Period 6:
Rise of Industrialism
Image Analysis:
The Gilded Age was marked by the rapid expansion of business and industry. The civil war acted as a catalyst for large scale business and manufacturing which rapidly grew during this time period. High availability or workers and resources as well as government stimulation served to launch America into a new industrial age, but in industrial society the effects were not as positive. This age marked the beginning of laissez faire capitalism, where the federal government adopted a policy that ignored Big business and allowing the economy to develop on its own. Rather than just stimulating economic growth, This trend only served to increase exploitation and corruption from large trusts. Lack of regulation and poor standards held by companies forced millions into poverty. Most people just scrapped by, forcing themselves into a job with long hours, tiresome work, and unsafe conditions. As these wage workers got poorer a minority of richer trust owners got richer creating new class divisions within the north, Highlighted by the fat businessmen and the thin wage earners. We see in this cartoon the exploitation and the wage gap the characterized society at the time. We still see racial divisions persist as some of the men in the photo are immigrants or African Americans. Finally we see the corruption in the form of a sword being wielded by a Businessman. Written on the side of the businessman's weapon is the word legislation, representing businesses influence in government at the time.
Document 1:Andrew Carnegie Handing out Money for The Public Good
Document 2:Political Cartoon Showing Carnegie's Contradictory Attitude.
Primary Source Comparison:
Andrew Carnegie, who was a Gilded Age business leader, has become an icon of American capitalism over the course of American history. While his Business success does seem to catch many people’s attention, multiple major societal philosophies and trends revolve around Carnegie and his life. A Scottish immigrant Carnegie in his teens was forced to work in a textile factory in order to help support his family in the new industrial economy. Eventually becoming employed by the pennsylvania railroad as Winfield Scott’s personal telegraph operator Carnegie slowly worked his way up through the economy being promoted again and again until he was sitting in one of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s highest management positions. After a deep economic depression in the 1850’s Carnegie saw an opportunity to strike out on his own. Realizing the greatly untapped potential of steel Carnegie founded the Carnegie Steel Company, which he built into a vertically integrated corporation, where he was the sole owner of every step in the manufacturing process. This meant that Carnegie did not need to pay any other businesses for the movement of his goods. He could easily control transportation, mining, and smelting requiring no help or aid from other companies allowing him to expand more rapidly than Steel companies paying higher rates for the various steps of the process. This while making his business incredibly powerful obliterated other smaller steel companies that had no chance to compete. Carnegie was also responsible for using unethical business methods for keeping his corporation intact. One of his more underhanded methods was his handling of the Bessemer steel company. Bessemer was another steel company that had began to grow powerful in the steel industry of Pittsburgh offering potential issues for Carnegie's own business. Bessemer Steel managed to actually frighten carnegie after discovering a more efficient and cost effective way to produce train rails via the “direct rolling process”. This had allowed the Company to undercut Carnegie's prices putting his profits in jeopardy. Carnegie unwilling to accept Bessemer as a potential rival counterattacked by utilizing his connection to the railroad industry. He sent word to major railroad companies informing them of the potential dangers of Bessemer rails. He explained that the direct rolling process Bessemer used created rails that were defective and unsafe, and thus more likely to fail causing fatal or costly accidents. This effectively ruined Bessemer’s business causing the company to fail. In the end after an economic downturn, Carnegie purchased them and began using the direct rolling process himself putting even more distance between him and rival companies. Even though Carnegie was a questionable business figure he still advently supported public projects. Carnegie was responsible for highly lucrative donations to philanthropies and sponsored the creation of hundreds of libraries as well as numerous nonprofit organizations. Document 1 immortalizes Carnegie Within a political cartoon. Interesting enough he's still depicted in the same way other “captains of business” where at the time, sporting a giant fat belly and a large sack of money. What’s interesting is what Carnegie is doing in this photo. Instead of grabbing money or stomping on other steel companies he's shoveling bucketfuls of coins out with a large trowel all the while with a kind expression on his face. We see the money raining down on a map of the United States. Written on his sack is the words “100,000,000 given for the public good” (Doc1). This clearly shows a positive outlook on this monopoly figure. He seems selfless throwing his fortune away for the good of the public. In fact Carnegie was an advocate for the usage of wealth for the good of society. He claimed that the rich had to set an example for the lower classes by giving out wealth rather consolidating it and letting it sit in their pockets. He states that one who dies rich instead of helping the public or donating to a philanthropy simply dies a disgrace. He gets this ideal from his early days as a Low wage migrant worker. Due to his position he had to lift himself out of poverty using only knowledge and hard work mixed with a little luck. Reflecting on how he came by his own wealth he felt obligated to help others that were in his position. By building institutions like libraries and arts centers he felt he was offering a way to do that. However we see a stark