Industrialization had swept America off its feet as big industries took over the entire country in not just an economical perspective, but in social and political environments as well. As leadership was lacking on a political level and technology and inventions began to expand, the business industry boomed as more and more citizens moved away from urban areas into industrialized cites to provide for their families. Corporations such as the railroad industry had participated in the growth of capitalism, as they became the central hub for commerce, labor, and transportation. But, since big industries started to take over so much of the economy in such little time, corruption became a problem as business owners took advantage of their authority …show more content…
Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant who was a self made man, had changed the way the economy produced its wealth forever. After creating a way to “revolutionize steel production in the United states”, the cost of doing things like making factories, goods, and transportation became a lot cheaper (Andrew Carnegie Biography). The birth of railroad companies took over the majority of the economy during the late 1800’s just after Carnegie found a way to make the mass production of steel. The railroad industry influenced many things throughout the country like the growth of towns and transportation of raw goods and finished products to the factories and consumers. The practice of vertical integration, growth through the acquisition of the materials the make the product, allowed big business to control all aspects of their company instead of paying a supplier their profit margin to do a task (Document A). Since most companies took the advantage of gaining a large profit, they disregarded everything else like the lives of laborers. George E. McNeil in The Labor Movement: The Problem of Today compares railroad owners to kings as they both “collects tithes by reduce wages” and essentially do as they please to make more money (Document C). The owners were all able to manipulate their workers because there was no one stopping them; not even the government. …show more content…
In the business, the workers are the one doing all of the dirty work while the business owner receives all of the credit. They have to endure harsh conditions, long hours with little or no breaks, and low wages all to try to support their family who are all working as well. The tasks given to the laborers were repetitive task that required no skill and were often in dangerous conditions. David A. Wells, an engineer and economist, compares manufacturing conditions to that of a “military organization” since an individual can no longer work independently, but is pushed to work with others as a whole (Document D). To the greatest degree, individualism was destroyed as a man used to take pride in his hard earned unique accomplishments is now working a degrading and mainstream job. Along with having a boring task, the tasks were also dangerous. The ones put on the most threatening jobs were the youngest, children. According to an article written by Central Illinois, the machinery that children were so dangerous it can cut limbs off, paralyze, and kill them in an instant (Eastern Illinois University). Statistics like these comes to show how out of hand the situation had got and it was still not a crime according to the law. In document I, the picture shows lines of seamstresses before The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire that killed
This would damage business which would therefore damage the economy. The government would have to step in, whether directly or indirectly to maintain the stability of the system. Many workers created unions to protect workers and bully companies. “With the miners resisting, refusing to give in, the mines not able to operate, the Colorado governor (referred to by a Rockefeller mine manager as 'our little cowboy governor ') called out the National Guard, with the Rockefellers supplying the Guard 's wages” (Zinn Online). The government was willing to defend the capitalist businesses from socialist workers demanding more rights.
The combination of the government’s post-Civil War conservative laissez-faire economic policy and its aid to the industry, such as the land grants to the railroad companies and infusion of capital and favorable tax, brought industrial boom and the creation of big corporations at the last third of the 19th century. The big corporations used unfair practices to monopolize the industry and maximize their profits. These practices included “pooling”, the agreement to divide territory and share earnings between companies, favorable “rebates” offered by the railroads to large shippers yet charging small shippers such as farmers, and frequent “kickback” bribes to government officials. As a result there was an increasing disparity between the rich and
This essay will generally analyze the relationship between the government and businesses, and how “Big Business” essentially took control of the Gilded Age. America’s first true big business mostly arose because of the railroads, which is fairly significant, because it essentially helped lead the development of other business barons such as, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J. Pierpont Morgan who all had particularly extraordinary accomplishments in shaping our economy. Most of these men who created big businesses after the Civil War were driven by a compelling desire to become rich and influential.
