Cons Of Industrial America

Consequences of Industrial America
During the 1800’s Industrial America was born and was expected to be the next big step in American advances because of the abundance of natural resources. These big industries that would later on be labeled as monopolies dominated the economy, thriving from the profits of their industries. The workers were paid low wages and were replaceable ranging from young boys to full grown men. The conditions of the workplaces were in terrible condition, and the owners of these industries did not provide any workers benefits. These circumstances caused tragic events and encouraged the uprising of labor unions that conducted strikes that demanded better conditions. In the documents, “Gospel of Wealth” and “Letter on Labor Industrial Society” these two important people discuss the uneven distribution of wealth and unfair treatment of the poor. People suffered in Industrial America because of the lack of government intervention and uneven distribution of wealth. During this period, the government did not have any agencies that monitored big businesses. They also did not monitor workers’ wages or the conditions in the workplace. Men were struggling to feed their families and were stripped of their needs because of low wages they received. When workers retaliated by striking, the government put more effort into harming laborers than helping them. Overall, when the people tried to retaliate, they were seen as a threat and treated like one as well. Workers had to come together to form unions that attempted to make conditions better not for only the workforce but living in that society. Andrew Carnegie was an immigrant from Scotland in that got started in the industrial society as a child in the year 1835.1 He climbed the social and economic ladder throughout his lifetime. Carnegie ultimately ended in his climb controlling the most extensive joined steel operations by the year 1889.2 Carnegie became one of the wealthiest men in America and what made him more popular was that he had actually started from the bottom, defining the phrase “rags to riches.” Andrew Carnegie the author of “Gospel of Wealth” is an article that explains what responsibilities the wealthy and rich should take in society. Carnegie debates that in order to produce the greatest benefit to society, surplus wealth should be distributed when overseen by the wealthy to be distributed. He also argues that the capital gained should not be used inefficiently as far as self-indulgences and material things. Instead, Carnegie encourages the use of wealth to close the huge cap of the rich and poor. At the end, Carnegie explains that a man that does not put his wealth has not applied himself as he stated, “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.”3
Sammuel Gompers was an immigrant from London that was a cigar maker at the age of 10 along with his father. Gompers had worked as a cigar maker along his father, until he was hired at a local shop.4 In 1875, Gompers was elected president of a local union that was for cigar maker’s only.5 Gompers worked his way up in positions in this union and when the AFL was created, he was elected president of the union. Under his leadership, the AFL became the largest and most influential labor federation in the world. In his “Letter on Labor in Industrial Society” he is writing to Grosscup, a federal judge that ordered an injunction on the American Railroad Union to restrain them from interfering with interstate commerce. Grosscup accused the Unions to be a conspiracy, and became his reasoning for the injunction. In this letter Gompers criticizes Grosscup of the charge and continued to push for the need of large social unions. He argues that the working man should not have to sit back and suffer and should be allowed to take action in an orderly fashion. He questions that if the country is prospering and the wealth created benefits the nation, how we explain families living in those conditions in such great numbers. At the end, he explains that the labor union would unify more and achieve a better life for humanity.
In the Gospel of Wealth Carnegie explains that it is the duty of the man of wealth to provide for the poor. “This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of Wealth; First to set an example of modest unostentatious living, shunning display, or extravagance; to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon him…”6 However, I believe this idea complicates my idea because Carnegie believes the wealthy should have the choice to use the surplus of their revenue to help in the way that they would like. This challenges my point because the wealthy is given the option to distribute wealth. At the same time, I agree that the money that these big corporations make, should be distributed to the laborers through higher wages and benefits. What ultimately complicated this idea is that the things that the people need, would not necessarily be what the surplus wealth would provide for.
In Letter of Labor in Industrial Society Sammuel Gompers explains that the Grand Jury did not consider the circumstances when charging the union with injunction. “I have had the pleasure of reading your charge to the Grand Jury, and have only partially been able to discover how far you believe in labor Organizations. You would certainly have no objection officially or personally to workingmen organizing, and in their meetings discuss perhaps "the origin of man," benignly smiling upon each other, and declaring that all existing things are right, going to their wretched homes to find some freedom in sleep from gnawing hunger.”7 I think this is important to recognize because it shows the disregard that the government had for the poor. This excerpt emphasizes the importance the government should have had to help the poor just as extensively as it goes to protect these large monopolies. Gompers blatantly challenges Grosscup morals when it comes to the boundaries the government exceeds for these corporations. “Because a certain class (for which you and a number of your colleagues on the bench seem to be the special pleaders) have a monopoly in their lines of trade, I submit that this is no good reason for their claim to have a monopoly on true patriotism or respect for the lawful institutions of the country.”8 Here he explains that labor unions are not harmful and is a part of the rights of these people, and that the government is accommodating these monopolies, while suppressing these workers in the unions. This approves my argument that the government seen the people forming a union as a threat. This also reveals how powerful these corporations were and the influence and control they had. In both of the documents Carnegie and Gompers agree that the conditions that these workers live in are unacceptable in the society at the time. For the most obvious reasons, I think that this is important because the uneven distribution caused many men to question life in America. Conditions became so terrible that men abandoned their families or were forced to go with little to live. This struggle also made them question their manhood as far as providing and led to things like the Pullman Strike, which was one of the largest strikes in the country. This strike that extended to 27 states was the result of the fed up laborers in many industries.9 The consequences of the industrial society was the lack of motivation to interfere with big corporations and the uneven distribution of wealth. The government stood in the pockets of these big corporations and violated laborer’s rights to speak against them. The unions that were created especially paved the way for the rights that we have today as citizens in the United States. Carnegie and Gompers ultimately emphasize that the importance of change in the industrial society and believed that America had liberties and justice that should be lived up to.