contradiction in the next political cartoon. This one seems much different. Here we see Carnegie on a platform, but rather seeming like a jolly fat man generously handing out wealth, we see two sides to Carnegie. In the cartoon he has two torsos and two heads. One of his bodies is standing before a wage worker (specifically one who works in his steel mill) who looks upset and concerned. This side of Carnegie has a morbid and demanding face appearing tyrannical and cruel. In his hand is a notice that says 20% wage cut which he extends to his laborer. His other half however looks much more like the depiction we got in the last cartoon. This side of Carnegie is happy and joyful. Instead of handing out something negative like before this Carnegie is holding out a check and a library to two more prominent looking civilians. Underneath the image is a caption that says “As the tightfisted employer he reduces wages that he may play philanthropist and giveaway libraries” (Doc 2). This cartoon is in no way false. Carnegie did in fact run his factories in a very strict and unfair manner. Carnegie imposed 12 hour shifts on his workers and paid them almost nothing for their hard labor. The steel mills where these workers were employed were very dangerous workplaces, this was because Carnegie was unrestricted by any legislation in regards to worker safety, and thus it was overlooked. Carnegie also had zero toleration for unionization and worker demands. In fact his employment contract banned the right to form unions while under his employment. His steel plant was surrounded by a tall chain link fence topped with barbed wire. When a strike did form Carnegie dispatched it quickly using private police. He even fired an entire workforce to remove unionizers from his plants. Eventually the strike got so bad that a clash between private police and Union members ended in the death of 10 people 7 workers and 3 strikebreakers. This seems like a drastically different side to Carnegie’s character as this cartoon suggests. So how can Carnegie still be a good person if he benefits the public but takes advantage of his laborers? How can he justify his actions? Why can’t Carnegie just divert the funds he's giving away to philanthropy’s to his workers, or more interestingly why won't he? The answer is a view of Gilded age society that was held by many people within the upper class of the United States. This idea is social Darwinism and it explains Carnegie’s contradictory behavior. This idea stems from the scientist Charles Darwin who created the theory of evolution. Darwin claimed evolution was powered through the extinction of animals with unfavorable traits while animals with favorable traits survived and reproduced. Some rich prominent business owners attempted to apply this theory to Economics. They claimed the poor were just inferior human beings which had no capacity to self improve economically. They claimed the rich were simply better suited for their economic environment, able to adapt to changing times. This theory exclaimed that the wage earner’s failure to improve their environment was to the fault of their genes, and to help them by paying higher wages would leave no incentive to improve and society would remain inferior. While this theory is incredibly harsh, wrong, and manipulative we can still see it has an effect on Carnegie. He doesn't believe in helping his wage workers because that would be just giving wealth for the irresponsible use of the economically inferior. Instead Carnegie wants to help recreate the conditions that had allowed himself to evolve. Paying his employees more in his eyes will just give them money for their limited gain while libraries will impact generations and help advance society. As noble as this cause sounds Carnegie still committed to the death and exploitation of hundreds of innocents. Families in his plants suffered and his elimination of competing oil companies meant that it was harder for aspiring business owners to evolve and earn a higher place in society. Still Carnegie clearly showed the values of upper class society during the gilded age, and the resistance of his workers to his business decisions clearly shows the new progressive direction society was taking at the time.
Sythises Article:
The populist party is a political party that appeared out the the Gilded age. Ran by small farmers who were tired of the exploitation brought by big business. This discontent came out of the west as many small farmers were forced to pay higher fees than large plantations for the movement of their goods among other objections. They demanded that the government take national ownership of railroads, impose a graduated income tax, and an 8 hour workday for industrial workers. Their preamble clearly represents their purpose. The language of the Omaha platform starts out very negative bringing up topics and issue to try and make people feel negative about the state of America. This portion of the preamble is meant to present the party's concern as a major issue. It's meant to frighten the audience and make them desire a solution despite knowing little about the issue. The preamble shows this by saying
“We have witnessed for more than a quarter of a century the struggles of the two great political parties for power and plunder, while grievous wrongs have been inflicted upon the suffering people…They propose to drown the outcries of a plundered people with the uproar of a sham battle over the tariff, so that capitalists, corporations, national banks, rings, trusts, watered stock, the demonetization of silver and the oppressions of the usurers may all be lost sight of. They propose to sacrifice our homes, lives, and children on the altar of mammon; to destroy the multitude in order to secure corruption funds from the millionaires.” (Paragraph 4)
The platform then jumps to a more positive note delivering the party’s platform. After convincing the audience the problems presented above are the most important issues, The party then offers Itself as a solution to the problem. In this way the party uses the audience’s negative view of America against them to help support their reforms. This positive statement is outlined below.
