Learn about the rapid economic leap that occurred in the late 19th century as America transformed into an industrial powerhouse, and the impact it had on the nation’s collective self-identity, in this video adapted from The Gilded Age: AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. As some in society had amassed great wealth in the 30 years following the end of the Civil War, many others struggled to pay their bills and feed their families. What had been a nation of small producers, skilled workers, and farmers, had been divided into the haves and have-nots.