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Industrialization Dbq Essay

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Shrey Saretha 2/8/15 P.4 Industrialization Document Based Question From 1865 to 1900, the United States of America was going through a period of industrialization. This transformation of the U.S. society to a society primarily based on the manufacturing of various goods and services produced a wide range of effects and reactions from the American society at that time. Although some historians may argue that industrialization had a mainly negative effect on U.S. society due to the unfair and now illegal practices taking place at that time, the reforms that took place because of these practices helped create many positive changes for society that still exist today. The initial positive outcomes of industrialization, the negative outcomes, and …show more content…

From 1870 to 1899 the indexed value for the cost of living index steadily decreased due to industrialization (Doc A). During this time period, factories utilized techniques such as mass production and interchangeable parts which reduced the necessity of skilled workers. These techniques helped lower the cost of labor which in turn reduced the cost of most products for Americans and the cost of living. Also during this time period, various monopolies began to emerge and with these new monopolies the cost for goods such as food, fuel, and lighting began to go down. Although these monopolies were beneficial to the average consumer, many businesses closed down because they could not compete with the lower prices. On June 1889, the North American Review published an article by Andrew Carnegie called “Wealth” (Doc D). Carnegie was a wealthy businessman who was involved in steel production and large-scale philanthropy. His point-of-view was that the wealthy should use their power and wealth to improve the lives of the poor and the state of society. He also advocated that the wealthy should set an example for the poor in his article. His ideas became known as the Gospel of Wealth. These ideas mostly began to emerge during this period of …show more content…

In 1892, an article by the new Populist Party called “People’s Party Platform” in the Omaha Morning World-Herald was published (Doc E). The Populist Party’s purpose in this article was to convince the public that they were the ones who could end some the unfair practices of industrialization. Although they might seem to be a political party just trying to get support for their presidential candidate, James Weaver, they truly wanted to reform those unfair practices as seen during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. Their true belief was to increase government power in order to stop the oppression of laborers. In Samuel Gompers’ speech What Does Labor Want?, Gompers argues for increased protection, increased wages, and decreased hours of labor for laborers (Doc F). His intended audience is the International Labor Congress in Chicago since they had the power to improve the lives of the laborers. He wanted to convince them that laborers should not be regarded as the equivalent of property and be given better conditions. These reforms ultimately improved the lives of many throughout the

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