Twain's Gilded Age has been characterized as a period of excess: excessive political corruption, wealth accumulation, expansion of railroad and mining interests, racial segregation, and haphazard urbanization. Contrast this to the Progressive Era and the desire to create a more orderly and fairer society. Did the Progressives achieve their goals of reigning in the robber barons, bringing order to the chaos of urbanization, curbing the power of corporations, and eliminating the excesses of the westward expansion in the area of resource exploitation?