Problem: The end of Reconstruction in 1877 spurred the beginning of a new period in the United States called the Gilded Age. On the surface, it was a period of massive economic growth and prosperity. Capitalists, such as Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, and William H. Vanderbilt established successful, multi-million dollar companies. Even the working class experienced an improvement in their standard of living. But, if you look beneath the varnish, the Gilded Age was marked by the corruption