After the civil war, especially during the late 1800s, the US industrial economy has been thriving and booming which reflected on the numerous improvements that occurred in transportation through new railroad, in new markets for new invented goods and in the increased farm yield. However, most of this wealth has been captured by the capitalists, they looked down on the working poor class and expected them to submit to them. Also, they had control over the government seeking to maintain a system of monopoly to allow them to grow richer from others. Thus, they were controlling both political and economic conditions of the country.
Nevertheless, this social injustice was the reason that leads to the farmers’ Revolt, seeking to remedy their condition. In the late 1870s, an alliance has been founded in forty-three states that afterwards developed into a political party the populists. The party’s goal was to replace the democrats (capitalists) as the nation’s second party and being able to return the stolen privileges and rights of the poor producing class. By 1892 the party issued a document called the platform. It addressed the farmers’ nation and their conditions. Also, it “put forth a long list of proposals to restore democracy and economic opportunity”(Foner, 2013,p.642) and to create the social conditions of freedom.
The smallholders (farmers) were in “the midst of a nation brought to the verge of moral, political and material ruin” (Foner, 2013,p.642). They have been faced by numerous struggles politically as well as economically. To begin with, they were denied the right to direct vote and choose a representative to remedy their problems. Corruption has manifested through the congress and legislatures. The capitalists hav...
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... referendum and recall to give the people a more direct voice in government that was been accomplished by issuing the 17 amendment declared primary elections among party member to select candidates for office.
Finally, it is interesting how the farmers and working class in the 1870s were able to change a great nation; it is remarkable how such uneducated poor farmers were able to unite to form an alliance and then a political party to defend their rights. It may have short lived, but during its existence, the party did make some noteworthy influence on American politics inspiring generations after, it is remarkable how simple workers were able to set an ideal life and progressive ideas for a whole nation.
References:
Foner, E. (2013). Give me liberty! an american history. (Seagull 4th ed., Vol. 2, p. 708).
Populists , party (1892). The populist's platform
Corporations growing was beneficial to the economy, mainly because of the costs of different things. Indexed prices between 1870-1899 are shown in Document A. The document shows the food prices and fuel and lighting prices declined a lot. It also shows how the cost of living declined only a little not as much as the food, fuel and lighting prices. Different mining and lighting technologies led to fuel and lighting prices being reduced. Mass production in general led to cost of living prices being reduced. There was improved agricultural technology which led to food prices being reduced (as shown in Document A). The prices falling for local agricultural products worried local farmers as there wouldn’t be profit for them while there’s mass production and technology advancements. Post-civil war america was controlled by big corporations of people like Rockefeller and Carnegie. Some of these people, tried to use the changes in america to benefit the poor. Document E talks about how wealthy men should be trustees for the poor (to benefit the economy), how they should make trust funds for the “most beneficial results for the community”. in docum...
Through the period of 1865-1900, America’s agriculture underwent a series of changes .Changes that were a product of influential role that technology, government policy and economic conditions played. To extend on this idea, changes included the increase on exported goods, do the availability of products as well as the improved traveling system of rail roads. In the primate stages of these developing changes, farmers were able to benefit from the product, yet as time passed by, dissatisfaction grew within them. They no longer benefited from the changes (economy went bad), and therefore they no longer supported railroads. Moreover they were discontented with the approach that the government had taken towards the situation.
In 1938, the Chavez family lost their farm due to the Great Depression. They were forced to relocate to California and become migrant workers. Chavez was distressed by the poor treatment that migrant farmworkers endured on a daily basis. His powerful religious convictions, dedication to change, and a skill at non violent organizing cultivated the establishment of the United Farmworkers (UFW). It was also referred to as “La Causa” by supporters and eventually became a vital movement for self-determination in the lives of California's farmworkers. The astounding nationwide lettuce and grape boycotts along with public support revealed the atrocities of California agribusiness and resulted in the first union hiring halls and collective bargaining for migrant workers. The details of the childhood of Cesar Chavez and how they would later shape his actions are a vital aspect of this book and the establishment of the farm workers movement.
Farmer’s discontent during the period 1870 – 1900 had an impact on their attitudes and actions towards politics. During this period manufacturing had a growth spurt and agricultural started to decline. This made it harder for the farmers to make a decent living. For example in document G it shows how much manufacturing increased between the 50 years. America could no longer dream to be a nation of small freehold farms. Manufacturers and people living in big cities depended on farmers to supply everything. Many people didn’t realize how much of an affect farmers had on their lives. If somebody was to take farms away, everything would have completely crashed.
Farmers everywhere in the United States during the late nineteenth century had valid reasons to complaint against the economy because the farmers were constantly being taken advantage of by the railroad companies and banks. All farmers faced similar problems and for one thing, farmers were starting to become a minority within the American society. In the late nineteenth century, industrialization was in the spotlight creating big businesses and capitals. The success of industrialization put agriculture and farmers on the down low, allowing the corporations to overtake the farmers. Since the government itself; such as the Republican Party was also pro-business during this time, they could have cared less about the farmers.
