The Progressive Er The Rise Of Big Businesses In The Gilded Age

The Progressive Era was a time of success and decline, as well as equality and corruption. The early 1900s consisted of advancements in technology, societal rights, territory, wealth, etc. However, the United States prided itself on founding a superior society based on its new principles (democracy, liberty, equality). The United States may have developed an industrialized, successful economy but it was constructed through unethical morals that did not obey its original institution. America was not living up to its founding principles due to racism, social hierarchy, and the rise of big businesses.

Big business, social hierarchy, racism The Big Business Empire began with entrepreneurs Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt,

With the accumulation of wealth came dominance and these entrepreneurs became some of the most powerful men in America. “Yet, their ruthlessness in building wealth at the expense of their competitors, workers, and consumers, often earned them the contrary title of “Robber Barons”, suggesting that they may have used unquestionable or unethical business practices to become wealthy and powerful” (Gilded Age Document A); some of these methods included vertical integration, horizontal integration, predatory pricing and the establishment of “the trust”. These men held the world in the palms of their hands, “administering it (wealth) for the community far better than it would have done itself” (Gilded Age Document A). “This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: First, to set an example of modest, ostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance and, after doing so, to consider all surplus revenues which one to him simply as trust funds,”(Gilded Age document A), just as Rockefeller did. Rockefeller was the first man to manufacture oil and founded Standard Oil Company. With the development of oil which is an essential resource, came great responsibility and dominance. However,

This type of racism continued during the Philippine-American War. The Philippine-American War was originally initiated after the United States annexed the Philippines under the Treaty of Paris after the Spanish- American War, ignoring the Philippines' Declaration of Independence. The US wanted the Philippines because they wanted new markets and to create new naval bases, specifically in Minella, Philippines. With the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, the Spanish Empire would be completely terminated; thus, resulting in the US becoming a complete world power, especially with the annexation of the Philippines. This became a controversial argument as it went against all American values of equality as they believed that the Philippines were not equipped to manage and operate their country themselves. However, the US procured the Philippines on February 6, 1899, when two Philippines crossed American lines, initiating the US's first colonial rebellion with “60 US Soldiers and 700 Filipinos” being killed (Crucible of Empire: The Spanish American War 7:17). This quadrupled the size of the US army and began the “gorilla war”. This new enforcement did not wear uniforms, “so they would be able to fade into civilian populations very, very quickly..it involved surprised attacks, raids without warning” (Crucible of Empire: The Spanish