Putnam argues that the Gilded Age—the period in the late 19th and early 20th century—was similar to the late 20th century and for that reason, offers a model to rebuild social capital. During the Gilded Age, Americans experienced dramatic and rapid changes in technology, the economy, and social relations with old forms of social capital rendered obsolete. The Industrial Revolution, urbanization, and massive waves of immigration were among the causes of these changes. With the decline in social capital, America witnessed increased crime, squalor in cities, poor education, a rising gap between the rich and poor, and political corruption. However, a progressive movement mobilized to create grassroots and national organizations that brought social inventiveness and political reform. The progressives did not seek a return to the past but sought to create new forms of social capital appropriate to a changed society.

Between 1870 and 1900, the US went from “a rural, localized and traditional society to a modern, industrialized, urban nation” (368). Technological changes, such as the telephone and telegraph, were critical to the rapid transformation. Combined with railroads, these forms of communication made the nation more integrated. At that time, scholars worried about the loss of face-to-face communication much like scholars in the 1990s are concerned about the impact of the Internet.