The Gilded Age, it earned a reputation of widespread corruption in government and business, as well as persistent economic, social, and political problems facing the nation.

In the years following Reconstruction, America changed from a country of farms into a nation of growing businesses, factories, and cities. Despite these changes, the decades of the Gilded Age earned a reputation of widespread corruption in government and business, as well as the failure of the era's Presidents to resolve the persistent economic, social, and political problems facing the nation. The rise of industry and business defined the period. New technologies revolutionized business, and …

…of power. At the end of the Gilded Age, the United States had developed a national economy, brought to an end its western frontier, survived one of the greatest periods of social tension in the nation's history, and started to move towards becoming an international power. In the nineteenth century, the United States had been primarily an isolated country. The era was incredibly complex, with no single division mark to give it a simple definition.