Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune

In normal circumstances, a woman whose husband dies inherits part of his estate (her “dower”) or at least has use of it during her remaining lifetime. Beginning in the early 1800s, the Astor family safeguarded its fortune by generally demanding that women renounce their dower rights before marrying into the family.

Samuel McAllister, the confidante of Caroline Astor (“Mrs. Astor”) claimed that only 400 people in New York were fit for high society. The term became shorthand for the social elite.

Historians call the period from roughly the 1870s to the 1890s the “Gilded Age.” Gilded means covered in a thin layer of gold and is meant to imply that this period looked like a Golden Age of prosperity. However, in reality, only a thin top layer of society benefited. During this era, a dramatic gap emerged between superrich businessmen benefiting from new industrialization and the disadvantaged workers in the factories and mines. The Astor family exemplified a Gilded Age fortune.