Chicago World's Fair & The Gilded Age

The key aspect of the World Fair taking place in Chicago was the fact that it truly was a World Fair in the sense that it represented people from around the globe. Chicago did this is many ways as well. The World Fair was a way for Chicago to showcase the amount of culture located in the city as well as around the world. Chicago was always known as a sort of "melting pot" for immigrants because they came from all over looking for that urban experience. Chicago housed people from every corner and even though these immigrants were not very successful, they were still a part of what shaped Chicago in the Gilded Age. Without these immigrants, Chicago would have put on a pretty dull World Fair considering they it needed to represent something.

The fair not only drew millions from around the world, it showcased why Chicago was the chosen city. During the Gilded Age Chicago was heading in the right direction by building skyscrapers and adapting to the new electrical lifestyle. It built the largest Ferris Wheel for the fair during the Gilded Age and showcased just what Chicagoans were made of. Because of the Great Chicago Fire, Chicago had been knocked down but proved that it could rebuild itself if needed. I think that Chicago did this twice, once after the fire and once after the fair. Chicago really showed that rebuilding and making a name for itself was not a problem in the Gilded Age.