Industrialization and the Gilded Age

Andrew Carnegie generated a fortune in the steel industry and became a significant philanthropist, donating approximately $500,000,000$ during his lifetime.
He utilized the Bessemer process to produce steel quickly and cheaply from pig iron.
Steel production in The US increased from $13,000$ tons in $1860$ to $1,400,000$ tons by $1880$ .
Carnegie expanded his business during economic downturns by acquiring struggling companies and implementing efficient production technology.

Published in $1889$ , Carnegie's "gospel of wealth" applied Charles Darwin's evolutionary concepts to society, arguing that the concentration of wealth in capable hands benefitted the human race.
Rockefeller equated business success with the "law of nature" and a "divine election."
These philosophies provided a moral justification for the accumulation of massive riches despite ruthless business tactics.

JP Morgan, an investment banker born into wealth, consolidated the steel industry and purchased Carnegie's holdings and Rockefeller's iron ore holdings.
He established US Steel, which became the nation's first billion-dollar corporation.
By $1904$ , single firms in $50$ different industries controlled $60\%$ or more of their total industry output, replacing local shops with national corporations governed by boards of directors.

In $1897$ , the wealthy mister and missus Bradley Martin spent $369,000$ on a single costume ball at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
In contrast, approximately $11,000,000$ out of $11,500,000$ families in The US in $1890$ averaged less than $380$ per year in income.
By $1890$ , the top $10\%$ of the population owned roughly $\frac{3}{4}$ of the nation's wealth.
The middle class grew as corporations required accountants, managers, and clerical workers; average middle-class earnings rose $30\%$ between the Civil War and the $1890s$ .

Working conditions were largely unregulated and dangerous, with The US having the highest workplace accident rate in the world.
In $1902$ or $1913$ , there were $25,000$ workplace fatalities and $700,000$ serious injuries recorded.
By $1900$ , there were nearly $2,000,000$ child laborers in The US.
Children as young as $8$ years old worked $12$ hour shifts, $6$ days a week, and suffered twice as many accidents as adult workers.
Regulation efforts and age limits were largely ignored or easily circumvented.

Dialogue regarding medical and administrative scheduling: - One speaker asks: "Would you like to schedule an order or no?" - Mention of medication: "Styriti, $150\,mg$ one for those injured on for maintenance class." - Mention of insurance: "We have your primary insurance as New York Medicaid."