My Struggles During the Gilded Age Essay - 969 Words

Monday, October 10, 1870 The Gilded Age was a tough time for me and other families to have a life and prosper in. Long hours and low wages were common as owners could find low-cost workers. Without unions, I and the rest of the workers were exposed to extended hours during a time where paying someone overtime did not occur. With limited opportunities workers like me and families had jobs that we struggled with and no hope of getting far in life. During the Gilded Age, there were two social classes, the wealthy and the poor and, unfortunately I was in the poor social class. The Gilded Age had a meaning behind it and I had an idea of what it meant, â€Å"Gilded means covered with a layer of gold, but it also suggests that the glittering surface†¦show more content†¦I was so terrified. All I could think was how I was going to continue working with my finger bleeding and being in so much pain. The other children who were working with me ran and got towels to try and stop the blood and at one point it h ad finally stopped bleeding. I couldn’t wait to go home to my parents. I was so anxious to just get out of this factory and get some rest, it had been a long day full of misery and pain. The owners of the factory told me â€Å"You’ll be fine, come in tomorrow by 7 am, don’t be late!† I had no choice but to come in the next day, I couldn’t afford to lose this job because I had lost a part of my finger. I know that from that day on, I had to be really cautious and work slower to protect myself from being harmed again. I had come to realize that numerous companies similar to the cotton mill wanted children my age because our hands were tiny and swift enough to do work those elder employees could not do and that’s why they needed me. Even though we children did as much work as our parents did, what we got paid was lesser than what our parents were getting. My mother and father were struggling to make a living, working so much that I hardly saw them. We would all go out in the morning, kiss each other goodbye and come back at dark in our overpopulated home. Sunday, October 16, 1870 We immigrants during the Gilded AgeShow MoreRelatedThe United States Treatment Of African Americans1291 Words   |  6 Pagesthis was much better than slavery, citizenship came with many troubles of its own. The years following the Civil War, known as the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, would prove to be, aside from slavery, some of the hardest times for African Americans in all of U.S. history. The years immediately following the Civil War were known as the Gilded Age. 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