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The Gilded Age Analysis

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The Gilded Age Analysis
THERE are some books that define a decade. In the 1870s, one such book was The Gilded Age, published by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner. It is not a flattering portrait of American society (gilded means coated with cheap gold paint), but it was a truthful one. During the so-called Gilded Age, our country silently fell into ruin. And there was no one to blame but ourselves. “Get rich; dishonestly is we can. honestly if we must.” was a remark made by Mark Twain. To him, it seemed as if our country lived by that motto. However, many didn’t and couldn’t deny this, since no government was safe from corruption and no person immune to the disease known as greed. Powerful organizations, known as political machines, not only influenced county

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