1. Between 1877 and 1920 America emerged as a leading industrial and urban nation. Discuss the challenges faced by three of the following groups: business, labor, the city, and farmers. How did each of these sectors endeavor to find stability through a search for order through organization? Businesses, laborers, and farmers faced major challenges between 1877 and 1920. This was a time period that included both the Gilded Age and World War 1, and the challenges that these three parts of society faced were very different between each group and throughout each period. Businesses had to deal with things called “trusts” with other businesses. Many businesses desired to hold the monopoly of an entire industry, and competition was intense and cutthroat. Laborers, of course, faced the challenges of not having the previously mentioned working conditions, as well as pay cuts and unemployment during the depressions in the 1870s and the 1890s. Farmers had to deal with major drops in the prices for their crops due to the second Industrial Revolution and the development of new technology, as well as the already-difficult farming of the West. Many southern farmers were sharecroppers, as well, and as the prices for their goods fell, so did their standard of living. Each of these sections tried to find stability in different ways; however, one similarity was that all of them formed some kind of organization. Laborers formed unions, while farmers formed organizations like the Farmer’s
In the first half of the 19th century the processes known as Industrialization and Urbanization started to transform Europe. It affected and changed every aspect of life of every citizen of every European nation. The notorious results of these changes were the horrible living and working conditions of the working class, who made up the majority of the society. Great Britain was involved most profoundly in this Industrial Revolution as it led the way in the development of railroads and factories. We find a lot of documents from that time period describing working conditions in Britain during that era. As a response to those changes created by Industrial Revolution many sought reforms to confront those social problems. Karl Marx was
Over the course of the last century, we see ourselves looking and comparing all of the new changes that have occurred. Some of the changes have been more significant than others but have affected us greatly in some form. Many would say life today is a lot easier than it was in the nineteenth century. Everything today is just a click away. Many of the changes that have occurred have been major building blocks that have driven us to make life easier and more enjoyable. Three main components that have significantly changed from the nineteenth century to the twenty first century are agriculture, electronics, and traveling.
Wages were very low for the amount of work people were expected to do. People would only make anywhere from $1.25-$1.50 for the entire 10-12 hour workday. Not only were these wages extremely low, but employees often lived in expensive company housing which left barely any money for the other necessities of life. Nobody was satisfied with the wages during this time period but another struggle was the long hours. People worked 60-80 hour work weeks in the hot overcrowded factories, only doing one monotonous job. Lastly, the boss was very distant from the work crowd and there was little to no contact between the two groups. Also, the workers were very controlled by the foreman. The doors were locked on all floors to prevent theft during the day and bathroom breaks would be monitored by a floor manager. Overall, during the late 1800’s everyone was overworked and underpaid and this led to many troubles as years went on.
Crises, such as the great railroad strike of 1877, Homestead strike of 1892, Pullman strike of 1894, and the depression of 1893-1894, were results from the rise of industrial capitalism. By 1900, America produced one-third of the world’s goods. Due to this, cities became polluted and overcrowded, and became breeding grounds for diseases like typhoid and cholera. The working situations were not much better, with unskilled industrial laboring class, child labor, low wages, locked fire doors, and allowance of toxic fumes in the factories; many people were disgusted by the way America’s economy grew, while its people were left in poor health.
Between the years 1870-1900, Americans began to respond to the effects fostered by these corporations. From urban factory workers to rural farmers, Americans began to organize against these big businesses. With mass industrialization, more job’s were made available to women, these jobs were often in factories with terrible conditions, sweatshops. There was a sameness about working in mass production factories. Thus, working in these modern mass production factories created a homogenous environment that diminished individualism and the need for skilled workers. (Doc. C) Strikers were common during this era, workers participated in strikes and joined labor unions, such as The American Federation of Labor and the Knights of Labor, due to the terrible working conditions. The American Federation of Labor, headed by Samuel Gompers, was specifically for skilled workers and argued for better wages and a reduction in working hours. (Doc. G) Although urban workers were greatly impacted by the growth of these corporations, they were not the ones. Farmers, suffered
The years following the Civil War and Reconstruction was an era somewhat gilded. The Second Industrial Revolution came about with new inventions, and revolutionized how factories and jobs were worked. Factory workers in this time period were working in poor conditions and had no power whatsoever. Often they were abused and their wages were cut very low. The mass immigration also did not favor laborers as it made them so easy to replace. In order to fight back laborers would join labor unions in order to protest; however, during this time the labor unions were not that affective during 1875 and 1900 because although they had their efforts many of them would not work to their advantage; efforts would give them a bad reputation, go out of
Building a Bridge to the Eighteenth Century By: Neil Postman Neil Postman identifies himself as a "neo-Luddite". What bothers Postman most is the fact that the great innovators of this time have no frame of reference other than their own experience, and that experience is only that of the 20th century. Advocates of trends such as information superhighways and economic globalization appear to know nothing of history, philosophy and culture; they live digitally in the hollow present. Postman assesses different ideas in each chapter: Chaper One: A Bridge to the Eighteenth Century Postman heralds the accomplishments of personalities of the 18th Century, including Goethe, Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, Kant, Hume, Gibbon,
Once the rebellions and strikes settled down in the nineteenth-century people could continue working and could have the ability to have major success while working. There were favorable outcomes in terms of money, workers needs, and the ability to spread the political power around so it was not concentrated and owned by one person or company for each prospective market. While the decrease in strikes, eight-hour workdays, and compensation for some workers looked to have made gain in the labor workforce, it actually was the opposite. Problems still surfaced like the division of the workforce ethnically and racially, increase in immigrants, and the enlargement of wealth for the big political figures and the people in command.
