Thesis : After the Civil War, America was in a post-war boom. During the 1870-1890, big business moguls, such as Rockefeller and Carnegie, create huge corporations which not only affected the economy, but also affected the political realm of America. While many may assume that during the rise of these big business helped to change the economy and politics, the real focus was on the responses formed by society, such as labor unions, increase public outcry, and political opposition groups that helped to change society.
A: Economically, big business flourished during the late 1800s. During this time, America increased it number of department stores and consumer products (Document G). Indeed, newly created companies at the time would grow to
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The major changes of society were created from people who spoke out of things they saw were unjust and immoral. For instance, _____ McNeill said that bosses were cruel and harsh (Document A). The intended audience for McNeill writings were those who were fed up with the tyrannical rule of their bosses (HIPP). Also, writers like ______ Wells talked about how the use of unskilled labor has caused a huge decline in skilled labor (Document B). These types of documents allowed for people to be aware that there were issues when it came to employment and the vague power the worker had (HIPP). Likewise, many wealthy people, including big business leaders, came to realize that it was their role in society was to give back. Due to all the negative responses, people such as Andrew Carnegie were huge philanthropists . They stated that because they were wealthy and were better inclined than most, they should be willing to help those at the bottom. Andrew Carnegie’s, Gospel of Wealth, explicitly stated how the wealthy have a moral obligation to give back (Outside Evidence). Other major responses to changes and the impact of big business were responses from the government. Known for his tough policy on big corporations, president Theodore Roosevelt took many actions to cut down trust and get rid of government corruption (Outside Evidence). Altogether, the responses and the actions taken by people’s responses did much to change and impact