Agriculture/Industrial Workers FRQ
The Gilded Age, the time from the end of the Civil War to the end of Reconstruction, was an age marked by economic prosperity, but at the expense of corruption. A majority of the Gilded Age can also be defined with the Industrial Revolution, although it began long before the era of corruption. This revolution was marked by an increase of factories and invention that then created a mass chain of events that can be seen in an increase of immigrants, who became workers. With these large numbers of unskilled and unemployed immigrants, along with an abundance of natural resources, aided by the new railroads that made transport quicker and cheaper, the industries in the North boomed. The small farms that used to supply these natural resources were being replaced by Bonanza farms. These farmers would either join labor groups like the Grange or leave their small, bankrupt farms, for the large cities, where the jobs were “plentiful”. The jobs found in the cities were bad, and their pay was low because of the corruption of political machines and the willingness of many immigrants to work for less and worse situations. These workers joined unions and used strikes to attempt to get what they wanted from their management and employers.
In the more agrarian West, small farmers from the Homestead Act were losing their business to the Bonanza farms that had the money for new equipment, and the favor of the railroads. From these groups of small farmers, who felt cheated by bankers, railroads, and big corporations groups like the National Grange were formed. The Grange, or the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, was concerned with the movement of crop prices and railroad rates. It also opened opportunities for women and supported their suffrage movement. The Populist Party was formed from groups like the Grange, and several others including the Farmers’ Alliance and the Greenback Party. This Populist Party was commonly known as the Peoples’ Party and was largely for the lowly farmer. They, like the farmers, blamed most of their problems on the railroads, bankers, and politicians. In poems like, “The Farmer is the Man,” explains some of their problems. They are mistreated in being hardly recognized as the most important attribute of society, and feel as if all the others are gaining their profit. The Populist Party played a large part in trying to get the government to regulate the railroads and force them to publish a regular rate. They joined the Democratic Party in the election of 1896, with the candidate William Jennings Bryan. After his “cross of gold” speech, the free-silver advocates of the Populist Party joined forces with the Democratic Party when nominating Bryan. After the election found William “Golden” McKinley the president of the United States, most farmers became bankrupt and were forced into jobs as industrial workers: miners, railroad workers, and factory workers.
The Research paper on Farmers And Workers Government Strike Federal
America – Post Depression America – Post Depression Essay, Research Paper By 1900, the farmers of the West and the South were struggling financially due to the new urban economy. This was due to troubles with the strikes, a large surplus, and tariffs. Besides the farmers, workers were also having problems at the turn of the century. Due to the Depression of 1893 and the "let nature- ...
In the Reconstruction “New South,” the economy was failing due to the sudden freedom of all the slaves, or the main source of labor. There was little the Southerners could do in this period, as soldiers and laws kept them from enforcing rules to discriminate against the blacks. They reacted with things like sharecropping, which was essentially glorified slavery. Also, they used things like the Jim Crow laws to force segregation and keep the blacks from voting or running for office. Because of a lack of experience in other jobs, however, many went back to their former owners and tried traveling west to join the miners or the workers on the railroads. Most didn’t move north, however, because they had competition with the many immigrants. Booker T. Washington established the idea for a schooling system for the blacks that would require them to only learn a single skill, which was usually agriculturally-based, so they could enter the workforce independently with some hope of success. This college was called the Tuskegee Institute and had no hope for social equality, but economic equality.
The Essay on Industrial Unions
Industrial Unions First of all, lets analyze what industrial union is. Industrial union is a labor union made by the workers belonging to a certain industry independent of their trade, skill, or occupation. The craft union is opposite to the industrial union, as it unites the workers of one skill, for example, electricians, lawyers, etc. Columbia University Encyclopedia writes that the industrial ...
In the industrial North, the workers were having trouble in the factories where conditions were poor, and pay was even worse. They were losing jobs to the immigrants and had a harsh view of the Irish especially, for not only taking jobs but also swinging votes by sheer number and loyalty to the social group. These new immigrants were a part of the corruption that lent itself to the term “gilded” in the Gilded Age. The political machine, which was led by politicians like “boss” Tweed, took many of these new immigrants and, in return for shelter and jobs, would have them vote for their preferred candidates. This system would have the immigrants registered several times to vote at several different places, and they had absolutely no say in who they were voting for, unless they wanted to lose their homes and jobs. Many of these new immigrants also gave themselves to the mining and railroad jobs, which were dangerous and offered little pay. Despite these two factors, the immigrants would usually take these jobs willingly, alongside the few blacks that could travel far enough to work the same jobs. On the west coast, where mining was the main source of work, the Chinese were the hated immigrants to compare to the Northeast Irish.
Political action was taken on this group of immigrants in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 that completely ended the flow of Chinese into America. This was the first act that would refuse a single group to stop migrating to the land of opportunity. Overall, in the industrial workers’ situation, there was little they could do to combat the problems that drove their lives and work except for joining a union. Many of these unions resorted to strikes and riots to accomplish what they needed, but the more successful unions like the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor (AFL) refused to ultimately use these tactics, unless absolutely necessary. These were a nuisance to the political machines, and private police forces like the Pinkertons were hired to stop strikes and riots. The industrial part of America produced a few million and billionaires that would either turn out as philanthropists, like Carnegie and Rockefeller, but others like Jay Gould could be the epitome of the corruption in America. Social Darwinism could be used as an excuse for either party, saying that the rich deserved to be rich, or that the rich were morally obligated to help the poor who couldn’t help themselves.
The Essay on American industrial workers between 1865 and 1900
... the workers. However, waves of immigrants were also coming into America, which resulted in the threat of job stability. Labor Unions and ... the precedent the Unions set for America. Another aspect that had an important effect on the Industrial worker was immigration. After ... reform in the American industrial workforce. The National Labor Union fought for the arbitration of industrial disputes and the ...
The Gilded Age described a great economic America as a whole, but was ultimately rotten on the inside. This “gilded” America- shining and brilliant only on the outside- saw to the end of Reconstruction. The agricultural workers in America took to solving their problems in the Grange, and the industrial workers found the same idea of a solution in Unions. Both advocated for their people in the government and made up the People’s Party.