“We believe that the power of government—in other words, of the people—should be expanded (as in the case of the postal service) as rapidly and as far as the good sense of an intelligent people and the teachings of experience shall justify, to the end that oppression, injustice, and poverty shall eventually cease in the land.” (Paragraph 8)
While the populist party may have existed about a hundred years ago, This style of speaking is still used in today's politics. One such person to use the populist style of speaking is our current president Donald J.Trump. One speech that he gave that mirrored the Omaha platform’s preamble was his own inaugural address. In this speech Donald Trump outlined his own goal of initiating new immigration reforms, preventing corporations from leaving the United States (carrying jobs with them), and finally cutting back on certain federal programs with the purpose of lowering taxes. He too starts on a low note explaining how America has crumbled in recent years
“But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge; and the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.” (Paragraph 13).
Here President Trump gives his view of how America has changed in recent years. He explains that abandoned factories dot the landscape like tombstones. Crime, gangs and drugs claim innocent lives. These issues are directly highlighted and are over exaggerated to make them seem more pressing. This is the exact same form of writing the Omaha platform uses. The similarities only continue as Donald Trump’s speech presses on. He continues to promise that
We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.We will build new roads and highways and bridges and airports and tunnels and railways all across our wonderful nation. We will get our people off of welfare and back to work, rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.
Just like the Omaha platform Donald Trump sets himself up as the answer to the people’s prayers. He puts himself on a pedestal and explains his solution to the problems that he specifically cares about. This similarity shows that certain tactics candidates and parties use to gain public support are relatively similar. As time goes on many of the same tactics are utilized. Not every American remembers the Populist party and it Omaha platform, but its legacy will live on in the tactics it used to gain popular support.
“We have witnessed for more than a quarter of a century the struggles of the two great political parties for power and plunder, while grievous wrongs have been inflicted upon the suffering people…They propose to drown the outcries of a plundered people with the uproar of a sham battle over the tariff, so that capitalists, corporations, national banks, rings, trusts, watered stock, the demonetization of silver and the oppressions of the usurers may all be lost sight of. They propose to sacrifice our homes, lives, and children on the altar of mammon; to destroy the multitude in order to secure corruption funds from the millionaires.” (Paragraph 4)
The platform then jumps to a more positive note delivering the party’s platform. After convincing the audience the problems presented above are the most important issues, The party then offers Itself as a solution to the problem. In this way the party uses the audience’s negative view of America against them to help support their reforms. This positive statement is outlined below.
“We believe that the power of government—in other words, of the people—should be expanded (as in the case of the postal service) as rapidly and as far as the good sense of an intelligent people and the teachings of experience shall justify, to the end that oppression, injustice, and poverty shall eventually cease in the land.” (Paragraph 8)
While the populist party may have existed about a hundred years ago, This style of speaking is still used in today's politics. One such person to use the populist style of speaking is our current president Donald J.Trump. One speech that he gave that mirrored the Omaha platform’s preamble was his own inaugural address. In this speech Donald Trump outlined his own goal of initiating new immigration reforms, preventing corporations from leaving the United States (carrying jobs with them), and finally cutting back on certain federal programs with the purpose of lowering taxes. He too starts on a low note explaining how America has crumbled in recent years
“But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge; and the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.” (Paragraph 13).
Here President Trump gives his view of how America has changed in recent years. He explains that abandoned factories dot the landscape like tombstones. Crime, gangs and drugs claim innocent lives. These issues are directly highlighted and are over exaggerated to make them seem more pressing. This is the exact same form of writing the Omaha platform uses. The similarities only continue as Donald Trump’s speech presses on. He continues to promise that
We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.We will build new roads and highways and bridges and airports and tunnels and railways all across our wonderful nation. We will get our people off of welfare and back to work, rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.
Just like the Omaha platform Donald Trump sets himself up as the answer to the people’s prayers. He puts himself on a pedestal and explains his solution to the problems that he specifically cares about. This similarity shows that certain tactics candidates and parties use to gain public support are relatively similar. As time goes on many of the same tactics are utilized. Not every American remembers the Populist party and it Omaha platform, but its legacy will live on in the tactics it used to gain popular support.
