Labor Unions: The Failure to Gain Public Acceptance

Part C- Summary Question:

In your opinion, what was the most significant reason for the failure of the labor movements to gain widespread public support?

In my opinion, the significant reason for the failure of the labor movement to gain widespread public support was based on the split in the people's interests. The American Federation of Labor only catered to white skilled workers while the Knights of Labor pertained to anyone who could produce whether they were skilled or unskilled, man or woman. The criticism each faced  also played a hand in setting back public support as with the AFL being dubbed elitist or the Knights of Labor being called communists. If the people could have rallied behind one party and had all their interest considered then the labor movement could have had a chance at success and acceptance.

The Philosophy of the Industrialists

10. To what extent do you see evidence of individuals employing either or both of the philosophies of Social Darwinism and Gospel of Wealth in today's society? Cite specific examples to illustrate your view.

Although Social Darwinism isn't as active in today's industries as it was in the nineteenth century it can still be seen in other areas concerning social classes and race. In India the caste system is alive and well. There are those in the upper stratum of this system who wouldn't dare associate themselves with those refer to as Dalit or Untouchables. Even though it's against the law to discriminate against a certain caste it still happens. People of the Indian caste system rarely intermarry because of the ingrained belief that one caste/class is better than the other.

Reflection Questions

Gilded Age Videos

1.What were the causes and the political results of the rise of agrarian protests in the 1890s?

The causes of the agrarian protests were the result of farmers who were dissatisfied by the low prices their crops were garnering and whose attempts at achieving higher prices,by producing even more crops,only yielded them more debt and low prices. Farmers wished for the circulation of silver coinage to increase in hopes that it would help the economy and therefore crop prices. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 acted as a replacement for the Bland-Allison Act of 1878 and required the U.S. to buy twice as much silver as before. This put more money than necessary into circulation and instead of curbing the problems it was suppose to solve it created more. This act would later be repealed by President Grover Cleveland.

2.What was the impact of the transcontinental railroad system on the American economy and society in the late nineteenth century?

The transcontinental railroad system planned to connect the east to the west and with its completion created new towns and waves of hopeful immigrants to a land that was untouched wilderness. The connection to the east brought the west an agricultural revival with farming machinery and crops ,and the time to transport goods was greatly minimized.

3.How did the industrial trusts develop in industries such as steel and oil,and what was their effect on the economy?

The industrial trusts that developed in the steel and oil businesses were a result of the tight hold the major companies such as Carnegie Steel Company and Standard Oil had in their respective fields of industry which made it that much easier for these trust to form. Andrew Carnegie's implemented vertical integration for his steal company where it owned the steps in the steel industry from mining it to transporting it,and this type of control was implemented by John D. Rockefeller who instead supported horizontal integration where he oversaw all the smaller businesses within the oil industry. This effected the economy since there was no competition just outright monopoly and with no competition these companies didn't have to worry about fixing prices for consumers.

4.What early efforts were made to control the new corporate industrial giants,and how effective were these efforts?

An early effort that was made to control the new corporate industrial giants was the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 which prohibited businesses from joining together in ways that would control the market and also outlawed monopoly. This act would reap future success when it was used against the Standard Oil trust and the American Tobacco Company in 1911 by President Taft. This was an improvement from the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 which tried to regulate the railroad industry with reasonable rates but this act failed to grant the government the authority to fix specific rates.

5.What new opportunities did the cities create for Americans?

The cities created new job prospects in the form of working in budding factories and department stores. The cities also allowed immigrants and Americans alike to experience things like electricity and indoor plumbing.

6.What new social problems did urbanization create? How did Americans respond to these problems?

The social problems urbanization mainly centered around the way of life for those who inhabited places that became known as ethnic ghettos. These slums usually consisted of tenements that had no windows with families sleeping in one room and sharing washrooms with people who were on the same floor as them. There were instances where these problems were to be addressed as with how the New York City council passed a law requiring each bedroom in the tenements to have a windows.

7.How did the "New Immigration" differ from the "Old Immigration" ,and how did Americans respond to it?

"Old Immigration" differed from the "New Immigration" in that these immigrants came from Northern and Western Europe who could,for the most part,speak English and were equipped with high literacy levels and possessed occupational skills that made it fairly easy to acquire jobs and adapt to American society. With the "New Immigration", immigrants came from Southeastern Europe such as the Italians,Greeks, Russians,etc who were mostly poor and illiterate. These immigrants had troubled adapting to this new life and clung to their old traditions and gradually ethic ghettos became commonplace. From this the American government tried to tightened the reins on immigration. An example of this is the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which banned immigrants coming to America from China.