Chapter 7, The Spoilsmen: An Age of Cynicism Summary and Analysis

Chapter 7 concerns the "Gilded Age" or late nineteenth century capitalism. Between Appomattox and Theodore Roosevelt, there were few great political figures. Instead, economic growth spurred forward and politics became largely irrelevant. Americans colonized the entire continent, built railroads across the country and the United States became an industrialized nation, perhaps the most economically powerful country in the world, save Britain. Men accumulated massive sums of wealth, beyond what anyone had ever seen in private hands. Politics became corrupt and largely reflected the attempts of the great entrepreneurs to secure private benefits for themselves at the expense of the market economy. This and other abuses led to some backlash, but the backlash would not successfully organize until nearly the end of the century.

The business barons based the justification for...