Continuity and Change:
The main continuity within this era was the massive expansion of business and the rapid industrialization of the war. This expansion, which it started during the civil war the previous era, brought business into the forefront of American society. Now large corporations ruled much of the northern economy. This new industrial fervor caused a shift in consolidation of workers as much of the North's population continued to gravitate towards wage labor. Women during this era continued to move into the workforce during the time period, however most of these women belonged to impoverished and poor families that could not sustain themselves on one source of income. African Americans continued to be part of the low wage workforce despite gaining new freedoms and rights during reconstruction. Immigrants were also among those who were placed in low wage jobs due to racial insensitivity during the time. While minorities were very much exploited in this era poor or impoverished whites also remained in the low class industrial workforce. More prominent whites continued to move into in the middle class holding more skilled labor jobs such as managing positions and skill production. A minority of white northerners owned corporations and businesses holding much of the north’s wealth. This era not only showed the expansion of business but also showed its growing influence in society. With the rapid expansion of business in this era and the new attitudes of the American government, trusts and corporations were left to their devices, free to do whatever they wished. After Reconstruction the U.S. government withdrew from major national reforms leaving state governments to make legislative decisions. The Government during this era also adopted policies that centered around allowing the economy to run its own course, this was called laissez faire capitalism. This lenient nature spurred intense corruption within both state and national legislatures, allowing business to exert control over the nation's politics. Businesses would use stocks and sometimes endorse certain candidates to help stifle regulatory legislation, dissolve unions, and gain a good opinion within the government. As a result of these policies the government did not adequately regulate the new growing economy. This in turn allowed business to also control society through the economy. Because of a lack of regulation monopolies able to lower wages and lengthen hours at will. They could would raise prices on a whim, use any type of underhanded methods to kill off competition, and could take advantage of their workers whoever they pleased. As a result widespread poverty and suffering occurred. Most wage workers lived in crowded and filthy tenement houses barely scraping by. Most workers had barely enough money to buy food for themselves let alone enjoy the new industrial economy. Most poor laborers were put at the mercy of their respective employers who continued to cut wages and increase hours. Working conditions were also poor. Certain jobs like mining and metalworking killed hundreds of innocents due to the dangerous environment. Even safer workplaces like textile mills were still horrible, bland, and still accident prone. A fire that started in triangle shirtwaist textile mill ended up killing over 100 working women. The flammable materials which were not safely kept were held in close quarters with many of the women. After the fire started it spread quickly through the upper floors of the building. Multiple women were trapped in the upper levels because the door allowing the women to leave was locked, reason being, the company did not want the women working in the sweatshop to take “unsanctioned” bathroom breaks thus sacrificing productivity. The apathy trusts and corporations held towards their own employees began to stir up anger and disdain among many wage workers. Early attempts were made in this era to unionize and protest low wages and long hours came into fruition with numerous organisations gaining widespread support. While these unions did gain a wide following many of the peaceful strikes were broken either by state militias (which sided with the corporations due to their influence), private police (people hired to violently break up protests), or immigrant workers (hired as cheap uncomplaining replacements poor white or naturalized workers who held higher demands). Government at the time also did not support many of the Unionists ideas. The idea of social Darwinism that plagued most of the upper class and government was created solely to create a logical explanation (or an excuse) for the position of the lower classes. The claim was that the rich were simply “better suited for their environment” and had “adapted” to the new industrial ecosystem. This idea implied that the poor where an inferior race and thus they did not deserve direct support from government or high wages from business because they were “unworthy of it”. The rich claimed that the only way to advance society would be to put wealth to worthy causes like public libraries or institutions so the money was responsibly spent. Sadly these ideals simply served to cause more suffering, putting thousands of poverty while corporations claimed to be benefitting the public. Westward expansion during this era continued on a massive scale. The U.S. government was responsible for multiple projects that aimed at pushing American citizens west. The government handed out land to railroad companies at low prices to help the creation of transcontinental railroads. The passage of the homestead act handed out free land to small farmers and opportunity seekers. The government also made a special effort to remove the Native Americans from desirable lands utilizing the military to violently move them onto reservations to make room for white farmers and mining companies. While attitudes towards the natives remained the same there was a change in the idea of what to do with them. Instead of simply moving the Native to a different location new efforts emerged to assimilate them into American society. Efforts to strip away native American culture in exchange for white American ideals came to fruition in the form of native American boarding schools where children were educated to act like whites, and the systematic removal of Indians from their native lands. The biggest step taken to rid the west of the Native American’s nomadic culture was the eradication of the buffalo on the frontier. Without their staple food source the Native Americans could no longer sustain themselves, after all there’s no way to follow the herd if there's no herd to follow. Overall the rapid expansion of business and the rapid movement west during this era greatly affected society. Many racial divisions continued to exist in this era, however new class divisions fully developed in society. Thanks to government corruption and the ideals of social darwinism, Business was allowed free reign and consolidated massive amounts of power over the people of the time period