In the post-Civil War United States, corporations grew significantly in number, size, and influence. Assess the impact of big business on the economy and politics and the responses of Americans to these changes. Confine your answer to the period 1870 to 1900.

This period after the Civil War refers to Reconstruction, which was considered highly problematic in the sense that although slavery was eliminated, blacks still found it very hard to find employment. This meant that big businesses almost exclusively highers white workers. So while the economy grew, the social gap in poverty widened.