Gilded Age Speculation

About Gilded Age Speculation

A period of rampant speculation and corruption in post Civil War America. Railroad magnates like Jay Gould, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Daniel Drew manipulated stock prices. Boss Tweed stole an estimated 45 million from New York City. The era saw massive fortunes built on stock manipulation, political bribery, and monopolistic trusts. The term Gilded Age came from Mark Twain, satirizing the shallow glitter covering deep corruption. The era produced the first American billionaires and the labor movement that fought them. Anti trust laws and regulatory agencies eventually curbed the worst abuses.