Gilded Age Problems

The Knights of Labor held a notion that, “there was a conflict of interest between the wage system of labor as well as the republic system of government. The Knights believed that the government should be determined by the people/average citizen while the production should be determined by workers. By doing this they felt that they could restore independence to the American citizens.” (Rosenzweig 95-96). Due to drastic wage cuts that came with the economic downturn of the early 1880’s this group was able to grow rapidly with their victories against two of the country’s most powerful railroads.

As this was a new group, they had no true representation. Companies at this time were used to exploiting their workers for little to no pay, as well as making them long hours all seven days. Because of this many unions were very reluctant, or even outright refused, to compensate their workers properly during the early 20th century. American workers saw what was happening in other countries, where worker revolution and civil unrest was taking place.

After the Civil War, factories no longer had a reason to manufacture weapons. Instead they could focus on household products like textiles or building materials like steel. Such factories boomed and became more prosperous as their industries thrived. Also around this time, railroads that spanned across the country were being constructed, uniting the country more than ever and allowing the country to become a nation of wealth. These events and more brought about the Gilded Age, a time that would push America into the modern age of industrialization and plutocracy.

Founded by Uriah S. Stephens, the Knights of Labor was a relatively selective labor union, excluding doctors, bankers, and lawyers, for they were “unproductive members of society”. The Knights of Labor met in local assemblies and had a loose organization. The Knights of Labor were in favor of many of the same things as the National Labor Union: they wanted an 8-hour workday and better working conditions. They also advocated for income taxes, paper money (as opposed to gold), and cooperative ownership of factories. Though what made the Knights of Labor unique was that it not only supported the reforms of the workplace, but it also promoted change in social issues.

Through our country's history, we have always dealt with power inequality. It has been an issue since as far as we can remember, although specifically the late 19th century was a very climatic era for the United States. It is considered to be the time of the most exceptional growth, prosperity, and innovation. Even so, the country had also been sent into a devastation because of the Civil War. The prime difficulty during this time was not only the constant struggles between the gap of the rich and the poor, but also the extreme fights towards power and wealth.

Because the strikers lost, many steel companies cut their employees wages and labor unions were not recognized until the 1930’s which was an enormous setback for workers rights and freedoms. After this Andrew Carnegie kept underpaying his employees and they still had long hours. Carnegie 's employees usually worked 7 days a week and they would work 12 hour days and they would still make less that about $10 per

Businesses could not afford to slow downproduction during the Panic, so they continued to keep their prices high, but the people didn’thave access to the scarce money. Not only were businesses charging high prices, but also thePhiladelphia and Reading Railroad went bankrupt, causing less modes of transportation for work-ers and farmers. In total, over 15,000 companies went bankrupt during the Panic and the unem-ployment was the highest in history. Labor Unions were also created during the Gilded Age, which added to the idea of theGilded Age being truly “gilded”. The American Federation of Labor was one of the first laborunions created in the United States.

The Knights of Labor, founded by Terence Powderly and Uriah Stephens in 1869, helped create a union contract with Carnegie’s Braddock Mill. While the Knights of Labor were trying to have broad social reform around the country, they created a lockout in the Braddock Mill. Workers like Kratcha did not care as much about the union’s goals, instead they wanted the mills to be open so that they could earn money (25). Large business owners, like Carnegie, tried, and usually succeed, at breaking strikes and unions in their mills. In Homestead and Braddock, Kratcha experienced the effects of strikes, and they were not positive.

Imagine working sixteen hours a day in an unsanitary, dangerous, place for a big business gaining two dollars. This is what laboring-class Americans had to go through during the Gilded age. Politically, the first largest American labor union was formed during the Gilded age and many other organizations formed as well as violent strikes. Socially, different ethnics joined together to share their thoughts and realize the evils of big business and of the federal government. Mentally, most we 're losing their personal life while some were financially stable and glad.

The Knights of labor stopped child labor, improved wages, and lowered working hours. Labor unions in the United States were seen as vehicles for better wages, not as instruments for achieving social change. ( Wright, Russell O) They improved all working conditions in general, also sought to instill morality in its members, including support the temperance movement. They welcomed unskilled, skilled,and semi skilled, and immigrants.

The Gilded Age was an age that was directly dependent on the end of the Civil War. Jazz was a major parts of what the 1920s and it helped African Americans realize the where they are at that moment was not what they had to stay at. The end of the Civil War made most of the American populace believe that the lives of slaves would change drastically. American slaves were granted freedom by order of the President and the Congress.

The impact it had on the gilded age was the number of jobs it provided to the fresh-in immigrants. Vanderbilt knew that he could hire immigrants and they would work for not that much money and with these new railroads america will be shrunk for easier expansion of the immigrants.

Profits for the farmers were getting smaller and smaller due to the increase in prices for the goods to be sold. These farmers believed in many different things- they believed in rules and regulations for the road (which included the fact that the government should control the railroad), lower tariffs, and that money should be based off of silver standard. For the industrial workers, their working conditions were not ideal. Each worker did not get paid nearly enough to support them and their families, even though they worked ten plus hour days, six days a week. Workers were not paid for sick days or injury.

The AFL advocated for most of the same things as the Knights of Labor. The American Federation of Labor used strikes and boycotts against owners to try and get what they wanted. Two major strikes that occurred were the Pullman Strike and the Homestead Strike. Both strikes were very dangerous and had millions of dollars of damage. Some of the strikes and boycotts did work and wages were raised, however some backfired and many workers ended up losing their

What was the Gilded Age and why did Mark Twain refer to it as such? To help understand this question, one must know the meaning of the word gild. Per Merriam Webster, the term gild means to “to give an attractive but often deceptive appearance to” (Gild, n.d.). After the Civil War the American people had become tired of all the corruption and simply wanted to see an end to it and to have a stable economy. The Gilded Age was fashioned to be prosperous times for all Americans, promising wealth, and an end to past political corruption.