Final answer:
During the Gilded Age, businessmen built factories, but living and working conditions for the poor were poor. Some industrialists like George Pullman tried to improve the lives of workers by building model towns. Nevertheless, inequity and exploitation were rampant, with a wealth gap defining the era.
Step-by-step explanation:
During the Gilded Age, businessmen built factories while poor people were forced to work long days for low wages. As people moved to urban centers to be closer to work, cities saw the emergence of skyscrapers, imperial banks, and the mansions of the uber wealthy, contrasting sharply with the overcrowded tenements where the lower working class resided. Mechanisms like welfare capitalism were attempted by industrialists like George Pullman, who built a model town for the workers of his Pullman Palace Car Company in an effort to provide a better standard of living and thus reduce unrest and strikes.
Despite these efforts, the conditions for factory workers often remained harsh, with exploitation being a common practice due to the lack of legal protections. This economic imbalance also led to the construction of model towns by manufacturers such as Henry Steinway, aiming to create a more equitable community for their workers. However, for many workers the standard of living remained low, with continued struggles reflecting the paradox of an era that saw immense wealth for a few and deplorable conditions for the masses.