Gilded Age DBQ

Every country at one point goes through industrialization. This is generally due to a huge growth of population, and the need to mass-produce for the entire society. It is at this time period in which there are massive amounts of job openings with factories erecting. Everyone tends to gain money one way or another. With all the new jobs, people should be well off, though the statistic said otherwise. Problems arose, alongside poverty, with bankruptcy inevitable. While death was on the verge for those working hard, there are the “Captains of Industry”, who were industrialists (business leader), lying back with what seems to be infinite wealth. This era was known as the “Gilded Age” because people where blinded by the means of prospering. This

The struggle was great for big families, since even the kids had to get jobs sometimes. The working conditions made it no better. Grimy environments, and misty lighting was bound to cause an accident. Samuel Gompers addressed to Congress about Labor declaring, “…men…should have a better consideration than inanimate and dormant things… demand a reduction of the hours of labor” (Document G). Usually kids would work more than 10 hours with very few breaks in between. The settings also made them prone to sickness, which led to death quite often because they went unnoticed. This was considered normal, since the majority of the population was living in poverty, and minimum wage was not adequate enough to pay debts. Gompers also said “Labor…insists…right to organize for self and mutual protection… That the lives of and limbs of the wage-workers be regarded as sacred…” (Document G). Men working in factories frequently got injured and it was considered their responsibility. Whatever happened to you was your fault, and neither the company nor employer can be liable. No compensation was given and thus whomever you were working to get money for will now be at a

Andrew Carnegie was a man who actually believed strongly in using the money gained in a charitable way. According to Carnegie in a review titled “Wealth,” he stated, “…man of wealth thus becoming the mere agent…for his poorer brethren… doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves” (Document E). By the end of his life, he had donated up to $60 million, which funded more than 1,600 libraries. He substantially gave all his money away. A humble and virtuous man would yearn to do such a thing. There were actually other men who owned businesses who would be capable of doing similar acts of kindness. Yet again how could they, when their opponents were invincible? George Rice was a victim to Rockefeller’s colossal company, stating “…sought for the reason…giving it discriminating rates and privileges of all kinds as against myself and all outside competitors” (Document H). His business was unable to challenge one like Rockefeller’s. At the time, the only way to attain respect and have monopolies was to perform unethical actions against the people, and corrupt the government. With this in mind, giving back to the community appears