An unfortunate incident occurred toward the conclusion of the 1920s, when robbers broke into Bill, Clara, and Anton’s garage and stole their brand-new Buick automobile. On the eventful night, while Clara lay in bed, she heard noise outside. Afraid of the consequences of a confrontation with the intruders, she refrained from waking Bill to protect him from injury. Blissfully unaware of the burglars, Bill slept through the night and didn’t discover the theft until morning.26 An investigation revealed that after breaking into the garage, the thieves pushed the car out of the garage, the full length of the driveway onto the street, and down the street away from the scene of the crime, before starting the Buick and driving it away. The authorities never recovered the automobile.27
Continuities and Changes in the Fifteenth to Eighteenth Century The fifteenth to eighteenth century was a time of exploration, intellectual change, religious reform, and political instability. Culture, activities, rituals, and other social subjects during this time continued and remained strong, such as human behavior, laws, and tradition. Others that we today accept as normal, like goods traded as a result of western expansion and equal rights between sexes also started to surface during this period of time. Whether they were well established in society or just starting to develop, they nonetheless have had a great impact on how society and culture is today, and reflect greater changes that were happening on top of it.
Additionally, proletarianization occurred in this period, which created a class of wage earners who had no property (Smith, 1 February 2016). This led to very poor conditions for the workers, such as in the United States in the mid-1800s, women and children had to work long hours and were subject to pay cuts without warning or reason, meaning that their jobs were very insecure (Mason, 2010, p. 86).
The United States and basically the whole world has been dramatically changing as the centuries flow. American communities changed during the first half of the nineteenth century, shifting the way that Americans live their daily life. With the presentation of new innovations, cultures, machinery, and ideas the United States is not what is used to be 100 years ago; in fact, you don’t necessarily have to go 100 years back in time the United States in 2015 is not the same as in 2005. The cities back in the nineteenth century were called homogenous cities. Homogenous cities are cities where everything and everyone is the same. The rich, middle, and poor people all lived next to each other without them giving each other an ugly look. Also not only
When asked what the most important invention is, many questions comes to mind, and these questions must be answered before responding to the initial question. Basically, anything that did not exist previously, whether it is a mechanical device or graphics, literature, or music, is an "invention". The eighteenth, nineteenth and the twentieth centuries were met with innumerable of new inventions, technical breakthroughs, and innovations. Steam locomotive, diesel engine and the internet were two of the technological innovations that revolutionized societies in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Invented in England in 1814, Steam locomotive was one of the technological inventions that revolutionized the world. The first full scale locomotive was constructed by Richard Trevithick a British mechanical engineer in 1804 at the Penydarren Ironworks in Wales. Before then in 1797, Trevithick had constructed high-pressure working models of both stationary and locomotive engines which was a success. With four driving wheels, Steam locomotive had smooth wheels operating on smooth metal rails, its success showed that enough traction could be accomplished without using gear wheels and a cogged or toothed track. Trevithick locomotive exhausted its steam into the stack of the engine’s firebox; this provided a forced conscription for the blast in the firebox and was used on
Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many changes were occurring in Europe. Newer nations, such as Italy and Germany, were beginning to challenge older nations such as England and France. The main reason for this was the rise in technology throughout Europe and the beginning of modern ideas. The definition of modern is having characteristics of contemporary styles of art, literature, and music that reject traditionally accepted and emphasize individual experimentation and sensibility. The increase in modern ideas created a level playing field for both new and old countries during the 19th century.
Europe faced an era of revolutions at the wake of the nineteenth century. Long-standing empires, which had traditionally controlled most of the world –including the Spanish, Chinese, French, and Holy Roman Empires –, collapsed at the beginning of the century, allowing the British Empire to rise to power and establish dominance over a fifth of the Earth’s surface. This political revolution was coupled with the industrial revolution. New manufacturing processes called for large industrial factories to replace domestic production. Technological gains were made in textile manufacturing, steam power, and iron making. The standard of living and literacy rates increased due to new advances in technology and industrial printing. The nineteenth century, with the invention of the microscope, became a period of scientific discoveries and debate. This era of scientific upheaval was fueled by the challenges to Genesis and the Scala Naturae and the emergence of secularism. Naturalists focused on macrobiological concepts, such as Lamarck and Cuvier who debated the fixity (or lack there of) of species, as well as microbiological concepts, such as Schleiden and Schwann and the development of the Cell Theory.