How Did Corporations Contributed Significantly To The Us Dbq

Corporations growing was beneficial to the economy, mainly because of the costs of different things. Indexed prices between 1870-1899 are shown in

The ensuing conflict, between labor vs. capital, during the late 1800s initiated a struggle of power in the workforce between the rich-industrialists (or corporate leaders) and the middle-class/lower-class workers. The Capitalists had intervened with the protests orchestrated by the workers, ensuring that the power remains with them. The strategies of the industrialists and the unique ways of protesting from the workers, contributes to spur a vigorous argument between the employers and their employees. The workers tried their best to ameliorate their working conditions by forming numerous unions, trying to fix currency (gold to paper) to economically help themselves, refusing to go to work, resorting to violence and non-violence, etc. However, the Corporate leaders kept an upper hand and dissolved the workers’ ambitions by hiring scabs, creating a strong relationship with the military (Pullman strike), controlling and fixing policies at work, hiring immigrants for cheap labor, etc. Throughout the late 1800s, the corporate leaders have been able to successfully prevent workers who had resorted to: forming unions, protests (ex. Pullman strike and Homestead strike), violence (ex. Haymarket Sq. Riot), etc., from achieving a radical solution to the workers issues with the management by using several different strategies including but not limited to: hiring scabs/immigrants in the Homestead strike, using government support in the Pullman strike and keeping the power on their side

Imagine your parents died at work when you were a young child, and your family was in poverty. This happened all of the time in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s because of the lack of rights for workers. It was the job of many early labor unions of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s make working conditions for workers better. Early labor unions such as the Knights of Columbus, the American Federation of Labor, and the National Labor Union were all successful in creating rights for workers and making working conditions better. There are many ways that labor unions have affected modern day society.

This onslaught of capitalism directly revolutionized modern industrialism as well as the industrial city. Machines morphed the predominately agricultural nation to a herd of factory and corporate workers. Swarms of people, both native and immigrant, flocked to major cities. “The present century has been marked by a prodigious increase in wealth-producing power. The utilization of steam and electricity, the introduction of improved processes and labor saving machinery, the greater subdivision and grander scale of production, the wonderful facilitation of exchanges, have multiplied enormously the effectiveness of labor.”(George, p.20) The major problem with this newfound industrialism was the way in which the workforce was treated. Capitalism was supposed to provide a way out, a way ascend the financial and social staircase, if you worked hard enough. This however was not the case, if you were a loyal, hardworking employee you simply got to keep your job, and if you were in any way injured or incompetent you were fired.

One glaring problem he realized was the wealthy elite would always strive to increase their fortune while the lower class want enough to just live comfortably. To do so the lower class rely on the wealthy to provide jobs in order to scrape a living; here Carnegie realizes something that Marx would appreciate, that the wealthy are aware of this mundane face and can exploit them for a profit. But out of this comes progress and escalation of comfort. Carnegie states, “We start, then, with a condition of affairs under which the best interests of the race are promoted, but which inevitably gives wealth to the few. Thus far, accepting conditions as they exist, the situation can be surveyed and pronounced good” (Carnegie). There are distinct lines between the employer and the employee and while there is not too much intimacy between the two, the relationship works perfectly well. The friction would ensure that things get down and the wheels of industry keep turning without any potential

abor unions have always had a very different conception of the workplace. According to labor unions, workers deserve a say in the conditions of their labor because the right of workers to organize in their own self- interest is a basic human right. Danger in jobs is what prompted labor unions to fight, they believed workers should be treated fairly and be paid enough to live in comfort and dignity. In the early 19th century, workers couldn’t speak up because they were likely to be fired and easily replaced by someone else desperate for a job, which is why labor unions, such as the American Federation of Labor, grew during the Second Industrial Revolution. As industrialization continued making workplaces larger, the relationship between employees and employers became less personal, causing workers to lose power and respect; this is when the membership of labor unions grew noticeably. These unions profoundly impacted American society by fighting for fair labor conditions, earning national acknowledgement, and to convince the government to pass legislations.

