A political cartoon from 1883 aimed at wealthy businessmen, including Vanderbilt, that depicts laborers awash in a sea of hard times, struggling to hold up the industries with low wage jobs on their backs as the industrialists and their millions weigh them down.

<a href="http://www.edwardtodonnell.com/">Edward T. O’Donnell</a> is Associate Professor of History at the College of the Holy Cross. Author of several books, including Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age, O’Donnell also the hosts the popular American-history podcast <a href="http://www.inthepastlane.com/">In The Past Lane</a>. Follow him on Twitter @InThePastLane.

Edward T. O'Donnell

Edward T. O’Donnell is Associate Professor of History at the College of the Holy Cross. Author of several books, including Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age, O’Donnell also the hosts the popular American-history podcast In The Past Lane. Follow him on Twitter @InThePastLane.

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The Industrial Revolution began in the 18th century, when agricultural societies became more industrialized and urban. The transcontinental railroad, the cotton gin, electricity and other inventions permanently changed society.

Industrial Revolution

Though the 19th century saw the rise of populism, the labor movement and Jacksonian democracy, it also ushered in the Gilded Age, when men like Cornelius Vanderbilt and J. P. Morgan wielded vast control over politics and business.

Edward T. O'Donnell

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Are We Living in the Gilded Age 2.0 ?