What is a gun deck and what does it do?

"The term gun deck used to refer to a deck aboard a ship that was primarily used for the mounting of cannon to be fired in broadsides."

Explanation:

the end of the gilded age coincided with the panic of 1893, a deep depression, which lasted until 1897 and marked a major political realignment in the election of 1896. this productive but divisive era was followed by the progressive era.