The Gilded Age And The Labor Movement - 1390 Words

Evan Anton Professor Andrea Estepa Final Draft The Gilded Age and the Labor Movement The Gilded Age took place during the last thirty years of the nineteenth century where unionization of workers became more frequent. The reasoning behind the name of this era is due to the fact that everything seemed nice on the outside in America, but in actuality corruption and inequality could be found underneath the surface. As the economy was changing during the industrial revolution, workers began leaving rural areas and flooding to urban areas for the opportunities, such as working for the oil or steel industry. The development of steam engine railroads for transportation and increased development of factory manufacturing techniques, caused more urbanization and generation of wealth for the employers. These factors of the changing work world cause the emergence of organization of the labor movement. The labor movement effectively made the workers voice heard but was less successful in achieving their main goals when bargaining with employers. Working conditions that came along with the new job opportunities included long hours, low wages, and unregulated hazardous working conditions. Some people worked 12 hour days; 6 to 7 days a week, in such horrible environments. At this time there was no sick pay, vacation pay, no unemployment insurance, and worst of all injuries went without compensation. These were all issues that would be addressed in the future by the labor movement.Show MoreRelatedDuring the 19th century, America was going through an important transition. The nation was dealing1300 Words   |  6 Pagesto the period deemed the â€Å"Gilded Age†. The nation saw economic growth and the creation of the mass market. The rise of industrialization and transition to urban living were some of the defining moments of this period. However, the most defining idea of the Gilded Age is Reform: Social, Political, and economic. The Gilded Age was plagued with the problems that, the reconstruction period failed to solve. During the Gilded Age, social, political, and economic reform movements were gaining ground. BlacksRead MoreEssay about Change and Continuity in the Guilded Age1194 Words   |  5 Pages Change and Continuity in the Gilded Age Emergence of Modern America nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; â€Å"Every day things change, but basically they stay the same.†-Dave Matthews Change and continuity are two major principles of life. They can easily be applied to history because their application accurately portrays the circumstances, and characterizes the era of interest. Merriam-Webster defines continuity as an uninterrupted connection, succession, or union, or an uninterruptedRead MoreThe Gilded Age Of The Nineteenth Century And The Succeeding Period887 Words   |  4 PagesTwo prominent eras of American History were the Gilded Age at the end of the nineteenth century and the succeeding period, the Progressive Era. The Gilded Age, also know as the Second Industrial Revolution, was a peak of high economic development with the rise of technological advancements in a free market environment, meaning that the economy was driven by self-interest instead of government authority. Besides its economic growth, the Gilded Age handle changes in social divisions. After the abolishmentRead MoreThe Gilded Age : Fear Of Reform1351 Words   |  6 PagesFear of Reform i n the Gilded Age The Gilded Age was an important time in America’s development. Chicago was a zeitgeist for the Gilded Age, with railroads flowing in and out from all over the country; its no wonder Chicago became a hub for both economic productivity and turmoil. It was a period of both prosperity and poverty. The Gilded Age was marred by tensions over the wealth gap, political corruption, communism, immigration, fear of reform, and of course labor and worker rights.Read More The Gilded Age Essay1094 Words   |  5 PagesThe Gilded Age Mark Twain collaborated with Charles Dudley Warner on The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. Published in 1973, as Twain’s earliest work of extended fiction, The Gilded Age gives a name to the period of opulence and corruption at the end of the 19th century. Portraying the superficial luxury of Washington and high society, the authors describe â€Å"The general laxity of the time, and the absence of a sense of duty toward any part of the community but the individual himself† (Twain 203)Read MoreThe Most Dangerous Industry Of The United States957 Words   |  4 PagesIn the year 1870, 739,164 children between the ages of 10 and 15 were employed in the United falling just short of 20 percent of the workforce. Thirty years later in the 1900 census, two million children were working in mills, mines, fields, factories, stores, and on city streets across the United States. But with increasing numbers of children being put into the workforce, the conditions in which they worked r apidly declined. Such rapidly declining conditions were due to â€Å"compulsory educationRead MoreWomen During The Civil War997 Words   |  4 PagesMany people believe that women did not play any essential roles in our country’s history until the 1960s. However, this is not the case. Women have played many vital roles in suffrage movements as attempts to shed light upon or cure many of the ills of American society throughout American history. As an example, women fought to change the course and ideologies that were bestowed upon them by the traditional viewpoints of society of the time. The status of women was shifting rapidly in the ProgressiveRead MoreThe Progressive Era Of The Gilded Age1455 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout the progressive era there were many reform movements due to the abundance of political, social, and economical corruption in America in the gilded age as seen by political machines like William Marcy tweed and American financiers like J.P. Morgan. Some of the many issues that made themselves present in the gilded age include the large wealth gap, child labor, women’s lack of rights, influx of immigrants, Urbanization, Indian wars, monopolists, political machines, and alcoholism. All ofRead MoreThe History of Labor Unions Essay508 Words   |  3 PagesDuring the Progressive Era of the Gilded Age, many laborers were being mistreated by the companies that they worked for. Because of this, worke rs started forming labor unions or organized association of workers, formed to protect and further their rights and interests. Many of these labor unions failed, while few of them achieved their goals and still exist today. Many factors contributed to the failure of these labor unions. The labor unions were given a bad image, the reason for this was the mediaRead MoreFreedom During The Gilded Age922 Words   |  4 PagesFreedom during the Gilded Age The meaning of freedom for black Americans have changed over time, during the Gilded Age Blacks’ definition of freedom was defined as a new â€Å"social order† still driven at the hope of an American society breaking free from the anti-democratic restraints imposed by a corrupt government. This concept of freedom changed when WWII and the 1960’s Conservative Revolution started ,allowing blacks to reap the benefits of social, political and economic prosperities by having the