Big Corporations Dbq

As the age of Reconstruction ended, the Gilded Age of big businesses began in the United States and with it came new jobs and goods for Americans. When new corporations became more successful, it made an immense impact on the economy, the political system and the lives of citizens. Economically, the cost of food and living went down significantly as well as a surplus of jobs. Political leaders were corrupted by big business as their decisions and laws were influenced by the wealthy class’ bribes and stealing from the common man. Though mass production allowed goods to be made quicker and in greater quantity, the workers’ horrible working conditions and remarkably long hours caused the creation of unions and strikes. Despite the great effect big business had on the economy in the Gilded Age through the decline in the cost of food and fuel, the daily lives of average working-class citizens were negatively impacted by long hours, horrid working conditions leading to unions and a corrupted political system.

The growing corporations in America dominated most of the economy, creating a large gap between the rich and the poor. During this time period food, lightening, and fuel prices declined significantly, and the cost of living

Most of their success was contributed to laissez-faire’s economic system. The government played a large part in funding the accounts acting in the railroad industry. Document G exposes the bonds, grants, and money given out by the government to multiple railroad companies. This caused the citizens to have to pay a much higher tax in order for the government to contribute to railroad companies. Never the less in the 1870’s Congresses resolution was passed. This states “no subsidy in money, bonds, public lands, endorsement, or by pledges of the public credit, should be granted by Congress to associations or corporations engaged or proposed to engage in public or private enterprise” as seen in Document F. They were trying to limit certain aspects of the companies, directly contradicting the laissez-faire idea. After this resolution was passed the land was put on sale for 125-250 per acre. At this point the larger companies began to buy the land surrounding the railroads and selling it off piece by piece at much higher

History is interpreted in different ways. In Howard Zinn’s “People’s history of the Unites States”, his views of the Government playing into the hands of the wealthy is one that shows the truth of how life was really like during the turn of the 19th century. At the end of the Reconstruction, the country took the next step in the industrial ladder. At this time, many fortunes are made with the help of the immigrants and the corruption of the government. People like J.P. Morgan sold defective guns during the Civil War and with the help of the government, a “federal judge upheld the deal as the fulfillment of a valid legal contract (Zinn 255)”. The railroad became a big staple in the American country was only possible with the “blood, sweat, politics and thievery (Zinn 254)”, as the wealthy few, contracted cheap labor and gave bribes in Washington to get the land they needed to further expend the railroad. The government an establishment for the people, ignored the suffrage of the poor and stood there as the country began to monopolize under the grasp of the few elites. In the other end “A History of the American People” by Paul Johnson depicts the acts of the Gilded Age as a fundamental foothold in the United States. For Johnson, the rapid growth of the country is thanks to the few who rose from the rest, to establish the core of the economy. The government was a key player in the involvement of the railroad and in Johnson’s argument he says “The railroads were subsidized and legally privileged (Johnson 533)”. He explains the vast help of the government, toward the wealthy as a crucial step in accomplishing the impossible. In addition the article “What Social Classes Owe to Each Other (1883)” by William Graham Sumner argues that the few who managed to break through the barrier of the lower class was not with the help of others or the government, but by their own efforts and cleverness that got them to

During the post Civil War period many capitalists took over and ramped up industry. There were also individuals who took industries and monopolized them. Many historians who look back at these capitalists who shaped the post Civil War industry argue about whether they should be viewed as captains of industry who developed large industry, or as robber barons who used industry and monopolies to achieve wealth and take advantage of the working class. This essay will show why they were captains of industry.

“We demand that big business give the people a square deal; in return we must insist that when any one engaged in big business honestly endeavors to do right he shall himself be given a square deal.” (Teddy Roosevelt). Teddy Roosevelt emphasized the fact that big business had not been giving its workers or its consumers a fair deal and that big business had been taking power away from the people. The Gilded Age began an era of big business that negatively affected the working class men, women and family. During the rise of big business the power between individuals started to greatly differ as the rich got more power and the poor got less, with the rich’s newly found wealth their trusts were able to control whole industries and finally the

Throughout history, major corporations have taken control over nations. During the late 1800s and early 1900s big business have made a name for themselves in the united states. Even though, major corporations have had a positive impact on society, they in fact hurt our economy greatly.

Accurately established by many historians, the capitalists who shaped post-Civil War industrial America were regarded as corrupt “robber barons”. In a society in which there was a severe imbalance in the dynamics of the economy, these selfish individuals viewed this as an opportunity to advance in their financial status. Thus, they acquired fortunes for themselves while purposely overseeing the struggles of the people around them. Presented in Document A, “as liveried carriage appear; so do barefooted children”, proved to be a true description of life during the 19th century. In hopes of rebuilding America, the capitalists’ hunger for wealth only widened the gap between the rich and poor.

Between 1865 and 1939 not all Americans accepted big business dominance. In the beginning of this era

Reading G. William Domhoff’s Who Rules America?: The Triumph of the Corporate Rich was an intriguing and challenging experience for me. My limited knowledge base of the American political class system mostly stems from high school US History classes and listening to my mom’s stories of her experiences in the corporate world. Therefore, I am aware that due to my prior lack of knowledge on the topics presented in Domhoff’s book, I may have misjudged some of his finer points. Part of my struggles may be largely due to the fact that Domhoff’s intended audience for Who Rules America? is other experts in the field of understanding the sociology of the corporate elite and their resources of power. However, I believe that the book has given me a better, if not complete, understanding of the corporate elite and how they stay in power.

Additionally, cars needed to be manufactured for use on railway lines. Railroads linked almost every major town together and provided a new method of transportation which farmers could use to ship their goods. All of these factors shaped American capitalism forever. While the effects of the growth of big business were mostly positive, this growth brought some negative effects also. Factory workers suffered dangerous working conditions and low wages while weathly industrialists prided themselves in lavish displays of wealth.

Capitalism can be defined as “when monetary wealth was enabled to buy labor power” (Wolf et al. 77). By the time that “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” was written, Capitalism was the dominant mode of production, and capitalist markets were spreading rapidly. This became especially true in the United States of America, which was heavily influenced by the British in matters of economy. Since capitalism was born in England, the influence of capitalism bled over into America while they were still under British rule (Wolf et al. 2670). However, by 1820, the year that “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” was published, the United States fully adopted the capitalist mode of production, along with the technological advances of the Industrial Revolution. This embrace of the new economic system changed the ways of life for people in both New England and New York, along with the entirety of the country.

In the early nineteenth century the USA was very corrupt. It was a time were monopolistic businesses thrived, and small ones failed. In this time was when J.P. Morgan became the man controlling the most money in the world and ended up owning at his peak, forty companies. In the early nineteenth century J.P Morgan was both a Captain of industry and a Robber Baron.

After the end of the Civil War, industrialization and urbanization blossomed and changed the nation. Instead of presidential power, men were aiming to be industrial tycoons for their wealth and power. To the people, these capitalists were regarded as either admirable “captains of industry” or corrupt “robber barons”. Even though to some people they may seem like “captains of industry”, but they were actually corrupt “robber barons” for several reasons regarding corruption, employee issues, and matters of the social classes.

“As the growth of industrial development increased so did the accumulation of massive industries and corporations”. This had changed The United States of America into being urbanized instead of being a rural area. Then many businessmen like Andrew Carnegie, John D Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt had big industrial tycoons which had a massive benefit for them and for their society because they had an increase in mass production which ultimately changed the face of the United States of America from being a rural society into being an urban society.