the index you must remember that she became a suffragette and look up women’s suffrage or Vanderbilt patronage. You cannot find the Adams Vase, “One of the most representative ornaments of the age” (page 199), in the text by looking in the index. It cannot be found by looking up Tiffany. It cannot be found by looking up the name of its designer or the recipient of the vase; they are not in the index either. You must remember which chapter it is in. This is of course not true with every subject and person mentioned in the text but it was disconcerting to find no mention of Alva Vanderbilt or the Adams Vase in the index.

This is a very good book and it was, for me, a joy to read. It is packed with a ton of information. It is a reasonably good reference book on the Gilded Age and it has many interesting illustrations. I would recommend it to anyone interested in American history of the 19th century.

[Becky Loader · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gilded Age is an era of interest to me. Cashman does an excellent job of dealing with all the major aspects of society that molded a specific time period of history.

The Robber Barons section is especially enlightening. Many today have forgotten what a role the railroads played in the development of the United States.

Oh, and corruption in politics is nothing new.

Maybe the Gilded adjective should be changed to Brass??

[David Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I selected this book because I’m watching the HBO series The Gilded Age and after 3 seasons I wanted to know more about the time period. Cashman does a good job of covering all aspects of life then. I learned a great deal about politics and international motivations of the era. He also expands your viewpoint from the American northeast where all the wealth accumulated, and has you also know what was happening in the Civil War crippled south, and expansionist frenzied West. He introduces you to dozens of industrial and political titans, and pulls no punches in letting you know their good and bad traits. The book got a tedious in the second half when Cashman over explained the gold standard, silver standard monetary policies and tug of war over many decades of this time … and he did similar overdose of the Labor struggles and the various organizations that fought the barons. And finally, the book got dry when he went into the political campaigns that some of the presidents of the time went through. But overall, I found the book to be an easy read, very interesting and factual, well illustrated, and I’m glad I read it.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise introduction to the era. The Gilded Age is a neglected part of US history (not enough war, excluding genocide against Native Americans) but it sets the stage for the industrialization of the nation and the rise of the corporation.

[anonymousreader]

to-read

[Turgut · Rating 5 out of 5]

To understand American history from 1860's to 1930's for a generalist student of history, the trilogy of Sean Dennis Cashman is the best introduction.

[Dave N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another example of how thematic histories can't compare to chronological surveys. Cashman's treatment of each subject is good (although his exploration of art and architecture felt less well organized than other chapters had), but it can't make up for the fact that each chapter in this book feels like just a very brief (think "Wikipedia entry") overview of a certain subject, without providing the reader any cogent understanding of the overall period in context. Add to that that some topics (the impeachment of Johnson is a wonderful example) are far, far too complicated to be summarized in a few pages.

I will say that the chapters on labor relations and business were good, and helped narrow and clarify some of the information I'd encountered in longer books. But even here, to say that reading these sections would give you even a basic understanding of just how insanely complicated these issues were would be wrong. You'd need to read separate books on each of these subjects to have a passing knowledge on how labor affected the government or how each individual president dealt with business interests. And once you'd read those books, what purpose does America in the Gilded Age serve?

Maybe there are some periods where a thematic history can provide enough background and context to be worthwhile for the amateur historian, but the Gilded Age isn't one.

[Joseph Stieb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashman's history of the Gilded Age is a really nice and enjoyable synthesis of this time period. He brings out the big characters, controversies, and concepts in clear and interesting prose. He does a pretty good job explaining some of the tougher issues, such as the gold v. silver standards, although I would still like to see an historian explain the financial and economic significance of this conflict more clearly and patiently. I'd say this is a better and more comprehensive survey of this period than Jackson Lears' Rebirth of a Nation, which tends to be a little to the left too often. Lastly, to avoid a textbook-ish feel, there are actually a lot of really funny jokes and stories in this book that make the age more vivid to the reader.

[Maryann Moffit · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little boring.

Even the scandals were discussed with monotone in difference. Perhaps it is norm as l. I had a hard time engaging

[Oneirae · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not quite what I was expecting, so I'm onto the next.