The name "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain to represent how the vast wealth and economic prosperity of the period masked the extreme poverty and abuse of the people. From 1870 to 1900 there were various technological advances, a huge increase in urban population, and an increase in transportation, especially rail. This led to the birth of large corporations. Although these big businesses produce cheap and easily available consumer products, the government's laissez faire economic policy has allowed them to dominate congress and even abuse workers. Both organized labor, or trade unions, and the populist party sought to challenge these economic practices. Overall, the various unions pushed for reforms of working conditions and did so through strikes. The populist party pushed for governmental and economic reforms and did so by forming a political party. Both efforts aimed for reasonable working hours and demonstrated that ordinary men and women could organize themselves and spark change. Both union members and the Populist Party organized, united, and pushed for both economic and political reforms that challenged the corporate-dominated economic processes of the Gilded Age. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The Gilded Age, 1870-1900, is considered a time of economic prosperity. National wealth increased by $72 billion and manufacturing by $10 billion. What led to such economic prosperity were advances in both technology and transportation. On the agricultural front, steam tractors, reapers, reapers and combine harvesters were invented which significantly increased productivity. In the factories, both the Bessemer process and the Siemens-Martin process revolutionized the steel industry. Additionally, from 1865 to 1900, over 200,000 miles of railroad tracks were laid making access to markets easily available. The advances made to the railway were the coach building sleeping cars, the standard gauge railway and the standard timetable. Cities also exploded, with 30 million people living in urban cities, about half of whom were immigrants. This provided a stable workforce for the industries. All these advances have contributed to the formation of large enterprises. They started informally using pools and cartels and later formed formal partnerships in the form of trusts. These corporate leaders included Andrew Carnegie with the steel industry and Rockefeller with the Standard Oil Company. Carnegie used vertical integration in his business by controlling every step of the industrial process. While Rockefeller used horizontal integration where he bought out or crushed all of his competitors allowing him to form a monopoly, where he owned 95% of the oil industry in America. While these businesses may seem beneficial because they make products cheap and easily available to people, in doing so they have taken advantage of and abused the worker. The unskilled worker did not participate in the so-called prosperity of the period. They worked long hours, for low wages, in dangerous conditions. The average unskilled industrialist worked 60 hours a week and earned 10 cents an hour. Nearly 2 million children under 15 worked in the United States in textile mills, factories, and coal mines. Families lived in urban slums in cramped and unsanitary houses. There were none in the slumswater or sewage facilities and diseases such as typhus, tuberculosis and cholera spread everywhere. Not only did big business have complete control of the workers, they also controlled the government. Many Americans began to fear their growing power. Because these economic beliefs and practices harmed the population, reforms were needed. Various unions were formed. In 1866 the National Labor Union was formed led by William H. Sylvis. It was the conglomerate of three hundred local unions. They sought an eight-hour work day and included women and African Americans. In 1868, Congress passed a bill for public employees mandating an eight-hour day. In 1972 they formed a political party, the Labor Reform Party. The party nominated David Davis for the presidential election of 1872. In 1873 the Union failed. In 1869 the Knights of Labor were formed, led by Uriah Stephens. They were organized people instead of unions. They fought for eight hours a day against child and prison labor, for safety laws and for equal pay for equal work. They preferred to use an arbitrator to resolve their disagreements. The next president, Terence Powderly, opened the union to immigrants, blacks, women and unskilled workers. He did not believe in strikes and used meetings and demonstrations to gain people's support. In 1877 there was the first national strike. It took place in West Virginia and affected rail lines in Ohio and Baltimore. They fought against wages, against the increase in working days, etc. They managed to stop the strikebreakers. President Hayes sent troops to quell the strike, resulting in the deaths of 26 people. In 1881, the American Federation of Labor was formed, led by Samuel Gompers. They were made up of skilled workers and excluded unskilled workers, women, and African Americans. They supported the political candidate who supported their demands. They used strikes and collective bargaining. The union collected dues from its employees so they could pay them during strikes. It has become the most powerful union in the nation. On May 4, 1886, the Haymarket Affair took place in Chicago's Haymarket Square. The McCormick Company went on strike so McCormick hired strikers, replacements for the striking workers. The riot turned into a strike because the striking workers clashed with the strikers and the police shot 4 workers. Later, Parson, Spies and Feldon were talking about work matters when the police arrived and detonated a bomb. The police opened fire and as a result 7 officers died, 10 workers were killed and 50 people were injured. Three radicals were arrested and hanged. The Knights of Labor were blamed for the incident and split up. in 1893 the American Railway Union was formed, led by Eugene V. Debs. It included all the railway workers. Unions used strikes and political party fronts to reform economic and government policies to improve workers' lives. In 1892 the Populist Party was formed. Like trade unions, they sought economic and governmental reforms and did so from the perspective of political parties. The Farmers Alliance movement in 1870 paved the way for the formation of the Populist Party. Their goals included: unlimited coinage of silver, nationalization of railroads, telephone, and telegraph, direct elections of senators, initiative and referendum, progressive income tax, a federal loan program, immigration restrictions, and an eight-hour workday hours for industrial workers. Their main goal was the unlimited minting of silver. In his.