Social Workers And Workers In The Gilded Age

Andrew Carnegie, a late 19th century steel magnate, was immensely successful during the Gilded Age. He kept wages low while eliminating competition, so that workers had no choice but to stay in Carnegie’s company. The Gilded Age is so called because the top appeared to be gold (i.e. the richest people were doing extremely well) but on the inside there were insurmountable wealth inequalities (I.e the rich succeeded at the expense of the rest of the nation). Andrew Carnegie was a large causer of wealth inequality . In his “Gospel of Wealth” he justifies the trend by stating that in an ideal world the rich would give to the poor, but unfortunately our world is impossible.

The Gilded Age The Gilded Age was a period during the late 1800s. Many people made money from production of iron, steel, lumber, gold and silver. The increase caused the need for transportation for trading goods and services. This time period marked a huge part of American History because it was the largest growth on industry.

In bestowing charity, the main consideration should be to help those who help themselves. It provides part of the means by which those who desire to improve may do so; to give to those who desire to rise the aids by which they may rise. (Andrew Carnegie) In the essay “The Gospel of Wealth” by Andrew Carnegie he gives his vision on how the gap between rich and poor could be closed. He argued that if people with incredible amounts of wealth were forced or were opportunistic about giving away huge percentages of their wealth to charity.

How would you like to work for little to no pay and over 60 hours a week? In today's day in time some people would call that abuse or over work, but that’s exactly what was going on in the 1870s and 1880s. This is where the labor movement started, with people being over worked and little to no pay. As you can imagine people started to get upset with how things were going so that started violent outbreaks along with strikes all across the United States. In the 1880s, a group was formed to help the working man, this group was called the Knights of Labor.

As the document B provide us with a review of North America Review, June 1889 titled “Wealth” by Andrew Carnegie. In this document we can analyze the ways of how wealth is disposed the first is keep it for your descendants, being this a wrong way to educate your children giving wealth without having worked to achieved, the second way is the leaving it for public uses after your death, but he criticized this by “Why should a man wait until his dead before he becomes of much good in the world?”, and the last one is the one he praise of set an example of “modest, living and to produce the most beneficial result for the community” By this he explain and implement a new model of use of wealth in the world for the common good making donations and improving

After the Civil War, the United States as a nation was ready to leave the conflicts of the past behind. The country moved forward quickly into a new age of invention, consumerism, and ingenuity. After years of slavery and fighting, Americans began to shape modern life as it is known today. New inventions - the telephone, the lightbulb, the assembly line - revolutionized the American way of life. However, the Gilded Age is called so for a reason - underneath the shiny gold exterior was a dull, hard existence for those who were not at the top.

The Gilded Age is often recalled as one of the most significant periods in American history and for great reason. This era brought about rapid industrialization, introduced new technology and inventions, and the rise of corporations. As with most things, the Gilded Age also had its fair share of vices such as corruption in business and the blatant exploitation of laborers. As the frustration with these things began to build, politicians often distanced themselves from serious issues or flat our refused to properly address them. When politicians did attempt to address this issues, the measures taken were either insufficient or rescinded before anything could truly be effected.

The Gilded Age was an age of rapid economic growth. Railroads, factories, and mines were slowly popping up across the country, creating a variety of new opportunities for entrepreneurs and laborers alike. These new inventions and opportunities created “...an unprecedented accumulation of wealth” (GML, 601). But the transition of America from a small farming based nation to a powerful industrial one created a huge rift between social classes. Most people were either filthy rich or dirt poor, with workers being the latter.

In Andrew Carnegie’s essay “Wealth,” he believed that he had a responsibility to spend his money on something to benefit the greater good. He believe that the rich should distribute their wealth responsibly to benefit society. One of his quotes say, “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.” Carnegie starts off talking social Darwinism, the issue of inequality and how and if he could fix it. Capitalism ensured that the smartest and most talented people would rise to the top.

In the novel The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie capitalism is portrayed as a positive influence on society. Carnegie states his thoughts on capitalism at the beginning of his writing when speaking on the law of competition, “while the law may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it insures survival of the fittest in every department” (4). If you are rich, you have already made it and are surviving, however, if you are poor, you have to put more effort into working harder so that you can prosper instead of dying off in a sense and becoming a part of society that uses money for self interest rather than for the good of mankind. Carnegie also shows his position on capitalism through the statement, “the surplus

Grand industrial and economic growth, as well as personal opportunities for monetary success, were never higher than in the Gilded Age. The founding Industrial Fathers such as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, and Cornelius Vanderbilt, to name a few, were the pioneers of the Gilded Age and without them, the United States would not resemble even a fraction of what it does today. Without question, these men were the driving force behind the industrial boom, but the debate rages on as to whether these corporate magnates were sagacious business men seeking to debauch the United States for the procurement of monetary superiority or if they were a benevolent force seeking to bring America to the highest level of economic success ever seen

Jessica HillisMr. GillardAP US History5 January 2007Essay 16: Gilded AgeThroughout history, certain periods of time have been given certain names based on thehappenings that occurred. Many have called the period of 1865 to 1901 the “Gilded Age”, be-cause it was “shiny and pretty” on the outside but it was “rough and ugly” underneath. The term“Gilded Age” was actually coined by Mark Twain who satired the Gilded Age with a GoldenAge.

Farmers and Industrial Workers in the Gilded Age In a time when industrialization was booming, immigrants were racing towards the “American Dream”, and cities were growing towards the sky, the United States was thriving. As a country, the United States went from rural, to mostly urban, which made America “the world’s largest industrial power” as stated by John Green. Since the U.S. had become mostly urban, this left the very few rural workers (farmers), and even some of the industrial workers unhappy. This period of industrialization is called the Gilded Age than spans from 1865 to 1900.The farmers and industrial workers responded to the Gilded Age in significantly negative ways including unions against their authority, strikes and political

Underpinnings and Effectiveness of Carnegie’s “Gospel of Wealth” In Andrew Carnegie’s “Gospel of Wealth”, Carnegie proposed a system of which he thought was best to dispose of “surplus wealth” through progress of the nation. Carnegie wanted to create opportunities for people “lift themselves up” rather than directly give money to these people. This was because he considered that giving money to these people would be “improper spending”.

The factories poor workers like Joe worked long hours in were extremely dangerous. Many workers at the time where mutilated or even killed in these factories. Those who didn't die from the injuries were more likely to get laid off then get compensation. The factory owners didn't care there were tons of people who were willing to take the job to try to support their family. That's way the business owners of the late 1800s and early 1900s were robber barons and because they also got rich by using poor cheap labors, they used shady business tactics to cheat investors out of money, and they thought they were superior to their fellow man.