The decades after the Civil War rapidly changed the face of the United States. The rapid industrialization of the nation changed us from generally agrarian to the top industrial power in the world. Business tycoons thrived during this time, forging great business empires with the use of trusts and pools. Farmers moved to the cities and into the factories, living off wages and changing the face of the workforce. This rapid industrialization created wide gaps in society, and the government, which had originally taken a hands off approach to business, was forced to step in.

The industrialization of America in her postbellum period led to a booming economy. During this time, there was an explosive growth in the manufacturing industry and millions of immigrants came to the New World in search for work and fortune. As the workforce almost tripled, the wealth gap grew bigger as the country developed a new, cheap industrial workforce from the previous agrarian economy. In this day, the only power held by the laborers lied in the unions they were apart of. It was in these unions that workers could bargain their working conditions, hours, and wages. Disputes led altercations and many violent strikes in this era.

By allowing businessmen such as John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, and Andrew Carnegie to create monopolies in certain industries, the government allowed the oppression of the nation’s working class. The second half of the 19th century saw major changes in the working world, with new inventions, increasing populations, and bigger businesses. The Barons seized their opportunity in this new economic setting and made large fortunes. However these fortunes came at the expense of the working class, which received biased wages that depended on factors such as race, gender, and ethnic background. With decreased wages, the Barons had larger profit margins, and longer hours meant more production.

The point of a union was to unite workers against careless employers to make it hard for the employer to continue to carry on business and force them to recognize their errors and hopefully make necessary changes. However, the federal government mostly backed wealthy industrialists and often ruled against workers who went against the system. Lack of effective governance greatly contributed to the dangerous and poorly kept work environments. Employees were not provided any type of safety net or alternatives for if they were injured or killed while performing their jobs. There was no job security, minimum wage or legally required safety measures for the workplace. The uneven distribution of wealth in America didn’t help the working class either. Most industrial workers were faced with poverty making barely enough or less than enough to sustain a decent living and forcing more women and children to enter the workforce. Large numbers of children and women were forced to obtain jobs to help support their families

In the span of time in between 1865 and 1900 there had been various improvements in technology which paved the way for industrialization. Along with expanding industry came the demand for a work force, then being immigrants and native-born Americans. The American industrial worker had suffered at the hands of their employer with the cutting of wages, harsh work environments, and lack of support. Labor unions brought people together in order to establish a standard for the working environment of an American industrial worker.

Corporations were given the right to influence government in their own interests, the same as were extended to individual citizens. Those corporations grew in number just like mushrooms

Damages of that failed strike led to the creation of a forty plus year deficiency and elimination of labor organization within the steel mill trade workers union and industry. Carnegie declared a mandatory elimination of any union participants with in his holdings. He utilized the strike’s events as reason to completely de-unionize the rest of his plants. The lack of the union’s protection gave way to the declining working conditions for the steelworkers. By 1919 steelworkers are said to have (1) “worked longer hours than any other comparable profession. An average coal miner worked fifty-two hours per week, a railroad man forty-eight hours per week and a construction worker did forty-four hours per week, more than fifty percent of steelworkers worked seventy-two hours per week.” Further, it took until 1936 for labor unions for skilled trades to become plausible

During the industrial revolution, many people that are considered to be one of the richest men were developed due to the new manufactured product such as steel which fostered the production of the railroad. People began to form trust and integrate horizontally by purchasing other companies producing the same products allowing them to become the only provider which then grants them the power to set the quality and the price of the products. People like Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller both grew immensely rich due to the Capitalistic society in which they lived in. These huge monopolies caused “forty percent of the American working class to live in actual poverty”(Socialism). This shows that poverty has significantly increased because of the low circulation of money within the economy. This huge amount of poverty will continue to grow if the government does not step in which was what was demanded by “new working class, led by immigrant Europeans with socialist roots”(Socialism). These immigrants help “began to form mutual-aid societies, trade associations, and workers' unions”(Socialism). These organizations helped the workers fight for their rights and made the government stay on a more neutral side rather than favoring the companies and their

For government, the corporations share the burden, for example, unemployment rate can be affected also by the conducts of corporations. As a result, the government can use their money more freely to benefit the society.