The two main engines of American economic growth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were the railroads and the steel industries. Since the railroad was expanded, more coal and iron were needed for the trains. This gave jobs to a large amount of people since so much was needed. The steel industry was also a main engine because steel would produce the tracks and the trains. Since the railroad was about 200,000 miles long a lot of steel needed to be produced just to make the tracks and the train cars were very large since they had to hold a lot of people traveling across America.
1. Explain three ways that the rise of corporations reshaped the everyday experiences of Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
One way in which the rise of corporations reshaped the everyday experiences of Americans was the use of time zones. Before the rise of corporations, different states used different times based on the sun. Since every state had different times, the railroads had a hard time telling people train times since it was different everywhere. This caused the railroad corporation to come up with four time zones, which is still used today. Another way the rise of corporations reshapes the everyday experiences of Americans was the start of different classes. The people in the middle class did not want to live near people of lower class so they moved to cities. This caused suburban neighborhoods. Also, before the civil war theaters were “rowdy, participatory, cross-class events”, but after the civil war when different classes were determined, the theater became class and only for people of higher class. Lastly, a way that the rise of corporations reshaped the everyday experience of American was by the use of advertising. Many companies used brightly colored advertisements to promote their products. This lead to newspapers having advertisements and eventually lead to colored comics, pages about sports and more. This advertisement then leads to stores that carried many different items, so people can just go to one store to get everything they needed. Since not everyone could travel to go to these stores, A. Montgomery Ward came up with “Mail-order catalogs”. This was a way that people could order things from this magazine and it would be sent to them in the mail.
2. What trends does Andrew Carnegie see in the distribution of wealth in his time? Does he see these trends as good or bad? Why? What role do you think the corporation has had in these trends?
Andrew Carnegie sees the distribution of wealth becoming even in his time. He says, “the few rich are getting poorer, and the toiling masses are getting richer”. He sees this as a good thing because if the distribution of wealth overtime is becoming even, then there will not just be poor and rich there will also be some people in the middle. The role that corporation had on these trends could be that big corporations gave jobs to the poor, so that makes the poor becoming richer and since the person running the corporation had to pay the workers and not keep all the money to himself is will therefore get poorer.
3. How does Carnegie’s account of the rise of great wealth, as a reflection of the corporation’s rise, differ from statements by the Knights of Labor and Gompers? What challenges do they see for workers in this new economy?
The thoughts of Carnegie about the rise of great wealth did not agree with the Knights of Labor. Carnegie stated, “the few rich are getting poorer, and the toiling masses are getting richer”. The Knights of Labor believed that the poor are just going to keep getting poorer unless something gets done about it. The Knights of Labor saw many obdurate challenges for the workers in this new economy. They believed that workers were not going to get paid in full every week. Also, they saw how much the railroads were expanding and they were afraid that they were going to take away land from the farmers and settlers causing them to be out of work. Another challenge the see for workers is that children will be forced to work in harsh environments at a young age just to get extra money for their families.
4. What major changes were occurring in middle-class women’s lives in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (explain at least two)?
One major change that occurred in the middle-class women’s lives was the thought of women working. Before the civil war most women stayed at home while their husbands worked. At that time only 9.7% of women living in America had a job. After the Civil War, during the rise of corporations, about 21% of women in America were working. They took on jobs like nursing or teaching. Another change that occurred in the middle-class women’s lives was the women’s club movement. Women who were working as journalists were not allowed to go to a party to celebrate Charles Dickens, which made them angry. This caused them to come together to form the “Women’s Club Sorosis”. This club was held by professionals and they would discuss issues and give each other advice on work. This club also supported the women’s suffrage movement.
5. What provoked the farmer protest movements in the last third of the 19th century (explain two provocations that most spurred their protests)?
One thing that provoked the farmer protest movements in the last third of the 19th century was the competition they faced. There was a lot of farming, like wheat, in eastern Europe which caused prices to decrease when those goods were brought over to America. Also, a lot of cotton was produced in Egypt and in India and those were brought into America, which lowered the price for local farmers. Another thing that provoked the farmer protest movements in the last third of the 19th century was the railroads. Railroads owned “grain elevators”. The railroad company usually charged a higher amount when they had little competition since there wasn’t much of a base price. When they had competition, they charged less so people would buy from them. This made the farmers mad because they lived in rural areas, so usually they would be the only source of products like wheat, but when the railroads came in people were buying from them instead of the farmers.
6. The Populist party platform tried to express and address the grievances of industrial workers as well as farmers. Which of its proposed measures do you think would appeal more to farmers than to industrial workers? Why? Which would appeal to both groups?
I think the proposed measure for land would appeal more to farmers than to industrial workers. They state that if the railroads own any land that is not need or any “aliens” own land, then they should give it back to the government so that settlers and farmers can use it as a way to earn money. Industrial workers do not need the land as much as the farmers do. I think the second proposed measure would appeal to both groups. This proposed measure states, “Wealth belongs to him who creates it, and every dollar taken from industry without an equivalent is robbery”. I believe that this would appeal to both groups because both groups create something so they should be paid for what they create. The farmers should be paid for the products that they produce on their farm like wheat or cotton. Also, if the industrial worker is working in a coal mine, he should be paid for the work he has done and not just to the owner of the coal mine.
2019-2-13-1550069334