The late 19th century witnessed the birth and development of a variety of businesses that eventually achieved monopoly and influenced national politics. The robber barons in industries such as railroad, steel production, and oil became the richest citizens during the “Gilded Age” and caused widespread hatred among the poor. The prevalence of big businesses significantly increased wealth gap, enhanced industrial production, and promoted a laissez-faire government; meanwhile, the oppressed groups of Americans, including most notably farmers and factory workers, started to organize against the efficient yet extremely polarized society. Both economy and politics were revolutionized in the late 19th century as a result of the newly established …show more content…
At the same time, employment rate skyrocketed due to the low standards for labor skills. Even women were sometimes able to leave their homes and take part in low-skilled occupations such as typists, as seen in the picture in Doc J. As David A. Wells commented on the “element of skill,” the “pride which the workman formerly took is his work has been destroyed.” (Doc C) On the contrary, the business leaders were able to amass a significant amount of wealth and dictate the economy. For instance, J.P. Morgan was able to dominate a number of railroads after the panic of 1893, causing a decrease in railroad competitions nationwide. Labor leaders such as George E. McNeill treated the railroad president as “a railroad king.” (Doc B) Similarly, Andrew Carnegie established vertical integration in steel industries, and John Rockefeller accomplished both vertical and horizontal integration with his Standard Oil Trust. These businesses created a Victorian morality, further distancing the upper class from the working class. A firm believer in Social Darwinism, Carnegie directly addressed the widening wealth gap in his Gospel of Wealth. He promoted the use of philanthropy …show more content…
Some victims, such as many small business owners, expressed hatred toward the monopolies. George Rice, for example, was “ruined by Rockefeller’s colossal combination.” (Doc H) Others formed organizations to more effectively convey their demands. The abysmal conditions of the working class planted the seeds of the establishment of labor unions in the late 19th century. The National Labor Union (NLU), the Knights of Labor, and then the American Federation of Labor (AFL) all strived for a better workers’ condition. Specifically, Samuel Gompers, the founder of AFL, demanded “a reduction of the hours of labor,” “adequate wages,” etc. (Doc G) The labor unions took actions against the relentless business owners: the Railroad Strike, the Homestead Strike, and the Pullman Strike were examples that attempted to ameliorate working conditions by refusing to work. Similarly, the southern and western farmers formed organizations that asked for legislations that would benefit them. The Grange, for instance, successfully convinced some state legislatures to pass laws that set maximum rates for freight shipment. The Populist Party, which evolved from the Farmers’ Alliance, was more politically involved. It requested an expansion of the power of government so as to allow subtreasury, direct election of senators, a graduated income tax, etc. (Doc F) Some radicals even started to adopt Marxism as an alternative to the
After the Civil War, Americans converged to build a nation with optimism. This saw a new wave of industrialism steered by a few entrepreneurs who set up firms to amass wealth and create employment to Americans. The success of these industrialists led historians and other scholars to refer to them as captains of industry or robber barons. By referring to them as captains of industry, historians implied that they applied their ingenuity and inventiveness to transform the economy, and impact the lives of the people through philanthropy. They were also castigated for exploiting the American workers through poor working conditions and low wages for their own selfish gain.
In a time when the United States changed from a predominantly rural nation to a modern industrial society called the Gilded age. During these times America saw massive waves of immigration and huge technological advances, such as the Transcontinental Railroad and the electric motor. Due to this industrialization workers like industrial workers and farmers responded in many ways. Farmers and Industrial workers responded to industrialization during the Gilded Age by establishing the Farmer’s Alliance, work unions, and the formation of the Populist Party.
America went through a time of industrialization in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. There were many influential people in that time such as Thomas Edison or Alexander Graham Bell. Many of these men were divided into two groups. The first was the titans of industry and the second were robber barons. Many people today wonder why Americans at that time divided these people up into these groups.
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).
The saying that history repeats itself has been proven to be true time and time again. History seems to be doomed to repeat itself as if lessons were never learned from past mistakes. The Gilded Age is a unique period in American history that is undoubtedly repeating itself in the modern day. Corruption, unprecedented immigration, and the massing of wealth by the top 1% of the population are just a few of the things that characterize this period of American history. The same issues that plagued America over 100 years ago are re-emerging in todays’ society leading scholars to say that America has arrived in “The Second Gilded Age”.
An in depth analysis of the factors that led to the rise of labor unions in the United States only reveals that the basic need and the primary objective of the workering people was to secure economic and legal protection from their exploiting employers. The origins of the
The various effects made during the late 19th century were the wage reduction, American Revolution, Civil War, nights of labor, World War I, New Deal, World War II. This sustained trade union organizations among the American workers. The operators of business firms— the management—seek to achieve the greatest profits possible by increasing production through the most efficient use of materials and labor. This is called the profit motive.
The feeling, shown in Nast's illustration after the railroad strike of 1877, that amalgamations simply lead to more " communistic values" and general uniformity made it very arduous to genuinely get anything done. Samuel Gompers, progenitor of the American Federation of Labor, argued that the right to strike was absolutely obligatory if any reforms were going to be made and not even this right had been officially granted to the people by regime (Document I). Gompers made it very pellucid that not even the very substratum of organized labor had been established and so up until this point the advances that had been made, were virtually frivolous. In conclusion, from 1875-1900 very few advances were made through organized labor in achieving better working conditions for workers.
No other organization in the United States arouses as much controversy as the United States’ labor union. Despite its goal to bring the employer and employee together in a bilateral partnership in lieu of an autonomous leadership track, to some the union has only succeeded in causing more mayhem than yielding anything positive while to others, the union has been a life saver by lobbying for better wage, --- and good working conditions. Depending on the perception of the worker, those who have benefited from the labor union have increased job satisfaction and wage while those who have had unpleasant experiences have no membership satisfaction therefore exiting the union. in the United States, the union emerged as early as the 1700s as suggested by Fossum (2014), “the genesis of the American labor movement parallels the birth of the nation. In 1778, New York
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.
Justin Clement APUS DBQ Big businesses controlled the economy and politics throughout 1870-1900. They were in control of the prices for certain items because they destroyed their smaller competitors until there was no competition left. They had much sway over politics and took away the people’s say. As we can see from Document A, between 1870-1899, the price for food, fuel, lighting and living decreased with the emergence of big businesses.
Businesses then attacked labor unions and outlawed them, which reduced the power of the laborers and let the business have full authority for wage control. As labor unions are crucial for those in low-end and working class
Capitalism is a highly dynamic system which brought immense material wealth to the human society. This essay traces the historical dynamism of capitalism from its minority status to its majority status in term of demand and supply of investment capital. The emergence of capitalism as a mode of production out of pre-capitalist mode of production was fully formed by the mid-nineteenth century (Hobsbawn, Age of Capital: 1848-1875) this in no way implies that it was quantitatively dominant mode of production.
This essay will explain the role that labor unions have had throughout the history of
The course of global imperialism during the late 19th and early 20th century was a influence by the development of nationalism, the expansion of industrialization and a shift toward Liberal values. During the age of empire, nationalism was a powerful notion that national leaders and the federal government utilized to unify its citizens. The Industrial Revolution was a period of characterized by tremendous technological and commercial growth that required economic expansion beyond its markets to maintain its economic prosperity. By the 19th century, Liberalism had ingrained itself into western civilization, encouraging social and economic competition between individuals. Together, these factors helped set the socio-economic conditions necessary