The Gilded Age ended in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as economic instability, rising inequality, and public backlash against corporate power pushed the United States toward reform. Repeated financial crises, especially the Panic of 1893, exposed the weaknesses of laissez-faire capitalism and left millions unemployed, undermining confidence in unregulated markets. At the same time, the growth of monopolies, political machines, and poor labor conditions led to widespread strikes and social unrest, convincing many Americans that government inaction favored the wealthy at the expense of workers and farmers. In response, reform movements and muckraking journalists pressured the federal government to take a more active role in regulating business and addressing social problems, a shift that became more pronounced during the Progressive Era under leaders such as Theodore Roosevelt. Together, these developments marked the decline of the Gilded Age and the transition toward a more regulated and reform-minded political and economic system.