As the United States became a major industrial power, conflict between workers and factory owners intensified. Read about the Homestead Strike and the Pullman Strike, two of the most famous labor battles in American history.

This site provides a brief overview of the Gilded Age in America, focusing on the role Carnegie played.

This site includes poems and editorials, some of which that praise, others that harshly condemn what Rudyard Kipling asserted was the "White Man's Burden."

Two essays by Mark Twain that condemn American foreign expansion and the immorality of imperialism. Includes questions for discussion.

Arguably the most famous essay every written about the impact of land on American history, Frederick Jackson Turner's "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" explains how Americans' relationship with the environment shaped...

A speech and an essay that alternately praise the acquisition of foreign territory by the U.S. and that raise questions about the costs and value of these imperialistic adventures.

[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson using primary resources on the 1898 election in North Carolina during the Gilded Age. Includes handouts, primary sources, and student questions. Requires free registration to access resources.

This lesson examines seven Lewis Hine photographs of recently-arrived immigrants at Ellis Island.

Six versions of the octopus, a pervasive image in late-nineteenth-century America, that illustrate the extensive and corrosive power held by corporations over American political and economic life. Reading guide with discussion questions.

Brief biography of James Bailey is found at this site. Includes his career in the circus industry.

A thumbnail look at the many things occurring in the United States in the last half half of the 19th century. The topics covered are Gilded Age Politics, the "New Imperialism," Industrial America, Growth of Labor, Urbanization,...