Final answer:
The term 'Gilded Age' describes the late 19th-century era in America as a time of economic expansion with a surface-level appearance of prosperity, which concealed underlying issues of corruption and inequality. Coined by Mark Twain, it characterizes American society as having a 'rotten core covered with gold paint'.
Step-by-step explanation:
The nickname 'Gilded Age' was given to the late nineteenth-century America due to the perception of a society with a superficial facade of prosperity. Coined by Mark Twain, the term suggests that although the era was marked by rapid economic growth and expansion, underneath the surface lay a reality tarnished by corruption, greed, and social inequality. Critics of the age highlighted that the seemingly glittering surface of American life masked underlying issues, such as the effects of corporate domination on politics and the stark economic disparities between the wealthy elite and the working poor.
While growth during the Gilded Age did bring about improvements in the standard of living for many and an increase in upward mobility, it also was a time when corrupt practices in politics and business were rampant, and these ills were perpetrated by a few industrialists and financiers who wielded substantial influence. The positive aspects of the era, such as the rise in personal standards of living and growth of industry, are often overshadowed by the era's more negative connotations, particularly the corrupt dealings that gained widespread attention thanks to an increase in journalism and literacy rates.
Therefore, the Gilded Age received its nickname from 'society seeming to have a rotten core covered with gold paint', reflecting the critique made by Twain and other observers of the time about the superficial prosperity that masked deep social and political issues during the era.