The era that marked the end of civil war and the beginning of the twentieth century in the united states of America was coupled with enormous economic and industrial developments that attracted diverse views and different arguments on what exactly acquisition of wealth implied on the social classes in the society. It was during this time that the Marxist and those who embraced his ideologies came out strongly to argue their position on what industrial revolution should imply in an economic world like America. In fact, there was a rapid rise in the gross national product of the United States between 1874 and 1883. This actually sparked remarkable consequences on the political, social and economic impacts. In fact, the social rejoinder to industrialization had extensive consequences on the American society. This led to the emergence of social reform movements to discourse on the needs of the industrialized society. Various theories were developed to rationalize the widening gap between the rich and the poor. Various reformers like Andrew Carnegie, Henry George and William Graham Sumner perceived the view on the obligation of the wealthy differently. This paper seeks to address on the different views held by these prominent people during this time of historical transformations.
During the late 19th and early 20th century both the Populist Party and Progressive movement wanted to preserve some things, while also addressing the need for reform. Although many of the ideas and goals of these “Third parties” were initially not legislated and considered far-fetched, many of these ideas later became fundamental laws throughout American history. The Populists and Progressives were both grass roots movements, and addressed the needs of the poor and powerless, for the Populists it was farmers and for the Progressives it was urban lower and middle class workers. These two movements attempted to bring the powerless peoples issues to national politics. The Populists and Progressives wanted to preserve some American ideals of the past, such as a sense of community and the ability for farmers and workers to live happily without economic strains. Populists were more oriented to the plight of the farmer while the Progressives included women's rights, and protection of the consumer and labor.
The period between 1880 and 1900 was a boom time for American Politics. The country was finally free of the threat of war, and many of its citizens were living comfortably. However, as these two decades went by, the American farmer found it harder and harder to live comfortably. Crops such as cotton and wheat, once the sustenance of the agriculture industry, were selling at prices so low that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit off them. Furthermore, improvement in transportation allowed foreign competition to materialize, making it harder for American farmers to dispose of surplus crop. Mother Nature was also showing no mercy with grasshoppers, floods, and major droughts that led to a downward spiral of business that devastated many of the nation’s farmers. As a result of the agricultural depression, numerous farms groups, most notably the Populist Party, arose to fight what the farmers saw as the reasons for the decline in agriculture. During the final twenty years of the nineteenth century, many farmers in the United States saw monopolies and trusts, railroads, and money shortages and the loss in value of silver as threats to their way of life, all of which could be recognized as valid complaints.
Most of the reasons concerning agrarian discontent in the late nineteenth century stem from supposed threats posed by monopolies and trusts, railroads, money shortages and the demonetization of silver, though in many cases their complaints were not valid. The American farmer at this time already had his fair share of problems, perhaps even perceived as unfair in regards to the success industrialized businessmen were experiencing. Nevertheless, crops such as cotton and wheat, which were once the staples of an agricultural society, were selling at such low prices that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit off them, especially since some had invested a great deal of money in modern equipment that would allow them to produce twice as many goods. Furthermore, improvements in transportation allowed foreign competition to emerge, making it harder for American Farmers to not only dispose of surplus crop, but to transport crops period. Finally, years of drought in the Midwest and the degeneration of business in the 1890's devastated many of the nation's farmers, and as a result of this agricultural depression' many farm groups, most notably the Populist Party, arose to fight what farmers saw as the reasons for the decline of agriculture.
If I were asked to rewrite this essay, I would try to give more direct individual solutions to each problem that is presented. Through the use of examples, such as the issue of farming and education, I can help to draw the reader in with not only what the problems are, but possible solutions to each of these problems. Using this outline I will atte...
America reaped great benefits from the new wave of Industrialization during the 1890’s. There was an abundance of advanced, new technologies that made large-scale production easier and more achievable. These new factories produced more goods than ever before, and they were open to the middle-class. Yet this modernization was not all for the best, with the result being a decent amount of civil unrest. There were large issues with immigration. Everyday, there were thousands of Europeans who were coming to America looking for work. Despite the fact that the working conditions were awful and the wages weren’t much better, they were better than the work overseas. There was also the rising issue of anarchists becoming more and more of a problem as they were becoming more vocal. The worker’s strikes also contributed to some of the chaos of the Industrialization period. Strikes soon turned violent as the strikes came one after the other. Unemployment numbers continued to grow as the capitalists slowly grew richer. People such as Theodore Roosevelt, Jane Addams and Edward Bellamy and his followers each had different opinions with that what was wrong with industrialized America and how to fix it.
28.) Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History. 4th ed. (W.W. Norton, 2012), 920.
Foner, E. (2010). The People Party. In E. Foner, Give me Liberty! An American History (pp. 680-682). Canada: W.W Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110.
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty. 3rd ed. Vol. Two. New York: Norton &, 2011. Print.
The farm which had once been the source of inspiration with a democratic society was now a farm of death, destruction and communism. This is the impact of social injustice on what was once a just community in a revolutionary society.