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Oppression and privilege
Multi-faceted nature of oppression
Multi-faceted nature of oppression
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Oppression and privilege
Multi-faceted nature of oppression
Multi-faceted nature of oppression
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Oppression and privilege
During the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s an economic and industrialized revolution took place in America. As important natural and manmade resources such as Iron, coal, and lumber had just become easily accessible. Which for most meant an improvement on their living conditions, but for the poverty it meant sustaining their life was going to get harder. The wealthy became wealthier and the poor became the mule of labor. “Those who are above the point of separation are elevated, but those who are below are crushed down,” (Doc 3).
The young(er) United States was burdened with a multitude of issues and rising growth of sectionalism; from the Louisiana Purchase to Tarrifs, the bridge partitioning the North and South was ever-growing. Divisions between slave and anti-slave culture were devastating, Northerners turned against Southerners, friend against friend; brother against brother. The Louisiana Purchase was the aquisition of the Louisiana Territory from France, specifically Napoleon, by Jefferson. It was sold for an estimated 15 million dollars and near-doubled the size of the United States. While the purchase was beneficial for the U.S, it also caused many problems in and among the citizens.
In this essay, we will embark on a journey through history and compare the economic landscapes from the 1800s to today. There is an ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor. Rich tycoons stay rich while the poor continue to get poorer. That seems to be one of the greatest similarities between the two time periods.
As industry exponentially grew after the Civil War, the need for labor and materials to power newly-created manufacturing giants caused new social classes to form: the rich corporation owners and the poor laborers. Unfathomably rich Robber Barons, or plutocratic American Capitalists, dominated the economy and industry and profited from the slave-like work of millions of poor laborers during this time period. Moreover, the poor working class and the rich further divided by distribution of wealth. Therefore, exploitation of capitalism widened the gap between the rich and poor classes of America, and both newly-formed classes developed reasons for the change.
This is an illustration of someone trying to make the economy accessible for everyone. However severe economic inequality was instead a result of the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a small number of industrialists. As large corporations dominated their respective industries, they exercised significant control over markets, including pricing, wages, and
The stasis within the social classes after the revolution was beneficial to society. “One class did not overthrow another; the poor did not supplant the rich. But social relationships-- the way people were connected to one another-- were changed, and decisively so” (Wood 132). There was a solid relationship between higher and lower classes, and that helped maintain balance within communities, which made the new country a “giant, almost continent wide republic of nearly ten million egalitarian-minded bustling citizens who not only had thrust themselves into the vanguard of history but had fundamentally altered their society and their social relationships” (132-133).
The Gilded Age was an age of rapid economic growth. Railroads, factories, and mines were slowly popping up across the country, creating a variety of new opportunities for entrepreneurs and laborers alike. These new inventions and opportunities created “...an unprecedented accumulation of wealth” (GML, 601). But the transition of America from a small farming based nation to a powerful industrial one created a huge rift between social classes. Most people were either filthy rich or dirt poor, with workers being the latter.
The Civil War not only abolished slavery, but also threw the significant challenge of rebuilding a war-torn nation. Although initiated with the best hopes and intentions, the ‘Reconstruction’ of the USA had collapsed miserably for it had failed to establish a nation with equal rights for all. As a consequence, class discrimination and racial injustice had engulfed the American society. Besides having similarities and differences, the struggles for racial justice in the late 19th century and the struggles for economic justice in the Gilded Age are not only reminders of the failed ideology of the reconstruction, but are also evidence which shows us that the upper class of the society in that era were reluctant about the upward mobility of the poor.
The Gilded Age was a period in American history characterized by immense wealth and prosperity for a few but also marked by corruption, inequality, and political dysfunction. The Progressive Era emerged in response to the problems of the Gilded Age, providing a solution to the corruption, inequality, and other issues that plagued American society during that time. This essay will describe the issues of the Gilded Age and explain why the Progressive Era was a solution to these problems. One of the key issues of the Gilded Age was the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few wealthy industrialists. The captains of industry, such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, amassed immense fortunes, often at the expense of the working-class people who toiled in their factories.
Several American policies during the 1800s affected our nation’s growth and the different groups of people who lived here. Our relationships with other countries changed, and most of the policies, while increasing the United States’ power and size, had negative impacts on Native people. The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 stated that no European countries were allowed to colonize or interfere with states in North or South America. It also stated that the United States would not become involved in any European wars (Foner and Garraty, 1991). Originally, Britain wanted to join the US in this policy, in order to protect Latin America from Spanish colonization.
These types of men claimed to benefit the society most in these positions of power because, due to their wealth, policies did not affect them personally – they were so rich that essentially nothing could threaten them. This, the rich men claimed, gave them an unbiased perspective on what was best for the whole of the country. “The people” have always been an ever-changing group, as Hamilton noted at the Constitutional Convention, giving their desires a more temporary focus – not the long-term stability desired by the elite for this new republican society.
Inflated, false concerns over tariffs drown out the voices of the people shifting focus from the oppressions of corporations, banks, and the demonetization of silver. Vast fortunes had been built upon the back of the poor and downtrodden polarizing in two classes, tramps and millionaires. Populists contended the rich were willing to destroy the majority in order to protect their funds. Conditions were so dire and concerns so high they questioned whether the Nation could survive under the status
There is lower, middle, and upper class, but there are also subcategories that fill the gaps in between, like the impoverished and the top one percenters. “Class in America”, written by Gregory Mantsios, addresses the myths and realities about socioeconomic class in America and how they affect American lives. His article highlights the unequal divide that has persisted over the course of history and will continue to manifest in the future. To introduce the existence of this issue, Mantsios states that this country’s citizens “don’t like to talk about class...or class privileges, or class oppression, or the class nature of society” (Mantsios 378). This is the case in America today because people are neglecting to acknowledge the existence of these elusive
Therefore, in a stratified society, the individual’s opportunities are always determined by his or her social class. In this essay, I will be arguing that even though mobility exists in the social class system, the opportunity to change status is relatively open for everyone but the distribution of opportunities among the members of a social class is not relatively equal to all. I will demonstrate this point by showing how participation of an individual in a specific social class will decide the opportunities in terms of attaining education and achieving a well-paid job. Education has a significant role in promoting social mobility; it enables people to acquire knowledge and certain skills in order to promote their social status. Nowadays, people believe that societies are based on meritocratic
What is GM food? GM stands for “genetically modified”. Genetically modified food is food that has been produced from organisms which had specific changes introduced into their DNA by making use of genetic engineering. This is done in order for the organism to perform better under harsher circumstances and to improve yield and resistance against pests. Genetic engineering can be used to introduce new traits and also have more control over the genetic structure of the food.