Document Analysis: The Railway Army Of 1894

The document of “The Railway Army of 1894”, focuses on management of industries. Subordination allows managers to observe how well employees follow instruction. It is comparable to the saying “when I say jump, you say how high”. If the employees pursue this method, they would be the strongest industry. In fact, Marshall M. Kirkman writes “labor, to exist at all, must act in harmony with those who give it employment, and in due subordination to the interest of society as a whole” (Johnson, 43), meaning, employees and employers must work respectfully amongst each other, in order to create a harmonious environment. The document also elaborates on the balance between the amount of money the company pays employees, how many hours they work, and

Many workers, not far from Thomas O’Donnell, got laid off during business slumps by being replaced with handy machinery, or a worker with a lower wage. This was cheaper and more efficient. This left numerous workers without a job, especially when being replaced by a machine. Thomas O’Donnell, an ex-mule spinner, located in mills in Fall River, Massachusetts, testified before the U.S Senate about the relationship between labor and capital. In this document, O’Donnell reenacts his trial on the labor market. He started working at a remarkably young age to start forming a living. He received no education, thus he lived by his common knowledge. He got married and had two kids, ages three and one. He has always worked at the mill by the river with a pay of $1.50 a day. Later on, after the workers went on strike, three years before he testified, he got cut down to part time. He worked thirteen weeks since Thanksgiving, which is about seventy-eight days, equalling $117 a year. This was less than he would usually produce working full time. Working full time allowed him to work fifteen weeks a year, foraging about $133. He paid a weekly amount of $1.50 for his small house, and had to conserve every other penny for necessary needs. He would frequently hunt for clams to feed his family and would gather wood by the shore. He would obtain bread and meat here and there, but sometimes had no food

If you legitimately think about it, the Gilded Age formed our country in an evil way. Monopolies are indeed awful, and that is why they are illegal today. They took money from innocent workers by fighting against the labor market, but those men were tremendously important. America was in the process of forming their country and the monopolies had a magnificent impact on this transformation. They made wonderful trading industries in the country to make money on. I have an immeasurable amount of gratitude to those men, even though they caused much pain to the families working for monopolies. As the monopolies fought against labor laws, families struggle to survive. The workers only earned a pay around $1.50 a week, while the monopolies had millions of dollars and started becoming the richest men in America. I am grateful that the workers took a stand in what they believed in, and changed the way we will live forever. Today, we have multiple laws against the events that happened in the Gilded Age. This was since it was a horrific period to live in for anyone that was not involved in government or monopoly. This was when the middle class was being developed, allowing every man and women to achieve the American Dream. Numerous people live in that category today and if those workers never stood up and fought strongly to change those laws, we would still be in that age today. As I have said, I am