Gilded Age Politics: Machines, Corruption, and the Populists

CrashCourse

This fast-paced educational video explores the Gilded Age in American history, a period defined by rapid economic growth masking deep social problems and political corruption. Host John Green breaks down the mechanics of late 19th-century politics, moving from local urban political machines like Tammany Hall to national scandals under the Grant administration. The video explains how the political system adapted—often corruptly—to the massive changes in the post-Civil War economy.