Essay On Industrialization In The Gilded Age

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Across America cities buzzed all day and through all hours of the night. People flocked to these cities from farms and halfway around the world for one main reason: work. Manufacturing was booming in cities all over America, and Chicago especially, was a model for western industrialization. As Taft described before this, our progress is met not only with success, but with major roadblocks. America's progress during the Gilded Age in industrialization led to downfalls such as economic, social and political instability, which forced action to be taken to lift these burdens.

Industrialization was one of America’s grandest accomplishments during the Gilded Age. Chicago was one of the biggest industrial cities at the time. They brought people in with the promise of work. Many companies, like Burnham’s, employed mass amounts of people. He paid thousands of workers from carpenters to electricians to make the World Fair possible. The meat processing plant and construction in the city were also huge sources of jobs. They were not glamorous, but they were always present if someone needed work. Industrialization was fueled not only by these big companies, but the Individual man. Holmes …show more content…

The spoils system was a very bad and corruptive game played by the big heads of power in both government and private sector. Jobs were abundant in the city but Prendergast had a particular one in mind. He keeps writing the mayor about getting this certain job and that he know he should have it. Prendergast keeps writing and sending letters, but in the end does not get the job he wanted, and then ends up assassinating the mayor. This notion of putting higher up people in large companies and government to benefit them, even though they are not fit for the job, is extremely corrupt. This hinders the growth of industrialism, because the working class is hurt by the unfair laws and lack of regulations imposed on