At the onset of the late 19th century, the US experienced an influx of new industries, some of which were dominated by a single corporation. With the invention of the Bessemer process, the industries of steel, oil, and railroads boomed. These industries came to be dominated by the companies of industrialists such as Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt, respectively. America’s Industrial Revolution also spurred on the invention of electricity and other items that enhanced transportation and communication, which ushered in a new era of change for the US. During the Gilded Age, industry affected the social, economic, and political atmospheres through the monopolization of industries, the rise of Social Darwinism, and the
The late 1800s marked the start of the Industrial Revolution for the United States. Prior to the rapid industrialization, people lived in rural communities and manufacturing was done largely by local craftsmen. After the Civil War, certain needs were emphasized such as the need for faster production, transportation, and better communication. All of these needs were met by the Industrial Revolution due to technological advancements. These advancements had great effects on the structure of cities at the time.
To say the time period following the Civil War in the United States involved a lot of change would be a understatement. Between the years 1870 and 1900 the people of the United States lived through a period of great change. Not only did they witness technological advances that would change their daily lives, they also saw new laws and organizations formed. All of this was done in hopes of improving the country. Many of these changes came about because of the type of businesses that were formed.
Thesis : After the Civil War, America was in a post-war boom. During the 1870-1890, big business moguls, such as Rockefeller and Carnegie, create huge corporations which not only affected the economy, but also affected the political realm of America. While many may assume that during the rise of these big business helped to change the economy and politics, the real focus was on the responses formed by society, such as labor unions, increase public outcry, and political opposition groups that helped to change society. A: Economically, big business flourished during the late 1800s.
Between the year of 1865 and the year of 1920, the United States moved towards becoming a more industrialized and developing society. With this change taking place, resulted in improvement with how people live with family and earned money differently. The three major aspects of industrialization during the 1865 and 1920 that influenced the politics, economy and society of the United States are: entrepreneurship, technology, as well as transport and communication network. Entrepreneurship: the period after the Civil War from 1865 to 1920 was characterized by fast economic growth in the country.
The work was also dangerous with not much supervising by the government. Workers, on the other hand, had little or even no bargaining power to leave the unsafe conditions. Nowadays, When Americans only pay attention when extreme work strike, levels of abuse are the norm hidden in the factories around the globe. Although the condition seems much improved, consumers don’t know the true fact- “Today, American citizens simply cannot know the working conditions of the factories that make the products they buy.
In a time after the Civil War, when a transcontinental railroad was created connecting the East and West, people began to move and settle across the country, creating new urban cities and manufacturing hubs. It was because of the railroad that the Second Industrial Revolution and the Gilded Age took place which rapidly increased the manufacturing of products through the new machines in factories and the spread of ideas by the telegraph and railroad. It was in this context that many farmers, as well, began to move West and experience a loss in the prices of their crops. It is also in this context that many workers were forced to work long, laborious hours with little pay. Farmers responded to industrialization in the Gilded Age by forming organizations such as the Granger movement and the Farmers Alliance as well as creating the Populist Party.
During the period of 1870 to 1900 large corporations, such as the railway company, grew significantly in size, number, and influence. The cause of this was the need for a new way of transportation, the demand was great so the railways expanded all over the United States so that they could meet these demands. These large corporations affected the economy by making it easier to pay for everyday chores, politics in the way that it gave politicians too much power but in doing so gave normal limited power. The corporations had great power and influence which made them a huge impact to society.
The life in the 19th-century for labor worker was from far easy. With all the wealth being generateing during the Gilded age very little of its wealth were given to the wokers. Even the best wages for a industrial worker were low, with long hours, working in awfully poor conditions. With safety rules and regulations being unexisted, it was hard to blame employers responsible. It was worse for women and children, who worked as hard or even harder than men, often time only revcieved only but a fraction of what a man earned.
Although many citizens viewed capitalists as “Captains of Industry,” they can also, just as easily, be seen as “Robber Barons.” Even though railroads were beneficial to society, they were not without corruption, as shown by the Credit Mobilier scandal. This was a railroad company that paid itself huge sums of money for small railroad construction. In fact, it received twenty-three million dollars in profit. Moreover, the railroad industry could be seen as completely insincere and dishonest because of its monopoles.
The life of an industrial worker was very hard. Workers had to work long shifts and get paid very little. Some worked ten to twelve hours a day, six days a week, and made less than one dollar per hour. Along with long hours and little pay, there was no regulation for breaks, safety, or age. Due to this, one in eleven workers died on the job.
One major industry during this time period was found in the railroad. The of course was also considered the center of national or both financial and political corruption (White, 21). While transcontinental railroads were essential developments for the growth of the United