Justin Clement APUS DBQ Big businesses controlled the economy and politics throughout 1870-1900. They were in control of the prices for certain items because they destroyed their smaller competitors until there was no competition left. They had much sway over politics and took away the people’s say. As we can see from Document A, between 1870-1899, the price for food, fuel, lighting and living decreased with the emergence of big businesses.
The actions of these Morgan, Rockefeller, Carnegie, businessmen in the late 1800s have a negative impact on society. These three men didn't have respect for their workers. Morgan criticized for creating monopolies by making it difficult for any business to compete against his. Criticized that for having too much power and was accused of manipulating the nation's financial system for his own gain Morgan he financially rescued the United states government twice but also Did Not treat workers well. Morgan forced his workers to labor under harsh condition for long hours and low pay.
Robber barons, specifically Andrew Carnegie, an industrialist and John D. Rockefeller, a philanthropist, were the chosen, elite members of society according to the doctrine of Social Darwinism. Darwinism is when evolution occurs and the strongest organisms of an ecosystem survive and reproduce to outnumber the weaker, less fit organisms of an ecosystem. Similarly Social Darwinism follows the same concept, but in a capitalist sense of thought. Those who were able to exploit the Gilded Age’s laissez faire economy to their own benefit, like the robber barons Andrew Carnegie of Carnegie Steel and J. D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil, were the fittest members of society because they were able to survive in the grueling and ruthless free economy. By usurping all of the fresh yet unfit immigrants that were flowing into the States due to the rise of urbanization, these two men integrated these easily-manipulated people into their factories to augment their profits.
Throughout the late 1800s, many people grew tremendously in wealth. Most people started businesses or expanded railroads which required a lot of money. This start the idea of robber barons or captains of industry; while there were some people who would collect the money for themselves there were many people who gave back and did some great things for America. Therefore, industrialists of the 1860s-1900s were more rightly called Captains of Industry than robber barons. John D. Rockefeller, James Fisk, and Henry Flanger are some great examples of Captains of Industry.
Introduction In the 1500s were there were only 13 colonies, they traded many items that soon became the center of there region, but, trading these days is isn’t as important as it was those days. The most important things is getting resources from other countries. If we can go back at that time when trading was important, there would be a lot of merchants in the ports trading many things. There were many farmers in the southern colonies that grow many things.
Most involved in corporations believed in social Darwinism, which states that the wealth of a person contributes to their “fitness” and ability to survive in the environment. Socialists felt that money was a game of the survival of the fittest, and if you were poor, you would simply be eliminated over time. Although the Transcontinental Railroad was initially beneficial to the economy, it caused conflict and controversy in society when businesses got too
Impact Statement: In the late 1700s and 1800s, the United States went through a time of great change: the Industrial Revolution. Every single invention influenced the lifestyle of American people, directly and indirectly. The inventions and factories still affect us today, as they are the predecessors to the things we use and see now.
From the 1800s to the 1850s the United States was permanently changed for the better with advancements in everyday life. This period of time was crucial for the development of the society that we live in today with the vast amount of inventions in this time period. Many Americans of this time period began to rely on these modernized inventions which seemed as though they were now necessities, giving Americans a new way of everyday life. If America did not undergo these changes we would not be where we are today in society. With such drastic changes in technology and social and political aspects, the United States was completely transformed during the antebellum period.
Social Darwinism favored the wealthy. Social Darwinism appealed to Protestant work ethic and supported laissez-faire policies. In Social Darwinism, is was thought that everyone could “prosper with hard work, intelligence, and perseverance.” Social Darwinism was used by men like, Andrew Carnegie. They used it to support their practices.
The tariffs are customs duties applied to imports of products with two fundamental purposes, on the one hand being a source of income for the State and on the other, to protect certain sectors of the economy when importing products that can compete with domestic production. In 1828, Congress approved the "tariff of abominations," a crushing and hard tariff that explicitly sacrificed one part of the country to another. Northern manufacturers were getting almost all the benefits of protection, while southern farmers were forced to pay higher prices for comparatively lower US products and lost their cotton export markets because of foreign retaliation against the United States. In 1832, Congress raised tariffs even more. South Carolina declared
The era of early 1900 was regarded as business expansion and progressive reforms. By 1900’s the United State became a very rich and powerful nation as a result of industrialization and urbanization. Its economy transferred into a major world economy. However, this massive transition has both good and bad effects and great changes in American society caused many problems which called for reforms that’s why era of 1900 is called progressive era. These reforms included political, economic and social reforms.
During the period of 1870 to 1900 large corporations, such as the railway company, grew significantly in size, number, and influence. The cause of this was the need for a new way of transportation, the demand was great so the railways expanded all over the United States so that they could meet these demands. These large corporations affected the economy by making it easier to pay for everyday chores, politics in the way that it gave politicians too much power but in doing so gave normal limited power. The corporations had great power and influence which made them a huge impact to society.
In the prime years of the 1800’s railroads and canals played a great role in improving the U.S. Railroads and canals help industrialize the U.S.; making it easy to import and export goods globally. The development of railroads was one of the most important spectacles of the Industrial Revolution. Canals were man-made rivers which were deep enough to deal with ships which were capable of moving nearly forty tons of weight. Economic expansion spurred the building of canals to speed goods to market. The railroads and canals brought an economic change to the country because it made trading resources between states and other countries easier.
This theory, Social Darwinism, was applied to the monopolistic efforts of businessmen as John D. Rockefeller, Jr. so eloquently stated: “The growth of a large business is merely the survival of the fittest” (Nash p. 417). The Gospel of Wealth based on Social Darwinism is the notion that the massive wealth held by prosperous businessmen was for the social benefit of everyone. The advocates of the Gospel of Wealth such as Andrew Carnegie, Russell Conwell, and Horatio Alger linked wealth with a sense of heightened responsibility as those with more wealth had an equally great obligation to society. Each of the advocates of the Gospel of Wealth came from diverse backgrounds, but preached the same ideals.
“During the Gilded Age, large numbers of businessmen and middle-class Americans adopted the social outlook known as Social Darwinism” (Foner, Vocies of Freedom, II, 32).William Graham Sumner however, represented Social Darwinism (a derivative of Charles Darwin’s theory), in order to oppose Andrew Carnegie’s theory; Sumner believed that we can’t separate from racism and he advocated “survival of the fittest”. Many opposed of, Social Darwinism, including, Henry George a journalist who wrote “Progress and Poverty” , in 1879- George wanted to prevent the economy from advancing into a depression therefore his solution was the ‘single tax’. The
