American Industry Dbq Essay

After the end of the American Civil War, there was a long period of republican dominated politics. These republican politicians heavily favored industry, and as a result the United States quickly became an industrial powerhouse in the world. Many entrepreneurs, some of which include John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Cornelius Vanderbilt, staked their claim in American industry and shaped the post-war nation. The growth of American industry led to major shifts in the structure of American economics, disagreements over the role of the American government, and changes in American lifestyle. The growth of big business resulted in major shifts in the structure of American economics. The United States’ economy began to focus solely on industrialization,

In document 2, George E. McNeill explains that railroads are one industry that has single-handedly taken control of the government, because of the necessity of railroads, presidents of railroad companies can demand anything they want and it will be given because of the dire need for railroads. He states that the railroad companies have the government and the people under their control. Many companies followed this tactic, and because of their monopolies, they gained an incredible amount of power in the government. However, there were new measures put in place to prevent monopolies, limit power of industries, and reduce government corruption. Document 3 highlights this problem, showing congress in session, while the elected members of congress are diligently working, yet they are tiny, and major corporations were at the back doing nothing, yet they were huge and powerful. This image was a very common cartoon in the late 1800’s to call out the corruption of the government. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was an attempt to preserve economic competitiveness and limit companies' abilities to corrupt the government. Americans believed that the government should be controlled by the people, like a democratic republic needs to be, and not in the hands of big corporations. Document 5 emphasizes this idea, claiming that government should be in the hands of the people, and that the people, if given power, can right the wrongs made by corrupt government officials, and with the people in charge, injustice, oppression, and poverty would cease. Political unrest was common in this time, and though big business controlled the government, the people sought change, and believed they could make a